Your List Sucks

by Cliopatria

A couple of days ago, several of us who are listed by Online University Reviews's The Top 100 Liberal Arts Professor Blogs linked to it. Sharon Howard,"Time for a Good Demolition Job," Early Modern Notes, 5 July, offers in its stead another list – of some reasons OUR's list is"a pile of stinking poo" --"the most incompetently conceived, sloppily executed, downright utterly worthless effort I have seen in four years of blogging."

Sharon's right. Apart from dubious judgments (given thousands of available choices, is Judith Klinghoffer's de ja vureally one of the 100 Best Academic Blogs on the net?) and misinformed categories (why are both de ja vu and Juan Cole's Informed Comment listed as Political Science rather than History blogs?). #46 on OUR's list is particularly telling: Jeff Pasley's"Inactive Notes of a Left-Wing Cub Scout" is described as"this amusingly titled blog." Well, yow -- but it's real title was"Notes of a Left-Wing Cub Scout.""Inactive" is meant as a signal that Jeff hasn't blogged there since August 2003. If Fiona King wants to catch up with Jeff, he's currently blogging at Publick Occurrences. If she's going to assay"The Top 100 Liberal Arts Professor Blogs," King really ought to get acquainted with them.

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Ralph E. Luker - 7/11/2008

In your wildest imagination, out of many thousands of academic blogs on the net -- even including those that have been inert for five years -- would you pick de ja vu as one of the 100 best? Out of a thousand history blogs, would you pick it as one of the 10 best?

Serge Lelouche - 7/11/2008

I have no idea why she got your name wrong, but singling her out of the one hundred was awfully odd.

Ralph E. Luker - 7/10/2008

I've read your response. I, at least, managed to get your name right. A lot of us are in *Who's Who*, etc., but your singular indifference, even hostility, to evidence is astonishing. If I were you, I'd be embarrassed to sign my name to much that you post.

Jeremy Young - 7/10/2008

Well, John Luker, what say you? The distinguished professor has a Fulbright!

Seriously, I think Professor Klinghoffer is taking this as more critical than it needs to be. I'd readily admit that my site isn't among the 100 best academic blogs, and I get far more traffic and far more regular posting than Professor Klinghoffer does. Besides, even though Cliopatria obviously does deserve the award, it can't be that prestigious to share billing with blogs that haven't been updated in five years.

Dr. Klinghoffer, why can't we all just agree that the list is silly and move on? Saying that doesn't need to be an attack on anyone.

Judith Apter Klinghoffer - 7/10/2008

You will find my response here - http://hnn.us/blogs/3.html