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blog.bioethics.net
I don't even know how to begin to give this site a rating. It is a blog of very self-explanatory nature because it is called "blog.bioethics.net" and therefore one assumes it is a blog about bioethics. That would be a correct assumption. Bioethics is a subject which touches every one of us in some profound way, so it is simply a fascinating blog.
It was started by the founding editor-in-chief of The American Journal of Bioethics (AJOB) and is hosted by two other associate editors of AJOB. They are all PhDs and really like to blog. I say this because of the great number of posts each day--so much to say, so much to do! (It must be a thrill to get information out there so quickly when before they had to wait until AJOB was published.) In the "What is this?" sidebar heading you find out these men started the blog because "bioethics clearly needs a good blog" and they are "trying to create it."
What I found almost immediately was that this blog wasn't simply scientific jargon regurgitated. It has humor. As you would imagine stem cells are an ongoing topic on the blog. On one post called "Pigs Never Need Die Again," someone writes about a recent Johns Hopkins stem cell group study on pigs with heart problems. The last sentence reads "No word on how they recruited pigs with heart problems to the study." (chuckle)
I hope more and more people find out about this blog and leave some much needed comments. There is no authority on bioethics like these guys, so learn somethng new from them today.
I do wish they would archive some of their articles instead of running them all on the main page. I mean, when you are posting and updating several times a day, posts from October don't need to be on your main page. (Think about the poor suckers who still use a dial-up connection!) Archive, doctors, archive.
This site was reviewed on 2004-11-12 by SJtheMom.
They felt this site belonged in the News/Links category.
SJtheMom felt that blog.bioethics.net deserved a rating of 4.
Blog Bioethics.net opens to a plain white page with simple header and minimal sidebar distractions, as you would expect in a blog of this type. No nonsense here.
This blog is written by the editors of The American Journal of Bioethics. Why? " . . .bioethics clearly needs a good blog and we are trying to create it. " Simple enough reason I expect. However, when I visited their online Journal, it seems that much of the same material is covered there.
The entries begin in September of 2004, so this is a fairly new place, and the comments are still thin. Though the authors clearly welcome them, and perhaps over time, some give and take will develop.
The content consists of short introductions that link to articles of interest in the bioethics field. They are concise and to the point. The liberal use of acronyms makes many of the entries practically incomprehensible to this reader, but since the target audience would most likely be familiar with the institutions and concepts referred to, I suppose it is of little consequence. But if the authors want to capture interest a casual reader who may stumble onto their site, a little more clarity would be a good thing.
This is a specialized blog, and would appeal to the obvious audience. I found it a bit dry due to the fact that they mainly stick to "the facts" and do not actually put out a clear opinion about the articles cited. If this is their goal, they are succeeding. However, if they want to start a conversation, perhaps a bit more openness would spark some debate.
Time will tell which direction this blog takes.
This site was reviewed on 2004-11-12 by yetzirah.
They felt this site belonged in the News/Links category.
yetzirah felt that blog.bioethics.net deserved a rating of 3.
2 reviewers gave blog.bioethics.net an average rating of 3.5000
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