7.0026 InterScripta (1/52)

Elaine Brennan (EDITORS@BROWNVM.BITNET)
Wed, 26 May 1993 14:09:52 EDT

Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 7, No. 0026. Wednesday, 26 May 1993.

Date: Sun, 23 May 93 11:31:10 GMT-3:30
From: W Schipper <schipper@morgan.ucs.mun.ca>
Subject: InterScripta: an On-line forum for medievalists

The following announcement is being distributed to a large number of
lists. We apologize for the inconvenience such duplication will cause.



INTERSCRIPTA- A Topical On-line Forum for Medievalists

Existing discussion lists such as ANSAX-L, ChaucerNet, and
MEDTEXTL provide a valuable and exciting forum for sharing
information in our field. Rapid dissemination of data and
spontaneous exploration of topics are vital characteristics of
these lists, but those of us who subscribe to more than one list
often find that these characteristics are not always
advantageous; we receive more information than we can digest, and
we are sometimes frustrated by the repetition, randomness, and
lack of focus in topical discussions.

Interscripta is being developed as an on-line discussion
group that will address these concerns. Rather than providing a
completely open forum for unbounded proliferation of ideas,
Interscripta will focus on discussion of a specified topic for a
designated period of time; the topic will change on a regular
basis. Each topic will be proposed and moderated by a scholar in
the field, and at the close of the discussion, the moderator will
shape the material into an article which will be distributed to
all participants for review and commentary before its final
revision. Finished articles will be published in the on-line
journal Interscripta.

The developers of this project believe that Interscripta
will provide a forum for directing and focussing our electronic
discussions into organized bodies of material representative of
cutting edge work in our field. Our approach encourages
collaborative work, and our method of publication allows finished
articles to be made available without the lag time of traditional
journals. This project is not intended to displace existing
discussion lists; in fact, we encourage potential moderators to
scan the archives of medieval studies lists in search of topics
that deserve to be honed and polished for electronic publication.

In the spirit of collaboration which is at the heart of this
project, the opening topic will be a discussion of the project
itself, its goals and future orientation. All those who wish to
participate in this formative discussion may subscribe to
Interscripta by sending the message:

"sub interscripta [your name]" to listserver@morgan.ucs.mun.ca.

Please direct questions and comments to:
Deborah Everhart (everhart@cats.ucsc.edu)
or William Schipper (schipper@morgan.ucs.mun.ca).