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Book
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We Blog by Paul Bausch, Matthew Haughey, Meg HourihanPublishing Online with Weblogs (Aug 2002) |
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This book will provide answers to those wondering what a Weblog is, how to start one, and what the benefits are. Written by experts who helped shape the genre from the beginning, it offers readers a quintessential guide to this worldwide phenomenon. From the Weblog's origins as the first native Web format, to its impact as an outlet of personal expression, to its practical use today as a business communication tool, the authors present a glimpse at the flexibility and possibility of Weblogs. Book Review written for Knowledge Management Magazine (Bizmedia) When I first picked up this book I was a little disappointed as it was a paperback and printed on flimsy paper but the three authors, Paul Bausch, Matt Haughley and Meg Hourihan are weblog veterans and so I was expecting an interesting and informative read which is exactly what it turned out to be. Blogging is a new web phenomenon with its roots going back to about 1997, though it is really only in the last year (2002) that there has been an explosion in growth and interest. “We Blog” is a weblog handbook. If you are a ‘wanabe’ blogger it contains everything you need to know to get started and for the experienced blogger it contains a wealth of useful background information and insights that still make it a worthwhile purchase. Being a handbook, I have briefly reviewed each of the chapters separately. Chapter 1: What is a Blog? The first chapter takes a brief look at the short history of weblogs. So what exactly is a weblog? “At their core weblogs are pages consisting of several posts or distinct chunks of information per page, usually arranged in reverse chronology from the most recent at the top of the page to the oldest post at the bottom of the page.” What is really useful if you are new to blogging is that this chapter then takes you through an exercise in creating a weblog with a series of screen shots and explanation of setting up Blogger – a weblog service available at Blogger.com This should leave the potential blogger in no doubt that it is really easy to get started and that they have nothing to fear about weblog technology. Chapter 2: Blogs In Action So you know what a blog is and you have learnt how to create one. So far so good but what are blogs used for, why to people read them and why do they write them. And in particular as a new blogger what should you write about and what should you avoid. This chapter gives the novice some good tips and guidelines on this subject. Chapter 3: Navigating the Blog Universe This chapter goes into such topics as “Managing your Identity” online and takes a short look at blog communities and blog conversations. People new to blogging tend to see it as a publishing mechanism but in practice blogging is more like having a conversation with a group of trusted like-minded friends. It is a community phenomenon not a personal one. Chapter 4: Blog Elements Although weblogs at their heart are simple, in their short existence they have evolved to include a number of optional elements such as categorization and permalinks. Not all blogging systems support such elements but increasingly they are becoming standard. This chapter takes a look at such elements and deepens the readers understanding of what weblogs can do. Chapter 5: Working with Blog Tools and Services This chapter focuses on blog technology and contains an excellent table that compares six of the more popular blog tools. It also explains the differences between centrally hosted systems and remotely installed applications. If you are looking to select a blog product/service that will suit your needs then this is a great place to start. Chapter 6: Understanding Blog Technology Blog technology is very simple – if you know nothing of web technology then you can afford to skip this chapter but it is not deeply technical and even the technical novice should be able to learn a little about the technology underlying weblogs. Chapter 7: Connecting with Your Audience Here the authors return to how to use and leverage your weblog – in particular how as a blogger you may use the features of your weblog to better connect with your readers. This chapter focuses on the effective use the technology. Chapter 8: Using Blogs in Business Now we cut to the chase – weblogs can be used as personal journals or news feeds. These weblogs tend to be mainly published on the Internet but weblogs can also be published on corporate intranets and used in business. In business people tend to use weblogs to blog their knowledge on a subject (although they can be used in number of other ways which are discussed). Such weblogs are termed knowledge-logs or k-logs. One of the chief proponents of k-logs in business is John Robb who is COO of Userland Software (producers of the RadioUserland weblog tool) – there is an excellent interview with him in this chapter that explains the concept of k-logs and points you to the best k-log resource on the net at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/klogs/ If you are interested in Knowledge Management and how k-logs can be used as a KM tool – this book is worth its value for this chapter alone. Chapter 9: Blog Publicity and Syndication So you know what weblogs are, how to build them, how to use them and how to build a community around them. This chapter is about taking the next step – how to publicize your weblog. It discusses two methods - the first how to gain publicity for your weblog and the second how to replicate and distribute your weblog through syndication.
Book  We Blog (Aug 2002  ) by Paul Bausch  , Matthew Haughey , Meg Hourihan Publishing Online with Weblogs Weblog Entry  Using Blogs in BusinessGurteen Knowledge-Log, David Gurteen, 25 July 2002 Petri dishes for knowledgeGurteen Knowledge-Log, David Gurteen, 29 September 2002
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