it does seem a little odd doesn’t it… being forced to work in a tired medium. And I know what you mean about writing for the web. I’ve had students come to me and critique my blogging style saying that this was not what I was teaching in class. To which, with a smile I always answer… you’re quite right.

Alice,

very interesting point about the medium argument working on both ends. One of the people that I’ve been talking to about this teaches comparative religion. We’ve been promising each other that we would get together on this question soon… I think that your point will probably be a central one.
oh. And I’m a bibliophile. The book i’m… uh… most reading right now is a very nice 1916 copy of Gregory of Tour’s Historia Francorum (in English… sadly… my latin is next to non-existent). So I’m not ready to burn all the paper yet!

Why paper? I’m not going to talk about why I love paper, or other people should, or some other Luddite rambling. In the study of history, there is no way and will be no way to avoid the ties to paper because no matter how many old texts Google scans and uploads to the Internet, the sheer volume of paper records from the start of writing on that medium until this point is huge. Historians looking back will be working with paper. An example of that would be this week’s revelation of missing letters from Otto Frank. Now, that doesn’t mean that they won’t be able to do their written work in other mediums. This post seems to be saying that the medium for your output (paper) shapes the message when you are creating. It may not shape it the same way, but I think the medium for your input — old paper records — can also shape how and what you see in the message. This will not be changing for historians at higher levels (where they use primary sources) anytime soon.

Thanks for sharing, listening, etc.

Increasingly, I am finding that I write for the web. With (aming other things) hyperlinks instead of references, and navigation links instead of section numbers. I now find the concept of linear navigation and section numbering restrictive. However, for my Masters’ degree, this is the required format. I am permitted to submit an electronic copy of my papers, but it must be an electronic copy of a print medium document, complete with Harvard referencing, and the hard copy must also be supplied. Since I am focusing largely on the impact of ICT on teaching and learning, and on collaborative and networked learning, it seems odd to revert to a medium best suited to a totally different approach.