Why is it newsworthy to mention the new blogging course at UC-Berkeley? I would think a more appropriate reaction from this crowd would be: "What took so long???" and "What topics will be covered?".
For example, I respectfully disagree with c a miller that "great blogging is about great writing". I would argue blogging is about: filtering; passion; persistence; opinions; synthesis; fostering debates; detective skills; meta-information; etc. I am not against great writing, but I value great filtering over great writing when it comes to blogs.
I am also intrigued by the long-term economic implications of an infinite number of aggregating bloggers that have access to an infinite supply of freely available content. Already we have meta-blogs. Some bloggers also tend to get defensive when they are categorized as "Uber-Editors", as I believe the good ones better present information than the corporate content producers they utilitze.
I agree, though, that we should not be distracted by the term "blog" or the current incarnation of blogs. Instead, I think there are many underlying abstract concepts that are indeed interesting and worthwhile to explore. The chemical reaction of combining hyperlinks (and the wealth of online content to which they point) to the aged-old journal - and not just individual journals but community journals, too.
The concept of community blogs should also be applied to group problem-solving, not just communication. For example, isn't the TV show, America's Most Wanted a relative of the blog? Maybe, maybe not - but we could talk about it in class. See you next semester. ;-)
--Existing TeleBlog with copyright-related material: http://www.teleread.org/blog or http://www.teleblog.org
--The blog's reference to the Berkeley experiment with a copyright blog: http://www.teleread.org/blog/2002_06_01_archive#85152928
--Comments on Steve Outings discussion of public libraries and newspaper archives http://www.teleread.org/blog/2002_05_01_archive#85127141
Still, I can appreciate the warning from CA Miller. Beware of professionalizing the life out of blogs. And don't just use them for reporting. Encourage students to hone their skills as commentators (in appropriately identified blogs). Dan Gillmor's blog is certainly a good example of the possibilities.
Let me also add that I'd hate to see blogs replace conventional articles entirely. We need both. If nothing else, long and well-researched articles are wonderful linking fodder for the creators of Web logs.
That's something I know first-hand. The TeleBlog already is covering many copyright-related issues as part of its advocacy of well-stocked national digital library systems in the States and elsewhere. Within the TeleBlog, a reference to the Berkeley experiment appears at . Great to see the media world catching on. Back in '96 Jim Fallows and I started Fallows Central: The Works and Links of James Fallows, and we included many short, bloggish items with links to longer pieces elsewhere on the Web. From the start, the TeleBlog has noted the advantages that a TeleRead-style library system could bring to bloggers--who, though stable, reliable links, could directly point their readers to books or sections within them. Via a combination of public and private financing, thousands of contemporary works could even be online for free. That's much of what TeleRead is about.The TeleBlog also includes comments on Steve Outing's recent discussion of libraries and newspaper archives. See . David Rothman, CoordinatorTeleRead: Bring the E-Books Hometeleread.org | dr@teleread.org703-370-6540
Within the TeleBlog, a reference to the Berkeley experiment appears at . Great to see the media world catching on. Back in '96 Jim Fallows and I started Fallows Central: The Works and Links of James Fallows, and we included many short, bloggish items with links to longer pieces elsewhere on the Web. From the start, the TeleBlog has noted the advantages that a TeleRead-style library system could bring to bloggers--who, though stable, reliable links, could directly point their readers to books or sections within them. Via a combination of public and private financing, thousands of contemporary works could even be online for free. That's much of what TeleRead is about.The TeleBlog also includes comments on Steve Outing's recent discussion of libraries and newspaper archives. See . David Rothman, CoordinatorTeleRead: Bring the E-Books Hometeleread.org | dr@teleread.org703-370-6540
From the start, the TeleBlog has noted the advantages that a TeleRead-style library system could bring to bloggers--who, though stable, reliable links, could directly point their readers to books or sections within them. Via a combination of public and private financing, thousands of contemporary works could even be online for free. That's much of what TeleRead is about.
The TeleBlog also includes comments on Steve Outing's recent discussion of libraries and newspaper archives. See . David Rothman, CoordinatorTeleRead: Bring the E-Books Hometeleread.org | dr@teleread.org703-370-6540
David Rothman, CoordinatorTeleRead: Bring the E-Books Hometeleread.org | dr@teleread.org703-370-6540
