1. Introduction to Academic Blogging Lisa Spiro Digital Media Center, Rice U. February 2009 http://flickr.com/photos/m-c/178734272/

2. My blogging experience Launched blog to share research on project to remix my dissertation as digital scholarship Expanded to explore emerging field “digital humanities” http://digitalscholarship.wordpress.com

3. Using Blogs to Promote Research Programs Comparative Media Studies at MIT: http://cms.mit.edu/ http://cms.mit.edu/ Home page showcases 5 recent blog posts by faculty & grad students “Blogging has also deepened [grad students’] research, providing feedback on their arguments, connecting them to previously unknown authorities, and pushing them forward in ways that no thesis committee could match. Now all of our research teams are blogging not only about their own work but also about key developments in their fields.” (Henry Jenkins) Henry Jenkins

4. Using Blogs as Common Publishing Platform for the University: University of Mary Washington Blogs Common blogging platform for university 1425 posts so far this month Used for classes, personal reflection, online archives, etc. http://umwblogs.org/

5. Blogs as a Publishing Platform: Rice’s Catalyst Review http://catalyst.rice.edu/

6. How to Use an Academic Blog Offer commentary on current news of interest to the field: conferences, news reports, publications Post research updates Facilitate class discussion Build a project portfolio Offer meditations on topics significant to the field Provide food for thought/ Quotations Write collaboratively http://umwblogs.org/support/ten-ways-to-use-umw-blogs/

7. Academic & Research Blogs at Rice http://library.rice.edu/research/news-sources/academic-and-research-blogs

8. Why Blog Communicate with the public; have a public voice Explore ideas and get feedback on them Keep a research journal, a well of ideas from which you can draw Increase your visibility Recruit new grad students & collaborators

9. Blogging Can Increase Your Visibility

10. Does blogging make you a better academic? “Blogging makes me a better academic because it increases my visibility, name recognition and credibility among the public and among academics who read blogs (which are many more than one might think). It hones my public writing skills, allows me to test new ideas outside of formal publication and get feedback. It allows me to have a public voice consistently and persistently between formal publications. I can let people know what I'm working on, when the project will be finished and when it is released in a published form and so forth.” (April DeConick) http://www.media.rice.edu/media/NewsBot.asp?MODE=VIEW&ID=11902&SnID=744291848

11. Disadvantages to Blogging Time commitment Sharing ideas before they’re fully formed Blogging is typically not valued in tenure & promotion (yet)

12. How to find blogs Google Blog Search: http://blogsearch.google.com/http://blogsearch.google.com/ Technorati: http://www.technorati.com/blogs/http://www.technorati.com/blogs/ Blog directory; calculates simple “authority” rating based on # of blogs linking to your blog Following links from other blogs or web sites Sign up for alerts for blogs that meet certain search criteria, e.g. Google Alerts: http://www.google.com/alerts http://www.google.com/alerts

13. Anatomy of a Blog Blogrolls Trackbacks Multimedia Content Links 1. Title of blog 2. Date of post 3. Title of post 4. Body of post 5. Post author 6. Time stamp, also the permalink for the post. 7. Comments. 8. Trackback. 9. Profile of the blogger 10. Blogroll, a list of links to other blogs. http://flickr.com/photos/lorda/119881961/

14. Blogrolls Link to blogs that you read Signify your participation in a community

15. Trackbacks Alerts you when another blog post has linked to yours Facilitate discussion Grounds the blog post in the network of other posts http://amandafrench.net/2009/02/16/facebook-terms-of-service-compared/

16. Embedding Multimedia Embed video, images, audio, etc in blog post Blog post can be much richer than paper--show not tell http://blog.whitneyannetrettien.com/2009/02/early-modern-commonplacing-dada-cut-ups.html

17. Linking Link to content that is referred to in post Provides immediate access to works under discussion http://savageminds.org/2009/02/04/learning-an-endangered-language/

18. Comments Engage in discussion Readers can offer immediate feedback Foster transparency http://www.lessig.org/blog/2009/02/on_the_farm_league_for_k_stree.html

19. Writing Successful Blog Posts Know your audience. Write posts of use or interest to them. Use snappy headlines so readers know what they’re getting (or are intrigued) Blogs are typically more casual & conversational than academic writing. Use a personal voice. Make it easy to skim your blog. Use subheads, lists, etc. Don’t be sloppy. Spellcheck. Fact-check. Proofread. Incorporate visual content to liven things up.

20. Slow Blogging Comparable to slow food--slow down, chew over ideas Produce more meditative, carefully crafted pieces “Blog to reflect, Tweet to connect.” (Barbara Ganley) Example: http://bgblogging.wordpress.com/

21. Getting Started & Building an Audience Find blogs to model yours on. Figure out what your niche is. What topics aren’t being addressed? Choose a memorable title for your blog that summarizes what it’s all about. Let people know about your blog: Link to similar blog posts Email friends and colleagues Comment on other blogs--engage in the community Write some high profile posts that are useful to your community, e.g. tutorials, synthesis of the year in your field, surprising research results, etc.

22. Hosted Blogging Services Blogger LiveJournal TypePad Vox.com Wordpress.com Note: Rice may provide a hosted blogging service starting this summer.

23. Why I Like WordPress.comWordPress.com Open source Free! Easy to use No ads (usually); looks professional Over 50 design templates Cool widgets: delicious, search, archive, etc. Excellent user support Nice tools for tracking blog stats High profile: registers blog with Google & Technorati Good spam prevention Bonus: created by former U of Houston student

24. Selecting a Design Theme for Your Blog Via “Appearance” sidebar menu

25. Adding Widgets Customize your blog Widgets allow you to: Provide links to other sites Create a calendar or tagcloud of your posts Show items you’ve bookmarked through delicious Show blog stats & much more

26. Configuring for Multiple Authors

27. Adding Links to Your Blogroll

28. Creating a Blog Post

29. Adding Media to Your Post

30. Tips for Writing Blog Posts in WordPress Cutting and pasting from another web site often retains the formatting from that site Tag and categorize your posts so that they are easier to find If you’ve got a bad Internet connection, compose draft with word processing app

31. Viewing Stats Understand how your blog is received. Select blog stats from Dashboard to see: # of views Refererrers Top posts Search terms Links followed

32. Promoting Your Blog Through a FeedBurner account (http://feedburner.google.com), you can:http://feedburner.google.com Create an RSS feed for your blog (although most blog platforms do that for you) Publicize your feed Collect & analyze stats Feature new posts on another web site

33. Creating an RSS Feed for Another Web Page

34. The Appeal of Blogging “The simple experience of being able to directly broadcast my own words to readers was an exhilarating literary liberation.” (Andrew Sullivan, “Why I Blog”)Why I Blog

35. Resources Bookmarks on blogging: http://www.diigo.com/user/lspiro/blogging http://www.diigo.com/user/lspiro/blogs Find this presentation at Rice’s Digital Scholarship Archive, http://scholarship.rice.edu/http://scholarship.rice.edu/