From: Adams-Graf, John (John.Adams-Graf@fwpubs.com)
Date: Fri Apr 29 2005 - 06:07:33 PDT
Fred: You raise a great point...research based on the Web is growing at a strong rate...But from the point of historiography, ARCHIVING is the key. If I cite a source today, a researcher has to be able to verify that source 10 years from now. Electronic media...if kept electronically...doesn't have the track record yet to prove that it will still be accessible. However, printed records, or at least, hard copy records, have the proven track record of being available. The web is a great tool for research, it just isn't verifiable to the point that a scholar would be able to cite a web site as a reference.
This truly has very very little to do with the enjoyment of MVs. Most folks you restore vehicles, are not planning to embark on a career of publishing. SO, I apologize for taking up the space with this dialogue. However, there are a few who are as serious about the research behind their restorations as they are the quality of vehicles, so it does, at least, have some place here. This brings us back to the discussion of the paint problem. There is a LOT of great information that has been gathered by several folks. It does none of us--or the hobby--if they don't publish. People die and the info goes with them. Consider dear Andy LaBorde as an example. A class act when it came to gathering info and publishing. You can look in any number of Army Motors and see articles by Andy. But, he died suddenly. Try to imagine what was lost to the hobby. Imagine what would be lost if Andy WAS NOT committed to sharing the information in a media that will last long beyond his time on earth? 50 years from now, a new generation of Jeep enthusiasts will be able to go to the library of Congress, MVPA headquarters or any number of institutions to see his research. If he had posted it all to a web site, it would disappear the day after his web site fees were due and provider didn't receive payment--poof! Just like that, the information would be lost.
I am not trying to say that the Web is a bad place, I am just saying it is not a place to put all of one's research "cookies". In my own twisted world, I have been a student of the American-Mexican War since 1981...actively research and publish in the small little arena. The web has provided GREAT new leads on primary sources such as diaries, letters, and unprinted manuscripts. But I learned very early on in my Internet use (which began, in earnest around 1986), that I had to print out everything I found, because there was no guarantee that it would still be on the Net when I needed it. A great source, just not a great RESOURCE.
-----Original Message-----
From: Military Vehicles Mailing List [mailto:mil-veh@mil-veh.org]On
Behalf Of Fred H. Schlesinger
Sent: Friday, April 29, 2005 7:45 AM
To: Military Vehicles Mailing List
Subject: Re: [MV] Bob has the means and knows his stuff!
The industry is moving toward electronic publishing which would have
archival storage. See lexis nexis, etc. In many cases electronic material
updated and made more current while information in print is not. Web based
material must be accepted with a skeptical eye. You have two different
media, with two different purposes.
John, both have a right to their own place in information gathering. I
think you would agree.
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