As part of her cataloging class, Jennifer over at Life As I Know It, has compiled a list of all the blogs talking about the big OPAC debate. It is a wonderful compilation, but what makes me think is this: She wants to use it as the start of a paper. The kind with research. For graduate school.
I have been waiting for there to be a slight movement towards information from blogs being credible regardless of their lowly origin. I still value the weight of a traditional literature review and frequently conduct them myself, but I rarely, if ever, pick up a journal or newspaper for the latest news and research. I, an educated degreed adult, am not ashamed to admit that my professional reading consists mostly of blogs and online venues.
Why? Why not? All of the cutting edge research, all of the truly lively discussions are occurring online and I can participate in them with a voice of my choosing. There is no editor or review board to poo poo my opinion. I can put it out there for all the world to read or not, but I am still a part of the growth of my profession.
To take this one step further, I rarely, if ever, read a physical newspaper. Only the comics on Sunday! All of my news comes from blogs, online news venues, The Daily Show (seriously), and NPR. I am not ashamed of this. I think I am very well informed. Before some of you start feeling like bashing the Daily Show, yes I know it is not a “real” news show, but that is kind of the point is it not?
Every kind of information has its place in the structure of things and they all serve a different purpose. I think that we are just starting to see blogs, in the past year or so, come into a definition and place of their own.
–Jane, defined