Why do people like Michael Gorman and Blaise Cronin (and note that I will not link to any of their articles, but you can find critiques at Free Range Librarian and Pattern Recognition) write these controversial rants about blogs and bloggers? Is it because they want to change people’s minds and make them stop blogging (or stop reading blogs)? I don’t think so. It’s all designed to stir up contoversy and get attention. I’m sure they can’t wait to see the bloggers get their knickers in a twist and become filled with righteous indignation. So when we try to respond to the rantings of (let’s face it) a closed-minded demagogue, we’re basically giving that person what he or she wants. Gorman was never so famous as when he wrote his Library Journal article, and we (me included) were at fault for bringing so much publicity to the fact that our soon-to-be president is a closed-minded Luddite (and thus perpetrating the negative “librarian” stereotype). In spite of the fact that he is a prolific author, I will bet that the majority of librarians did not know who Blaise Cronin was before yesterday’s brouhaha.
So what is the purpose of writing about these gadflies? We certainly won’t change anyone’s mind. For people who think blogs are drivel, they will read Cronin’s opinion piece and nod their heads. For people who rightly realize that there are plenty of high-quality blogs that offer intelligent commentary and dialogue, they will shrug the piece off as yet another polemic by another person who’s been in the ivory tower too long. If he was actually more a part of the wired world, we’d probably call Cronin a “flamer”.
And we should do with him what we would do with any flamer: ignore him.
All due respect to this blog, Meredith and to you. And I am mostly on your side with the blogging world. but I do have the following points.
1) I certainly knew who Blaise Cronin was before this article, and his work extends to library technology. Even if he wasn’t well known, the ad hominem is not a very effective way to attack the issue.
2) Your decision not to post the link to the article kind of goes against the general values and principles of information sharing doesn’t? I mean first, if you decide to refer to something you probably should cite it so people know what you are talking about. And second, it is rather cheap to have your say, but then attempt to impede the say of your opponent, especially when a Google search for “Blaise Cronin” and “blogging” shows little of evidence.
Controversy will not destroy the blogging world. If anything you should welcome the controversy as evidence of the world’s influence.
Ryan. ..
You can see my thoughts about Blaise at:
http://www.ibiblio.org/griffey/wp/2005/04/29/sigh/
Sad, sad for librarians that anyone in a leadership position would publish something like this.
Ryan, I guess the difference is that I don’t see this as a controversy. If Cronin had offered a meaningful critique of blogging, I would have felt it worthwhile to post his argument and critique it. But he wrote something that basically reflected a lack of any understanding of the the blogging medium and was just written to offend. I don’t think that controversy will destroy the blogging world, but I think that we all have better things to write about than small-minded people who write small-minded things (and give them the attention they so clearly are looking for).
And as you can see, I linked to other critiques of Dr. Cronin’s piece so you can see what it’s all about. Point taken on that issue.
I am not a librarian. I now do not remember where I stumbled across Cronin’s article….hmmn. I might have been searching for a particular blog. I think your point about Cronin being a flamer or troll is well-taken. Sadly, I fed the troll, but I’m so far off the beaten path he may never catch the morsel.
However, what’s sad is that there are a great many teachers in high school and at university using blogs as course tools. Cronin’s a sorry example of a teacher of information managment if he doesn’t understand that aspect of the tool.
Liz, it’s difficult to suffer that sort of fool silently (I certainly didn’t keep my mouth shut when Michael Gorman wrote his diatribe attacking bloggers). I agree with you that a blog is a fantastic tool in education — with a variety of different practical applications. And people like Cronin will probably never see or acknowledge that. We’ll never change the minds of people like that. We need to focus on those who are open to new ideas about how technology can be used in education.
As I have previously mentioned to other people, Michael Gorman and Blaise Cronin are correct about their beliefs on “blogging.” They’re basically telling us that these blogs are a crock of shit. And to this, I positively agree because people starring at computers for hours on end, typing loads of garbage about their day-to-day lives for just scrap of fame. They’re obviously mezmorized by the fact that thier name and information about them is on a printed on a screen. Hmm… that’s when I start to realize that Mr. Gorman and Cronin have some sense. Considering I know Blaise Cronin on a personal level, I have to say that he definately knows what he’s talking about. And anyways, you shouldn’t have to enrage yourselves with the fact that someone in this world actually thinks differently than you.
[…] April 2005 Number of Posts: 20 Words written: 10,848 Favorite Posts: The Failure of Middleware series (Parts one, two, three, four, five, six, and seven are linked here) and The innovation gap Important Events: Started ALA Chicago 2005 Wiki! Job hunt not going well. I start wondering if I’ll have to go back to social work to make ends meet. […]