dave lacrone : blog

My inbox this morning contained one of those ubiquitous forwarded messages from database sales representatives introducing the library to new or forthcoming products. This one was from Newsbank for a database called "Access Blogs."

In a nutshell, here is the idea

"with millions of blogs available on countless topics, searching the web for those that are relevant and respected can be time-consuming and unrewarding. With Access Blogs, however, more than 1,500 of the world’s most useful and reliable blogs—including those written by newspaper reporters, editors and other journalists—are now easily accessible within a single, fully searchable collection."

Interesting. In one sense Newsbank is addressing the central concern of those who decry the increasing de-professionalization of news production, and the overreliance on opinion-based writing. They will pick out the best and brightest blogs for you--people with solid credentials, a background in journalism or widespread acceptance.

In other sense Newsbank is validating blogs as useful and even authoritative sources of news and information. The product overview even goes so far as to say that blogs "Enhance research by adding valuable perspectives and commentary to traditional news coverage." Granted this is a mixed message. Yes, blogs are useful for research, but only in combination with other traditionally accepted modes of publication.

But I'll bet Access Blogs won't get far. No I haven't seen it, I'm only guessing at the content, the interface and the opportunities for interaction. But here are my concerns:

1. Blogs are free and easily accessible already. It's the web, people--there are search engines, friends, and online communities that can point us in the direction of blogs we want to read. I'm not sure that most people buy the 'information overload' argument Newsbank is trying to make. The fact that they advertise that Access Blogs can be accessed easily from home is hardly a selling point. I deftly avoid a rant about offsite authentication and simply state this is not easier.

2. When is a blog not a blog? When it's rendered behind an authentication mechanism with a dull, corporate interface. From the overview: "NewsBank’s powerful search capabilities and intuitive interface, patrons can track topics over time, pinpoint relevant content and browse specific blogs." Yes, Newsbank's search is good and the interface works reasonably well in its latest incarnation. But part of the appeal of blogs are the trappings: unique templates, blogrolls, widgets, etc. Even corporate blogs pay homage to these blogging conventions. Will photos be included or will it be akin to Newsbank's Access World News which merely presents a sea of black and white HTML text?

3. Comments? Anyone? Can we read comments? In the best scenarios, the good stuff happens in the comments section. If Newsbank is obtaining the content, how are they dealing with comments? Are they presenting posts as a series of static articles? I'd venture a guess...Yes.

4. Who are these mysterious bloggers? I wonder if prospective buyers can see a list of blogs included in the database. These are not journals or magazines we are talking about, but free online entities. Hell, if I had the list of blogs I could probably make my own version of Access Blogs. Not that I would ever do such a thing.

There are lots more observations to be made. Suffice it to say that I think this venture is at best suspicious. But maybe I'm just a curmudgeon.