By Bruce McKinney

The constant on AE is change and this month the introduction of AE Book Blog more evidence of it. For those unaware, a blog as a noun means "weblog," as a verb "to write entries in, add material to or maintain a weblog." A blog is an effective way to communicate in the web environment. Over the past few years they have become popular as a way to converse intermittently. I'll use AEBB to write about online issues generally and AE issues specifically. Anyone who has questions can post to the blog. AE membership isn't required although I expect most people who come to AE have an interest in some aspect of the world of books, manuscripts and ephemera. About 40% of the AE's community are signed-up members. Twenty-four thousand receive AEM each month.

There seem to be three or fours areas where a blog may be useful. Site issues can be identified, explained and their status updated. For many members who experience some problems, knowing whether the problem is their computer, operating system, connection or browser, or our problem can be difficult to quickly determine. The rule generally is if several people report a problem it's probably our issue. If one person reports a problem the issue may be theirs or ours. When the AE servers and software are functioning properly [which is most of the time] we suspect the issue is in one of the intervening legs. Although this is often the case we don't walk away from it. Many people who use AE are older and need a hand. We try to provide it.

This blog should also facilitate suggestions. We learn from listening. AE is a work in progress. We make no claims to perfection and never will. The site is typically revised every two weeks, is substantially overhauled every year and completely rebuilt every two to three years. In my view this is how it should be. SO, suggestions are always in order. We accumulate ideas, group them by category, review them quarterly and execute many of them over time. Many of our best ideas have developed from the suggestions from the interested [and sometimes angry].

Then there are the auctions. We write about them periodically but it doesn't do them justice. They come forward like a Mississippi at flood tide and I've been searching for a way to raise awareness of material in a less formal, more frequent way. I've no idea if this will work but I'm going to try it.

And then there is eBay. Many buyers and sellers struggle on eBay. I expect to write about my experience and perhaps it will help others to improve theirs.

I will of course also write about specific material, how it has been described, what I paid and why I bought it.

In other words, most subjects are fair game.

AE BOOK BLOG