in Philadelphia...
I am in the fair city of cream cheese brotherly love for the AHA convention (that's the American Historical Association - so for those of you who may have been wondering, my rarely-mentioned-on-this-page dissertation is in that subject).
On Saturday, Manan from the Chapati Mystery site will be in a panel on blogging and history. It promises to be interesting, and I think there are a lot of interesting and useful paths for historians (and other academics) to take with online journals. While I (obviously) don't really use this page for much academic musing, I also contribute to Frog in a Well group blog on Chinese history.
The debate kicked off on the Chronicle some time ago. I have previously commented on the issue. I feel sorry for the original author of the Chronicle article, who seems to have had abuse heaped on him by indignant bloggers, for merely suggesting that, yes, employers will judge you by anything you make publicly available - including a blog. If you are so brilliant an academic that you can write six books a year/have a Nobel prize/walk on water/etc, perhaps you can afford to have a website on which you rant about your allergies (or indeed coworkers). But if you're actually going to be COMPETING for jobs , as most of us are, why on earth would you want to do something that would run a major risk of turning off an employer? Serious academic blogs are useful, and there are many good ones out there. But too many blogs do fall into the "why does nobody understand my allergy to moondust" variety (I could post links and name and shame but I won't) - and it is the authors of these blogs who seem to be the most offended that someone could dare think less of them for it. OTOH, they are probably doing potential employers a favour by offering a n "I'm a weirdo" heads-up.
On Saturday, Manan from the Chapati Mystery site will be in a panel on blogging and history. It promises to be interesting, and I think there are a lot of interesting and useful paths for historians (and other academics) to take with online journals. While I (obviously) don't really use this page for much academic musing, I also contribute to Frog in a Well group blog on Chinese history.
The debate kicked off on the Chronicle some time ago. I have previously commented on the issue. I feel sorry for the original author of the Chronicle article, who seems to have had abuse heaped on him by indignant bloggers, for merely suggesting that, yes, employers will judge you by anything you make publicly available - including a blog. If you are so brilliant an academic that you can write six books a year/have a Nobel prize/walk on water/etc, perhaps you can afford to have a website on which you rant about your allergies (or indeed coworkers). But if you're actually going to be COMPETING for jobs , as most of us are, why on earth would you want to do something that would run a major risk of turning off an employer? Serious academic blogs are useful, and there are many good ones out there. But too many blogs do fall into the "why does nobody understand my allergy to moondust" variety (I could post links and name and shame but I won't) - and it is the authors of these blogs who seem to be the most offended that someone could dare think less of them for it. OTOH, they are probably doing potential employers a favour by offering a n "I'm a weirdo" heads-up.
<< Home