Blogging History: Uses of Blogs in Academic and Archival Settings

Blogging History:
What are the uses of blogs in academic
and archival settings?
Dr Matt Phillpott
(School of Advanced Study)
Matt.phillpott@sas.ac.uk

Archives and Society seminar
November 2013

http://bloggingforhistorians.wordpress.com/

Outline
• Social Media – what is it all about?

• My background
• What types of blogs are there?
• Do archives use blogs?
• Final thoughts

social media n. web sites and applications which
enable users to create and share content or to
participate in social networking.
- Oxford English Dictionary

social media n. web sites and applications which

enable users to create and share content or to
participate in social networking.
- Oxford English Dictionary

What are blogs?
noun
plural noun: blogs
a personal website or web page on which an individual
records opinions, links to other sites, etc. on a regular
basis.

What are blogs?
Online notebook
Research hub
Promotional activity
Journal
News
Image store

Blog posts about blogs and social
media
A series of interviews either audio
or text based with experts already
using blogs for their own work
A toolkit or guide to blogging
developed especially for arts and
humanities scholars early in their
careers


Outputs of the Project
• A blog about blogs
•Six podcasted interviews with bloggers working in the field of History
(academic, archival, librarian)
• An online survey or questionnaire to investigate further the prevailing
thoughts about blogging
• A toolkit or guide to blogging developed especially for historians early
in their careers


“The project investigates the use of blogs by archives,
libraries and historians on both an individual and
organisational level. It seeks to exchange knowledge of the
working and usefulness of blogs between the History profession
and the archives and libraries sector through the
creation of an online resource designed to gain
an insight into why blogging is useful and what
is gained from the process.”


Podcasted interviews
Archives & Library blogs
• The National Archives blog – Ruth Ford
• Untold Lives (British Library) – Margaret Makepeace and Penny Brook
Individual research blog
• Historyonics blog – Professor Tim Hitchcock (Hertfordshire)
Collaborative research blogs
• The Russian History blog – Dr Miriam Dobson (Sheffield)
• History Matters blog– Dr Caroline Dodds Pennock (Sheffield)
Blog aggregator
• The Early Modern Commons – Sharon Howard (HRI)


What the bloggers had to say about best practice

Video

https://vimeo.com/69583387


SURVEY RESULTS


The Toolkit/Guide to Blogging

Categories
1.
Uses of blogs for historians
2.
Setting up a blog
3.
Promoting your blog
4.
Shared blogs
5.
Creating content
6.
Paying for enhanced features
7.
Going further


What types of
blogs are there?

General types of blogs
Research blog – talking about personal research
Point of view blog – discussing thoughts and experiences as a lecturer, archivist
or librarian.
Institution shared blog – promotes a department and gives staff members a joint-forum
To discuss their research interests
Scholarly shared blog – around a specific theme or topic area shared
between a small group of academics
Events blog – designed to promote one or more events such as talks,
workshops, conferences
Project blog – updates about the project, things found out through the
project etc.

Historyonics by Professor Tim Hitchcock
RESEARCH BLOG
Why was it set up?

• Experiment – to see if blogs were useful
• Initially talking about holidays etc., but soon focused on mulling over future
direction in digital history, a place for random thinking pieces, a fun space to
write and think – often a good way to
put into prose something that would
otherwise just remain as random
thoughts in the head.
How the blog is managed
• Chaotic and undirected
• No scheduling, just posts when he
has something to say or something
that he has no other use for.

Early Modern Women – Culture of Knowledge
RESEARCH BLOG

This blog belongs to a Postgraduate researcher working towards
an MPhil in History.

“I'm new to blogging, but am hoping
to create blogs of interest,
reflection and/or casual ramblings
as well as generate a network of
feedback and related discussions.”

A Don’s Life: Mary Beard (Classicist)
Point of View blog
Book Description
• Publication Date: 5 Nov 2009
Mary Beard's by now famous blog
A Don's Life has been running on the
TLS website for nearly three years.
In it she has made her name as a wickedly subversive
commentator on the world in which we
live. Her central themes are the classics,
universities and teaching - and much
else besides.
http://timesonline.typepad.com/

The History Matters Blog (Dept. of History, Sheffield)
Department Shared blog
Why was it set up?

• To raise the profile of the departments research.
• To engage with a wider audience and to demonstrate the
relevance of academic history in today’s world.
• A theme in which a department with diverse interests can all participate
• A schedule is maintained with
important events noted and staff
expertise called upon where relevant
• Entirely voluntary but a growing
interest from staff – some regularly
take part, others occasionally.

The Russian History Blog (various authors, mainly US)
Why was it set up?

Topic Shared-blog

• Frustrated with book reviews taking too long to be published – the blog allowed
for an immediate forum of discussion that could even include the author.
• A means to maintain an online presence without the additional pressure of
regularly writing posts – with c. 10 people collaborating only need to provide a
few posts a year
• Acts as a focus for discussion around the subject matter
• Good for networking – becoming recognised
for being one of the Russian History bloggers
• More informal – one person in charge, but
only to nudge when a post hasn’t gone up
for a while.
• Each contributor uploads their own posts
• Occasional email conversations re. blog.

Events Blog
SAS Blogs
SAS Blogs is the blog hosting service
for the School of Advanced Study
and its institutes, research projects and staff.

• News/events items
• Research posts from the Institutes
• Social Media/Digital opinions
Uses categories as part of navigation options

http://blogs.sas.ac.uk/

Commonwealth Oral History Project
Project Blog
“The aim of this AHRC funded project is to produce a unique
digital research resource on the oral history of the
Commonwealth since 1965.”

http://www.commonwealthoralhistories.org/

Surveyed 113 archives (on 1 November 2013)
Blog
Twitter
Facebook

26
39 (not incl. generic council account)
43 (not incl. generic council account)

Other social media commonly used:
Flickr
YouTube

Social Media usage by type of Archive

Type
Church
Local/regional
National
University

Total
2
87
19
6

blog
1 (50%)
13 (15%)
8 (42%)
5 (83%)

Facebook
1 (50%)
31 (35%)
10 (52%)
3 (50%)

Twitter
1 (50%)
26 (30 %)
9 (47%)
4 (66%)

Archives with Blogs
Blog system used
Blogger
Wordpress
Typepad
Own Design

5
16
2
3

Archive
Angus Archives
Archives of the University of Glasgow
Archive Services, University of Dundee
Birmingham City Archives
Borthwick Institute for Archives, York
British Library archives
BT Archives, London
Cheshire Record Office
City of Westminster Archives Centre
Denbighshire Record Office
Derbyshire Record Office
Essex Record Office
George Padmore Institute
Hull History Centre
Lambeth Palace Library
Lebrecht Photo Library
Media Archive for Central England
The National Archives
National Library of Wales
Nottingham University, Manuscripts and Special Collections
Royal Mail Archive
Surrey History Centre
Tyne and Wear Archives Service
West Yorkshire Archive Service
Wiltshire and Swindon Record Office
York City Archive

Blog Name
Baptist History: Hidden treasure
University of Glasgow Library
Archives, Records, and Artefacts
The Iron Room
Borthwick Institute blog
various
New Connections: the BT e-archive project
Curiouser and Curiouser
The Cookbook of unknown Ladies
Denbighshire Archives
Essex Record Office
Hull History Centre
A Monument of Fame
Music + Arts Pictures at Lehrecht
MACE Blog
The National Archives blog
The National Library of Wales
Manuscripts and Special Collections
The British Postal Museum and Archive
Exploring Surrey's Past
Tyne and Wear Archives blog
Catablogue: Collecting archives for West Yorkshire
Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre
York: A City Making history

Archives using Twitter
Archive
Royal Mail Archive
Hull History Centre
York City Archive
Essex Record Office
Angus Archives
BT Archives, London

Twitter
Twitter followers
britishlibrary
501,639
UKNatArchives
29965
NLWales
5468
postalheritage
4231
wyorksarchives
3175
TWArchives
3139
Hullhistorynews
2754
uofglibrary
2254
SurreyHeritage
2043
MACEarchive
1972
YorkLibrariesUK
1763
essexarchive
1070
heritagewshc
1023
TheIronRoom
997
CAIS_Archives
953
lampallib
915
CheshireRO
750
UoY Borthwick
668
Lebrecht_Photos
243
RPCLibrary
136

Archives with Facebook
Archive
Royal Mail Archive
Hull History Centre
York City Archive
Essex Record Office
Angus Archives
BT Archives, London

FB likes
121,644
8030
5367
3199
2581
995
803
732
629
583
532
330
278
223
170
157
143
125
104
96

Blogs: frequency of posts (per month)
Archive
Royal Mail Archive
Essex Record Office
Angus Archives
Hull History Centre
York City Archive
BT Archives, London

Freqency (max per month)
30
25
20
20
16
12
10
10
9
8
8
6
5
5
5
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
2
2
1
1

Archive Blogs: Date created
Archive
Royal Mail Archive
BT Archives, London
Essex Record Office
Angus Archives
York City Archive
Hull History Centre

Date begun
Sep-05
Sep-07
Feb-08
Feb-09
Mar-09
Aug-09
Aug-09
Dec-09
Feb-10
Mar-10
Jul-10
Feb-11
Apr-11
Jun-11
Oct-11
Oct-11
Dec-11
Feb-12
Feb-12
Mar-12
Mar-12
Jun-12
Jan-13
Feb-13
Mar-13
Jul-13

Angus Library & Archive
Started: March 2013
Posts: 3 per month
Purpose: Started as part of HLF Funding enabling the archive
to catalogue, conserve and provide opportunities
for more people to learn from the heritage
contained in collections. Blog is part of this
outreach
Content: News items; exhibitions job vacancies

The Iron Room (Birmingham City Archives)
Started: October 2011
Posts: 4-5 per month
Purpose: “to help you find out more about the
workings of our service and the collections we look
after”
“We hope it will be a place where you can discover information,
images and stories about our work collecting, preserving and making
records accessible. You can read about our local studies and archival
collections and new material we receive as well as learn about
cataloguing, public service, digitization and outreach projects in which
we are involved. You’ll get a chance to find out what goes on
behind the scenes and we’ll keep you up-to-date with events we
are running, exhibitions we are involved in and our preparations for the move
to the Library of Birmingham in 2013.”
Content: research; news items; behind the scenes; events; projects; user advice

The National Archives Blog
Why was it set up?
•
•

•

Goal of transparency and openness
An attempt to emphasis a human element to the archives - As staff at the TNA are civil
servants they operate under a strict set of guidelines and their public relations are usually a
‘we’ rather than an ‘I’.
Blogs allow staff to use an informal and ‘personal’ voice for a change

•
•

•
•

A long-term plan in place to ensure
the content continues
Staff asked to agree to provide posts for
at least 6 months
Centrally managed by web team
Posts scheduled 1 month in advance
with 3-4 posts per week

http://blogs.sas.ac.uk/

The Untold Lives blog (British Library)

Why was it set up?
• One of many blogs operated by the BL – initial set up considerations already
in place, but similar to those considered by TNA.
• Also shared goal of transparency and openness
• Also interested in emphasising the human voice through a storytelling approach
• An approval process was required and the theme needed to be flexible enough
for collaborative blogging.

• 2 editors acting as gatekeepers
• Schedule which includes key
dates in the year – an attempt
to tailor posts to events
that are current.
• 5-10 posts as back up

Be Trendy or be exterminated!

• Try to relate to something happening in the news or
which is ‘trending’
This is a great example from the Wiltshire & Swindon
History Centre. On Friday 22 Nov 2013 they posted by
An article about Dr Who being filmed in the region.

Getting your message out there!
• Start with a news item – i.e. blog post
• Talk about it on Twitter
• Link to the news item
• use hashtags (i.e. #bloomsburyfest)
• Mention other tweeters involved
i.e.

• Engage with other tweeters
• Do the same on other social media

Mark Carrigan’s blogs
Building up a profile online
•
•
•

Using blogs as a enhanced profile page
Using blogs as a research notebook
Shared/group blogging around a specific subject
area

http://markcarrigan.net/

http://sociologicalimagination.org/

Novel Approaches: from academic history to historical fiction
Virtual Conference
• Visitors encouraged to comment
• Posts go up at scheduled times
each day for a week, including
–
–
–
–

Podcasted talks
Reviews
Articles
Opinion pieces

http://ihrconference.wordpress.com/

The Early Modern Commons (blog aggregator)
Why was it set up?
• To be a blogroll + - i.e. a more useful blog roll
• Includes over 260 early modern blogs with details
and RSS feeds plus aggregates their posts

A possible way
forward for
Blogging?

The Social Scholar
seminar

www.sas.ac.uk

The Social Scholar
New lunchtime public seminar series

• To discuss all forms of social media in research and academic-related work
• 20 minute talks by experts already using social media in their work, followed by discussion and Q&A
• Opportunity to learn more about social media, how you might use it, why it can be useful.

Website: http://blogs.sas.ac.uk/category/the-social-scholar/

www.sas.ac.uk

The Social Scholar
New lunchtime public seminar series
1pm-2pm each month
All sessions will be held in Senate House room 246.
23 October
Julian Harrison (British Library)
The Anti-Social Scholar (and how not to become one)
13 November
Mark Carrigan (Warwick/LSE)
Getting Started as a Research Blogger: Single Authored or Multi Authored Blogs?
4 December
Anne Alexander (CRASSH, University of Cambridge)
The ethics of social media publishing: a brief introduction for researchers
All Social Scholar seminars are free to attend and open to all including
Researchers and research related staff from the University of London and elsewhere.
Please feel free to bring your lunch along. Tea and Coffee will be provided.

www.sas.ac.uk

Conclusions
1. If you want to start a blog think seriously about what you want to get out of
it. You need to be enthusiastic about what you are blogging about.

2. Despite common wisdom it is not always necessary to blog regularly and
there is no definitive word limit – although under 1000 words is generally
considered plenty.
3. Consider shared blogs – they offer a more collaborative approach that
can be inspiring and bring new opportunities.
4. But individual blogging is good as well.

Thank you for listening!
Dr Matt Phillpott
Matt.phillpott@sas.ac.uk


Blogging History: Uses of Blogs in Academic and Archival Settings

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