Our assignment for this week was to look at blogs about the topic we are doing research for (in my case it is alcoholism), and from these blogs we have looked at, give our opinion on whether or not we believe blogs to be legitimate forms of scholarship or news.
The opinion I have formulated through looking at different blogs (on alcoholism) are that I believe they are or I should say can be legitimate forms of scholarship or news if they are done in a way which is relevant to the topic the blog is about and it keeps a constant update on the subject with the possible use or paraphrasing of information from articles they have read on the subject to further enrich the blog post. I think they can be legitimate forms of scholarship or news because if they done correctly and in a manner which incorporates their own views (though in the case of mine it is mainly just articles which do not include the bloggers own opinion on the subject, but who show they find it to be of relevant through their posting of the information) and experiences on/with the topic including relevant references to current news broadcasts or a recently published article on the subject to help get their viewpoint across to readers of the blog. This in turn helps explain what factors have lead this blogger to have a certain view (or why they find it important to contribute information on a topic) on a topic they are blogging about.
An example which shows that blogs can be legitimate forms of scholarship or news is the blog ALCOHOL REPORTS
What this blog post does is list relevant information about alcoholism through its reference to a link of an article that focuses on alcoholism. The blog allows you to see where this information was first gathered from, and it explains the information to the reader in a way which is understandable but still highly academical. Also from what I have seen on this blog they update it multiple times daily with new information they find in journals, book, and articles in the news and so forth from all over the world and on many different topics which relate to alcoholism. And from what I have seen through looking at numerous posts is that the bloggers really just re-paste these articles on their blog so they are not really altered in content of the intended message of the article at all which makes it in my opinion a very scholarly source of information. I will say though that because this blog updates so often it can be hard to sort through which parts of it you would find useful to what you are looking for on your topic, also some of the articles are harder to understand because they use scientific language and are almost lab report summaries, but other than that it is a source which provides quite a bit of useful information about alcoholism.
References
ALCOHOL REPORTS. (2012, March 9). The Influence of Gene–Environment Interactions on the Development of Alcoholism and Drug Dependence [blop post]. Retrieved from http://alcoholreports.blogspot.com/2012/03/influence-of-geneenvironment.html
Hi Taylor,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this blog about alcoholism. It seems that the bloggers have posted abstracts from different scholarly journal articles on different alcoholism-related studies. They might provide a lead for your research. The bloggers themselves, however, have not posted their interpretations of the studies, or their original research. It seems that they are using this blog as a repository for articles that they believe are valuable.
This blog would be great for anyone looking for examples of original research on the effects of alcoholism on different people...but if you were to refer to any of those abstracts, it would be better to read the article that the abstract comes from, and not the blog itself.
See if you can find a blog where the blogger actually writes original posts on alcoholism or comments on alcoholism/alcohol-related research...here is an example (although not the best):
Dick B: The Real "Power" Behind Alcoholics Anonymous:
http://mauihistorian.blogspot.com/
I don't know where he finds his information...it is even possible that he has some personal experience with AA...but the posts are all originals written by Dick B....so
if anyone wanted to cite something from his blog, they would have to cite him and his blog.
Sincerely,
Professor Wexelbaum
I was afraid of that....... :( I found a blog which I liked with a post about Prohibition and how afterwards america can be seen to have more of a mixed view on alcohol (people demonizing for having been an illegal substance)and then it goes on to talk about who can be seen to use it at certain times in history (like class of people and such....ect)
ReplyDeleteAmy Mittelman. Amy Mittelman Brewing Battles Blog: Happy Repeal Day.(March 14, 2012) [Blog post] Retrieved from http://www.amymittelman.com/musings/
I hope this one works better :)
That's a great blog, Taylor!
ReplyDeleteAmy Mittelman, it seems, publishes and presents a great deal on the history of brewing, as well as the social history of drinking. See if you can locate some of the resources where she has published/presented...you might find some helpful resources that will explain why alcohol abuse is so prevalent.
Sincerely,
Professor Wexelbaum
Yay :D I'm so happy this one is a good one.... Its more difficult than it seemed it would be to find one that looked good,well at least for me to find one I thought was good. Thank you for the feedback ;D
ReplyDelete