The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 8.0916. Friday, 12 September 1997.
[1] From: Billy Houck <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date: Thursday, 11 Sep 1997 11:00:12 -0400 (EDT)
Subj: Re: SHK 8.0910 Re: Criticism on the Web
[2] From: Mike Sirofchuck <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date: Wednesdayy, 10 Sep 1997 23:54:56 -0800
Subj: Re: SHK 8.0910 Re: Criticism on the Web
[3] From: Ron Dwelle <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date: Thursday, 11 Sep 1997 15:41:26 +0000
Subj: Re: SHK 8.0910 Re: Criticism on the Web
[4] From: Michael Best <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date: Thursday, 11 Sep 1997 09:11:55 -0700
Subj: Re: SHK 8.0910 Re: Criticism on the Web
[1]-----------------------------------------------------------------
From: Billy Houck <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date: Thursday, 11 Sep 1997 11:00:12 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: 8.0910 Re: Criticism on the Web
Comment: Re: SHK 8.0910 Re: Criticism on the Web
I was unaware that prior to the invention of the internet books and
magazines consisted solely of material with "WELL THOUGHT OUT
HYPOTHESES." Don't we all own beautifully bound books whose authors used
weak, even false hypotheses? The internet is a telephone call with
pictures.
What we need to do is teach our students to know crap when they read it.
Billy Houck
Arroyo Grande High School
[2]-----------------------------------------------------------------
From: Mike Sirofchuck <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date: Wednesdayy, 10 Sep 1997 23:54:56 -0800
Subject: 8.0910 Re: Criticism on the Web
Comment: Re: SHK 8.0910 Re: Criticism on the Web
I would like to echo Stuart Manger's thoughts and stand on posting
criticism on the web. I teach Advanced Placement English to high school
seniors and, for some, the temptation of plagiarism coupled with the
pressure of producing high quality essays makes the web a handy tool for
finding ready made papers. I believe we touched on this subject last
spring during a discussion of plagiarism.
Mike Sirofchuck
Kodiak HS
[3]-----------------------------------------------------------------
From: Ron Dwelle <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date: Thursday, 11 Sep 1997 15:41:26 +0000
Subject: 8.0910 Re: Criticism on the Web
Comment: Re: SHK 8.0910 Re: Criticism on the Web
Based on my recent experience with undergraduates, the web has arrived
as the primary source for scholarly/critical information (on Shakespeare
as well as on everything else). Undoubtedly, the refereed journal will
continue as part of the fuel for driving the tenure machine, but I think
we (all of us) will be derelict if we don't move as rapidly as we
reasonably can to getting as much Shakespeare
criticism/scholarship/discussion on-line as possible. It's where the
next generation is, already.
[4]-----------------------------------------------------------------
From: Michael Best <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date: Thursday, 11 Sep 1997 09:11:55 -0700
Subject: 8.0910 Re: Criticism on the Web
Comment: Re: SHK 8.0910 Re: Criticism on the Web
With respect, I think that both David Linley and Stuart Manger rather
miss the point(s) about publishing criticism on the Web. Let me suggest
a few.
* The very fact that an increasing quantity of unrefereed material
is being put on the Web makes it important to make high quality
work available.
* There are an increasing number of sites (like EMLS at
<http://purl.oclc.org/emls/emlshome.html> and Renaissance Forum at
<http://www.hull.ac.uk/Hull/EL_Web/renforum/index.html>) which
fully referee the articles posted.
* As print journals become more expensive, fewer libraries will be
able to subscribe to them, and they will become less accessible to
students, especially those in smaller intitutions or schools.
Students will use the Web anyway (I get regular enquiries from students
world-wide, asking me to do their homework). Perhaps one approach is to
do what I require in one assignment for my (partly) on-line courses on
Shakespeare: students are asked to find various resources on Shakespeare
and the Renaissance, and to evaluate their usefulness, scholarly value,
and the level of discourse required by the particular location of the
material. Make it an exercise in critical thinking.
Plagiarism is another concern, of course, but my experience is that
material that is copied from the Web is usually easy to trace. If I
suspect plagiarism I run one of the usual search engines with suitable
keywords, and find the passage. Easier than spending a few hours in the
library.
Michael Best
Department of English, University of Victoria