Sheila B Robinson on Evaluators and Their Blogs

Hello! I’m Sheila B Robinson, aea365’s Lead Curator and sometimes Saturday contributor. Hey, it’s been awhile since we have talked about evaluators and their blogs! There are more than 60 evaluators out there blogging away, sharing their work, their knowledge, their resources, and their creative ideas. Get to know them!

Some blog daily, some weekly, some monthly, and some even less often that that. Most (if not all) offer the opportunity to subscribe to new posts via email or RSS feed, and interact via comments on their articles.

Hot Tip: It’s easy to find evaluation bloggers!

1. AEA maintains a list of evaluation bloggers here. Most of these are AEA members.
2. aea365 has featured a number of bloggers over the years who have written about their blogs and included links to a few of their own favorite posts. Simply type “blogger” in our search box and you’ll find dozens of posts from our “Bloggers Week” series.
3. Head over to EvalCentral where AEA member Chris Lysy aggregates over 60 evaluation-related blogs. Subscribe to EvalCentral, and you’ll receive a virtual smorgasbord of blog articles on every aspect of evaluation you can imagine. Check out the list of contributing blogs with links to each one if you would rather pick and choose.

Get Involved: Make comments on blog posts to interact with the authors and other readers. It’s easy to connect with blog authors through the comments. Some blog articles generate rich discussions that are as valuable a learning tool as the articles themselves. It’s also a great way to “meet” other evaluators. You never know whose article or comment may become the catalyst for a future collaboration! Blog authors often appreciate the acknowledgement, encouragement, support, and insights their readers share.

Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this aea365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the aea365 webpage so that we may enrich our community of practice. Would you like to submit an aea365 Tip? Please send a note of interest to aea365@eval.org . aea365 is sponsored by the American Evaluation Association and provides a Tip-a-Day by and for evaluators.