An excellent review of what blogs are and why they are useful in online research. "The generous spirit of blogging permits the writer to leave behind what Anders Fagerjord so fittingly names a Surftrail for others to follow through the World Wide Web, directing colleagues and others who might come by to areas of interest. Writing in a weblog one is forced to confront one's own writing and opinions and to see them reflected in the words of others. The discussions are much more open and also more permanent than discussions in a seminar room or at a conference. A blog is a permanent archive (as long as the writer preserves the archives and the server remains online) and it is searchable. What you write in your blog can be quoted and discussed in any forum. When we write in a blog thoughts don't disappear. They stay. A thought we might otherwise not care to record or mention can be what triggers new work." (PDF 31 pages)