Mary Beard's announcement that she's publishing a book of the posts on her immensely witty and erudite Times blog- A Don's Life- set me thinking about the relationship between on-line publication and traditional print methods. It also brought to mind the issue of ephemerality and the blog medium. We mustn't forget that the companies that host blogging accounts are not immune to the fluctuating economic fortunes of our times. Who knows wether Blogger, Typepad will not go under in the future. The fragility of the blog was brought home to me when I accidentally deleted my first version sometime in 2008. This is the second incarnation of Art History Today, and I back up like mad. If only I'd known about new rinky-dinky software like Book Smart which turns your blog into a real book. Seriously, I might try this as they're saying that a 40 page softbound book would set me back just over 6 quid. It would be worth it just as an experiment, though I don't know what Book Smart's policy on reproducing images is.
If you'll forgive the pun, Beard's book of the blog is a smart move; it not only preserves the blog in print, but also brings it to a potentially new audience, which is her intention. The one obvious drawback is that the blog book is a lower form of information technology- there are no hyperlinks; although you could make the case that the network of cross-referencing used in encyclopedic books constitutes a kind of internet in miniature. Was Montaigne one of the first bloggers? Read Andrew Sullivan's essay on the rationale of blogging, here.
Another advantage of doing this is that a blog book can be accessed in a variety of ways: you're not compelled to start at the top and read 'down', but can plunge in where you like, in medias res. That's something I've always found frustrating about blogs. There's always the emphasis on the moment because you're posting today, rather like a journalist. When I review exhibitions, it's usually sometime after they start as my main job of art history lecturer must take priority. Beard almost manages daily postings, but the admirable thing about her is that she balances journalism and academic nous deftly; this results in an informative and entertaining blog.
Beard includes an essay on blogging, which is another enticement to buy the book. How often do you get high-ranking humanitarian academics meditating on the blogging phenomenon? Not many in art history, that's for sure!
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