Blog Entry Archetypes: Reference Entry
Moving forward with our look at the various Blog Entry Archetypes, we now examine another quite common format, the Reference Entry.
- Summary
The Reference/News Entry provides a useful pointer to relevant or important information for the user. Most commonly, the entry is used to bookmark web sites and other online material that is assumed to be useful in the future.
- Format
The Reference Entry is almost as diverse in formatting as the Personal Entry. The presentation method is highly based on the needs and skills of the author. For the most part, Reference Entries will consist of two main components: link and summary.
The link portion is the physical URI that inspired and now serves as the subject of the Reference Entry. The Summary is usually a description of content to be found at the destination, but also, can contain an explanation of relevance or context.
These components are presented in a number of formats, however, two dominant presentation styles can be generally observed: Embedded and Offset Linking.
Embedded Linking provides inline links to content. These links are provided with either direct titles that are reflective of the content or conversational titles that blend into the overall summary.
Offset Linking attempts to delineate the summary from the link more clearly. In this style, links are visually offset from the text. Common methods include the use of white space, colored backgrounds, or other visual ornamentation.
- Effort
The Reference Entry requires a similar level of effort as the Personal Entry. The process of searching, eliminating, and chronicling links in a meaningful manner takes a great deal more effort than may be expected.
Preparation of the summary is motivated by two factors. First, authors prepare detailed summaries to facilitate the location of the link via some form of search. Often, the summary may not necessarily be grammatically correct, although it associates the most relevant keywords. Second, authors that have located a rare find or somewhat obscure content prepare summaries for their audience. Increasing the readability also increases the utility of the entry as a whole.
- Deployment
Statistically, there are no hard facts on the presence of these entries. However, the nature of blogging makes it very link-intensive. A key sign of a pure Reference post will involve some reference to bookmarking in the entry itself. Although common on their own, the Reference Entry is often used in combination with other archetypes.
- Examples
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The following posts show several a couple of examples of the Reference Entry: