Ruminations

Yesterday I heard that the university I work for is pondering what its policy on blogging should be. The worry is that, if there are ever going to be any blogs associated with the university, ‘people’ can potentially write anything they like, and the uni could be held liable for it. And so they are discussing what the blogging policy should be, and what the guidelines should cover. I refrained from saying that by the time they decide this, blogging could be quite different from what we know it as now. It wasn’t the right time for facetious comments. Not when the Uber Boss was the one reporting on this. I did say that it would be very difficult for any organisation to control what people are going to say or write about it – to which Uber Boss said she agreed and “Besides, many people already have blogs, don’t they, CW?”

She was referring to My Other Blog, the one work knows about, and on which I post Links and Information of Potential Interest to Librarians. In case you are commending me for my wisdom and restraint, at this point I very stupidly blurted out that yes, I do already have a blog, but it ain’t a patch on my personal blog. It was like a scene from The Simpsons where Homer tells his mind to shut up, and his mind ignores him and commits the faux pas anyway. ¡Ay caramba! (I mean, D’OH!!!)

And then this morning, while trawling through my Bloglines feeds, I followed a link from The Road to Surfdom which pointed to someone’s farewell blog post. What’s interesting about the reason this person was quitting his blog is the fact that he has a new job, and “one of the conditions is that I will not be allowed to blog, or indeed write much on my own.” I wonder what sort of job would set a condition like that. Something in security or law enforcement perhaps?? I wonder if this is the shape of things to come…

On a different note, requiescat in pace, Professor L. Anne Clyde.

Categories: blogging