IntroToWeblogs

What is a weblog?

 * a personal content management system
 * a tool to foster and grow collaboration
 * an easy way for individuals (and groups) to publish content without technical knowledge or experience
 * conventional weblogs are hybrids of online journals and magazines - from one person's (or a small group's) perspective

How does it differ from discussion boards?

 * Blogs may have longer posts, with more media. (for instance, raw preliminary data from my MSc thesis)
 * Discussion boards are usually without a unifying direction - low signal:noise ratio
 * Weblogs typically have a specific direction or focus (an individual's perspective and experience), and others are welcome to participate - high signal:noise ratio
 * Weblogs form rich, deeply linked networks between trusted sources (individuals and groups)

Why blog?

 * How changed my life for the better (Harold Jarche)
 * Commonplace Book (Steve Johnson: The glass box and the commonplace book)
 * The Virtues of Blogging as Scholarly Activity - article by Martin Weller
 * Students as creators and producers

What good is a weblog?

 * outboard brain D'Arcy Norman's weblog
 * collaborative and peer review - Giulia Forsythe
 * project communication
 * communities of practice Anthropology community resources
 * conference sharing

Some example weblogs

 * Course "motherblog" sites
 * Hamlet in the Humanities - English 203 @ UCalgary
 * DS106 - Digital Storytelling, via University of Mary Washington
 * Duke Humanities course on "viral narratives"
 * Academics' blogs
 * Alec Couros
 * Ben Cowie - Snow and Science
 * Stephen Downes (and at Half an Hour)
 * George Siemens
 * Tony Bates
 * Gardner Campbell
 * Individual Weblogs
 * darcynorman.net - D'Arcy Norman's weblog
 * The Distant Librarian - Paul Pival's weblog (from the Library)
 * Nancy White - Full Circle Associates
 * Logblog - Richard Zach's weblog (from Philosophy)
 * Campus Weblog Services
 * UCalgaryBlogs.ca - University of Calgary weblog service
 * UBC Weblogs
 * UMWBlogs
 * Corporate Weblogs
 * Planet Sun (Sun Microsystems)
 * Microsft MSDN Blogs
 * Adobe Blogs

Where can I get my own weblog?

 * ucalgaryblogs.ca - any member of the University of Calgary community can weblog here (free)
 * WordPress.com - free weblogs for anyone (free)
 * EduBlogs.org - anyone, anywhere can weblog here (free)
 * blogger.com - anyone, anywhere can weblog here (free)
 * typepad.com - anyone, anywhere can weblog here (for a fee)