h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Great idea! This is a new concept for me. It would bring the way the site functions up to date in a significant way. It puts more control directly in the hands of the individual researcher which should contribute to user satisfaction and retention.

There should be a searchable directory of all imprints, something that could be browsed and explored.

Ben: "I think it should be anyone [to create an imprint]. Some will be meaningless, and others will be high-status, but they'd all find their own level. Anyone can give out a Peace Prize, but only the Nobel is the Nobel..."

True enough. I guess I'm just not that comfortable with the idea that user-generated imprints would have the same technological status as such long-running things as The Post. Part of me is thinking back to the UG's inception - if imprints were around then, it would have been easier to make, but it would have also made the UG quite ordinary, and I think it would have been lost in the shuffle.

I guess what I'm saying is that "Publishing" something should be difficult, it should be an honor. As you say, these imprints will find their own level, but I wonder if the overall effect won't be to degrade the prestige of the publishing institutions, such as the EG and Post, that this site is built on...

And just because I'm using words like "degrade" doesn't mean I'm also saying that this effect would necessarily be a bad thing. Democratizing the publishing process is a cool idea on some levels. Really, we've always had the capability to do it - in the same way that the Post, UG, CAC and Fiction Central have done it (does anyone remember spook's Spaced Out Guide? Does anyone remember spook?). This would just be so institutionalized that it would have the effect of encouraging people to diffuse the publishing process.

Hmm.

I have flashbacks at the very mention of spook. I found a thread the other day where I tore the poor kid three separate new @@@@holes. Poor lad. I was driving on rage through most of 2002-2004 really.

>> I wonder if the overall effect won't be to degrade the prestige of the publishing institutions, such as the EG and Post, that this site is built on...

Interesting thought. My instant reaction is that they have so much kudos already that they'd survive. And as for the volunteer based publishing (UG, SEx, etc) it would find it's own level. Not sure if that's true. Only time would tell.