Embed Size (px)
DESCRIPTION
workshop @ avenue campus 8th Jan
Citation preview
Read my Blog
Workshop: Blogging for ResearchersGraeme Earl, Lisa Harris, Nicole Beale, Fiona Harvey,
Peter Wheeler, Alison Simmance, Hembo PagiJanuary 2013
Workshop Plan
• Intro to the blogging setup and plans for future development (Graeme)
• Examples of existing University blogs (Graeme)• What is blogging and why is it important (Lisa)• Blogging for researchers (Nicole)• University blogging rules e.g. posting copyright
material, complaints etc. (Fiona)• Technical aspects – requesting a blog, signing up and
creating a blog post. This will be a quick demo and then a hands-on opportunity (Peter)
Blogging setup• Funded by Multidisciplinary initiative, sotonDH and the DE USRG, with support from iSolutions
and Communications and Marketing • Wordpress (www.wordpress.com)• “Multi-site”• Domain blog.soton.ac.uk or custom• University theme
• Standard plugins e.g. social media, ePrints• Commenting and trackbacks e.g.
http://www.portusproject.org/blogs/2012/11/rome-what-lies-beneath/
• blog.soton.ac.uk• Two options:
– The standard blog is provided with a University theme. You can add, manage or remove content and users, select from a list of pre-installed plugins and request new plugins from iSolutions but you cannot change the theme
– The custom blog is a empty blog with which you can create your own theme, change the plugins and manage the blog as a custom site. iSolutions is unable to support you in creating your own themes. Any theme which is used to represent the University should be approved by Marketing and Communications
Example University blogs• Events:
– Web Science 2013: http://www.websci13.org/
• Projects:– Agincourt: http://www.agincourt.soton.ac.uk/blog/– Slavery and Revolution: http://blog.soton.ac.uk/slaveryandrevolution/– Portus Project: http://www.portusproject.org/– LANG-SNAP: http://langsnap.soton.ac.uk/– Százhalombatta : http://szazhalombattaexcavation.info/
• Research Groups:– ILC: www.blog.soton.ac.uk/ilc– ACRG: http://acrg.soton.ac.uk/– Digital Humanities: http://digitalhumanities.soton.ac.uk/– Digital Economy: http://digitaleconomy.soton.ac.uk/– Computational Imaging: http://blog.soton.ac.uk/cii/– Work Thought Blog: http://blog.soton.ac.uk/wfrc/– CAHO Seminar series: http://cahoseminars.soton.ac.uk/
• Teaching:– Languages at Southampton: http://www.languagesatsouthampton.soton.ac.uk/
• Integrated blogs:– Multidisciplinary Southampton: http://blog.soton.ac.uk/multidisciplinary/– Humanities Research: http://blog.soton.ac.uk/humanitiesresearch/
Future plans
• Refinement of templates to suit blogging• Further enhancement of mobile templates and functionality
e.g. location aware• More integration of blogs across the University (
http://dev.blogs.soton.ac.uk/multidisciplinary/)• eBook output• Additional research components e.g.
– RedFeather– LabTrove– Linked Data– Blog mining– Research and researcher network visualisations
What is a blog?
• ‘conversational scholarship’or• ‘writing which makes scholarly work accessible and
accountable to a readership outside the academy’ (Gregg, 2006 p 147-8)
or• ‘a discussion or informational site published online
and consisting of discrete entries ("posts") typically displayed in reverse chronological order (the most recent post appears first)’ (Wikipedia)
http://www.socialnomics.net/2011/12/28/infographic-every-60-seconds-on-the-web/
Rationale
• Technology Will Kill…(2 min video by Erik Qualman)
• Seth Godin and Tom Peters on blogging • Blogging provides:– Visibility– Recognition– Community and public engagement– Social capital
@lisaharris #CIMbrandyou
Dare you Google yourself...?
Blogs v websitesBlogs• Instantaneous• Timely• Posts are time stamped• Personal and informal• You “subscribe” to blogs to be updated with new content• Two-way communications
Websites• Tend to be static• Change infrequently• Who knows how old?• Generally impersonal even ‘corporate’• You “bookmark” websites but this is easily forgotten• One-way communications
Various blogging forms
• Personal brand building – see Martin Weller’s EdTechie blog • A project diary which may be collaboratively produced and
edited – see Guy Poppy’s Assets Malawi Blog• A reflective diary relating to a specific course – see Maria S
erres’ MSc blog • A collection of projects within a research group – see
Digital Economy USRG• Crowdsourcing content/feedback on the writing of draft
book chapters - see Charlene Li’s Open Leadership• Syndication of relevant content to a range of authors - see
LSE Impact blog
Pulling it all together• Use the blog framework as a central point pulling in your other social
media content:– Tweets– LinkedIn– Flickr– Vimeo/YouTube– Slideshare– Pinterest etc
• You can also embed other social media within individual blog posts – video content is increasingly important
• Provide sharing buttons so that your readers can share your content on their own networks
• These activities provide a regular supply of googlejuice to the blog
Blogging and search engine optimisation
Social media shares of a blogpost are the biggest influence on its search visibility:
1. Facebook shares2. Facebook comments3. Facebook likes4. Tweets
http://www.socialmediastrategist.co.uk/blog/1-news/175-social-media-seo
Practical tips
• Be transparent and authentic• Build social capital by providing a regular supply of
interesting content• Use a range of media in each post• Keep posts short – our attentions spans are getting
ever smal…• Link and share. Link and share. Did I say link and
share?• Respond to all queries and comments • Don’t expect instant results…persistence will pay off
“No more disruptive innovation, please”
Useful links
How to write a good research blogpostBlogging: the new research dissemination strategyReview of Martin Weller’s book Digital ScholarThe value of academic blogging
Officialdom • The University has a set of social media guidelines
www.southampton.ac.uk/socialguidelines Provides advice and guidance on setting up social media for both Professional and Personal use. Reminds us that anything done in the name of the University needs to maintain a level of professionalism, responding quickly and efficiently to comments etc. Contact [email protected] (Suzanne Smith is the main contact for Social Media) if you unsure how to respond to comments made on your Blog• For legal advice and guidance you might want to contact Colm Hughes
in the Corporate Legal team. Email: [email protected]
• If you are unsure of anything you can always contact the Centre for Innovation in Technologies and Education (CITE) either Fiona Harvey (me) [email protected] or Adam Warren [email protected]
How-to Guide to WordPress
How to create and manage in WordPress. Including posts, tags,
categories, media, plugins and widgets.
Login
Before you can make any changes to your site, you will need to log in. The University login for all WordPress sites is https://blog.soton.ac.uk/wp-login.php?
Dashboard
Adding a Page or Post
URL Links
Managing Pages and Posts
Adding Media
Media Library
Categories
Tags
Managing the Menu
Plugins
Widgets
WordPress Guide
• WP How-to guide• Creative Commons guide orginally
crafted by Anthony Hortin http://easywpguide.com/
• https://blog.soton.ac.uk/humanitiesresearch/wp-admin/
