Investigating the emerging generic features of the blog writing task across three discrete learner groups at a higher education institution

Increasingly universities have supported several innovative flexible learning projects over the past few years, and there exists a small but enthusiastic group of staff who have demonstrated that something is possible. Our task is to suggest additional strategies that can realize some of the strategic goals set for flexible learning over the next few years. This paper is based upon the assumption that a strategic direction has already been chosen and suggests some strategies to ensure practical and realistic outcomes.

Création d'une communauté virtuelle de troisième cycle universitaire: apprentissage de conduites d'évaluation.

Durant plusieurs années un nombre croissant d'universités ont soutenu de nombreux projets innovants d'apprentissage flexible et il existe des groupes restreints mais enthousiastes d'enseignants qui ont démontré que l'on peut faire quelque chose. Notre tâche est de suggérer des stratégies complémentaires qui permettent d'atteindre certains des objectifs fixés pour les apprentissages flexibles dans les prochaines années. Cet article est fondé sur l'hypothèse qu'une direction stratégique a déjà été choisie et suggéré certaines stratégies pour obtenir des résultats pratiques et réalistes.

Erstellen einer virtuellen Gemeinschaft für Absolventen: Lernantrieb durch Einstufung

In zunehmendem Maße haben Universitäten in den letzten Jahren verschiedene innovative Projekte für Flexibles Lernen unterstützt. Es gibt eine kleine aber begeisterte Gruppe von Mitarbeitern, die gezeigt hat, daß auf diesem Gebiet durchaus etwas möglich ist. Unsere Aufgabe ist, zusätzliche Strategien vorzuschlagen, die einige der strategischen Ziele, die für Flexibles Lernen gesetzt sind, in den nächsten Jahren erreichen helfen. Dieses Papier geht von der Annahme aus, daß es schon eine strategische Richtung gibt und schlägt einige Taktiken vor, um praktikable und realistische Resultate sicherzustellen.     

Online diaries: Reflections on trust,privacy, and exhibitionism

Trust between transaction partners in cyberspace has come to be considered a distinct possibility. In this article the focus is on the conditions for its creation by way of assuming, not inferring trust. After a survey of its development over the years (in the writings of authors like Luhmann, Baier, Gambetta, and Pettit), this mechanism of trust is explored in a study of personal journal blogs. After a brief presentation of some technicalities of blogging and authors’ motives for writing their diaries, I try to answer the question, ‘Why do the overwhelming majority of web diarists dare to expose the intimate details of their lives to the world at large?’ It is argued that the mechanism of assuming trust is at play: authors simply assume that future visitors to their blog will be sympathetic readers, worthy of their intimacies. This assumption then may create a self-fulfilling cycle of mutual admiration. Thereupon, this phenomenon of blogging about one’s intimacies is linked to Calvert’s theory of ‘mediated voyeurism’ and Mathiesen’s notion of ‘synopticism’. It is to be interpreted as a form of ‘empowering exhibitionism’ that reaffirms subjectivity. Various types of ‘synopticon’ are distinguished, each drawing the line between public and private differently. In the most ‘radical’ synopticon blogging proceeds in total transparency and the concept of privacy is declared obsolete; the societal gaze of surveillance is proudly returned and nullified. Finally it is shown that, in practice, these conceptions of blogging are put to a severe test, while authors often have to cope with known people from ‘real life’ complaining, and with ‘trolling’ strangers.     

图林博客的社会网络分析

随着网络的发展和信息量的激增,产生了网络信息计量学。链接分析也逐渐成为一个研究热点。本文选择了20个比较著名的图情领域博客,统计各个博客的互链数据和共链数据。运用网络分析法、信息计量学中的引文分析法和Pajek、Ucinet软件,分析了这些博客间的社会网络关系,得到了相应的数据和网络图。     

An Exploratory Examination and Critique of Academic Law Librarian Blogs: A Look into an Evolving Reference Communication Practice

This study is an exploratory qualitative investigation of academic library blogs with the purpose of examining how the technology of blogging is evolving for reference and research purposes at particular academic law libraries. This study uses anthropological archive research methods to study the blogs’ posts and triangulates the study with librarian blogger interviews. It provides a look into possible future directions for blogging in academic law libraries that may serve as a model for other academic libraries.     

Cybertroopers and tea parties: government use of the Internet in Malaysia

The advent of the Internet has enabled a disruption of the Malaysian government's long-standing control of media content. However, there are also opportunities for the government to extend into the Internet what Cherian George has called ‘narrow tailoring’ policies, designed to ensure ‘hegemonic consensus.’ Demonstrating the interconnections of intraparty factional rivalry, blogging and newspaper management, as well as the extension of government influence into online content, this paper discusses three cases: the transformation of a bloggers association; the organisation of ‘cybertroopers’ by the dominant governing party; and, the use of a blog, Facebook, and Twitter by the prime minister (PM), Najib Razak. Each of the cases highlights particular ‘blog affordances’, a concept used to parse the potentials and limitations of blogs and other social media with regards to state hegemonic control through media ownership. In addition, an adapted concept of ‘extended parasocial relations’ is proposed in relation to Najib's blog and social media presence. Overall, these cases demonstrate the continuity and complementarity of on- and offline activities, which form a relatively stabilised assemblage of political activity.     

国内外图书馆博客的比较

摘要：自1999年第一个真正意义的博客创建以来,博客以其自身超越其他网络交流媒体的优势,迅速传播开来。一直关注于新信息技术的图书馆学人,对博客在图书馆学领域的应用展开了热烈的讨论和实践。由于国内外文化,经济,政策的差异,国内外图书馆学界对图书馆学博客的应用方法和理念并不一样。本文通过对国内外图书馆学博客发展历程、各类图书馆学博客内容分析,关键词数据统计等方法试对国内外图书馆学博客进行分析比较,通过分析比较发现我国图书馆博客存在的问题并尝试提出针对各类图书馆学博客发展的建议。     

试论高校图书馆学科博客的建立与实施

本文在引入博客内涵的基础上,阐述了高校图书馆学科博客的内涵,概述了学科博客的分类以及所包含的主要内容,并对学科博客的建立和维护提出了几点建议.     

Using Class Blogs in 1:1 Schools—Searching for Unexplored Opportunities

This article focuses on class blogs and presents results from 1:1 schools in Sweden. While Swedish schools are increasingly using Web 2.0 technologies (e.g., wikis and blogs), most of this use is still at an experimental stage. To further the understanding of how blogs are and can be used, we compare class blogs used in practice with the fast-growing literature in the field. Previous work suggests eight uses: collaboration, making assignments, journal writing, instruction, posting supplemental material, community building, external readers, and prompting. In practice, we found blogs to be used in a fairly narrow way—mainly for instruction and posting supplemental material. We hope that this article will inspire teachers to further their blog use.     

Studying cultural diversity using information and communication technologies in teacher education: pedagogy,power and literacy

Abstract

This article investigates the relationship between new technologies, pedagogy and cultural diversity. It is clear from the project discussed in this article that studying diversity issues on-line provides scope for developing what has been called cultural literacy following Bourdieu's (1990) notion of ‘different ways of seeing’. However, there are a number of unintended effects of power that emerge in this new cultural field which need examination. These include the importance of understanding the embodied context as much as the virtual, the need to be explicit about literacy practices to challenge the dominant liberal discourse of ‘voice’ in on-line discussion, and the effects of power that emanate from teaching and learning in this field.     

Blogging for the Record: A Study of Blogging from an Archival Point of View

ABSTRACT

This article examines the current phenomenon of blogging from an archival point of view. To better understand the nature of blogs, the author conducted an informal survey of bloggers at Princeton Theological Seminary. The results of this survey show that blogs represent a dynamic but ephemeral new form of electronic record and writing practice. This article concludes that blogs have archival value and that archivists should proactively preserve them along with other electronic records.