Diigo Entry and Profiling and Evaluating a Blog (#2)

Heroes and Legends « Droo’s Clues (drooellis Droo's Clues 21 Dec. 2006)

• This blog talks about some of the old quartets that were influential to the author. It also mentions how he is going to be competing in a quartet with a few people that he looks up to.
  - post by floydbarbershop

Below, one of the best trend-setting champion quartets; the Confederates of 956. 2 Rebels and 2 Yankees, the Confederates used this image as simply a vehicle. Unlike today, there was no agenda, political statement, or anything BUT a great costume and songlist that went along with songs about the South.

• The Confederates truly were a trendsetting quartet that in many ways helped to shape barbershop as a style.
  - post by floydbarbershop

What is its name and subject?

Heroes and Legends

This Blog is about various quartets that have influenced the author and how they have taken over, in his mind, the places of famous athletes for example. Instead of looking up to sports stars he now looks up to trendsetting quartets in the barbershop genre.

Who writes it?

drooellis

What is their relation to the field?

This person is a member of the Barbershop Harmony Society and is also an active participant in the world of competitive barbershop. In the Blog he not only mentions some of the quartets that were influential to his experience in the society, but also the fact that he will be competing with some barbershop "legends" in a "throwback" contest. The legends he refers to are members of champion quartets and the contest is more like the old style of barbershop that was judged under different categories and standards than in current contests.

Where are they located in the field?

This person is not only a member of the Barbershop Harmony Society., but is also the Assistant Director of Membership to the society. His job consists of devising new ways of bringing in new members to the society as well as keeping older members current on their dues and continuing to be involved.
How frequently do they post?

How popular is the blog (by activity and/or technorati rank)

The blog has had over 1000 hits. If you think of this only in terms of percentage of society members, it is less than 3%.

Evaluate:

How well does this blog relate to your work?

It relates to my work in terms of subject matter, but it does not take the same approach in terms of attempting to reach a broader audience by beginning to define barbershop. In detailing some of his heroes, the blog does reference older quartets, but falls short in explaining their historical importance to the genre.

To what extent is it scholarly, academic, professional?

This blog is not necessarily scholarly at all, Even when some information is presented in a somewhat historic sense, it is more for personal reasons to merely set up other bits of information such as how this person is excited to be singing in a contest with people he looks up to.

How rich or detailed are its posts?

The posts are more detailed than others that I have found, but there are only two related to the subject, and in terms of what I am looking for as far as useful information or thoughtful insight, this blog falls short.

Who is its audience? How relevant to the field are they?

The audience seems to be whoever stumbles across this blog because it is not something that would be searched for otherwise.

How might this blog feed your work?

If this author continues to write blogs on this subject matter, and perhaps delves deeper into barbershop's past then it would become a useful tool in any search that I would make related to this subject.

How will your site differ?

My site will differ because I am going to be the first person to write a blog detailing a way to incorporate the rich history of the society while hopefully beginning discussions on methods that would update the society's use of the Internet in a manner that would include more people. The intention would be to eventually create a central location, or even an easily connected web of locations, that would allow interested parties to have a place to come to for information. This would also be a place where people could easily communicate with one another. In short, a large barbershop meeting on the Internet.

Questions About Resources (#1)

Characterize and categorize your resources and links to related blogs.

In general, the resources and links to other blogs on my page comprise of whatever information I could find regarding my subject matter. Unfortunately, due to the fact that a large portion of the society that makes up the network of barbershop singers are senior citizens, very few websites are user friendly and even fewer contain a substantial amount of information.

Discuss what the resources have to offer.

Even though these sites might be difficult to navigate, there are not many other credible resources on the internet regarding this subject. The links that refer to a younger quartet and chorus' respective pages are great examples of how the society could update itself. By simply making more information accessible on the page, it would not overload your eyes with frivolous content such as buttons that lead to other pages with only more buttons. The blogs do have some insight to offer in their ability to connect the readers with moments and experiences the authors have had. One of the best aspects of singing barbershop are the experiences you have with other barbershoppers and the stories that are told at various meetings or while just hanging out with friends.

Discuss audiences and goals of the blogs.

The audiences for the blogs are intended to be the various networks and communities where the blogs are posted. Two blogs, for example were found on Myspace profiles by searching through friends, or by looking at people's profiles in a group dedicated specifically to Barbershop Singing. Other blogs were found through class resources and things such as google searches. These blogs were intended to be seen by almost anybody who would be interested in the subject as they were easily available through a quick Internet source. Although, it must also be brought to attention that even though these blogs were easy to fins, there were not very many others on the subject. It was very difficult to find meaningful or comprehensive blogs or articles on this subject whereas it is easy to find somebody who is either referencing goofy guys in straw hats singing barbershop or mistakenly categorizing all kinds of a cappella or doo-wop as barbershop music.

Are these bloggers tapping into the same online community?

When considering the answer to this question I cannot help but doubt that many people even search for this topic on the Internet. But for those that due they would most likely all come to the same limited results. Hopefully, as more young people are given the opportunity to share in this music-making endeavor the technology will begin to catch up with the network of its participants. This would help to bring the more experienced barbershoppers into the Internet world as well as make it more easily accessible and user-friendly for younger people. It would be amazing if somebody would search under the heading of a cappella, doo-wop or even singing in general and be able to come up with blogs, articles and other resources that would be barbershop related.


What is left out or omitted from their discussions?

The most glaring thing that is left out from most of these discussions is the sense that the subjects are truly routed in what can be viewed as definably factual material. There is not any one source that could be looked to for credible information should anybody become interested in the subject. Barbershops beginnings, for example, have a fairly well known history within the society. Its members know that men used to gather in barbershops and sing the popular songs of the era in a harmonic style that eventually developed into a genre. However, this is not information that one could easily find on the Internet and is not in a location that is ideal for either perspective members or even people who stumble across one of the various society websites.

Do the resources add something Internet-specific or replicate a print resource?

The resources that are available do add Internet-specific information to this subject, but they do not go far enough. Due to the fact that this hobby if so unique and relatively small in terms of percentage of population, there is no viable means of communication other than the internet. For somebody in California who wants to send out information about a show to people on the East Coast they simply need to send out an email to the proper parties that are involved with groups on the East Coast. However there are not enough sites that are informational about the history of the society, the best way to join a chapter, information on groups and when they are performing, etc… These sites and this information does exist, however many of them are not connected. There is a reason it is called the web. Because all of these things should be “woven” together. They are after all related.