On the challenging gap between community feedback and academic recognition

Lambert Heller TIB/UB Hannover On the challenging gap between community feedback and academic recognition Berlin 6 Open Access Conference Düsseldorf, 11-13 November 2008 Lambert Heller, On the challenging gap between community feedback... Berlin 6 Open Access Conference, Düsseldorf, 11-13 November 2008

Blog aggregators as a communication pattern > It is a revealing new communication pattern to present regularly updated informations from personal weblogs using blog aggregators. > Feed aggregators... ...are web applications to collect entries from blogs (or other feed sources) on a common topic. ...have a searchable archive and are public (unlike personal aggregators, e.g. Google Reader). ...are in general driven by a common interest on the conversations in and between the blogs of the members of some community of practice / of interest. Lambert Heller, On the challenging gap between community feedback... Berlin 6 Open Access Conference, Düsseldorf, 11-13 November 2008

A look at a software developer community > Aggregator „Planet Debian“ > Started in 2004, pioneering the use of public blog aggregators. > At that time, it collected the entries from the personal blogs of 40 developers of the Debian Linux Distribution. > Today more than 300 aggregated blogs, several spinoff planets etc … > Function as a community „showcase“. > Not suprising: Some computer nerds as early adopters of a new pattern. Screenshot taken from planet.debian.net Lambert Heller, On the challenging gap between community feedback... Berlin 6 Open Access Conference, Düsseldorf, 11-13 November 2008

Spreading of the „blog aggregator“ pattern > Well known examples of science blog aggregators Screenshots taken from researchblogging.org and blogs.nature.com Lambert Heller, On the challenging gap between community feedback... Berlin 6 Open Access Conference, Düsseldorf, 11-13 November 2008

Spreading of the „blog aggregator“ pattern > Perhaps even more important: Small adoptions, like institutional „planets“… Screenshot taken from planetyork.yorku.ca Lambert Heller, On the challenging gap between community feedback... Berlin 6 Open Access Conference, Düsseldorf, 11-13 November 2008

Spreading of the „blog aggregator“ pattern > …communities of interest, often loosely coupled… Screenshots taken from oerblogs.org and en.planet.wikimedia.org Lambert Heller, On the challenging gap between community feedback... Berlin 6 Open Access Conference, Düsseldorf, 11-13 November 2008

Spreading of the „blog aggregator“ pattern > …experiments with „social streaming“, and… Screenshot taken from friendfeed.com, room „Science 2.0“ Lambert Heller, On the challenging gap between community feedback... Berlin 6 Open Access Conference, Düsseldorf, 11-13 November 2008

Spreading of the „blog aggregator“ pattern > … ad hoc feed collections with free commercial tools. bloglines.com user account of Blackpool, Fylde & Wyre Health Library Lambert Heller, On the challenging gap between community feedback... Berlin 6 Open Access Conference, Düsseldorf, 11-13 November 2008

So what? > What can we observe within these communities? > In particular, what are the incentives to blog as a researcher/scientist? > What are the new patterns emerging from that? Lambert Heller, On the challenging gap between community feedback... Berlin 6 Open Access Conference, Düsseldorf, 11-13 November 2008

Ambient findability as an obvious basis > A sense of „ambient findability“ of the information: When I‘m blogging out loud, every information will (immediately, and later on) find its reader. > Mostly impact of powerful web search engines (cf. Peter Morville), but additional layers of community building (cf. blog aggregators) go beyond this. > One interesting implication thereof (as this conference is all about Open Access): Importance of Open Access is obvious. Although most bloggers catch on „openess“ as a more technical term, explicit licensing of blog content under creative commons licenses is spreading. Lambert Heller, On the challenging gap between community feedback... Berlin 6 Open Access Conference, Düsseldorf, 11-13 November 2008

Instant community feedback > Not only does the blogged content „find its readers“: It also pulls its critics. > By allowing your readers to comment on your blog, you expose yourself to peer review in public. And you simply can't defeat not being linked by others. > Nothing gets sorted out before publishing, but everything is „included and postponed“ (David Weinberger, Everything is Miscalleneous, p 113) to be reviewed and to be corrected later. Lambert Heller, On the challenging gap between community feedback... Berlin 6 Open Access Conference, Düsseldorf, 11-13 November 2008

Appeal of easiness > Blogging has the appeal of definitive easiness, compared to any other way of publishing: No need to „sort out unneeded information“ (cf. the Wikipedians‘ inclusionist/exclusionist debate), to negotiate with publishers, waiting to appear in print etc. > Even original research data may someday be blogged (not only blogged about). The tools are already there. Lambert Heller, On the challenging gap between community feedback... Berlin 6 Open Access Conference, Düsseldorf, 11-13 November 2008

Continuos development „in the open” > Resulting from the beforementioned adherence to openess, instant community feedback and easiness: Incremental, continuos developing of thoughts „in the open“ as an individually chosen strategy. > „Communities of blogging practices“ (Jan Schmidt) encourage a new communication behaviour on top of the new web infrastructure. > Tensions and problems with this kind of revolution are inevitable. Lambert Heller, On the challenging gap between community feedback... Berlin 6 Open Access Conference, Düsseldorf, 11-13 November 2008

Gap between practice and acknowledgement > Blogging is an emerging pattern in science communication that won't replace traditional media anytime soon, but definitely will complement them. > “...we are witnessing a radical shift in how we establish authority, significance, and even scholarly validity.” (Michael Jensen, New Metrics of Scholarly Authority) > Young generation of science bloggers begin to shift their practice – but hard to gain academic recognition. > Publishers, funding agencies, libraries and appointments committees should acknowledge the phenomenon and adapt their tools and strategies. Lambert Heller, On the challenging gap between community feedback... Berlin 6 Open Access Conference, Düsseldorf, 11-13 November 2008

Thank you! > References & recommended reading: http://www.bibsonomy.org/user/sciencebloglibrarian > Questions, counterpoints? > Discuss with me anytime later: > http://wikify.org/ | lh@wikify.org | Skype: wikify Lambert Heller, On the challenging gap between community feedback... Berlin 6 Open Access Conference, Düsseldorf, 11-13 November 2008

On the challenging gap between community feedback and academic recognition

by Lambert Heller on Nov 11, 2008

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On the challenging gap between community feedback and academic recognition — Presentation Transcript