Presentation given at Simmons College, December 3, 2012

1. THE BLOGS
OF TODAY,
TOMORROW ?
PERCEPTIONS ON PRESERVATION
CAROLYN.HANK@MCGILL.CA
Assistant Professor ▪ School of Information Studies
GSLIS ▪ SIMMONS COLLEGE ▪ 03 DECEMBER 2012 ▪ BOSTON

2. part
one
a little about me

3. 2004-2005
OCLC
- SENSE-MAKING THE INFORMATION CONFLUENCE
- MOVING FROM PRINT TO HYBRID JOURNAL
SUBSCRIPTIONS
OCLC RESEARCH
- DIGITAL CURATION/INSTITUTIONAL REPOSITORY COMM.
2005-present - CAROLINA DIGITAL REPOSITORY
UNC
- DIGCCURR I (DIGITAL CURATION CURRICULUM)
- DIGCCURR II (PROFESSIONAL TRAINING)
AT CHAPEL HILL - DIGITAL PRESERVATION, ACCESS & CURATION
- HUMAN INFORMATION INTERACTION
2010-present - GRANTS: BLOGS & FACEBOOK
MCGILL
- CONSULTANT, BLOGFOREVER.EU
- RESEARCH ETHICS BOARD
- ARCHIVAL STUDIES STREAM
SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES
- TEACHING, ADVISING & SUPERVISING

4. part
two
FOUR BLOG STUDIES FROM 2006 THROUGH TODAY

5. 2006-2008
1 GENERAL BLOGGERS
QUESTIONNAIRES
n=223
SNOWBALL SAMPLING
Sheble, L., Choemprayong, S., & Hank. C. (2007). Preservation in context: Survey of blogging behaviors.
In Proceedings of the Third International Digital Curation Conference. Edinburgh: Digital Curation Centre.

6. 2006-2008
1 GENERAL BLOGGERS
first line of
defense
Garrett & Waters, 1996

7. 2006-2008
1 GENERAL BLOGGERS
133 million blogs
indexed by Technorati
between 2002 and 2008.
White & Winn, 2009

8. 2006-2008
1 GENERAL BLOGGERS
People rely heavily on service
providers, often taking no
additional actions toward the
persistence of their user-
generated content.
Marshall, Bly & Brun-Cottan, 2006

9. 2006-2008
1 GENERAL BLOGGERS
Findings Future
Blog to blogger not 1:1 Research design
Content dynamic Co-produsage
Interest in preservation Others responsible?
Save some but not all Capability, though?
Personal responsibility Access, use & extent?
conclusions

10. what about …
Academic Blog Portal
SCHOLARS’ BLOGS? http://www.academicblogs.org
“There is a
growing fuss …
can be a
significant form of
FUNCTIONS communication.”
LEGITIMAZATION Lynch, cont.
BORGMAN DISSEMINATION
(2007) - ACCESS REWARD?
- PRESERVATION VAN DE SOMPEL ET AL. (2004)
- CURATION INSTITUTIONALIZED &
ELEMENTARY
REGISTRATION HAGSTROM (1965)
ROOSENDAAL
CERTIFICATION
ET AL.
EXTRINSIC / INTRINSIC
(2001) AWARENESS
MURRAY & MOORE (2006)
ARCHIVING

11. 2009-2011
2 SCHOLAR BLOGGERS (ACTIVE)
How do scholars who
blog perceive their blog
in relation to their
cumulative scholarly
record?
research questions

12. 2009-2011
2 SCHOLAR BLOGGERS (ACTIVE)
How do they perceive
their blog in relation to
long-term stewardship?
Who do they perceive
as responsible as well
as capable for blog
preservation?
research questions

13. 2009-2011
2 SCHOLAR BLOGGERS (ACTIVE)
What blog characteristics
impact preservation?
What blogger behaviours
impact preservation?
research questions

14. 2009-2011
2 SCHOLAR BLOGGERS (ACTIVE)
Multiple instances
Multiple authors
? Scholar blogger(?)
Scholarly blog(?)
Currency
Timing
design considerations

15. 2009-2011
2 SCHOLAR BLOGGERS (ACTIVE)
BLOG
n=93
QUESTIONNAIRES
INTERVIEWS
BLOGGER
n=153 BLOG ANALYSIS
HISTORY, ECONOMICS, LAW, BIOLOGY, CHEMISTRY & PHYSICS
Hank. C. (2011). Scholars and their blogs: Characteristics, preferences, and perceptions impacting digital
preservation (Doctoral dissertation). ProQuest Dissertations & Theses database (UMI No. 3456270).

16. 2009-2011
2 SCHOLAR BLOGGERS (ACTIVE)
NEEDLE IN A
HAYSTACK
population
sampling issues

17. 2009-2011
2 SCHOLAR BLOGGERS (ACTIVE)
CHAMELEON IN
A HAYSTACK
population
sampling issues

18. 2009-2011
2 SCHOLAR BLOGGERS (ACTIVE)
Purposive Sampling
Academic Blog Portal
644
<http://www.academicblogs.org>
blogs
History | Economics | Law | BioChemPhys
sample source

19. 2009-2011
2 SCHOLAR BLOGGERS (ACTIVE)
HOMOGENEITY
SAMPLE Frame 1: Blogs
CODING Frame 2: Bloggers
SYSTEM (Nine Criteria in Total)
sampling

20. BLOG ELIGIBILITY (644)
CONTINUED
PUBLICLY AVAILABLE = 570 (86%)
PUBLISHED IN ENGLISH = 544 (84%)
KNOWLEDGE OR PERSONAL BLOG = 498 (77%)
TIME-STAMPED POSTS = 496 (77%)
ACTIVELY PUBLISHED TO = 271 (42%)
AT LEAST 1 YEAR OLD = 231(36%)
IDENTIFIERS (RE: AUTHORSHIP) = 208 (32%)

21. CONTINUED
AUTHORED BY 1 OR MORE SCHOLARS …
SCHOLAR CRITERIA
a) 1+ descriptor: Ph.D., Dr., Professor, Reader,
Lecturer, Doctoral Student or Candidate
b) 1+ descriptor (Scholar, Academic, Researcher,
Research Director, Fellow, Biologist) and
institutional affiliation
c) Link to blogger’s CV or the like with 1+
citation to a journal article
d) Graduate student and explicit reference to
area of study or pursuant degree

22. ELIGIBLE BLOGS
… ULTIMATELY
(29%)
125 Single-Blogs | 63 Co-Blogs
sampling frame one

23. BLOGGER ELIGIBILITY
CO-BLOGS : POSTED W/IN 1 MONTH
CO-BLOGS: MEETS SCHOLAR CRITERIA
ALL BLOGS: BLOGGER CONTACT INFO

24. ELIGIBLE BLOGGERS
… ULTIMATELY
107 Single Bloggers | 187 Co-Bloggers
sampling frame two

25. 2009-2011
2 SCHOLAR BLOGGERS (ACTIVE)
QUESTIONNAIRES
Q1 (single-bloggers): 41 to 58 questions
Q2 (co-bloggers): 41 to 62 questions
Qualtrics
questionnaire design

26. 2009-2011
2 SCHOLAR BLOGGERS (ACTIVE)
All eligible bloggers invited (N=294)
Personalized Email
Salutation | Blog Title | Blog URL | PIN
Invite and 2 reminders
Timing of invitation email
Available for 3 weeks
No inducements
questionnaire administration

27. 2009-2011
2 SCHOLAR BLOGGERS (ACTIVE)
RR 1: QI: 63% | QII: 46% | QI/II: 52%
Completed sample:
153 respondents
Outcome rates derived from Internet surveys of specifically named persons
from the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR, 2009)
completed sample

28. 2009-2011
2 SCHOLAR BLOGGERS (ACTIVE)
24 semi-structured
phone interviews
72 (47%) of QI & QII respondents expressed interest
interviews

29. 2009-2011
2 SCHOLAR BLOGGERS (ACTIVE)
Concurrent to other data collection
11 to 14 questions
Protocol | Debriefing sheet| Pre-testing
24 phone interviews
Semi-structured
15 to 25+ minutes
interviews

30. 2009-2011
2 SCHOLAR BLOGGERS (ACTIVE)
Coded 93 blogs: 61 single/32 co-blogs
SR: 49.5%
Authorship Attributes
Blog Elements & Features
Rights & Disclaimers
57 to 63 Indicators Authority & Audience
ON/OFF BLOG
Blog Publishing Activity
Post Features
Archiving
blog analysis

31. CONTINUED
REMEMBER …
PUBLICLY AVAILABLE = 570 (86%)
PUBLISHED IN ENGLISH = 544 (84%)
KNOWLEDGE OR PERSONAL BLOG = 498 (77%)
TIME-STAMPED POSTS = 496 (77%)
*** ACTIVELY PUBLISHED TO = 271 (42%) ***
AT LEAST 1 YEAR OLD = 231(36%)
IDENTIFIERS (RE: AUTHORSHIP) = 208 (32%)

32. WHAT ABOUT THOSE BLOGS THAT ARE
INACTIVE BUT STILL PUBLICLY
AVAILABLE …
As reported by Viegas (2005),
bloggers assume persistency of their
blogs unless deliberate action is
taken (by the blogger) to remove it.

33. 2009-2011
2 SCHOLAR BLOGGERS (ACTIVE)
Available but
not actively
published to %
in previous
3 months left no message behind
(n=156) on where they went or
if they will be back etc.
blog analysis

34. 2011-PRESENT
3 SCHOLAR BLOGGERS (INACTIVE)
BLOGX BLOG ANALYSIS
n=909
N=1779 no new posts
> 3 months
HUMANITIES, SOCIAL SCIENCES, SCIENCES, PROF. & USEFUL ARTS
Hank. C., & Lent, A.R. (2012). Dispatches from blog purgatory: Final messages from scholars’ inactive blogs.
#Influence12: Symposium & workshop on measuring influence on social media. Halifax, Nova Scotia

35. 2011-PRESENT
3 SCHOLAR BLOGGERS (INACTIVE)
“SENTIMENT ANALYSIS” BY HAND PRELIMINARY!
556
ACTIVE BLOGS
(61%) 353 (39%)
INACTIVE BLOGS
currently published no new posts
“a note tacked to the door?”
230 NONE
(65%) 77 (22%)
LAST POST ONLY
46 (13%)
2ND OR 3RD

36. 2011-PRESENT
3 SCHOLAR BLOGGERS (INACTIVE)
THE END IS HERE …
“This blog has completed its mission.”
“I will leave the blog up for whatever value
it has. And I thank those of you who have
commented and sent encouraging
support. Now, it is my aim to have more
time to paint and write.”

37. 2011-PRESENT
3 SCHOLAR BLOGGERS (INACTIVE)
I’M STILL HERE …
“... at any rate, I'm not ready to throw in
the towel, despite a year of not blogging
here. I've gotten too much out of it - great
friends, even my current job - to quit just
yet. The question is: How do I get the
motivation back?”

38. 2011-PRESENT
3 SCHOLAR BLOGGERS (INACTIVE)
I’LL BE BACK …
[AUG 2012] “I’m shocked by how long it’s
been since I’ve posted on here. I’ve put
up a few posts over at ... since I stopped
posting here, but not many. I’m posting
this to say that I’ll soon be back!”
(2nd to most recent post: June 15, 2010)
“This site is under construction and will be
until I stop being lazy.”

39. 2011-PRESENT
3 SCHOLAR BLOGGERS (INACTIVE)
SEE YOU LATER … just not here
“I’ve begun to feel like this blog is less and
less suited to my day-to-day activities.
Rather than try to force it to fit, I’ve
decided to build something new.”

40. 2011-PRESENT
3 SCHOLAR BLOGGERS (INACTIVE)
APPRECIATION … or not
“And, of course, my schedule will be a bit
more flexible once I am free of this aged
blog, this paltry thing.”
[COMMENT]: “Where are you man, why
you are not writing anymore”

41. 2011-PRESENT
3 SCHOLAR BLOGGERS (INACTIVE)
RMA … remember me always
“There may still be some activity on this site as I
back-fill some old and (for inactive blogs)
posts from other blogging platforms. My goal is
to eventually have this as a (more or less)
complete archive of my personal blogging
from early 1998 to this year.”
“I want to keep the site up. I would be sad if
the archives disappeared. Lots of good stuff.
But keeping the place up? … well, we’ll see.”

42. 2012-PRESENT
4 BIBLIOBLOGGERS
BLOG
X
BLOG
QUESTIONNAIRES
INTERVIEWS
BLOGGER BLOG ANALYSIS
CV ANALYSIS
OCLC/ALISE Library & Information Science Research Grant Program
ACADEMIC LIBRARIANS &
BIBLIOBLOGGERS? INFORMATION AND LIBRARY SCIENCE
not bible … FACULTY/RESEARCHERS

43. 2009-2011
2 SCHOLAR BLOGGERS (ACTIVE)
RESULTS
2012-PRESENT
4 BIBLIOBLOGGERS

44. SCHOLARSHIP
Public 100%
Allows use and
Scholarly exchange 94%
record
80%
Subject to
critical
review 68%
66% agree with
all three criteria
Association of Research
Libraries (1986)
2 Braxton, J.M., Luckey, W.,
SCHOLAR BLOGGERS & Helland, P. (2002)

45. SCHOLARLY LIFE
PROMOTION
GREATER VISIBILITY
WORK ENJOYMENT
TEACHING QUALITY
SHARING PRE-PUBS IMPROVED
WRITING EFFICIENCY NEITHER
WRITING QUALITY IMPAIRED
RESEARCH QUALITY
RESEARCH CREATIVITY
RESEARCH PRODUCTIVITY
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
2
SCHOLAR BLOGGERS

46. INVITATIONS
… impact & reward
%
… to present
2
SCHOLAR BLOGGERS

47. INVITATIONS
… impact & reward
%
… to collaborate
2
SCHOLAR BLOGGERS

48. INVITATIONS
… impact & reward
%
… to serve
2
SCHOLAR BLOGGERS

49. INVITATIONS
… impact & reward
%
… to publish
2
SCHOLAR BLOGGERS

50. PRESERVATION
%
preservation for public access
& use into the indefinite future
2
SCHOLAR BLOGGERS

51. PRESERVATION
Personal access/use 16%
Short-term future
Public access/use 19%
Short-term future
Personal access/use 76%
Indefinite future
Public access/use
80%
Indefinite future
0% 100%
2
SCHOLAR BLOGGERS

52. 100%
90%
80%
70% Blogger
Co-Author(s)
60%
Provider/Host/Network
50% Search Engine
Public Trust
40%
30%
20%
RESPONSIBILITY CAPABILITY
2 preservation
SCHOLAR BLOGGERS

53. first line of
defense
2
SCHOLAR BLOGGERS

54. final line of
defense
2
SCHOLAR BLOGGERS

55. 100%
90%
80% Blogger
Co-Author(s)
70%
Provider/Host/Network
60%
Search Engine
50% Public Trust
40% Nat'l Library
Nat'l Archive
30%
Inst'l Library
20%
Inst'l Archive
10% Inst'l IT Dept
0%
RESPONSIBILITY CAPABILITY
2 preservation
SCHOLAR BLOGGERS

56. Better things to do
2
SCHOLAR BLOGGERS

57. PRESERVATION PRIORITY
Journal articles
Books
Blogs
Peer-Reviewed Pubs Blogs
Published Papers
Journal articles
Filter
Dissertations
Teaching materials
& Theses
Blogs
Pedagogical Research & Tools Class
Self-Publications Blogs
Traditional Publications
Lab Notebooks Select
Scientific & Scholarly Research
Monographs Blog Posts
Works-in-progress
Email
Informal Publications
Law review articles Personnel
Book Reviews Books Communications
HIGHER LOWER
2
SCHOLAR BLOGGERS

58. Better things to do
Personal responsibility
2
SCHOLAR BLOGGERS

59. SAVING
Subscription
services
Export tools
Personal
back-ups
Document/text files
Via syndication
services %
Purposefully save entire blog via an
archiving service or independently
2
SCHOLAR BLOGGERS

60. SERVICES
Subscription to web or blog archiving or back-up service
examples:
BACKUPIFY
BLOGBACKUPR
BACKUPMYBLOG
INTERNET ARCHIVE
LOC’s LEGAL BLAWGS ARCHIVE
2
SCHOLAR BLOGGERS

61. SAVING
Export tools
Personal
back-ups
Document/text files
Via syndication
services %
Purposefully save some
blog components
2
SCHOLAR BLOGGERS

62. BUT … RIGHTS & USE
Copyright
Statement
(n=34)
Creative
Commons
(n=13)
%
no rights or use statements
at blog or post level
BLOG
2

63. Better things to do
Personal responsibility
Personal communication
2
SCHOLAR BLOGGERS

64. DISCLAIMERS
THOUGH 80% FEEL BLOG IS PART OF THEIR SCHOLARLY RECORD …
Own
opinion
Not
responsible
Advice %
have an explicit or implicit
disclaimer-style statement
BLOG
2

65. Better things to do
Personal responsibility
Personal communications
Bad experience
2
SCHOLAR BLOGGERS

66. DELETING
THOUGH 80% FEEL BLOG SHOULD BE PRESERVED …
Duplicate
Post
“Post Regret”
Too sensitive or
revealing %
delete posts after publication
2
SCHOLAR BLOGGERS

67. BLOG DELETION
%
have deleted a blog
2
SCHOLAR BLOGGERS

68. if?
What

70. SADNESS RELIEF DOUBT
ANGER C’EST LA VIE

71. Pretty
bad.
Devastated,
both emotionally and
professionally.
Very
sad.
SADNESS RELIEF DOUBT
ANGER C’EST LA VIE

72. I’d do something
drastic [in response].
Mad as hell.
Pretty
peeved. Angry
& upset.
SADNESS RELIEF DOUBT
ANGER C’EST LA VIE

73. I don’t have to
do it anymore. I get half an
hour of my
life back.
SADNESS RELIEF DOUBT
ANGER C’EST LA VIE

74. Probably
have a drink &
forget about it.
Not welcomed
but not tragic …
I’d get over it.
Pour another cup
of coffee & get
Drop out … back to work.
until something else
comes along.
SADNESS RELIEF DOUBT
ANGER C’EST LA VIE

75. It would take an
extreme catastrophe.
How would
that happen?
SADNESS RELIEF DOUBT
ANGER C’EST LA VIE

76. COMING SOON …
RESULTS
ANTICIPATED SPRING 2013
2012-PRESENT
4 BIBLIOBLOGGERS

77. SOURCES
Association of Research Libraries. (1986). The changing system of scholarly
communication. Washington, DC: Author.
Borgman, C.L. (2007). Scholarship in the digital age: Information, infrastructure
and the Internet. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Braxton, J.M., Luckey, W., & Helland, P. (2002). Institutionalizing a broader view of
scholarship through Boyer’s four domains: ASHE-ERIC higher education report.
San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Bruns, A. (2006). Blogs, Wikipedia, Second Life, and beyond: From production to
produsage. New York, NY: Peter Lang.
Garrett, J., & Waters, D. (1996). Preserving digital information: Report of the Task
Force on Archiving of Digital Information. (CLIR Publication No. 63).
Washington, DC: The Commission on Preservation and Access. Retrieved from
http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub63watersgarrett.pdf
Hagstrom, W.O. (1965). The scientific community. New York, NY: Basic Books.
Hank. C. (2011). Scholars and their blogs: Characteristics, preferences, and
perceptions impacting digital preservation (Doctoral dissertation). ProQuest
Dissertations & Theses database (UMI No. 3456270).

78. SOURCES
Hank. C., & Lent, A.R. (2012). Dispatches from blog purgatory: Final messages from
scholars’ inactive blogs. #Influence12: Symposium & workshop on measuring
influence on social media. Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Hank, C., Sheble, L., & Choemprayong, S. (2007). Informing blog appraisal through
bloggers’ perspectives on selection and preservation. Paper presented at the
Conference on Appraisal in the Digital World, Rome, Italy.
Lynch, C.A. (2004). Editor’s interview with Clifford A. Lynch. RLG DigiNews, 8(4).
Marshall, C.C., Bly, S., & Brun-Cottan, F. (2006). The long term fate of our digital
belongings: Toward a service model for personal archives. Archiving 2006 Final
Program and Proceedings, 3 (pp. 25–30). Springfield, VA: Society for Imaging
Sciences and Technology.
Murray, R., & Moore, S. (2006). The handbook of academic writing: A fresh
approach. Maidenhead, UK: Open University Press.
Roosendaal, H.E., Guerts, P.A. Th.M., & van der Vet, P.E. (2001). Developments in
scientific communication: Considerations on the value chain. Information
Services & Use, 21(1), 13-32.

79. SOURCES
Sheble, L., Choemprayong, S., & Hank. C. (2007). Preservation in context: Survey
of blogging behaviors. In Proceedings of the Third International Digital
Curation Conference. Edinburgh: Digital Curation Centre.
Van de Sompel, H., Payette, S., Erickson, J., Lagoze, C., & Warner, S. (2004).
Rethinking scholarly communication: Building the system that scholars
deserve. D-Lib Magazine, 10(9). doi: 10.1045/september2004-vandesompel
Viegas, F.B. (2007). Bloggers' expectations of privacy and accountability: An
initial survey. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 10(3).
Retrieved from http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol10/issue3/viegas.html
White, D., & Winn, P. (2009). State of the blogosphere: 2008. Technorati. Retrieved
from http://technorati.com/blogging/feature/state-of-the-blogosphere-2008/

80. THANKS TO …
- OCLC/ALISE LIS RESEARCH GRANT PROGRAM
FUNDERS - BETA PHI MU (EUGENE GARFIELD DISSERTATION AWARD
- DR. SONGPHAN CHOEMPRAYONG
- LAURA SHEBLE
COLLEAGUES - RICHARD DAVIS
- DR. CASSIDY SUGIMOTO
- DR. HELEN TIBBO
- DR. LYNN SILIPIGNI CONNAWAY
- DR. RICHARD MARCIANO
COMMITTEE (PLUS) - DR. JEFFREY POMERANTZ
- PAUL JONES
- DR. DEBORAH BARREAU
- DR. CHRISTOPHER (CAL) LEE
- DAVID PCOLAR

81. AND THANK YOU
CAROLYN HANK
Email: carolyn.hank@mcgill.ca
Phone: (001)514.398.4684
SlideShare: http://www.slideshare.net/carolynhank/
Slideshow:
QUESTIONS?