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[NB: For some reason known only to the listserv software, this message of Rick's, in response to Bill Ingram's reply to his (Rick's) announcement, was rejected for mechanical reasons. I have, I think, formatted it in such a way as to make it deliverable, so here's hoping! AAY] On Fri, 14 Jul 1995 12:06:56 -0400 william ingram wrote: > > To Richard Frank, in response to his message about the patrons database: > > The existence of an ongoing patrons database in electronic form > is most welcome news, and we owe you thanks. Your message invites a > public response as a means of generating discussion, so let me say my bit. > > First, since several projected REED volumes are still in process, > presumably the database still has a lot more growing to do. You say the > database is "nearly completed", a description that I guess I don't > understand. The "completion" is only up to and including the records from Shropshire, sorry if I was not clear enough about this. I also think I don't understand your suggestion that you and > Elza Tiner will "explore the data" with an eye toward publishing the > "results". I would guess that the exploration of a partial database would > have to be partial, and any results also only partial or interim. You ask > about publication, but is it your sense that a publisher will be > interested in less than final results? Yes the exploration is partial or interim, it is merely exploratory and would likely raise more questions than it would answer. This however is the reason for the exercise. No definitive answers were expected, sorry if I inadvertently led you to believe that I thought otherwise. As for "publication", I hope the term is not synonymous with book, I was thinking far more modestly, like a journal article. I merely wished to disseminate the material to a scholarly audience, be they "historians" or otherwise. I thought to reach out to the wider historical audience because to write up a piece for the REED newsletter is a little like preaching to the converted. I think that the REED project deserves wider recognition among those not generally interested in drama. As you undoubtedly know, there is a lot of historical material assembled and, in electronic form at least, many scholars can use it for research that has very little to do with drama. > > You ask what questions REED users might have that would be best > answered by an electronic search and subsequent statistical analysis. My > guess is that there's no way to answer such a question, as the needs of > users are infinitely varied, and change over time as their research > interests change. Any and all questions are welcomed, hopefully a little exploration into the data will return a few interesting ideas for discussion on REED-L. > > You also suggest that the data in electronic form is more likely to > appeal to historians rather than English Drama scholars. I believe that's > an unfounded assumption, and I also find the distinction between the two > groups curiously literal and unrealistic. I am heartened to hear you say this. As you say the distinction is artifical, however it is unfortunately perpetuated by the way research is published by genre, generally for a specific audience i.e. Literary Studies, Medieval History, etc. > > My pleasure in learning of the existence of your database, and of > your good work on it, would be increased if you were to inform us of its > availability on-line. Disclaimer: while I would love to say the database was mine, it is not. The project was started many years ago by Elza Tiner, worked on by numerous people, and will be worked on by numerous others long after I depart. Moreover, as a part of REED,any decisions regarding the use of the database are made by regular REED personnel. > Is there some reason why you can't put it up on the > web for users to scan? If, as you say, scholars will be welcome to search > it in Toronto, why not make such searching possible for scholars who can't > get to Toronto? Thanks for the reply, any other comments, regarding my original posting or this current one, would be appreciated. Richard Frank [log in to unmask]