Yes, I know I have a very lame blogroll. I don't mean that any of the blogs listed are lame, of course, just that the list is short and has stagnated quite a lot in the past year or three. I have never wanted to have a long blogroll, even though that is hypocritical because I appreciate that very thing in other blogs, but I would like it to be better than it is in its current state.
I have mostly confined my list to Blogs I Read (hence the title of the blogroll) -- that is, blogs I really do read routinely. There are some other interesting blogs with the occasional interesting post, but I tend to rely on other blogs to highlight them for me and lead me there. Unless my attention is held by more than one post, however, I only return when (re)directed there by a blog I read routinely. I freely admit my failings as a blog citizen and as a person.
How important is it to have a non-lame blogroll? What is the purpose of a blogroll? What does it all mean? Why am I even here? I suppose I should have figured this out by now.
I don't know, but if it is important in some way to have a non-lame blogroll, perhaps you can help me improve, if you are willing and able. That is, I wouldn't mind some suggestions of blogs to read and possibly add to the list. The blogosphere is a dynamic place, with new blogs appearing all the time, and old ones moving to new locations.
As can be seen from my existing blogroll, I am most interested in general issues of academia and life; for example, not the results of scientific research, but the doing of the research, and not the specific courses that we teach, but all the amazing things that relate to teaching and other interactions with students and so on.
I apologize in advance if I don't add any particular suggested blog, but keep in mind that I am old(ish) and cranky and unlikely to be too fascinated by, say, a blogging-my-PhD type blog. And yet, I realize it would be good for me to read more blogs by the youngsters, so that I don't fossilize too much and so that I can stay in touch with my inner grad student and thereby understand my outer grad students. Or something. And I should read (routinely) more blogs by non-US persons. And what about non-scientists and non-engineers? Maybe..
In addition to having a bias of unknown magnitude against blogging-my-phd blogs, I will just throw out there the possibility that I may also be reluctant to read (routinely) more blogs by biophysiomedical scientists. These blogs give me nightmares.
What else? There is one more thing: I am irrationally against including blogs that are behind some sort of registration wall, even if it is a free one. I am not against reading these blogs, I just don't want to link to them, even though I know there are some interesting blogs in those places.
Other than that, I am open to suggestions. Thanks in advance for any help you can give with my efforts to spruce up the blogroll.
I have mostly confined my list to Blogs I Read (hence the title of the blogroll) -- that is, blogs I really do read routinely. There are some other interesting blogs with the occasional interesting post, but I tend to rely on other blogs to highlight them for me and lead me there. Unless my attention is held by more than one post, however, I only return when (re)directed there by a blog I read routinely. I freely admit my failings as a blog citizen and as a person.
How important is it to have a non-lame blogroll? What is the purpose of a blogroll? What does it all mean? Why am I even here? I suppose I should have figured this out by now.
I don't know, but if it is important in some way to have a non-lame blogroll, perhaps you can help me improve, if you are willing and able. That is, I wouldn't mind some suggestions of blogs to read and possibly add to the list. The blogosphere is a dynamic place, with new blogs appearing all the time, and old ones moving to new locations.
As can be seen from my existing blogroll, I am most interested in general issues of academia and life; for example, not the results of scientific research, but the doing of the research, and not the specific courses that we teach, but all the amazing things that relate to teaching and other interactions with students and so on.
I apologize in advance if I don't add any particular suggested blog, but keep in mind that I am old(ish) and cranky and unlikely to be too fascinated by, say, a blogging-my-PhD type blog. And yet, I realize it would be good for me to read more blogs by the youngsters, so that I don't fossilize too much and so that I can stay in touch with my inner grad student and thereby understand my outer grad students. Or something. And I should read (routinely) more blogs by non-US persons. And what about non-scientists and non-engineers? Maybe..
In addition to having a bias of unknown magnitude against blogging-my-phd blogs, I will just throw out there the possibility that I may also be reluctant to read (routinely) more blogs by biophysiomedical scientists. These blogs give me nightmares.
What else? There is one more thing: I am irrationally against including blogs that are behind some sort of registration wall, even if it is a free one. I am not against reading these blogs, I just don't want to link to them, even though I know there are some interesting blogs in those places.
Other than that, I am open to suggestions. Thanks in advance for any help you can give with my efforts to spruce up the blogroll.
30 comments:
I actually like the short blog roll - as you say you are interested in a certain type of blog, so I trust that any blog you link to will be a high quality blog of that certain type (not that there aren't other blogs I read or think are high quality). When I want to read blogs about academic life by somewhat established faculty, I know I can rely on the blog roll...if I want something else, then I go elsewhere...
So to answer your question, I say I like the blog roll the way it is haha. When you add a new blog it actually means something, unlike people who have 1000 blogs (although those have value in other ways).
The Feminist Philosophers Blog rocks, and has plenty of interesting general (non-philosophy) content:
http://feministphilosophers.wordpress.com/
Fits at least two critera: about the process of teaching, and not from the US.
http://nickfalkner.wordpress.com/
I have only recently joined blogspot and I have really struggled to find non-US science blogs. Like you I enjoy reading about researchers lives and how they deal with academia, rather than the actual science and results of it all. I have found a fair few American writers but so far, no Brits that can compete. I will be keeping an eye on your comments now to see if I can get some good hints!
The Tenured Radical is pretty good http://chronicle.com/blognetwork/tenuredradical/
Self-plug:
Grumpy Rumblings of the Untenured.
http://nicoleandmaggie.wordpress.com/
1. We already have our Phds
2. We are from the US (but different parts of the country than where you are... or at least one of us is if not both)
3. We are non-scientist, non-engineers (social scientists). Though we are partnered with guys who could be considered engineers.
4. We are not biophysiomedical scientists.
5. We are not behind a registration wall.
6. We are awesome and not lame.
We also update 6 days a week, so we may not hold your attention every day, but there should be something for anyone over the course of the week.
I discovered Prof-Like Substance because he showed up one day in your blog roll, and have been reading him ever since.
One blog that has utterly fascinated me in recent months has been Retraction Watch at - lots of fodder for discussing ethical issues related to documenting and publishing research (across a very broad spectrum of STEM fields).
The only two higher education blogs I read anymore are yours and Confessions of a Community College Dean - I think because both have interesting personal perspectives on how academia works (from very different, both anonymous, places). He's not a scientist (liberal arts background) and he's an administrator rather than a professor, so he's definitely add some new dimensions to your blog roll! But I think you might enjoy checking him out.
I find long blogrolls overwhelming. They have the opposite effect on me that they should - I explore less because the author has added everyone. I try and limit mine to blogs I read regularly that are not within my own collective (whose blogs I also read regularly). Two blogs of early TT faculty I would suggest are:
Dr. Becca's blog, Fumbling Towards Tenure
and
Cackle of Radness
I think being on your blogroll carries a lot of weight -- like getting an endorsement from a superstar. So your blogroll should be short and of high quality, as it is now.
Getting on your blogroll was one of the top achievements of my life. (although I still think it was a mistake and you thought PP was a woman at first)
Couple of blogs by Indian academics I read regularly, but maybe since I am from the country, I find life and problems of academics there, but here are my suggestions;
http://academic-garden.blogspot.com/
http://dsanghi.blogspot.com/
http://nanopolitan.blogspot.com/ (this one actually is good to be lead to some interesting stuff around, he finds time to read what is going on in academia and put links in his blog, so it saves my time to look for something interesting to read)
Biophysiomedical blogs give you nightmares? Please explain.
If self promotion is ok,
Bashir - blackademic wrt science and academia
http://jbashir.wordpress.com/
I don't know if this is the kind of thing you are looking for, but this blog is by me (a recent physics PhD) and a friend in science communication, and is focused on good science writing for non-specialists:
http://letstalkaboutscience.wordpress.com/
We're both from the US but live in Ireland and Scotland.
I have commented here a few times before anonymously, but not since graduating, so I have to add that I read your blog for the last 3 years of grad school and it was a huge help. Thank you.
I prefer the short but meaningfully sweet blogroll of yours.
I like your blog, and I like the short blogroll. I'm a regular reader and fan (I even own your book.)
I did want to raise a question about the title of this post. When "lame" is used as a generic pejorative it -- well, it just isn't appropriate. I am changing my own practice on this after being schooled by a friend who needs a cane to walk.
What if the title had been "World's Girliest Blogroll" with similar content about the shortcomings of the blogroll?
I don't want to sound preachy and I hope that I'm not.
Look at http://deevybee.blogspot.com/
academic-garden.blogspot.com is a pretty good read. I admit being slightly biased because it's by a female indian academic, and I'm indian myself, but I do think it satisifies your criteria.
I think you would enjoy this blog:
http://mybiasedcoin.blogspot.com/
I recommend
Suburbdad.blogspot.com Dean Dad is an academic administrator and keen observer of the culture of academia.
I have a vested interest in your blogroll because you are the only blogger I've bothered to bookmark, so I usually use your blog as a jumping-off place in my blog reading. I liked Kate Clancy's blog - I guess you removed the link when she went to SciAm because they have a registration requirement?
Here is a blog by a female (social) scientist that might be of interest to you and your readers. It gives advice designed to advice help balance life and work and attain a happier life on the tenure track.
Get a Life, PhD
http://getalifephd.blogspot.com/
I really like the Profhacker blog by the Chronicle of Higher Education: http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/
It's about making the process of teaching and research more efficient and work better
I follow DrDoyenne at http://womeninwetlands.blogspot.com/
She writes about issues of interest to women (and men) from the perspective of a senior scientist and often talks about possible solutions to common problems....writing block, stage fright, handling aggressive, biased, or critical people, self promotion, etc. I also like her series on how female scientists are portrayed in movies.
I think Massimo's blog fits most if not all of your criteria:
http://expbook.wordpress.com/
You can list articles that you are currently interested in on the sidebar and take them down latter
On scholarly publishing:
http://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/
I'd recommend Prof. Mary Beard's blog (A Don's Life). She is a professor of classics at the Cambridge University. The blog doesn't require any registration.
The link is:
http://timesonline.typepad.com/
I tossed my blogroll entirely and replaced it with the Google Reader share feature. Anyone interested in what I'm interested in can add me to a circle in Google Plus and get links to, not only the blogs I like to share, but their specific articles that I find so compelling, in a naturally up-to-date way.
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