18.619 Computers and the Humanities 1966-2004

               Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 18, No. 619.
       Centre for Computing in the Humanities, King's College London
                   www.kcl.ac.uk/humanities/cch/humanist/
                        www.princeton.edu/humanist/
                     Submit to: humanist_at_princeton.edu

   [1] From: Maurizio Lana <m.lana_at_lett.unipmn.it> (19)
         Subject: Re: 18.615 Computers and the Humanities 1966-2004

   [2] From: Pat Galloway <galloway_at_ischool.utexas.edu> (9)
         Subject: Re: 18.615 Computers and the Humanities 1966-2004

   [3] From: Michael Fraser <mike.fraser_at_computing- (24)
                 services.oxford.ac.uk>
         Subject: Re: 18.615 Computers and the Humanities 1966-2004

--[1]------------------------------------------------------------------
         Date: Tue, 08 Mar 2005 07:09:16 +0000
         From: Maurizio Lana <m.lana_at_lett.unipmn.it>
         Subject: Re: 18.615 Computers and the Humanities 1966-2004

one couldn't say it in more clear and precise and passionate way:

At 09.20 05/03/2005 +0000, you wrote:
>the development of CHum since then suggests rather the
>opposite -- a narrowing down from the breadth of humanistic interests,
>across the full range of disciplines, to a sharp focus on material often
>closer to computational linguistics than anything else -- and often too
>technical for all but the specialist to read. This narrowing does not
>reflect the field. Witness, again, the Blackwell's Companion, which puts
>between two covers a much deepened, considerably more sophisticated survey
>of approximately the same territory that Raben and his colleagues stumbled
>upon back in 1966.

maurizio

Maurizio Lana - ricercatore
Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici - Universit=E0 del Piemonte Orientale a=
  Vercelli
via Manzoni 8, I-13100 Vercelli
+39 347 7370925 / +39 011 8609843

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--[2]------------------------------------------------------------------
         Date: Tue, 08 Mar 2005 07:10:03 +0000
         From: Pat Galloway <galloway_at_ischool.utexas.edu>
         Subject: Re: 18.615 Computers and the Humanities 1966-2004

I couldn't agree more with Willard's observations about the demise of CHum.
This time, however, let us not be constrained by paper publication; can we
call for Willard to appoint a committee to investigate digital-only
possibilities? I volunteer to serve on such a committee. Open-source
systems for handling digital-only journal workflow (including peer review)
and publication are available in plenty, and even JSTOR is beginning to
develop an archiving capability for digital versions of publications.

Pat Galloway
School of Information
University of Texas-Austin

--[3]------------------------------------------------------------------
         Date: Tue, 08 Mar 2005 07:09:44 +0000
         From: Michael Fraser <mike.fraser_at_computing-services.oxford.ac.uk>
         Subject: Re: 18.615 Computers and the Humanities 1966-2004

The demise of CHum is perhaps not too susprising given that the high
subscription rate but low rate of return for the ACH led the ACH to end its
relationship with Kluwer and opt instead for Literary and Linguistic
Computing as its journal of choice (where a far more benficial relationship
between publisher and subject associations exist). This change hasn't
stopped Kluwer (or should that now be Springer) still trying to extract a
subscription fee from me on the basis that I subscribed to CHum two years ago.

Since you mention the Blackwell Companion to Digital Humanities, I'd be
interested to know why this work is priced so highly at 95 pounds ($150).
Don't Blackwells expect to sell many copies? (A self-fulfilling prophecy,
surely!)

Yes, certainly push for another international peer-reviewed humanities
computing journal but can it be broad in its scholarship and open in its
access and dissemination? (It is an aspiration of the ACH to take the lead
on the publication of an online journal.)

Mike

---
Dr Michael Fraser
Co-ordinator, Research Technologies Service & Head of Humbul
Oxford University Computing Services
13 Banbury Road
Oxford OX2 6NN Tel: 01865 283 343
Fax: 01865 273 275
http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/rts/
http://www.humbul.ac.uk/