Call For Posts: Accretionary Wedge #26

Dave Bressan (History of Geology and Cryology and Co.) and Michael Welland (Through the Sandglass) have put out a call for posts for the July Accretionary Wedge. The introspective topic this month is the role of the geoblogosphere in geology:

The Geoblogosphere comprises and gathers every day the newest articles from more then 200 blogs (and still counting) dealing with the most various earth related themes, ranging from geological excursions, sharing field experiences, philosophizing about earth sciences, life and art, media coverage and daily rock encounters to discussion of the newest scientific discoveries on this planet and others. So philosophizing around (geo)blogging with Dr. Welland many questions raised:

- like how bloggeology can “impact” society and “real geology,” should and can we promote the “geoblogosphere,” and are blogs private “business” or public affairs, and institutions underevaluating the possibilities given by this new method of communication?

Taking the liberty of paraphrasing, I interpret this to be asking what role the geoblogosphere should play going forward. Should it have a role in disseminating research? Should geoblogging be factored into academic- or business- employees’ evaluations? Can, and how should, the expertise and enthusiasm of geobloggers be harnessed to effectively reach and educate the broader public? In short (again, as I interpret the issue), what do you see as the purpose of geoblogging and the geoblogosphere?

This promises to be a very interesting question to address, and I expect a tremendous diversity of opinion. Please take some time to offer yours. The deadline is July 29.

(Cross-posted at The Accretionary Wedge)