Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 14, No. 576.
Centre for Computing in the Humanities, King's College London
<http://www.princeton.edu/~mccarty/humanist/>
<http://www.kcl.ac.uk/humanities/cch/humanist/>
[1] From: Jan Christoph Meister <jan-c-meister@rrz.uni- (28)
hamburg.de>
Subject: Exemplary interactive academic sites
[2] From: Gerry McKiernan <gerrymck@IASTATE.EDU> (39)
Subject: E-Journal Extras
[3] From: "Osher Doctorow" <osher@ix.netcom.com> (31)
Subject: Does life create a virus in terminal embarrassment? -
Doctorow
--[1]------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 29 Dec 2000 08:57:55 +0000
From: Jan Christoph Meister <jan-c-meister@rrz.uni-hamburg.de>
Subject: Exemplary interactive academic sites
Dear Colleagues,
I wonder if anybody has recently compiled a "top ten"-list of
exemplary academic websites, mainly - but not necessarily restricted
to - the field of Literary Studies. By "exemplary" I mean
- practical usefulness: i.e., well-organized systematized compilation
of current links and pointers to discipline specific ressources;
- identifiable and accountable structure for editorial content
management, moderation and quality control(i.e.: must be supported by
"real" people and/or editorial board, not just an anonymous webmaster
hidden behind a link);
- user-group and function specific differentiation (i.e., a "research"
section, a "student" section, a "commercial" section carrying ads and
reviews etc.);
- reasonably innovative in technological terms (without
going over board and carried away by the wild and wonderful gimmicks
on offer) and interactive where it makes sense to be interactive.
More particulary, I would be interested to find out whether any
academic websites actively employ CMS (Content Management
Systems)-technologies.
Many thanks,
Chris
**************************
Dr. Jan Christoph Meister
Editor NarrNet / Arbeitsstelle zur Sozialgeschichte der Literatur
Institut fr Germanistik II
Universitt Hamburg
E-Mail: jan-c-meister@rrz.uni-hamburg.de
NarrNet: www.rrz.uni-hamburg.de/narratologie
--[2]------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 29 Dec 2000 09:02:32 +0000
From: Gerry McKiernan <gerrymck@IASTATE.EDU>
Subject: E-Journal Extras
_E-Journal Extras_
I am greatly interested in identifying a variety of e-journal 'extras'
for inclusion in my latest Web project, EJI. EJI
[ http://www.public.iastate.edu/~CYBERSTACKS/EJI.htm ]
is "a registry electronic journals or journal services that offer or provide
innovative or novel access, organization, or navigation features and
functionalities."
Among the 'extras' I seek to identify in e-journals or e-journal services
are access to _relevant_:
* Reference resources (e.g., dictionaries,
encyclopedias, directories, manuals, etc.)
* Dissertations, either abstracts and/or full-text,
or links to such services as Dissertation
Abstracts International (DAI) or relevant dissertations
in the Contentville service
[ http://www.contentville.com/content/dissertations.asp ]
* E-Books
* Patents
* Discussion Forums / Electronic Discussion Lists (e-lists)
* Polls and Surveys
* Reader participation
* Database Access (e.g. PubMed (Medline))
* Article / Document Ordering
* Any other type of 'extra' service not typical of the typical
e-journal
Access to such services may be offered free-of-charge, by
subscription, or on a pay-per-view basis.
[NOTE: I have identified *some* types of 'extra' services and have included
these in a MUCH expanded EJI. If you have not yet visited EJI, it is well
worth the visit this holiday season [:-)]
As Always, Any and All contributions, suggestions, comments, queries,
critiques, cosmic insights, etc., etc. etc. are Most Welcome.
Regards,
/Gerry McKiernan
Extra Librarian
Iowa State University
Ames IA 50011
gerrymck@iastate.edu
"The Best Way to Predict the Future is to Invent It"
Alan Kay
--[3]------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 29 Dec 2000 09:00:10 +0000
From: "Osher Doctorow" <osher@ix.netcom.com>
Subject: Does life create a virus in terminal embarrassment? -
Doctorow
Does life create a virus in terminal embarrassment? I suggest this
question as the opening question in an informal
humanist-medical-science-virus-internet discussion (which may be still-born,
of course). Humanities people are about as expert in embarrassment as
anybody in psychology, with humanists' experience in literature, art,
history, philosophy, drama, etc. Does life itself recognize conditions
under which it cannot answer questions and responds by something analogous
to embarrassment leading to virus production? I ask this because viral
diseases often occur in embarrassing circumstances involving either the
reproductive or the excretory systems (flu/dysentery, aids/HIV, etc.).
Cancers also attack reproductive and excretory systems - it would be
interesting to know if all cancers originate there except for those with
obvious exposure to stressors such as smoking (lungs), sunburn (skin
cancer), etc. Speaking of stressors, are the reproductive and excretory
systems stressed, and also why are we embarrassed in discussing them even in
science and humanities? We know that the eating habits of many people
result in gross misuse of the digestive system, which have effects in the
excretion system. I suggest the possibility that the reproductive system
was "intended by nature" to be used mostly for reproduction of the species
rather than in the way that it is commonly used, and that this is both a
stressor and a source of embarrassment because of our deep realization of
problems concerning this. It is true that the accumulation of tensions in
the reproductive system need to be relieved (when we eliminate the "hype" of
over-induced tensions generated by mass media sensationalization, etc.).
However, did nature "intend" this relief to be more like excretion or more
like an elaborate ritual prolonged as long as possible? I suggest that we
do not have to answer this question as much as life has to answer it - and
that when it cannot answer it, it creates a type of non-life which is an
analogue of a non-answer, and which we call a virus. Both in reproduction
and digestion/excretion habits, we have unexplored territory, and we have a
mystery whose symptom may be "terminal embarrassment".
Osher Doctorow
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