David Weinberger points to a new Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents published by the international organization Reporters Without Borders.

While the title may sound like something aimed at revolutionaries in some third-world country, the ebook is actually an excellent guide for anyone who wants to try this for themselves, even if their goal isn’t trying to change the world.

Especially good is the chapter on blogger ethics. It’s short, to the point, and something that all bloggers – and many professional reporters – should read. That section, and really the whole book, will also make a great resource for working with students and teachers blogging from the classroom.

Well, maybe we don’t give them the chapter on technical ways to get around censorship. At least not until it becomes necessary :-)

However, another good reason why students, and all of us who rant online from the US, should read this book is for perspective. The personal accounts of bloggers in certain other areas of the world and the chapter on controlling the web are sobering reminders of just how fragile the right of free speech can be.