Note: Over the next few days, I will be posting a series of thoughts on biblioblogging and New Media. I have become more active as a blogger over the last year, and thought that some of my regular readers would like to know why I consider myself a biblioblogger, and what it means to operate a biblioblog. For my working definition of a biblioblog that I will be using over the next few posts, see Part One: A Definition.
Not only is academic interest in blogging as a viable
method of scholarly communication on the rise, but also an increasing number of
scholars are turning their attention to the study of the phenomenon of biblioblogging
itself. In recent months, students like Brian LePort, Joel Watts, and others
have compiled and presented papers at academic conferences examining the merits
and disadvantages of the use of biblioblogging as a form of New Media
communication among students and professors alike. In a recent post on his blog Near Emmaus, Brian LePort lists five advantages offered by biblioblogging to
the academic community, particularly students:
- Broadened
Learning Circles.
Bibliobloggers are not confined by their geographic location or lack of
access to a decent theological library. Productive scholarly communication
can take place between a scholar and a student who have never met and who
conduct their studies on different sides of the country or even on different
continents.
- Networking. Since becoming a frequent
blogger myself, I have had the opportunity to stretch not only my mind,
but also my academic social network. Due in part to my own experiences with biblioblogging, I have recently made connections with several other
scholars, and found a few different ways in which I could contribute to
their ongoing work. Within the last year of my increased posting, I have
been invited to regularly contribute to Brian LePort’s widely-read
biblioblog, as well as collaborate with Historical Jesus scholar
Anthony Le Donne on a working bibliography of the application of Social
Memory Theory to Historical Jesus studies.
- Feedback. Biblioblogging has cleared
the way for quickly and efficiently providing feedback to the ideas of
scholars and students alike. It serves as a form of basic and immediate
peer review. As iron sharpens iron, bibliobloggers have ready access to
“proof-readers or conversation partners…to inform, support, or challenge
ideas that may have gone into one’s [academic work] unrefined.”[1]
- The
Discipline of Writing. For the would-be scholar, writing frequently and writing well
are important attributes to possess, and prepare students for the rigors
of academia. Operating a biblioblog encourages students to form good
regular writing habits.
- Educating
Religious Communities. Because of their accessibility, biblioblogs offer a prime
learning opportunity for pastors and laity with a non-academic focus. One
doesn’t have to hold a doctorate to understand or contribute to the
biblioblogging community. The rise of blogging as a preferred genre of the
New Media has opened the learning field up and initiated a form of
guerrilla education in which anyone is free to participate.
In addition to LePort’s pluses, we might also consider the
following advantages for those who wish to engage the field of biblical studies
by blogging:
- The
option of anonymity. If the author of a blog or post wishes to present his or her
thoughts anonymously, that is his or her prerogative. In fact, many
writers embrace the freedom of opinion offered by anonymous blogging. One
notably successful example of this phenomenon is the brutally frank,
highly educated and sardonically satirical blogger N.T. Wrong, whose
identity persists even today in eluding some of the most astute biblioblogging
researchers, even though his (or her) blog site has been defunct for over
four years.[2]
- Biblioblogging
demystifies the process of academic dialogue. In the simple process of
creating (encoding) a blog post and engaging the comments of those who
have questions or criticisms of the author’s ideas, biblioblogging breaks
scholarly communication down to its most basic components and allows
students to see that the “man behind the curtain” is really just a bunch
of fancy smoke and mirror work. There is nothing to be afraid of in
academia—it is simply a free exchange and dialogue of ideas. Its
informality is a boon to those beginning students who may be intimidated
by the verbose arguments of more experienced scholars engaging in formal
discourse.
Up Next: Disadvantages of Biblioblogging
[1]
[2]
However, the entire contents of N.T. Wrong’s blog from April 2008 through
January 2009 can be found archived at http://ntwrong.wordpress.com/.
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