Blogger of the Month: April DeConick

It's been mentioned a lot elsewhere, but it's worth mentioning again here:

Biblioblogs: Blogger of the Month for August 2007

A particular highlight, I thought, was this expression of how she sees the blogging enterprise:

I have set some parameters in place for my posts. I do not consider what I write on my blog to be publishable or even ideas to publish in a traditional format. So I am not writing what I would consider “academic” writing. I am also not writing a personal diary of the life and times of April DeConick.

What I do on my blog is more like professional journalism — op. ed. news and reviews in my field. Much of my material comes from issues that arise during the day — responding to something I’ve read or something that came up in a class I’ve just taught or a comment a reader has left.

When I write a blog post, I do it as a teacher. I understand my blog to be a virtual space for education to happen, a space whose only physical boundary is the computer scene. When I write a post, I usually envision it as an extended university classroom or conference seminar whose audience includes interested and conversant people, students and colleagues.

Well, April's blog has already educated me a lot and I look forward to more of the same.