Blogging and the Future of the AHA
I think it is a mistake to assume the Working Group on the Future of the AHA is proposing more institutional blogs for the AHA. I believe every member of this working group believes in academic freedom and the importance of allowing individuals to voice their opinions on personal or group blogs. When the working group talks about the AHA serving as"gatekeeper and authority" for blogs hosted on the AHA web site, I don't think they mean the AHA wants to stifle the exchange and debate of ideas. Instead, I imagine they are talking about the AHA serving as a portal for blogs and providing a form of peer review for blogs on their web site.
One way the AHA could do this is by hosting blogs for history doctoral students and new assistant professors of history. This could be one way for the AHA to recruit the"younger historians" who are increasingly, according to the AHA's working group,"forgoing participation in formal professional associations." In exchange for hosting these blogs, the AHA could require that bloggers on their web site pay their membership dues and keep their listings in the AHA's membership and dissertation directories up to date.
Advancing scholarship could be the main purpose of these blogs. Doctoral students could use their blogs to talk about the progress they are making on their dissertation. New faculty trying to obtain tenure could talk about the process of converting their dissertation into a book. These blogs would likely attract the attention of historians who are working on similar topics. As historians post comments on these blogs, this would provide support and peer review for writers of dissertations and book manuscripts. It would also help younger historians to feel more connected to the AHA.
If the AHA pursues this proposal for blogs by young historians, I think the dissertation research discussed in these blogs should make use of Zotero. In September 2008, the Center for History and New Media is planning to unveil "Zotero 2.0: Server sync with groups." This new feature will give Zotero users the ability to backup their information on Zotero servers, share their research notes with others, and collaborate on research projects. Dan Cohen calls this process "social and semantic computing" and explains how this sharing of research--particularly the notes that are never incorporated into our finished dissertations--will benefit everyone.
I believe the AHA will find it easier to attract young historians as it embraces these kinds of technological innovations, provides job- and tenure seekers with highly-visible blogs on the AHA web site, and helps to foster a greater sense of community among historians in this country.