A Society for Cinema Studies committee has been (slowly, casually)
exploring ways in which the online world currently serves film/TV scholars.
I've chaired this committee for two years now and I figure it's time to
make some recommendations and possibly take some action.
I would greatly appreciate the participation of SCREEN-Litarians in this
effort. There are many corners of the Internet that I haven't peered into.
Plus, a discussion of this nature might help make us all more aware of the
resources out there.
The outline I'm currently working with is divided into two parts:
1. The types of materials/services avaiLable online ("online" equals,
principally, Internet resources, but might extend to commercial services or
dial-up BBS's).
2. Modes of providing those materials/services.
I'm open to suggestions in both areas: What is currently available online?
What needs to be added to that? How are these materials/services provided?
How could they be provided in the future?
Seems like I recall someone putting together a guide to online film/TV
resources. Does anyone know if this exists?
So, here's what I've sketched out tonight:
ONLINE MATERIALS/SERVICES--CURRENT
E-mail discussion groups
Databases of film credits
Archive/library catalogs
MOOs/MUDs/IRC for "real time" conferences
ONLINE MATERIALS/SERVICES--POTENTIAL
SCS materials
Directory (available only to members?)
Including *e-mail* addressesses
Grad student directory, too
Conference calls/info
Conference papers/abstracts
Reports of SCS committees
E.g., archival materials committee
Job listings
Course syllabi--in collaboration with UFVA's "course files"?
A FAQ for film/TV Internet resources
Topics to cover from film/TV studies angle:
Discussion groups
Databases of film credits
Online archival catalogs (e.g., Library of Congress)
Commercial information services
MOOs/MUDs/Internet Relay Chat
Transferring files via the Internet (too many variables?)
Scholarly use of e-mail (too rudimentary?)
Print it in CINEMA JOURNAL initially, updates online
Make updates available for FTP, LISTSERV and dial-up access
Make it hypertext, allow folks to bounce to those resources
Searchable databases
SCS directory
Scholarly databases
POSSIBLE MODES OF PROVIDING THESE MATERIALS/SERVICES
SCREEN-L discussion group and archive
Services
Discussion of film/TV studies
Available currently through e-mail, Usenet, dial-up
BBS
Materials
*Text* files, but not binary ones
Retrievable via e-mail (thus accessible by
commercial sources like CIS, AOL, Prodigy, etc.)
Cost
None
Currently run on LISTSERV software on the U. of Al
mainframe computer
SCREEN-L II (?)
Services
Solely for announcements related to film/TV studies
Moderated; low traffic
Cost
None, if co-sponsoring insitution found (e.g., UA s TCFnet)
Gopher/WWW/FTP server
Services
Online searching of databases
Hypertext access to resources
Materials
Text files
Binary files--word processing, graphics, sound
Cost
Unix box and someone to create/run it
Hang it on a co-sponsoring institution's 'Net connection?
$10,000?
Internet accessible (via Telnet) MOO/MUD/BBS
Services
Real-time, live discussions
Materials
Text files
Cost
See FTP/Gopher/WWW above
Dial-up BBS
Services
Bulletin board-style discussion
I.e., "posting" of messages
Materials
Text/binary files
Cost
$500-1,000 to buy some harddisk space
Link to the Internet server's files?
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Jeremy Butler [log in to unmask]
Associate Professor [log in to unmask]
Telecommunication & Film Dept. * University of Alabama * Tuscaloosa
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