Separately on AE Monthly in the article 'Reorganizing the Web for Bookselling' we discuss the mechanics of the Wikis. They are a work in progress but emerge as the next big thing for the rare book business, the online structure that delivers information automatically within a subject-centric model in a way that permits busy collectors to slip in and out as they have time and to, in a matter of minutes, bring themselves up-to-date.
Today we know that what began with a few thousand titles as an interesting online used and collectible book listing experiment in 1994 has become something more than one hundred sixty million items online and now demands a new approach for at least the collectible books. The field has grown beyond large databases to the next generation: reductive pooling of resources.
For a closer look at Wikis as the first of them emerge click here.
If you would like to propose a wiki click here to contact us. We'll begin a discussion.
Here is a list of subjects that are already under agreement and in most cases under construction:
1. 17th Century American Imprints
2. Chess: It's Your Move
3. Cotton Mather
4. Isaac Newton
5. Joel Munsell, Albany Printer
6. John James Audubon: Prints on Paper
7. Lucy Maud Montgomery [1874-1942]
8. Maps of New York
9. Marcus Aurelius - Translations and Comments on his Thoughts
10. Paraclete Potter, Poughkeepsie Printer
11. Pre-1860 American Pocket Maps
12. Rondout & Kingston, New York
13. Texas Maps
14. The "Book Hospital"
15. The Hudson River: Life on the Water
16. The Mexican-American War: 1840-1854
17. The Texas Revolution and Republic to 1845
18. The War of 1812
19. Zamorano Eighty
Here is a link to an article on Wiki functionality [Wikis Come into Focus] in this issue of AE Monthly.
