Hypothetical musing: I wonder

Yesterday afternoon I followed a link from a blog to a blog, proving the prevailing blogosphere link theory correct, to a blogger with an interesting point of view concerning post originality. Normally this would be the portion of my post diatribe where I would link you to the article in question so you could read it for yourself. However, the author said she was not writing for people to link to her because she felt blog posts should be unique works as opposed to simply links to other posts.

So I wondered, do I spend too much time linking my posts to other peoples work? And if so, does that detract from my stated blog purpose?

While I do link to other blogs, most of the ramblings, opinions, blathering, and writings here are a result of my own humble tired brain at work. But that led me wonder more and, subsequently, to take a quick look at blogs I frequent to see what draws me to them. The blogs I read could be placed in three categories; professional, recreational reading, and just for fun. I expect different things from each blog, know that some link heavily and others do not, so it follows that I feel well intended linking to other blogs serve a purpose. For example, I subscribe to the following:

• Librarians Interent Index - websites
• Library Grants - grant listing
• Running with Quills - an author blog
• Argh Ink - an author blog
• Unshelved - a comic strip
• Day by Day - cartoon strip
• Buried in the Slush Pile - children's book editor

Just a quick sampling of a few feeds (I really should work with my bloglines account here), but looking at them it is obvious some lend themselves more to original work than others. So while I agree with the previously mentioned blog author that it may be annoying to read blogs that only link to others and provide no genuine content, in some cases those links are exactly what I want. Even when blogs are done for professional development, their content is a personal choice. It's nice to have the choice.

Tags: Blog posts, Blog content, Blog choice