---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 31 Oct 2000 09:16:58 -0500
From: Albert Henderson <NobleStation@COMPUSERVE.COM>
Subject: Re: Cost per title... (Dan Lester)

Thanks for your question.

Style manuals generally are attempting to
embrace the new technology. The technology -- which
was not designed to meet the norms of science and
scholarship -- has not made it easier. The technology
that cannot deliver is not a desirable substitute.

My point in the posting quoted below is that the
precision required by a style manual that asks for
the exact location of a quotation is an effort at
excellence. Excellence should be a priority of the
academy. Editors and authors strive for excellence.
Readers expect it.

Put it this way, if a source uses a particular
word or phrase in several contexts, page numbers
are necessary to identify the distinctions. A
URL for an HTML chapter is a poor substitute for
a page-citation. As a matter of fact, I consider
URLs to be ephemeral. They should be avoided if
there is a print alternative.

In short, a primitive technology has no place
dictating style when the result is second-rate.

Albert Henderson
Editor, PUBLISHING RESEARCH QUARTERLY 1994-2000
<70244.1532@compuserve.com>

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 30 Oct 2000 12:44:55 -0700
From: Dan Lester <dan@riverofdata.com>
Subject: Re: Cost per title... (Albert henderson)

Albert and others,

As I read this, you're implying that web citations would necessarily
refer to mediocre materials.  Do you seriously believe that all web
content is bad, and that no reputable style manual would thus make it
easy for an author to refer to it?  Isn't it the duty of a style
manual to make provisions for all types of things that might be cited?

If my inference is incorrect, I'd be interested in learning what you
DO mean by the comment quoted below.

dan

Monday, October 30, 2000, 6:44:37 AM, you wrote:

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, 28 Oct 2000 16:46:16 -0400
From: Albert Henderson <NobleStation@COMPUSERVE.COM>
Subject: Re: Cost per title... (Buddy Pennington)

I realize Serialst members tolerate mediocrity

I don't believe authors and editors should force
their readers to do so. Isn't that what the
library crisis is all about?

--
Dan Lester, Data Wrangler  dan@RiverOfData.com
3577 East Pecan, Boise, Idaho  83716-7115 USA
www.riverofdata.com  www.postcard.org  www.gailndan.com