Ensuring the long-term accessibility of scholarly blogs: Bloggers’ attitudes and practices

Introduction. This study explores the integration of scholarly blogs into digital research and information infrastructures, focusing on the attitudes and practices of German scholarly bloggers regarding the long-term accessibility of their blogs. Method and Analysis. We conducted 13 semi-structured interviews with scholarly bloggers. The interview transcripts were coded in MAXQDA 24 using a qualitative thematic approach. Results. Findings reveal that participants recognise the importance of making their blogs long-term accessible and express a desire for their integration into existing digital infrastructures. However, they also face organisational challenges and varying levels of engagement in preservation practices, ranging from obtaining formal identifiers like ISSNs and DOIs to relying on individual strategies such as local backups. Conclusions. This study emphasizes the need for clearer guidelines and support systems to facilitate the long-term accessibility of scholarly blogs. While bloggers generally recognise the importance of long-term accessibility, digital research and information infrastructures do not yet sufficiently offer solutions for bloggers.