New Discussion Forum Experiment

[Primus Pilus]

To avoid confusion... I've gone ahead and created a subforum. If there is interest, the forum will thrive. If not, then we can bid it adieu.

[Primus Pilus]

I've worked my way around the 'thread moderator' issue. Here's how it will work. Anyone who proposes a thread, thereby claiming right to be that thread's particular tyrant, will be named a Tyrant and will be granted moderation abilities for this subfora only.

 

[edit] special note... please only propose a thread if you consider yourself to be relatively qualified as having an excellent grasp of a subject. The merits can be judged fairly readily based on everyone's posts on the forum as a whole.

[Spurius]

I can easily see this becoming one of a two pronged approach.

 

If someone gets irritated at nonsense being posted, they'll just say: "I'm taking this to Academia," to post and control content response. This could lead to someone going: "You made a good point, one I didn't think of...so I'll throw it out of my thread after picking it apart for grammar (or other nitpicky issues)."

 

Second, this will create a bit of endemic pretension. So I suggest people stay loosened up and open to comments, otherwise this will ossify and die away.

 

I'll be watching and hopefully posting later.

Edited August 29, 2006 by Spurius

[Antiochus of Seleucia]

The original idea for this was to create a "discussion" (or better put, pool of knowledge) and not "debate." If it goes as originally intended, it might just work.

 

Perhaps someone with limited knowledge or lack of opinion could be the moderator, then there will be less or no biasing.

 

As for citations, it's a good idea, but people getting started like me may have trouble contributing. Most of the stuff I know is from that book I read a while ago and remembered that part about such and such. I do think we should use citations anyways because it will make a very excellent reference and knowledgeable people are more reliable. I go for citations. Besides, when we build a library of rescources, then other members will be able to go out and buy them and such.

 

Still, I think it should work!

Edited August 29, 2006 by Antiochus of Seleucia

[Gaius Octavius]

phil25:

 

The idea behind this experiment is to increase the resources of UNRV. You may have noted in the past that UNRV is often cited as a source by other sites. The Rules only apply to this particular sub-forum. The other fora remain as they are. You may continue to have your fun and I will continue to be my sarcastic self. If the resources of UNRV are increased, all the discussions may benefit.

 

I hope that this allays your fears.

 

Spurius:

 

Nothing will be thrown out for grammatical errors or prose. An editor(s) will handle such matters. A person's grammar, spelling or prose will not enter into the picture. One would not want to loose the contributions of those whose native language is not English or whose fingers mis-type. Nit-picking will not be an object. Nor is pretension an object. The expansion of UNRV's resources is the sole object.

 

Contribute; suggest a topic; be a tyrant!

[Gaius Paulinus Maximus]

phil25:

 

The idea behind this experiment is to increase the resources of UNRV. You may have noted in the past that UNRV is often cited as a source by other sites. The Rules only apply to this particular sub-forum. The other fora remain as they are. You may continue to have your fun and I will continue to be my sarcastic self. If the resources of UNRV are increased, all the discussions may benefit.

 

I hope that this allays your fears.

 

Spurius:

 

Nothing will be thrown out for grammatical errors or prose. An editor(s) will handle such matters. A person's grammar, spelling or prose will not enter into the picture. One would not want to loose the contributions of those whose native language is not English or whose fingers mis-type. Nit-picking will not be an object. Nor is pretension an object. The expansion of UNRV's resources is the sole object.

 

Contribute; suggest a topic; be a tyrant!

 

Could you please give me a bit more info on the role of the tyrant i.e whats involved??

[Favonius Cornelius]

I have this fear that these threads will boil down to a back and forth of copy-paste of these cited sources as people strive to be as legitimate as possible. In the end, little discussion, more quotation.

Edited August 29, 2006 by Favonius Cornelius

[M. Porcius Cato]

Anyone who proposes a thread, thereby claiming right to be that thread's particular tyrant, will be named a Tyrant and will be granted moderation abilities for this subfora only.

 

"Tyrant" is too mild for what is needed. A tyrant scares only for a day; a true paedagogicus creates the nightmares of a lifetime! Actually, shouldn't the title be something like Magister pro tempore?

[FLavius Valerius Constantinus]

At least the Arena isn't going to anyone, if it does, must be someone unbiased.

 

Perhaps Despotes(transliterated word from Greek) would work better than tyrant. Seeing the word tyrant might new users think the new mods have absolute bullying power. Also there is the added irony of a 'good tyrant.'

 

So just how do you establish such topics?

 

Anyways, anyone up for Catholicism and Asian history?

Edited August 29, 2006 by FLavius Valerius Constantinus

[Primus Pilus]

Well it shouldn't be a quote fest of ancient sources... that would just be boring. I think a sample topic is in order, but I'm failing to come up with anything enticing at the moment.

[docoflove1974]

So just how do you establish such topics?

 

This is what was giving me pause. (Bear with me...I just got back from a swim, so I have chlorine on the brain...)

 

Let me see if I understand this:

 

This 'academic' forum would be a way that person X could start a thread on a given topic. It could be a question that they wish to discuss, or a topic where they wish to expound a bit on an idea and then have others add to it as they can. In this way, the person who starts the thread has creative and logistical control on the thread--can moderate it--and can, perhaps, shape how the thread is going. Because everyone is citing sources and whatnot, this can be eventually 'married' to the articles, so that if person Y wishes to know more about, say, the Roman army during the time of the Republic, all they have to do is go into the 'academic' forum and look up the topic; if the topic does not yet exist, person Y can create such a thread, and have others contribute to it so as to answer the initial query.

 

Sounds like an academic conference round-table! Do I have the concept right?

[Favonius Cornelius]

Octavius...Antiochus? I figure one of you ground breakers should start things off and give us some examples in your first topic, to give us a taste of your vision...

[Lost_Warrior]

The only real difficulty I see with this is the citations. I am in the same boat as Antiochus, I don't remember the page number of everything I happen to know

 

What exactly are we going for? MLA format (evil, evil MLA format lol) with the place of publication, copyright date, page number, author, title, volume, publisher....or will a simple author and work referenced do? (I favor the latter as gathering all of that information is too tedious for most people and they either won't bother posting, or just won't bother with the information.)

[Princeps]

To me this smacks of elitism.

 

I come here for fun and discussion. I simply don't have time for all the academic flummery.

 

If this becomes the norm, it will be a case of "goodnight" from me.

 

Phil

 

I agree 100%. To be blunt, this idea really, really blows. It would suck all the fun out of UNRV. I am not an academic, I am an enthusiastic amatuer. This proposed new system effectively rules me out of all future debates, period (I have a few dozen Rome books, but even if I had the time to stack them up beside my computer and source all of my posts, I would certainly not enjoy thumbing through them every time I wished to contribute to a thread). It may be ok for those of us that have an encyclopedic memory, or are deep into the subject every day of their lives (lecturers and what have you), but it's not good for the rest of us.

 

 

To me this smacks of elitism.

I come here for fun and discussion. I simply don't have time for all the academic flummery.

If this becomes the norm, it will be a case of "goodnight" from me.

 

(quoted again for truth).

 

And then there's the logistics to think about.

 

Edit - just read that this will be a separate forum. Ok, I guess if people want this then let them have it. I see no problems with the current system.

[P.Clodius]

Guys it applies ONLY to THIS sub-forum. All the others WILL REMAIN THE SAME!

 

Let me see if I understand this:

 

This 'academic' forum would be a way that person X could start a thread on a given topic. It could be a question that they wish to discuss, or a topic where they wish to expound a bit on an idea and then have others add to it as they can. In this way, the person who starts the thread has creative and logistical control on the thread--can moderate it--and can, perhaps, shape how the thread is going. Because everyone is citing sources and whatnot, this can be eventually 'married' to the articles, so that if person Y wishes to know more about, say, the Roman army during the time of the Republic, all they have to do is go into the 'academic' forum and look up the topic; if the topic does not yet exist, person Y can create such a thread, and have others contribute to it so as to answer the initial query.

 

Sounds like an academic conference round-table! Do I have the concept right?

I was thinking more of an area to present a thesis. How this thesis would/could be challenged/improved upon by someone is still open I think.