DrWeb's Domain: What is the origin of the word "blog"?

Interesting challenge ;) .. which was the below slightly edited text I posted to newslib (News Librarians) mailing list.. and I thought I'd share it here, too.. the question was.. what the first use or origin of the word "blog"?

Don't forget the open-source encyclopedia entry.. see

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog

which confirms the NY Times' entry noted below [not referenced here].

The term "weblog" was coined by Jorn Barger in December 1997. The shorter version, "blog," was coined by Peter Merholz, who, in April or May of 1999, broke the word weblog into the phrase "we blog" in the sidebar of his weblog [1] (http://www.peterme.com/archives/00000205.html). This was interpreted as a short form of the noun [2] (http://www.bradlands.com/weblog/1999-09.shtml#September%2010,%201999) and also as a verb, to blog, meaning "to edit one's weblog or a post to one's weblog."

The post about shortened form "blog" > http://www.peterme.com/archives/00000205.html

Always fun to see if the Chicago Manual of Style has weighed in.. you can search it free if you register..

http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/search.html

Nada for "weblog" "blog" or "web log" ..

Britannica Online (sorta free part) has this:

APA style:
Blogs Mix Up the Media. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved May 2, 2005, from Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service.
<http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?tocId=9389625>

which confirms the 1997 date we've seen earlier.. are sources citing sources? Appears so..

Always fun to see what OED has to say on these items, if not "too new" ..we are in luck..

2. A frequently updated web site consisting of personal observations, excerpts from other sources, etc., typically run by a single person, and usually with hyperlinks to other sites; an online journal or diary.

									1998 1997	2002 2000

1997 J. BARGER Lively New Webpage in alt.culture.www (Usenet newsgroup) 23 Dec., I decided to start my own webpage logging the best stuff I find as I surf, on a daily basis:..www.mcs.net/~jorn/html/weblog.html. This will cover any and everything that interests me, from net culture to politics to literature etc. 1998 Village Voice (N.Y.) 8 Sept. 33/3 Jorn Barger's Robot Wisdom WebLog..might not be pretty, but it's one of the best collections of news and musings culled from the Web

and updated daily. 2000 Independent 23 Oct. II. 9/1 A weblog is simply a site where you post your thoughts whenever the muse strikes. 2002 Times (Electronic ed.) 14 Jan., There is a way to be stupendously well informed... Scour the highlights in..weblogs.

Best,

DrWeb