Sunday, May 1, 2005
Cronin on distributed cognition. Just a thought: though he recently blasted blogging, Blaise Cronin's own scholarship provides clues about some ways for academic bloggers to justify blogging as scholarship on the academy's own terms. In "Bowling alone together: Academic writing as distributed cognition," he starts to dismantle the myth of the solo scholar, saying in the abstract:
The twentieth century saw the progressive collectivization of science -- dramatic growth in teamwork in general and large-scale collaboration in particular. Cognitive partnering in the conduct of research and scholarship has become commonplace, and this trend is reflected in rates of co-authorship and sub-authorship collaboration. The effects of these developments on academic writing are discussed and theorized in terms of distributed cognition.
He presents the writing of his own article as a major example of the process:
For instance, in writing this brief communication I talked at length with my colleague Yvonne Rogers (an active researcher in the human-computer interaction and cognitive science communities), drew upon an array of textual resources (including the articles, papers, and books listed in the references), made use of artifacts to hand (a pocket calculator, search engine, text editor, spellchecker, pen and paper), and looked at a number of external representations (charts and diagrams). I did not sit down one Thursday morning and suddenly decide that it was time to write a few words on the subject of scholarly publishing and distributed cognition. First, the idea emerged slowly and unfocusedly from recent and not so recent exchanges with colleagues near and far. Second, my ability to build some kind of argument, linking what we know about authorial practices in the world of scholarly communication with current thinking about distributed cognition in fields such as psychology, cognitive science, cultural anthropology, and education (e.g., Salomon, [1997]), was contingent on my having easy access to the thoughts of others, whether directly (via face-to-face conversation or e-mail exchange) or indirectly (via the published literature or archival e-mail/list-serv postings).
More of the details of his writing process are presented, most of which, like linking above, are familiar to education bloggers. By the end, when Cronin concludes that "academic writing is a high-level instance of distributed cognition," I find myself having hope that in some fashion or another we can someday win a proper place for academic blogging in the hierarchy of the university.
His article is here: Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Volume 55, Issue 6, Pages 557-560. [0 & P]
The twentieth century saw the progressive collectivization of science -- dramatic growth in teamwork in general and large-scale collaboration in particular. Cognitive partnering in the conduct of research and scholarship has become commonplace, and this trend is reflected in rates of co-authorship and sub-authorship collaboration. The effects of these developments on academic writing are discussed and theorized in terms of distributed cognition.
He presents the writing of his own article as a major example of the process:
For instance, in writing this brief communication I talked at length with my colleague Yvonne Rogers (an active researcher in the human-computer interaction and cognitive science communities), drew upon an array of textual resources (including the articles, papers, and books listed in the references), made use of artifacts to hand (a pocket calculator, search engine, text editor, spellchecker, pen and paper), and looked at a number of external representations (charts and diagrams). I did not sit down one Thursday morning and suddenly decide that it was time to write a few words on the subject of scholarly publishing and distributed cognition. First, the idea emerged slowly and unfocusedly from recent and not so recent exchanges with colleagues near and far. Second, my ability to build some kind of argument, linking what we know about authorial practices in the world of scholarly communication with current thinking about distributed cognition in fields such as psychology, cognitive science, cultural anthropology, and education (e.g., Salomon, [1997]), was contingent on my having easy access to the thoughts of others, whether directly (via face-to-face conversation or e-mail exchange) or indirectly (via the published literature or archival e-mail/list-serv postings).
More of the details of his writing process are presented, most of which, like linking above, are familiar to education bloggers. By the end, when Cronin concludes that "academic writing is a high-level instance of distributed cognition," I find myself having hope that in some fashion or another we can someday win a proper place for academic blogging in the hierarchy of the university.
His article is here: Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Volume 55, Issue 6, Pages 557-560. [0 & P]
Hitchhiker's guide. Will everyone enjoy the Hitchhiker's movie? I can't say. It may help if you know at least the brief first book in the series -- I read it aloud to my 10 year old daughter recently, and we both enjoyed both the book and the movie quite a bit, but her 8 year old sister also enjoyed the movie without having that advantage.
Best feminist moment -- it's a small thing, and I won't spoil it by telling the scene, but as the father of daughters and the spouse of a woman strong in body and mind I want to say that there is one moment, involving a sci-fi weapon, whose pleasure, for me, was its feminist theme and especially how utterly the movie assumes, for that moment at least, the knowing experience and perspective of a female character.
Best academic satire -- as in the book, the appreciation of Vogon poetry that Arthur Dent offers in order to save his life.
Best political satire -- many jobs have their bureacratic sides, but few of us would want to identify with the Vogons, a fine satire of bureacratic shallowness and excess, but it's a toss-up for me between the Vogons and the wicked portrait of George W. Bush that runs through much of the movie.
Most fervent dream -- more in the book than in the movie, but the Hitchhiker's Guide itself is a lovely dream: a survival manual for those who haven't been utterly bought out by the system, a high-tech collection of the writings of many explorers who share their discoveries and tips, a collection that grows with its explorers, a counter to state ideology, and a balm in hard times. It's such a vivid dream, though, that I can almost imagine that I'm participating in its fulfillment at this very moment. [0 & P]
Best feminist moment -- it's a small thing, and I won't spoil it by telling the scene, but as the father of daughters and the spouse of a woman strong in body and mind I want to say that there is one moment, involving a sci-fi weapon, whose pleasure, for me, was its feminist theme and especially how utterly the movie assumes, for that moment at least, the knowing experience and perspective of a female character.
Best academic satire -- as in the book, the appreciation of Vogon poetry that Arthur Dent offers in order to save his life.
Best political satire -- many jobs have their bureacratic sides, but few of us would want to identify with the Vogons, a fine satire of bureacratic shallowness and excess, but it's a toss-up for me between the Vogons and the wicked portrait of George W. Bush that runs through much of the movie.
Most fervent dream -- more in the book than in the movie, but the Hitchhiker's Guide itself is a lovely dream: a survival manual for those who haven't been utterly bought out by the system, a high-tech collection of the writings of many explorers who share their discoveries and tips, a collection that grows with its explorers, a counter to state ideology, and a balm in hard times. It's such a vivid dream, though, that I can almost imagine that I'm participating in its fulfillment at this very moment. [0 & P]
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