To Blog or Not To? A Conversation with Paul Grobstein

"I am not a blogger"

"the web really potentiaily changes the world in subtle ways"

"Serendip promotes the idea that everybody is involved in interactively creating intellectual exchange"

"student papers are in a niche 'beween fluff and tehcnical'"

"commentary is not dialogue"

"Serendip needs a better notification system"

"it is not a simple information resource, but away to find things to further one's own inquiries and those of others"

"Serendip is primarily not reports on empirical findings, but openings into conversation"

"if the goal is interactivity, there is a problem of readership relative to commentary"

"for Serendip to be non-authoritarian and not persuasive,

it is useful to have multiple voices speaking on multiple topics,

in terms significant for a variety of other interests,

in widely accessible language,

seeking to learn from responses,

promoting further conversations rather than ending them"

"students need to believe in their own capability to bring useful perspectives to the table;

it's an ongoing process-->have patience!"

"these are challenges to overcome/directions in which to go, both for creators and readers"

"Serendip is an emergent story"

"rather than focusing on idiosyncratic,individual stories, it looks for those that are collectiely significant;

this is work that the writer has to do"

"there is an absence of commitment to the 'completed written word'" (which, per Derrida,

is distinctly derivative, 2nd best, even dangerous)"

"Serendip works in accord with Derrida's critique of writing as the highest virtue:

written words acquire foundational meaning which can stop a conversation"

"here, conversation is more meaningful than publication"

"written conversation is closer to the ideal"

"the Web creates a new kind of literature, perhaps a return to a previous, more oral form of communication"

"The goal here is NOT to build community; it is NOT intended that writers will recognize one another;

the intention is to promote conversation"

'"we are mutually constructing an on-line reservoir of ways of looking @ things"

"it's a compendium, like the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"

"the aim is not to get people to be loyal, or to do everything on Serendip;

perhaps we seed conversations that take place elsewhere?