palimpsest

categories

Chuck just mentioned using categories, and I think the use of categories is essential for this site. Here are three basic suggestions: "wanted," for materials that you are looking for, "found," for materials you've come across, and "submitted," for materials you've created and want to share.

planning the banquet

Some introductory thoughts, in part as a response to Matt's and Chuck's posts. I consider us to be in a kitchen mode right now as we prepare to set the table, to continue the culinary metaphor.

This project resides on server space provided by my colleague, Jeff Rydberg-Cox, who reports that space or traffic limitations will not be a problem.

I have configured this blog so that you need to insert your own formatting for your posts, rather than relying on the blog to format for you. I wish it were possible for each user to adjust their settings to their own likings, but I don't think that it is.

The blog might be just one component of the project. In terms of accessing the material, for now we can use the "categories" function of Movable Type to classify the handouts and links that we contribute. I have given everyone the permission to add or edit the categories. If you find that you don't have this permission, please let me know. Eventually, we could create something like a database or perhaps just a hard-coded directory that directs users to the material they're seeking. For now, we'll see what we can do with the blog.

In my fantasy world, all the material will reside in one place so that we don't run into the problem of link rot that Matt mentions, but we'll see if that's feasible. In other words, it would be nice if the site were a well-organized archive of a variety of newly created and found material. How much success will we have in contacting people like William C. Dowling, explaining the Creative Commons system, and asking him if we could take his handout on how (and why) to use the Oxford English Dictionary and make it available under such a license through our site? I don't know, but a successful version of that scenario with a variety of people is what I'm hoping for.

And as I've mentioned before on my own blog, we might decide on a a resource (or set of resources) that we would like to build collaboratively. My MLA style handout (PDF, RTF), which could use tweaks and additions, is a step in that direction with a document designed for printing. What English department classroom does not need such a thing? Take it, improve it, and put it back in the pool. But web-based resources in the form of databases or websites are also needed.

Additionally, I'd like to develop some sort of system by which people who are not authors on this blog can contribute materials they've created.

I would also like us to come up with a creative, memorable name for this site instead of "clever blog title" and to improve the design. Once we have a name, we can register a domain for just $8.88 at Namecheap.

Food for Thought

Hi everyone,

I'm assuming it's okay to discuss behind the scenes stuff out here while we're still in start up mode . . .

Couple of things I've been thinking about. One, just as a practical matter, I bet a lot of what we want to share will be in formats like Word .doc or PDF. How to make it accessible, other than just a link to the file itself? Second, and related to the first: will shared resources live on the server here, or at our home servers? Predictable issues follow: if the former, then server space, bandwidth, admin, etc. all rear their heads. If the latter, then link rot and sustainability. Cheers--

just checking

George, I like the layout. One concern that I have is that we have a lot of information available and will want to make it user friendly--search capabilities, categories, etc, so a three-column lay-out may be better. Of course, three-column layouts don't always show up nicely on all monitors (including mine).

sharing teaching resources

Five years ago when a few savvy instructors rushed to integrate the Web into their teaching and put their syllabi online the idea exchange so crucial to academia was alive and well in the teaching realm of our work. A few years later, witness how various password-protected courseware adopted by so many campuses is making it increasingly impossible to see others’ teaching materials. Sure, some people may not want to share their syllabi, but I suspect many wouldn’t mind. Regardless, the increasing proliferation of these services makes the teaching side of our work less and less visible to a wider audience.

Eszter Hargittai, "The un(?)intended consequences of courseware"

The basic idea behind open source is very simple: When programmers can read, redistribute, and modify the source code for a piece of software, the software evolves. People improve it, people adapt it, people fix bugs. And this can happen at a speed that, if one is used to the slow pace of conventional software development, seems astonishing.

The Open Source Initiative

In terms of web resources, what do those who teach courses in English need that a committed group of bloggers might create? I'm not talking about software, mind you, but I'm agreeing with the assumption that the open source philosophy can be successfully applied to all kinds of projects. We're all going to be coming up with course materials anyway. Why not collaborate or at least share?

Jack Lynch, who doesn't have a blog but should, has an impressive Guide to Grammar and Style that might prove useful as well as an unfinished Glossary of Literary and Rhetorical Terms. I have a brief guide to the mechanics of quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing in MLA style. Of course, materials like these are widely available in print, but when so many of us are creating websites for our courses, it is more than a little convenient to be able to link directly directly to information that students will find helpful.

Would it make sense to create a group blog devoted to teaching English language and literature, one where ideas could be exchanged, resources shared, pointers to already existing sites posted, websites collaboratively created?

Consider these questions:

• What have you created that you'd like to share with others?
• What have you found on the web that has been most useful in your teaching?
• What have you not found that you wish were out there? What's on your wish list?

Can we work to make these things available without taking an inordinate amount of time out of our already busy schedules?

Update 1: And if you think this is a good idea, please mention this post in your blog to increase the chances that potentially interested parties, who may or may not read my blog, find out about it.

Update 2: Okay, possibilities for format include a database (like DISC: A Disability Studies Academic Community, using MySQL) a blog (like the many group authored blogs out there using MovableType), a Wiki (like the Wikipedia), or some combination of such things.

suggest a link

Interested in language and literature? If you maintain a website, or know of a website, that you think should be linked from Palimpsest, let us know and we'll consider adding you to our sidebar.

No links to commercial sites, please.