Uses of Blogs

Citation

Chawner, B. (2007), "Uses of Blogs", Online Information Review, Vol. 31 No. 5, pp. 713-714. https://doi.org/10.1108/14684520710832432

If you are looking for a book that covers the “how‐tos” of blogging, then this is not for you. However, if what you are after is a carefully selected collection of academic papers that illustrate the range of ways blogs are being used, then this might meet your needs.

Bruns and Jacobs are both lecturers at Queensland University of Technology, and their objective in compiling this collection is not only to identify and understand the many uses of blogs, but also to explore their implications for blog authors and their readers. The 22 papers have been written by academics, consultants and postgraduate students. Though a majority of the authors are based in Australia, others come from the USA, the UK and Norway.

The book is arranged in three broad sections. It starts with a look at the ways in which blogs are used in specific sectors, such as news, marketing and public relations, and education. The second section focuses on the broader social issues associated with blogging. The final collection of papers looks forward, and considers the ways in which new technologies and legal frameworks might affect the future of blogging. I found Suw Charman's chapter on blogging behind the firewall (also known as “dark blogs”) interesting, particularly the idea of using blogs as a substitute for a glut of corporate email “announcements”, or for personal or group knowledge management.

Two chapters discuss the roles blogs can play in education; James Farmer presents a conceptual framework to illustrate the way in which blogs can change communication patterns in online courses, and Jean Burgess reports on her experience with using blogs as formative assessment in media studies courses. In a more reflective chapter, Jill Walker, a long‐time academic blogger, discusses how being “visible” on her widely‐read blog has affected her life, and speculates about the future of academic publishing, with the advent of research‐based blogs.

Other papers discuss political blogs, the use of blogs for social movements, such as disability activism, and blog economics, though there is no coverage of library/librarian blogs. While this may not be a book everyone will want to read cover to cover, the individual chapters stand on their own, and can be consulted as time and interest allow. Each chapter includes a list of references, and the book concludes with a selected bibliography.

Because the book's focus is on issues and uses of blogs rather than technology, it will continue to be relevant to people interested in blogging as a social phenomenon for several years. It is recommended for academic libraries collecting in the area of communications, and for professionals who want to understand the issues associated with blogging and bloggers in a variety of fields.