blogging in academia — connected researcher @ bath

Blogging in AcademiaSocial Media and the Connected Researcher

Jez Cope

Centre for Sustainable Chemical TechnologiesUniversity of Bath

Innovations Day12 May 2011

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Outline

1 IntroductionWhat is a blog?Common pitfallsWhat do you need?

2 Getting startedSigning upAnatomy of a blogExploring your blog

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Outline

1 IntroductionWhat is a blog?Common pitfallsWhat do you need?

2 Getting startedSigning upAnatomy of a blogExploring your blog

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A blog is. . .

Definitionblog

noun. A very easy to edit website,featuring a collection of articleslisted in reverse-chronological order.

verb To contribute to a blog.

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A blog is. . .

Definitionblog

noun. A very easy to edit website,featuring a collection of articleslisted in reverse-chronological order.

verb To contribute to a blog.

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A blog is. . .

Definitionblog

noun. A very easy to edit website,featuring a collection of articleslisted in reverse-chronological order.

verb To contribute to a blog.

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A blog is. . .

Definitionblog

noun. A very easy to edit website,featuring a collection of articleslisted in reverse-chronological order.

verb To contribute to a blog.

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A blog is. . .

Definitionblog

noun. A very easy to edit website,featuring a collection of articleslisted in reverse-chronological order.

verb To contribute to a blog.

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Why do people blog?

Many different reasons. . .• Providing information to students;• Promote themselves & their research;• Reflection for learning & development;• Logging of progress & ideas;• Getting feedback;• Joining in a conversation.

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Why do people blog?

Many different reasons. . .• Providing information to students;• Promote themselves & their research;• Reflection for learning & development;• Logging of progress & ideas;• Getting feedback;• Joining in a conversation.

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Blogging in education

By Matt Lingard (@mattlingard)http://elearning.lse.ac.uk/blogs/clt/?p=128

Things to watch out for

• Protect your “brand”;• Protect your intellectual property;• Don’t infringe copyright.

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Requirements

• A computer;• An internet connection;• A web browser;• An email address;• A blog hosting platform.

Blogging platforms• WordPress

• See alsoblogs.bath.ac.uk

• Blogger• Posterous

• Just emailpost@posterous.com

• Tumblr

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Requirements

• A computer;• An internet connection;• A web browser;• An email address;• A blog hosting platform.

Blogging platforms• WordPress

• See alsoblogs.bath.ac.uk

• Blogger• Posterous

• Just emailpost@posterous.com

• Tumblr

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Requirements

• A computer;• An internet connection;• A web browser;• An email address;• A blog hosting platform.

Blogging platforms• WordPress

• See alsoblogs.bath.ac.uk

• Blogger• Posterous

• Just emailpost@posterous.com

• Tumblr

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Requirements

• A computer;• An internet connection;• A web browser;• An email address;• A blog hosting platform.

Blogging platforms• WordPress

• See alsoblogs.bath.ac.uk

• Blogger• Posterous

• Just emailpost@posterous.com

• Tumblr

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Requirements

• A computer;• An internet connection;• A web browser;• An email address;• A blog hosting platform.

Blogging platforms• WordPress

• See alsoblogs.bath.ac.uk

• Blogger• Posterous

• Just emailpost@posterous.com

• Tumblr

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Requirements

• A computer;• An internet connection;• A web browser;• An email address;• A blog hosting platform.

Blogging platforms• WordPress

• See alsoblogs.bath.ac.uk

• Blogger• Posterous

• Just emailpost@posterous.com

• Tumblr

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Outline

1 IntroductionWhat is a blog?Common pitfallsWhat do you need?

2 Getting startedSigning upAnatomy of a blogExploring your blog

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A disclaimer. . .

• I’m going to ask you to do a number of things in public as part ofthis session.

• You will be posting some things to the web.• I wont make you do anything embarrassing.• You dont have to do anything that you dont feel comfortable with.• You can take down things that you dont feel happy with after the

session.

— With thanks to Tristram Hooley, University of Derby

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Signing up for WordPress

http://wordpress.com/signup

orhttp://edublogs.org/signup-8ce

1 Visit the above webaddress;

2 Fill in the form;3 Check your email.

Don’t forget!

Read the Terms of Service!

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Anatomy of a blog

Anatomy of a blog

Title

Pages

Posts Sidebar

Exploring your blog

How do you:

• Edit the “About” page todescribe yourself?

• Delete the examplepost?

• Add a new post?• Categorise and tag a

post?

• Add a page for your CVor publications?

• Write a comment onyour neighbour’s blog?

• Change its appearancewith a theme?

• Add a widget with somelinks on it?

TipGo to learn. wordpress. com fortutorials and tips.

‘

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Bonus tips

• Think about what you want your blog to say,. . .• See e.g. http://ukwebfocus.wordpress.com/blog-policies/ for

a very full example!

• . . . but don’t drive yourself crazy over it,. . .• . . . and don’t be afraid to change your mind!• Consider making things private;• Find, read and comment on other people’s blogs;• RSS is your friend;• Link it with your other social networks.

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Summary

• Experiment, experiment, experiment!• Slides, notes and other info available on the wiki:

http://go.bath.ac.uk/bathcr

Next eventSocial citation & bookmarking— Late July

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