Scholars turn monographs into digital conversations
While most scholarly books are reviewed by a few carefully chosen experts before publication, McKenzie Wark's latest monograph is getting line-by-line critiques from hundreds of strangers in cyberspace, many of whom know absolutely nothing about his academic field.
Mr. Wark, a professor of media and cultural studies at New School University, has put the draft of his latest book online in an experimental format inspired by academic blogs and the free-for-all spirit of Wikipedia, the popular online encyclopedia that anyone can edit. Each paragraph of Mr. Wark's book has its own Web page, and next to each of those paragraphs is a box where anyone can comment — though readers are not permitted to alter the original text.
The scholar says he looks forward to sitting down each day to read a new batch of comments, some by colleagues whose names he recognizes and others by people cloaked by pseudonyms.
That input has persuaded him to sharpen the opening section, and he says he will probably make other changes as well. But not all the online feedback has been helpful, or kind. "This doesn't have substance," wrote someone identified as "toad." "Take some time off, and teach a little."
Read entire article at Chronicle of Higher Ed
Mr. Wark, a professor of media and cultural studies at New School University, has put the draft of his latest book online in an experimental format inspired by academic blogs and the free-for-all spirit of Wikipedia, the popular online encyclopedia that anyone can edit. Each paragraph of Mr. Wark's book has its own Web page, and next to each of those paragraphs is a box where anyone can comment — though readers are not permitted to alter the original text.
The scholar says he looks forward to sitting down each day to read a new batch of comments, some by colleagues whose names he recognizes and others by people cloaked by pseudonyms.
That input has persuaded him to sharpen the opening section, and he says he will probably make other changes as well. But not all the online feedback has been helpful, or kind. "This doesn't have substance," wrote someone identified as "toad." "Take some time off, and teach a little."