For those of you who are interested in science blogging -- either to ask questions or to start one of your own -- I will be participating in a panel discussion about science blogging next week (Wednesday, Oct. 1st at 7 pm) at the Apple Store in Soho New York. More info here if you would like to attend.
The panel is moderated by Katherine Sharpe and includes fellow SciBlings Jessica Palmer, Steinn Sigurdsson, GrrlScientist, and Brian Switek.
Please come by and join us if you are in the area.
In the vein of the significance of science blogging, SciBlings Shelley Batts, Nick Anthis, and Tara Smith have a paper in PLoS about the interface between science and the web:
Because many science bloggers are practicing scientists or experts in their field, they can provide a unique educational bridge between academia and the public and distill important experimental findings into an accessible, interactive format. Yet academic institutions have been slow to appreciate blogs as valuable mediums for facilitating scholarly discussion, illustrated by the lack of institutional blogs or blogs by established academics. It is true that few quality-control or vetting mechanisms exist to help readers evaluate a blog, which typically earns its reputation based on the blogger's credentials and reader feedback. Yet both academic institutions and blogs aim to engage and educate the public and advance scientific knowledge and discussion. By combining the credibility of institutions--trusted gate-keepers for scientific truth--with the immediacy and networking infrastructure of blogs, we believe that these shared goals can be better served with benefits to both partners.
We propose a roadmap for turning blogs into institutional educational tools and present examples of successful collaborations that can serve as a model for such efforts. We offer suggestions for improving upon the traditionally used blog platform to make it more palatable to institutional hosts and more trustworthy to readers; creating mechanisms for institutions to provide appropriate (but not stifling) oversight to blogs and to facilitate high-quality interactions between blogs, institutions, and readers; and incorporating blogs into meta-conversations within and between institutions.
Read the whole thing.
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But it's in NEW YOOOORK!! NOOOO!!
Have fun guys and gals, I'm sorry I won't be there. Any chance it'll be taped and uploaded for your long distance readers to watch?
I do have a question though, how much time does it take to write a science-based post, as opposed to an everyday post. I'm an undergraduate in biology, and I've worked for several years as a science technician (sadly, not at the moment), and I've often wondered if the posts I see on Sb just trip off the tongue, or take time and effort to put together.
I'd like to think the latter, mainly to make me feel better. :D
I don't know for certain but I think they are going to podcast it after.
The length of time to make a post varies a lot. I can say that the posts I have analyzing journal articles take a lot longer -- usually at least an hour. Other ones are shorter.
The way I usually organize my day is spending one hour in the morning blogging. If I can get one post done, that is great. If not, I finish it the next day.
jake, you forgot to mention an article of mine about science blog writing that was just published.