According to Jim Porter in his blog RhetHistoria, research blogging is:
“… a professional, disciplinary blog — sometimes written by an individual, sometimes by a collection of authors — that identifies, summarizes, critiques, and shares preliminary research in a public, collaborative way. I’m not talking here about formal publication — what an online journal would do. I’m talking about the use of blogs as an exploratory inventional tool, as a way to share resources, to present preliminary findings-in-progress, and to discuss trends and possibilities. This kind of blog makes the preliminary stages of research and inquiry more public and more collaborative: in essence, it’s the use of an Internet writing tool to deploy the wisdom of the crowd earlier in the research process and in the service of invention.”
What are some benefits to using blogging as a tool to organize and present research?
* Blogging makes it possible to present and share work during the research process, and to receive feedback, advice, or suggestions during the process, rather than only at the end when the final work is completed.
* Blogging works as an organizational tool, allowing multiple arrangement and categorization strategies to allow easy access to notes and documents.
* Blogging enacts and represents a more collaborative, process-oriented approach to research, moving away from the isolated model of the “lone scholar” who “discovers” knowledge in isolation.
In addition, Research Blogging can also be used as a pedagogical tool in a variety of courses that require research.
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