First, what are “blogs”?
Blog is short for web log. Blog can be used as a noun or a verb. Basically, they are personal journal-like web sites that are updated frequently by an individual or small group. Blogs are as varied as their creators and usually contain unfiltered commentary, links, prose, photos and other information.
The rise of free blogging software has made blogging both easier and more widespread. In just one month, January 2002, some 41,000 people created new weblogs using Blogger (one version of blogging software) In fact, Earthlink just recently announced a partnership with a major blogging company to provide these services to its customer base.
Why care about blogs?
Blogs can contain useful information, interesting stories, current data and wild perspectives. Some people use blogs as teaching tools or learning objects. Others use them as daily information sources. Since they are a fairly new addition to the evolution of the web, they are interesting to watch and study. Some blogs are full of trivial complaints and concerns that are really of interest to the person who wrote them or a small group. Others, though, are authoritative resources for an area of study or interest. So, caveat emptor!
Examples of Blogs:
(NOTE: These links take you away from Pellissippi State. We cannot control what type of content is on the blogs on any given day. View at your own discretion)
- Ernie/the/Attorney – a blawg: The Homeless Guy Blog: Noise Between Stations: Microsoft Office Tips - Learning Circuits (ASTD’s Online Magazine) – Learn to blog, blog to learn. A nice overview of blogging from an educator’s point of view
Blogs, Blogging, Bloggers and the Blogosphere - http://webtools.cityu.edu.hk/news/newsle…
Weblogs and Blogging, pt 2 - http://www.freepint.com/issues/160502.ht…
The Weblog Dictionary -http://www.davidgagne.net/main/dictionary.shtml
Living in the Blogosphere (a Newsweek article) - http://stacks.msnbc.com/news/795156.asp
Blogger – Create your own blogs!
The 2002 Bloggie Award Winners – See the cream of the crop, as it were.
Weblog Handbook – Read an excerpt and the table of contents from a recently published book on blogs.