tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5130549244386310434.post434173119175109964..comments2023-09-16T02:09:53.331-04:00Comments on Ancient World Bloggers Group (AWBG): Re-thinking the Blog CarnivalChuck Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12882192031767315365noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5130549244386310434.post-30160232524514104582008-02-07T08:44:00.000-05:002008-02-07T08:44:00.000-05:00I too think this is a great idea. Topics will of c...I too think this is a great idea. Topics will of course vary as editors step up to the task of a volume. <BR/><BR/>I'd like to put in a word for digital archiving -- in addition to the print version, I think we'd like to see all authors commit an ecopy XHTML or an open XML authoring format like TEI, whatever they're using, but <B>not</B> PDF) to a preservation repository, where it would get curated and whence it would be available under the agreed licensing terms that are discussed above. <BR/><BR/>If there's broad interest, this is an aspect that ISAW would probably be interested in getting behind (including making a commitment to long-term availability).<BR/><BR/>Thoughts? Shall I look into it?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10480131160743773420noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5130549244386310434.post-82181701280680451702008-02-07T07:30:00.000-05:002008-02-07T07:30:00.000-05:00Let me talk with some folks about it. As you may k...Let me talk with some folks about it. As you may know I am involved in an AIA Interest Group dedicated to the Medieval and Post-Medieval Mediterranean. We've been talking at that group about creating a working papers type site (modeled loosely on the PSWPC site: http://www.princeton.edu/~pswpc/), a coordinated book discussion overseen by a couple of editors would be a nice stepping stone or alternative to this kind of project.<BR/><BR/>The real issue is, as you might reckon, that we need to get a few cornerstone scholars to commit to writing for it. The Valve had folks like Michael Berube who would generate a buzz about the topic and attract readers and comments from outside the blogging circle. <BR/><BR/>In any event, this is a long answer to your relatively simple question. I will bounce the idea around some people and see what kind of response we get. <BR/><BR/>BillBill Caraherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05812782259163326328noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5130549244386310434.post-31605518746062874632008-02-07T06:03:00.000-05:002008-02-07T06:03:00.000-05:00I think that’s an excellent idea. Brett Holman and...I think that’s an excellent idea. <A HREF="http://airminded.org/" REL="nofollow">Brett Holman</A> and I are/were discussing trying to put together a book of blog posts themed around Fear through HNN. The idea was to have a brief chapter talking about the different aspects of Fear and then ask bloggers to respond in with examples from their own historical interests. It was an attempt to get some coherence in a publication which would have been drawing historians from all sorts of periods and specialities. I think focussing on a book would be a stronger idea and either of the books you suggested would be good choices. The reason we haven’t pushed on with with the Fear project is that we’re not sure there would necessarily be much interest.<BR/><BR/>The other problem we’ve identified is cost. If the target is a proper book, then it would be a shame if it were not available via Amazon and similar. That’s fine, but once you start doing that there’s the problems which money raises. In the UK branch of Lulu it would cost about £10-£20 per book to publish. I haven’t identified all the costs yet. You pay £70 initially which buys one book and a block of 10 ISBNs, but additional books beyond the first have administration fees, so it’s not exactly a simple £70/10. I think the US version may be very different, something like $50 or $99 per book. In any event, that isn’t a lot, but then there’s the cost of sending out review copies and that authors will probably expect a complimentary copy which becomes more expensive if you have many authors. Ideally because the aim would also to be to have a CC e-book version for free it wouldn’t be likely to make a profit. If authors are sold on the idea of making the book accessible for free as well as the subject matter then maybe this isn’t a problem, but it would be helpful to find a sponsor to fund the losses.<BR/><BR/>As Coturnix points out above there are different levels of publishing, so the two ideas aren’t exclusive. I could push on with a quarterly blog carnival / journal, and would you be willing to organise a few people into making a Valve-style book event Bill? Experience of problems with the quarterly could then be used to make the event fun more smoothly.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05905810895962354616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5130549244386310434.post-26703632366005698682008-02-07T03:00:00.000-05:002008-02-07T03:00:00.000-05:00One of the best examples of this is over at the Va...One of the best examples of this is over at the Valve (http://www.thevalve.org/) which publish books of their "book events" which include lengthy blog posts and the comments. In this way, they provide some form of peer review (and a particularly transparent one).<BR/><BR/>Their book events focus on a particular book and encourage a discussion of this text centered on several longer blog posts. For us, one could imagine, for example, a "book event" centered on Chris Wickham's Framing the Early Middle Ages or Elizabeth Clarke's History, Theory, Text. We could solicit contributions and then pen responses and then bind them all together in a book and publish it through Lulu.Bill Caraherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05812782259163326328noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5130549244386310434.post-42929707878131206012008-02-06T21:04:00.000-05:002008-02-06T21:04:00.000-05:00It's a good idea ... I've been thinking of printin...It's a good idea ... I've been thinking of printing out assorted items of my own blog to generate 'compendium' posts more easily (you know ... those stories that go on and on and on) ... lulu isn't the only one though, although it would probably turn out the nicest copy. one i looked at a while ago (blogcollector):<BR/><BR/>http://www.asprise.com/product/blogcollector/david meadowshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05852217984190263144noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5130549244386310434.post-33931572643628368822008-02-06T15:59:00.000-05:002008-02-06T15:59:00.000-05:00Very interesting idea. I think Bio::Blogs already...Very interesting idea. I think Bio::Blogs already does something like convert all entries into PDF and deposits them somewhere:<BR/>http://bioblogs.wordpress.com/<BR/><BR/>Of course, just like there is a difference between 'Science', 'New York Times', 'People' and 'National Enquirer', so the thousands of existing blog carnivals have different formats, needs and goals.Bora Zivkovichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10763808287050592569noreply@blogger.com