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I am forwarding this message to everyone because the information in it looks so cool. I haven't checked out the system described in it yet. but it might prove really useful for on-line discussion of papers particularly in a de context. >The following is a Chronicle of Higher Education article about on- >line, interactive system for scholarly publishing. >--------------------------------------- >Chronicle of Higher Education >Tuesday, May 25, 1999 > > An On-Line Format for Scholarly Papers Lets Critics > Aim Their Barbs Precisely > > By KELLY McCOLLUM > >An interactive system for publishing scholarly papers, created by a >professor and a graduate student at the University of Illinois at >Urbana-Champaign, offers instant gratification for critics and >precise feedback for authors. > >The system, called the Interactive Paper Project, >(http://lrsdb2.ed.uiuc.edu:591/ipp/) is an electronic format that lets >readers insert comments within scholarly papers as they read. >Forms at the end of every paragraph encourage readers to >comment on specific ideas or points, rather than to give a broad >critique at the end of the paper, although they can do that as well. >The project was created by James Levin, a professor of educational >psychology, and James Buell, a graduate student. > >Mr. Levin likens the format to a printed draft that a scholar might >photocopy and pass around to a few colleagues for comments or >suggestions. While photocopies might come back with notes >scribbled in the margins, the scholar would look at Mr. Levin's >version in a Web browser, where comments would appear following >each paragraph of the text. Readers can comment on the >comments of others, too. > >Mr. Levin says the format allows readers to participate in a >discussion that is structured by the ideas in a paper, but not >constrained by it. He also says the format could be useful in the >peer-review process for scholarly journals. > >"You would have a more-collaborative review process," he says. >"Right now the review process is pretty much individual -- you send >out end copies to end reviewers, and each one reviews it in >isolation." He adds, "You may still want to do that, but this gives >you the opportunity to make it a collaborative thing." > >The project's Web site has a handful of papers, mostly articles on >issues in education and technology by professors at the university. >The site is open to anyone who wishes to read and respond to the >papers. If a journal were to use the format, Mr. Levin says, >password protection could be added to limit who had access to the >papers. > >Mr. Levin says the technology behind the archive is relatively >simple and could be duplicated by anyone who wanted to set up a >similar system. The texts of the papers and the comments are >stored on a server using Filemaker Pro, a common data-base >program. > >Readers can choose either to see other readers' comments >inserted directly into the text of papers or to have the comments >appear in a separate file linked to the text. Authors can easily drop >the comments if they choose to submit their articles for print >without making changes to their work. > >But choosing to leave comments in could also be useful, says >Nicholas C. Burbules, a professor of educational policy at the >university who has posted papers to the archive. Comments added >to the papers "become not only communications from the reader to >the author, but part of the archive of the text itself," he says. >"Subsequent readers may react more to that material than to the >manuscript itself." > >In an electronic-only publication, there's no reason why readers >couldn't continue to add comments to papers indefinitely, he says. >Authors could then revise their work, and readers could continue to >comment. Then, says Mr. Burbules, "the distinction between a >draft and a final version is no longer a sharp distinction." He adds, >"The idea that something is only a draft until it is published -- that's >an artifact of a particular kind of technology of producing papers." > >That distinction has already been tested by "e-print" servers and e- >mail lists in which scholars have distributed their work on the >Internet to seek comment from colleagues. In some cases, >however, such electronic distribution has disqualified papers from >print publication. > >"How is that different from the person who made 10 or 20 >photocopies of a paper in draft form and sent it to people for >feedback?" asks Mr. Burbules. "Is it just a question of numbers?" > >"We're using some outmoded categories that really don't help us >come to grips with what's different about this particular medium," >he adds. > >Mr. Levin also sees uses for the interactive-paper format outside of >scholarly publishing. "Everyone we show this to comes up with a >new idea for using it," he says. Among the works already on the >university's server are a proposal for a new instructional program >and notes from a faculty meeting. > >"You could put a paper up in this format for a class and have >students respond to a paper," he says. "You could encourage a >class discussion structured by a particular reading." > >Copyright © 1999 by The Chronicle of Higher Education > > > > >Mark Rosenfeld, Ph.D >Community and Government Relations Officer >Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations >27 Carlton St., Suite 400 >Toronto, Ontario M5B 1L2 >e-mail: [log in to unmask] >tel: (416) 979-2117, ext. 34 >fax: (416) 593-5607 >URL:http://www.ocufa.on.ca > > Catherine F. Schryer Dept. of English University of Waterloo Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1 (519) 885-1211 (ext 3318)