I really like Roy's idea of establishing "nodes of activity around
various ideas" coming out of this discussion.  In an attempt to create a
"node" for formal publication, I've put together the first draft of a
formal statement of purpose, format, and editorial policies for a
code4lib journal.  It's on the code4lib wiki:

http://wiki.library.oregonstate.edu/confluence/display/code4lib/code4lib
+journal+-+mission%2C+format%2C+guidelines

Please take a look and make changes or add comments -- I'm hoping this
process can be as open and democratic as the conference.  There's a lot
of room for building in some of the fantastic, innovative suggestions
that have come up over the past few days.  Alternatively, if you really
hate the idea of a formal publication, start another node for whatever
approach(es) you prefer.  The important thing is that we get people
engaged and get ideas out there.
--
Jeff Davis
Public Services Librarian
University of Alberta Libraries
[log in to unmask]
IM screen name: jd4v15 (MSN, AIM, Yahoo)



-----Original Message-----
From: Code for Libraries [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
Roy Tennant
Sent: Thursday, February 23, 2006 5:03 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] A code4lib journal proposal

+1

I know there has been a lot of sentiment toward simply hacking on our
web site, but as useful as that might be, it is still preaching to
the choir. As Peter and others have said, if we want to broaden our
reach we will most likely need to produce something that will get
much wider notice -- that is, something more magazine or journal
like. A publication gets broader notice in ways that putting up
something on a web site doesn't. I'm not arguing against anything, I
think everyone should participate in what they feel is most useful.

Having said that, I know that creating a new publication is not
trivial. But it can also be done if enough people want to make it
happen. I've kept Current Cites going for almost sixteen years, with
a monthly publication deadline. A magazine is much more substantial,
but is also unlikely to be published on a monthly basis either.
Perhaps it's time to move beyond debate and simply allow folks to
coalesce around the activities that turn them on. Perhaps we could
use the web site or wiki to establish nodes of activity around
various ideas, and see who signs on/contributes?
Roy

On Feb 23, 2006, at 3:40 PM, Binkley, Peter wrote:

>> One question is certainly, "Who will this journal serve?"
>
> The more I think about it, the more I think the main justification
> for a
> code4lib journal is to get our stuff noticed more. There are too many
> enthusiastic Library 2.0 bloggers who spend their time talking about
> non-library Web 2.0 services, and asking why we don't do cool stuff
> like
> that in our libraries. They should pay more attention to the people
> who
> are actually building the tools to do that, i.e. us. So the journal
> should serve the forward-thinking library community as a whole.
>
> Peter
>