explodedlibrary.info

library koan to ponder: subversive gatekeepers

I've tried to stay out of some of the debates which librarians have been having about Wikipedia. But this post by Karen G. Schneider is an excellent statement about why even tech-savvy librarians have concerns about Wikipedia. I don't share all of Karen's opinions about Wikipedia, but after feeling somewhat on the defensive about the value of blogging for the past week or so, it is nice to be able to point to some good posts and say, "this is why blogging is relevant and deserves its place amongst the other communications media."

What really caught my attention was that Karen's discussion also touched on the librarians as gatekeepers issue. This has also been in the back of my mind lately. I wanted to explore this issue in my previous post, but decided that this would be opening a huge can of worms which would distract attention from the main point of that post.

I don't feel up to studying this issue (or the Wikipedia issue) more deeply tonight. I just wanted to make a note of Karen's contribution for when/if I do return to this in the future.

trying to understand the blogging backlash

Here’s the conundrum. Why do people bother criticizing blogs when nobody forces anybody to read them?

Liz Ditz hit the nail on the head when she wrote this:

“To be fair, there are a lot of blogs, often including this one, that are of interest only to those who write them and a few others. I just thought of another analogy: most photographs are bad, and few are of interest to anyone but the photographer.  Do we then smash all the cameras?  Ridicule the art of photography?”

blogroll updates

I've just updated one of my blogrolls. My blogrolls tend to contain links to a few essential A list blogs as well as links to interesting blogs which aren't as well known or read. My blogroll has a long way to go before it reaches a good balance between established and new voices, but one day I'll get there - and just then, everything will change again :) If I've learnt anything from this exercise, it's that I should update the blogrolls more frequently.

I prefer shorter and selective blogrolls. I subscribe to way more blogs than this, but don't think there's much value in posting a fairly meaningless longer list. Because I prefer shorter lists, it is a given that many quality blogs won't be included. I make no claims that the blogs on my blogroll are the best, just that they're worth looking at if you haven't seen them already. I have no patience for pettiness concerning blogrolls and think it's sad that this has deterred some people having a blogroll at all. That said, none of this discussion is prescriptive to other bloggers in any shape or form. I'm just doing my own thing here.

If you add me to your blogroll, I thank you, but hope that you realize that I feel under no obligation to add you back. The only benefit is that I'll definitely take a look at your blog, and if I like what I see (and you have a feed), I'll subscribe to it. If I'm really enjoying your blog at the time I review my blogroll, I may add it.

Conversely, if you choose to remove me from your blogroll for whatever reason, you may do this without any fear that I'll get upset about it.

Blaise Cronin's latest masterpiece in hypocrisy

Jessamyn’s short post and J. Michael Arrington’s longer post sum this up well. But I’ve decided to narcissistically add a few more words of my own.

After the Gormangate Blog People fiasco, I briefly wondered if the strong reaction against Michael Gorman’s rant might be a chilling effect that would stifle other people from criticizing blogs. I have now decided that I need not have been worried. Making uninformed sweeping negative generalizations about all blogs is actually a pretty good racket. The immediate effect is that you attract an awful lot of attention, which must be intoxicating for certain kinds of people. Yes, much of the attention will be quite negative, but if blogs and blog people are stupid, it doesn’t matter if they criticize you or call you silly names like “asshat.”

I found Blaise Cronin’s second anti-blog rant extremely amusing, although probably not for the reasons that he was intending. He writes about the reaction to his first anti-blog diatribe. He selectively quotes (without links or any form of citation, tsk tsk, Dean!) some of the insults he received and then laments that blogs have lowered the standards of civility and public decorum in public debate.

Wow, all I can say is that this was a masterpiece in hypocrisy, artistic in its bold lack of self-awareness. Blaise Cronin pointedly ignored all the criticism (e.g., by K. G. Schneider, as well as this temperate response) that he received about the actual issues, so he could concentrate on the personal attacks. Why would he do such a thing? Who knows, but I’m guessing it’s so he can play the martyr, and portray bloggers as crazies who resort to cheap insults when they’re losing an argument. Finally, it helped distract attention from the holes in his arguments and his lack of cited research.

the blogs of Australian librarians

[29 July 2007 update: This sidebar's been gone for over a year. I recommend people use the list at librariesinteract.info]

I've added another list on my sidebar, containing Australian library blogs. If I've missed anyone, please let me know. For the time being, I will include all blogs by Australian librarians, library assistants, library students or library technicians. Blogs by ex pat Australians are welcome. The only ones I'll leave out are blogs which appear to have been abandoned.