New Forms Of Communication: Harnessing Collective Knowledge through Web Logs

New Forms of Communication:Harnessing Collective Knowledge through

Web Logs

Bryan Loar

Presented at the Art Libraries Society of North America’s 35th Annual Conference

April 29, 2007

New Forms of Communication: Harnessing Collective Knowledge through Web Logs

April 29, 2007

INTRO

Bryan LoarResource LibrarianFitch

2006 MLIS Kent State University

2005 BA History of Art, Ohio State University

2005 BA Italian, Ohio State University

Fitch A Global Design Agency


April 29, 2007

INTRO

Bryan LoarSenior Site Administrator of

Art

Library

Students &

New

ARLIS*

Professionals

(ArLiSNAP)

www.arlisnap.org


April 29, 2007

BLOGS – Are Not Just…

Online Journals Places for Self-Proclaimed Nerds

Vehicles for Rants


April 29, 2007

BLOGS – Are Not Just…

Online Journals Places for Self-Proclaimed Nerds

Vehicles for Rants

MeCirca 2001


April 29, 2007

BLOGS – So What?

Blogs Can Be• Forums• Collaboration Tools• Repositories of

Knowledge• Connectors to New

Knowledge• Efficient Professional

Development Tools

Today’s Blogs Are• Economical• Easy to Set-Up• Easy to Maintain• Easily Configurable


April 29, 2007

BLOGS - Statistics

• An inferred 57 million adults read blogs daily– Pew Internet & American Life Project, 20061

• An inferred 12 million adults maintain a blog.– Pew Internet & American Life Project, 20062

• Over 175,000 blogs are created every day– Technorati, 20073

• Bloggers are more likely to be youthful– Pew Internet & American Life Project, 20064


April 29, 2007

BLOGS – A Brief HistoryPartially adapted from Lena Karlsson’s account5

1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2001 2002 2003Online

Journals

Filter Weblogs

Jørn Barger, Weblog

Blogger

Moveable Type (MT)

Six Apart

MetaWeblog API

Wordpress

RSS 2.0


April 29, 2007

BLOGS – Community & Collaboration

• Miami University (OH, USA)– Integrating Technology and Education

Practicum (I-TEP)6

• Montgomery College (MD, USA)– Center for Teaching & Learning (CTL)7

• University of Warwick (Coventry, UK)– Academic Weblog System8


April 29, 2007

BLOGS - ArLiSNAP• Community

– Sharing Experiences• Conferences• Events

– Support• Forum• Advice

– Belonging• A Common Thread• Beyond the Blog


April 29, 2007

BLOGS - ArLiSNAP

• Innovation– New Technologies in Use

• De.licio.us• Flickr• Platial• FeedBurner

– Discover New Ideas– Challenge Old & New Concepts


April 29, 2007

BLOGS - ArLiSNAP

• Empowerment– 1 Blog - Many Voices– Equal Opportunity– Motivational– Activism– Information Becomes

Knowledge


April 29, 2007

BLOGS – Start Your Own!

• Things to Consider– Determine a topic and stick to it– Know your audience– Choose a format to meet your objective(s)– Find the best Web publishing software for

your needs– Promote

Partially adapted from Keidra Chaney’s suggestions9


April 29, 2007

CONCLUSION

• Blogs – Are Powerful Collaboration Tools– Archive knowledge – Build a sense of community– Give a everyone a voice

Harness Users’ Collective Knowledge


April 29, 2007

ArLiSNAP – Swag!Buttons Flyers


April 29, 2007

STEAL THIS POWERPOINT

www.bryan.theloars.com

OK, some conditions apply. Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives Creative Commons License applies.


April 29, 2007

REFERENCES1. Lenhart, A., & Fox, S. (2006). Bloggers: A Portrait of the Internet's New Storytellers. Pew Internet &

American Life Project. Retrieved April 22, 2007, from http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP%20Bloggers%20Report%20July%2019%202006.pdf.

2. Ibid.3. Technorati (2007). About Us. Retrieved April 22, 2007, from http://www.technorati.com/about/.4. Id.5. Karlsson, L. (2006). The Diary Weblog and the Travelling Tales of Diasporic Tourists. Journal of

Intercultural Studies, 27(3), 299-312. Retrieved April 25, 2007, from the Sociological Collection database.

6. Dickey, M. (2004). The impact of web-logs (blogs) on student perceptions of isolation and alienation in a web-based distance-learning environment. Open Learning, 19(3), 279-291. Retrieved April 25, 2007, from the Academic Search Premier database.

7. Shaffer, S., Lackey, S., & Bolling, G. (2006). Blogging as a Venue for Nurse Faculty Development. Nursing Education Perspectives , 27(3), 126-128. Retrieved April 09, 2007, from the Academic Search Premier database.

8. Gordon, S. (2006). Rise of the blog [journal-based Website]. IEE Review, 52(3), 32-35. Retrieved April 09, 2007, from the Academic Search Premier database.

9. Chaney, K. (2005). Blogs-Learning a New Arts Learning Medium: So Far Neither Rare Nor Exactly Well Done. Teaching Artist Journal, 3(4), 233-240. Retrieved April 22, 2007 from the Academic Search Premier database.


April 29, 2007

FURTHER READINGBlood, R. (2004). How Blogging Software RESHAPES THE ONLINE COMMUNITY. Communications of the ACM, 47(12), 53-55.

Blood gives a good overview of the history of Web logs as well as Web logs’ technical development.

Butler, D. (2005). Science in the web age: Joint efforts. Nature, 438(7068), 548-549.

Butler reports the reservations that the scientific community exhibits towards Web logs.

Deuze, M. (2006). Participation, Remediation, Bricolage: Considering Principal Components of a Digital Culture. Information Society, 22(2), 63-75.

Deuze gives an in-depth analysis of online culture in particular to independent media (indymedia).

Holtz, S. (2006). Communicating in the world of Web 2.0. Communication World, 23(3), 24-27.

Holtz gives a good overview of how we now live in a consumer-driven marketplace.

Karlsson, L. (2006). The Diary Weblog and the Travelling Tales of Diasporic Tourists. Journal of Intercultural Studies, 27(3), 299-312.

Although I have already cited Karlsson’s paper, I did want to mention that it is a very insightful piece into Web logs as online journals.

Skinner, B. (2004). Web alert: news and views within healthcare -- managing the information overload. Quality in Primary Care, 12(4), 289-292.

Skinner gives good insights into Really Simple Syndication (RSS)’s potential.