(jan 2011) scholars, their blogs, and digital preservation: reflections on research design

SCHOLARS & THEIR BLOGS

Dr. Carolyn Hank carolyn.hank@mcgill.ca

School of Information Studies

McGill University

SPEAKER SERIES

28 January 2011

REFLECTIONS ON RESEARCH DESIGN

Background

Research Design

Questionnaires

Interviews

Blog Analysis

Findings

Discussion

Next Steps

02 | 63 agenda

03 04 23 30 32 36

60

58

Blogs &

Blogging Scholarly

Communication

Blog

Archiving

Digital

Preservation

03 | 63 background

LITERATURE Blogger Perceptions on

Digital Preservation Hank, Sheble, & Choemprayong,

2007-2010

How do scholars who

blog perceive their blog

in relation to their cumulative

scholarly record?

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

04 | 63 research design

How do scholars who

blog perceive their blog

in relation to long-term

stewardship?

Who do they perceive

as responsible as well

as capable for blog

preservation?

05 | 63 research design

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

What blog characteristics

impact preservation?

What blogger behaviours

impact preservation?

06 | 63 research design

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

?

Multiple Instances

Multiple Authors

Scholar blogger(?)

Scholarly blog(?)

Currency

Timing

05 | 35 RESEARCH DESIGN 07 | 63 research design

CONSIDERATIONS

UNITS

BLOGS

BLOGGERS

08 | 63 research design

BLOGS

BLOGGERS

Questionnaires

Interviews

Blog Analysis

DATA SOURCES

09 | 63 research design

NEEDLE IN A

HAYSTACK

10 | 63 research design

POPULATION

CHAMELEON IN

A HAYSTACK

11 | 63 research design

POPULATION

Academic Blog

Portal <http://www.academicblogs.org>

Purposive Sampling

POPULATION

12 | 63 research design

Domain Cluster Blogs Listed

at Source Duplicates

Total

Blogs

Humanities History 190 1 189

Social Sciences Economics 192 0 192

Professions &

Useful Arts Law 120 1 119

Sciences BioChemPhys 147 3 144

All Domains All Clusters 649 5 644

Note. For total blogs within the Sciences cluster, BioChemPhys (N=144), sub-fields were

represented as follows: Biology blogs, 39% (n=56); Chemistry blogs, 15% (n=21); and

Physics blogs, 47% (n=67).

Also, BioChemPhys is also abbreviated in select tables as, „Sciences.”

BLOGS BY CLUSTER

13 | 63 research design

PUBLICLY AVAILABLE

PUBLISHED IN ENGLISH

KNOWLEDGE OR PERSONAL BLOG

TIME-STAMPED POSTS

ACTIVELY PUBLISHED TO

AT LEAST 1 YEAR OLD

PERSONAL IDENTIFIERS (RE: AUTHORSHIP)

BLOG ELIGIBILITY …

14 | 63 research design

AUTHORED BY 1 OR MORE SCHOLARS

CONTINUED

15 | 63 research design

a) 1+ descriptor: Ph.D., Dr., Professor, Reader, Lecturer,

Doctoral Student, or Doctoral Candidate

c) Link to blogger‟s CV or the like with 1+ citation to a

journal article

b) 1+ descriptor (Scholar, Academic, Researcher, Research

Director, Fellow, Biologist) and institutional affiliation

d) Graduate student and explicit reference to area of

study or pursuant degree

SCHOLAR CRITERIA

LISTED VS. ELIGIBLE

16 | 63 research design

Criterion History

Freq (%)

Econ

Freq (%)

Law

Freq (%)

Sciences

Freq (%)

Publicly available 168 (90%) 163 (85%) 113 (95%) 126 (88%)

Published in English 159 (84%) 151 (79%) 111 (93%) 123 (85%)

Knowledge or personal

blog 146 (77%) 140 (73%) 93 (78%) 119 (83%)

Time-stamped posts 145 (77%) 140 (73%) 93 (78%) 118 (82%)

Actively published to 68 (36%) 83 (43%) 58 (49%) 62 (43%)

At least 1 year old 58 (31%) 66 (34%) 53 (45%) 54 (38%)

Personal identifiers in

regard to authorship 53 (28%) 59 (31%) 48 (40%) 48 (33%)

Authored by 1 or more

bloggers meeting

scholar parameters

46 (24%) 51 (27%) 47 (40%) 44 (31%)

ASSESSMENT

17 | 63 research design

Clusters Single-Blogs Co-Blogs Total Blogs

History 32 14 46 (31%)

Economics 34 17 51 (27%)

Law 22 25 47 (40%)

BioChemPhys 37 7 44 (24%)

All Clusters 125 63 188 (29%)

18 | 63 research design

Note. For blogs in the BioChemPhys cluster, disciplines were represented as follows:

Single-blogs: biology 43% (n=16), chemistry 14% (n=5), and physics 43% (n=16); and

Co-blogs: biology 0%, chemistry 29% (n=2), and physics 71% (n=5).

SAMPLING FRAME (1)

CO-BLOGS : POSTED W/IN 1 MONTH

CO-BLOGS: MEETS SCHOLAR CRITERIA

ALL BLOGS: BLOGGER CONTACT INFO

BLOGGER ELIGIBILITY

19 | 63 research design

Criterion

History

(N=151)

Freq (%)

Econ

(N=155)

Freq (%)

Law

(N=228)

Freq (%)

Sciences

(N=49)

Freq (%)

(Special Condition):

Blogger published

within previous month

43 (29%) 65 (42%) 114 (50%) 19 (39%)

Blogger meets

scholar parameters 31 (21%) 58 (37%) 107 (47%) 16 (33%)

Blogger contact

information available 27 (18%) 56 (36%) 102 (45%) 15 (31%)

Protocol: Revised

count and percentage

after removal of

duplicate listings

23 (15%) 53 (34%) 99 (43%) 15 (31%)

CO-BLOGGERS

20 | 63 research design

SINGLE-BLOGGERS

21 | 63 research design

Criterion

History

(N=32)

Freq (%)

Econ

(N=34)

Freq (%)

Law

(N=22)

Freq (%)

Sciences

(N=37)

Freq (%)

Blogger contact

information available 27 (84%) 32 (94%) 21 (96%) 28 (76%)

APPENDIX A

22 | 63 research design

SAMPLE

CODING

SYSTEM

Criteria 1-9

Data Management

48 Categories/Attributes

Specific Instructions

INSTRUMENT DESIGN

23 | 63 questionnaires

QUESTIONNAIRES Q1 (single-bloggers) 41 to 58 questions

Q2 (co-bloggers): 41 to 62 questions

QUESTIONNAIRES AVAILABLE IN APPENDICES C & D

Qualtrics

INSTRUMENT DESIGN

Do not

reinvent

the wheel

Lenhart & Fox (2006)

Herring et al. (2005)

Morton and Price (1999)

Olsen et al. (2009)

Rainie (2005)

White & Winn (2009)

Hank et al. (2007)

24 | 63 questionnaires

INSTRUMENT DESIGN Dillman et al. (2009)

Czaja & Blair (2005)

Punch (2003).

Dillman 25 | 63 questionnaires

INSTRUMENT DESIGN

PRE-TEST

26 | 63 questionnaires

ADMINISTRATION

27 | 63 questionnaires

Personalized Email

Salutation | Blog Title | Blog URL | PIN

Invite and 2 reminders

No inducements (except final report)

Manual

Available for 3 weeks

All eligible bloggers invited (N=298)

COMPLETED SAMPLE

28 | 63 questionnaires

Completed sample:

153 respondents

RR 1: QI: 63% | QII: 46% | QI/II: 52%

Outcome rates derived from Internet surveys of specifically named persons from

the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR, 2009)

ANALYSIS

29 | 63 questionnaires

Excel

SPSS

Excel

DESIGN & ADMIN

30 | 63 interviews

11 to 14 questions

72 (47%) expressed interest

24 phone interviews (semi-structured)

15 to 25+ minutes

Protocol | Debriefing Sheet | Pre-Test

Concurrent to other data collection

ANALYSIS

31 | 63 interviews

Interviews/

Digital

Recordings

Notes

Partial Transcripts

3+ listening sessions

CONSENT SCRIPT, SCHEDULE, & DEBRIEFING SHEET

AVAILABLE IN APPENDICES G &D

SAMPLE

32 | 63 Blog analysis

Clusters Single-Blogs

Count

Co-Blogs

Count

Total Blogs

Count

History 16 7 23

Economics 17 8 25

Law 11 13 24

BioChemPhys 17 4 21

All Clusters 61 32 93

Coded 93 blogs (49.5% sampling ratio)

CODE BOOKS

33 | 63 Blog analysis

CODING

SYSTEMS CB1 (single-)

63 Indicators (on/off blog

CB2 (co-blogs)

57 Indicators (on/off blog)

Authorship

Blog Elements & Features

Rights & Disclaimers

Authority & Audience

Blog Publishing Activity

Post Features

Archiving

SINGLE- & Co-BLOG CODING SYSTEM AVAILABLE IN APPENDIX J

TESTING/COLLECTING

34 | 63 Blog analysis

Time in

Minutes

Single-Blog

Frequency (%)

Co-Blog Count

Frequency (%)

≤ 9 17 (28%) 5 (15%)

10 to 19 32 (52%) 24 (73%)

20 to 29 9 (15%) 2 (6%)

30 to 39 2 (3%) 1 (6%)

≥ 40 1 (2%) -

ANALYIS

35 | 63 Blog analysis

Excel

SPSS

Excel

RESPONDENT PROFILE

36 | 63 findings

Hold a

doctorate (63%)

RESPONDENT PROFILE

37 | 63 findings

Male (78%)

RESPONDENT PROFILE

38 | 63 findings

Post-

Secondary

Faculty … (76%)

RESPONDENT PROFILE

39 | 63 findings

… Tenured (78%)

RESPONDENT PROFILE

40 | 63 findings

Avg. age

is 45 (range 25 to 70)

RESPONDENT PROFILE

41 | 63 findings

Professional

age avg. is

15 years (range 0 to 39)

RESPONDENT PROFILE

42 | 63 findings

Publication

& service

history

RESPONDENT PROFILE

43 | 63 findings

Publish

just 1 blog (58%)

BLOG PROFILE

44 | 63 findings

Avg. blog age

is 4.5 years old (range 1 to 8)

public 100%

subject to

critical

review 68%

allows use and

exchange 94% part of the

scholarly

record 80%

Association of Research Libraries (1986).

QUESTION (1)

Braxton, J.M., Luckey, W., & Helland, P. (2002).

45 | 63 findings

0% 100%

Personal access/use

Indefinite future

Public access/use

Indefinite future

Personal access/use

Short-term future

Personal access/use

Short-term future

16%

19%

76%

80%

QUESTION (2)

46 | 63 findings

Preservation

Preferences

QUESTION (2) Preservation

Perceptions

47 | 63 findings

QUESTION (2) Preservation

Perceptions

48 | 63 findings

QUESTION (2) Doomsday

Scenario

49 | 63 findings

RELIEF “I don‟t have to do it anymore;” “I get half an hour of my life back.”

C’EST LA VIE “Pour another cup of coffee and get back to work;” “Probably have a drink and

forget about it;” “Not welcomed but not tragic … I‟d get over it;” “Drop out of the

blogosphere until something else comes along.”

DOUBT “How would that happen?;” “It would take an extreme catastrophe;”

“Hard to believe lost and unrecoverable.”

ANGER “Mad as hell;” “Pretty peeved;” “Pretty angry;” “Angry and upset;” “Frustrated;”

I‟d do something drastic [in response] (i.e., legal action).

SADNESS “Pretty bad;” “Very bad;” “Sad;” “Pretty sad;” “Panicked;”

“Devastated, both emotionally and professionally.”

Blogs Teaching

materials

Books

Journal

articles

Blogs

Personnel

Communications

Books

Journal

articles

Filter

Blogs

Class

Blogs

Traditional

Publications

Blogs

Law review

articles

Blogs

Books

Journal

articles

Blogs

Email

Self-

Publications

Peer-

Reviewed

Publications

Journal

articles

Filter

Blogs

Works-in-

progress

Blogs

Published

Papers

Blogs

Peer-

Reviewed

Publications

Informal

Publications

Blogs

Lab

Notebooks

Published

Papers

Dissertations

& Theses

Monographs

Select

Blog Posts

Books

Blogs

Books

Journal

articles

Journal

articles

Book

Reviews

Blogs

Journal

articles

Teaching

materials

Scientific &

Scholarly

Research

Pedagogical

Research & Tools

Blogs

LOWER HIGHER

QUESTION (2) Preservation

Priorities

50 | 63 findings

Dynamic, changing

Co-producer dependencies

Understandability

Versioning

Rights and Use

Some Archiving Activity

05 | 35 RESEARCH DESIGN

QUESTION (3)

51 | 63 findings

55 % update their

blog

several

times a week

BLOGGERS

55 %

of most

recent posts

published

≤ 3 days

BLOGS

QUESTION (3)

52 | 63 findings

95% edit posts after publication

29% delete posts after publication

Spelling & grammatical errors Rephrasing Remove incorrect info Published before ready

Duplicate post “Post regret” Too sensitive or revealing

QUESTION (3)

53 | 63 findings

QUESTION (3)

Text 99%

544 total words

79 quoted words

465 original words

Photos 16%

Other image elements 16%

Links 82% (avg. 5)

Comments 57%

Most

Recent

Post

54 | 63 findings

50% check for permissions before

publishing content at least half the

time.

05 | 35 RESEARCH DESIGN 55 | 63 findings

QUESTION (3)

Rights

51 %

none

37 %

text

statement

14 %

Creative

Commons

Other

Policies

QUESTION (3)

56 | 63 findings

80% of blogs in sample archived

to Internet Archive Wayback

Machine

50% of law cluster blogs (n=12)

archived at Library of Congress‟

Legal Blawgs Web Archive

QUESTION (3)

57 | 63 findings

Bloggers are interested

Save some but not all

New content added

Old content altered

Personal responsibility

Defining roles of others

Methodology

Responsibility

Access scenarios

Versioning

Intellectual Property

Access scenarios

Process in time

Findings Future

CONCLUSIONS (2007)

58 | 63 discussion

Blogs in support of service, teaching, and research

First line of defense

Last line of defense

Service Providers and Networks

Tools, Resources, Engagement

CONCLUSIONS (2010)

59 | 63 discussion

28 | 30 FUTURE WORK

Continued analysis

Personal and Programmatic Approaches

BlogForever

Twitter and the Library of Congress

Terms of Service Agreements

60 | 63 next steps

WWTD

61 | 63 references

what would Tufte do?

(see handout for references

Paul Jones

Dr. Helen R. Tibbo

Dr. Lynn Silipigni Connaway

Dr. Jeffrey Pomerantz

Paul Jones

Dr. Richard Marciano

Paul Jones

Thanks to ....

Thanks for .... Beta Phi Mu 2010 Eugene Garfield Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship

Paul Jones

62 | 63 acknowledgements

And thank you.

CAROLYN HANK

Email: carolyn.hank@mcgill.ca

Phone: 514.398.4684

Web: http://ils.unc.edu/~hcarolyn

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United

States License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/

63 | 63 questions