Why Researchers Should Blog
Às vezes penso no tempo que dedico a este blog e a escrever post's.
Sinto que por vezes que estou a perder tempo, a divagar. É sempre tempo que deveria estar a fazer outras coisas.
Uma vez a M.A. disse-me, enquanto avaliava o meu trabalho de primeiro ano como estudante de doutoramento, que devia acrescentar como um dos resultados o meu blog. Fiquei a pensar nisso e algumas ideias que este artigo expõe são interessantes para analisar a importância de um blog na investigação. E por isso pensei também no propósito deste blog.
“Publish or perish”: Academia has its own jungle law. To thrive (or even to survive, it feels like occasionally) one needs to produce texts and in this case I mean specifically texts as words (images, videos, audio presentations are not yet acceptable). Articles, book chapters, monographs, conference papers, working papers, book reviews – you name them – these are the certificates of an academic’s ability to think creatively, analytically and methodically, to produce and communicate new knowledge.
This is where blogs come in. Blogs are useful for researchers for at least three reasons.
They are good for your writing skills.
They are good for your research.
They are good for your CV.
Writing is a habit, a form of exercise; you need practice in order to get better at it. Like Dana Forbes said on Twitter, ‘You give your sentences and paragraphs a good work out, and then they will be fit for the page’. Writing is also very much a matter of inspiration: how many of us have stared at the blank screen worrying about how to fill it with our thoughts? Blogging may be just as good as chocolate in fighting writer’s block, because it lifts the pressure of putting down well-rounded, thoroughly referenced texts and allows for the ideas that float around in your head to find a home on (virtual) paper. Posts don’t need to follow as rigorously as articles the academic writing standards, so they liberate you from those constraints. Writing a blog post gets you to think and write something related to your topic, but in a more casual way.
Blogs are also helping you improve not only the form of your academic production but also its content. Your research can be better by keeping a blog, which then becomes your personal idea incubator. Because of its format, the blog post allows you to focus on one, max two, things at a time. This may serve to organize your thoughts, to categorize your concepts or data, and to look at your material in a new way. Once you publish a post, you can receive feedback through the comments. That may correct some statements you made, or help you see new angles on the same topic.
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As 3 razões porque Fábulas Sustentáveis existe:
1. é a forma mais fácil que tenho para comentar e divulgar determinados assuntos pelos os quais me interesso e, na minha opinião, são importantes para o resto do mundo;
2. o tema do consumo sustentável de pescado é também o meu tema, o meu trabalho, a minha tese de doutoramento (a minha vida!? oh não!) e acredito que o meu contributo para um documento no final será tão importante como o resumo de alguns post's que aqui vou publicando;
3. por fim, porque para mim é importante partilhar ideias, opiniões, discussões, sentimentos, coisas boas e coisas más. Partilhar com os outros tudo o que tenho para dar e para dizer. Porque as coisas só fazem sentido se forem partilhadas.
* O Wordle é uma ferramenta que faz "nuvens" de acordo com a frequência das palavras publicadas. Outros e poder...2 palavras interessantes!
Sinto que por vezes que estou a perder tempo, a divagar. É sempre tempo que deveria estar a fazer outras coisas.
Uma vez a M.A. disse-me, enquanto avaliava o meu trabalho de primeiro ano como estudante de doutoramento, que devia acrescentar como um dos resultados o meu blog. Fiquei a pensar nisso e algumas ideias que este artigo expõe são interessantes para analisar a importância de um blog na investigação. E por isso pensei também no propósito deste blog.
“Publish or perish”: Academia has its own jungle law. To thrive (or even to survive, it feels like occasionally) one needs to produce texts and in this case I mean specifically texts as words (images, videos, audio presentations are not yet acceptable). Articles, book chapters, monographs, conference papers, working papers, book reviews – you name them – these are the certificates of an academic’s ability to think creatively, analytically and methodically, to produce and communicate new knowledge.
This is where blogs come in. Blogs are useful for researchers for at least three reasons.
They are good for your writing skills.
They are good for your research.
They are good for your CV.
Writing is a habit, a form of exercise; you need practice in order to get better at it. Like Dana Forbes said on Twitter, ‘You give your sentences and paragraphs a good work out, and then they will be fit for the page’. Writing is also very much a matter of inspiration: how many of us have stared at the blank screen worrying about how to fill it with our thoughts? Blogging may be just as good as chocolate in fighting writer’s block, because it lifts the pressure of putting down well-rounded, thoroughly referenced texts and allows for the ideas that float around in your head to find a home on (virtual) paper. Posts don’t need to follow as rigorously as articles the academic writing standards, so they liberate you from those constraints. Writing a blog post gets you to think and write something related to your topic, but in a more casual way.
Blogs are also helping you improve not only the form of your academic production but also its content. Your research can be better by keeping a blog, which then becomes your personal idea incubator. Because of its format, the blog post allows you to focus on one, max two, things at a time. This may serve to organize your thoughts, to categorize your concepts or data, and to look at your material in a new way. Once you publish a post, you can receive feedback through the comments. That may correct some statements you made, or help you see new angles on the same topic.
Daqui | Ideas on Europe | 20 Abril 2011
*As 3 razões porque Fábulas Sustentáveis existe:
1. é a forma mais fácil que tenho para comentar e divulgar determinados assuntos pelos os quais me interesso e, na minha opinião, são importantes para o resto do mundo;
2. o tema do consumo sustentável de pescado é também o meu tema, o meu trabalho, a minha tese de doutoramento (a minha vida!? oh não!) e acredito que o meu contributo para um documento no final será tão importante como o resumo de alguns post's que aqui vou publicando;
3. por fim, porque para mim é importante partilhar ideias, opiniões, discussões, sentimentos, coisas boas e coisas más. Partilhar com os outros tudo o que tenho para dar e para dizer. Porque as coisas só fazem sentido se forem partilhadas.
* O Wordle é uma ferramenta que faz "nuvens" de acordo com a frequência das palavras publicadas. Outros e poder...2 palavras interessantes!