Q: What Is A Research Blog?

A: A research blog is what you are going to make and maintain as part of MSTU2000 from Week 8 onwards.

You can use your own research blog as a forum to discuss the course and post material relevant to your chosen subcultural activity (for the final paper). In regard to assessment you must provide at least three serious research-based entries. These can take the form of an analysis of a website that you have found, a discussion of a web ring, a survey of related blogs, some first person 'ethnographic' reportage (eg. your own observations from a live gig or related event; a complete transcript of an interview you conducted that you may or may not include excerpts from in your essays), your own review of a related documentary/DVD/CD, etc.

You can provide links to other sources or sites of interest, but remember that a link alone is not enough to be counted for assessment.

and theorectically...

A research weblog is quite a few things

• a Content Management System (CMS)
• a collection of annotated resources
• a discourse community
• a reflective critical space
• a public writing and thinking

What makes up a blog?

• regular writing
• noting (through commentary and links) other online resources
• noting (through commentary and links) other weblogs
• writing ‘out’ of ideas, problems, solutions, and questions

What a blog isn’t

A blog is not the same as a diary or a journal.

It is

• public
• networked (interlinked)
• dynamic (constantly updated)
• internally and externally reflective i.e. not (only) argumentative or factual
• informal but critical in style, i.e. midway between academic discourse (as in your essay) and interpersonal discourse (as in chatting with/emailing friends)

Of course, the best way to learn what an effective research blog is all about is to visit some
(this is a link to last year's blog HQ - the student blogs are listed to the right under the title 'Your Blogs'). Now go develop your own.

Why use a blog?

Different people blog for quite different reasons. A research blog documents your research, your ideas and activities. It is informal, but by writing out your ideas you give them more purchase. It also helps you to connect and engage in reflective dialogue with people thinking and writing about similar topics and issues (i.e. your colleagues in the course, and quite possibly far beyond the course)

This post courtesy of Jean Burgess.
N.B. Some of the material used in this section has been adapted from Adrian Miles' introduction to research blogging, available here. Thanks, Adrian.

How To Make Your Blog

NB: You can use whatever program you like as long as IAN KEITH ROGERS (your lecturer/tutor/guru) can see it online. You don't have to use Blogger. But I only provide instructions for Blogger. If you have a blog already: go directly to Step 8 (below) and include your FULL NAME along with the URL of your site.

HOW TO MAKE YOUR BLOG

Step 1:
Go to http://www.blogger.com, and click the orange arrow marked 'CREATE YOUR BLOG NOW' at the bottom right-hand side of the page.

Step 2:
Fill in the boxes marked:

1. ‘Choose a user name’ (no spaces)
2. ‘Enter a password’
3. ‘Retype password’
4. ‘Display name’ - MUST BE YOUR FULL NAME (see below)
   
5. ‘Email address’

(Note that your first choice for user name and password may be rejected if they are already being used. You may have to use a nickname, but please use your real full name as your ‘Display name’ so I can identify you).

Check the ‘Acceptance of Terms’ box (assuming you read and agree with it), and click the CONTINUE arrow.

Step 3:
Name your blog, preferably with something reflecting your choice of essay topic and its associated research, e.g. Emo Ain’t What It Used to Be. You should be able to use this title as your blog’s URL as well, e.g. http://emoaintwhatitusedtobe.blogspot.com. Type the verification letters into the box and click the CONTINUE arrow.

Step 4:
Click on your preferred template style, then click the CONTINUE arrow.

Step 5:
Wait a few seconds while your blog is created, click START POSTING and…start posting.

Step 6:
Post an introductory message telling the world about your blog and your topic. Click ‘Publish Post’

Step 7:
Click ‘View Blog’, and sit back and marvel at your mastery of cyberspace.

Step 8:
Lastly, come back to this blog, click ‘Comments’ directly below, and post your blog’s URL address.

Any problems/questions: Email me at iankeithrogers@gmail.com

THE END.

Welcome To Music Subcultures & Media 2007

Hello , welcome to the course.

If you're reading this - CONGRATULATIONS !!! - you're obviously a student who is getting to work on MSTU2000 nice and early, and thus will no doubt recieve a higher grade than many of your friends. Please take a moment to bask in the glory.

In the coming weeks this site will feature more information on how, why and where you can complete your second assignment for MSTU2000, 'The Blogging Task'. In a nutshell, you're going to set up a research journal online - or post to an existing journal about the course - the choice is yours. But if you start posting about university theory in your myspace blog, your friends will probably 'un-friend' you. Just a warning.

That's all for now. Hang tight. If you'd like to look at last years MSTU2000 Blogging Project, go here to see it in all it's splendour. It'll be very similar, so if you're gagging to get moving on this subject, go and have a read about last year.