Casa de nebuni

The Access Principle by John Willinsky argues in favor of a fairer and broader distribution of knowledge across disciplines and social categories. In fact, it is in line with Moretti's book, which among other claims also argues that there are no more genius writers in the world literature. In fact, as I understand Moretti's argument, the concept of "genius" has been constructed by the literary scholars, who based their value assumptions on readings of a small sample of literature. In this sense, a research model which would embrace more texts could be more representative of a literary age. Moreover, due to the fact that there are no geniuses, literature is read in stages. As soon as one stage fades, it is quickly replaced by other stage. On average, one stage endures around three decades.Willinsky claims that the access principle, will profoundly affect the distribution of knowledge in a world where the scholarly journals have lost their initial dialogue with the whole society, and have instead being isolated according to disciplinary principles and to the wishes of the big journal publishers. Furthermore, he refers to the fact that the access principle is not a continuation of the Wittenberg's revolution. It is something more, which is yet to be discovered in the future. I would certainly agree with him in reference to his opinion on the benefits for poor countries. It is true that there are a lot of underfunded educational systems in the world where access to journal subscription is reduced to a minimum. In this sense, open access can be an amazing opportunity for these countries and people to participate in the global community of knowledge.With all the benefits, I still see some problems with this model. First of all, like any other change, the transition from the subscription model to the open access is not a smooth process and it will not be so in the near future. One important issue is the attractiveness of the principle "what costs more is more valuable" and the still dominant idea that "there is no free stuff in this world." Secondly, is the issue of the inter-generational debate: as soon as we don't have a generation of scholars, who were raised in the digital environment, there is unlikely to be witnessed a radical change in the distribution of knowledge.Still, there is a chance that there will be nobody to witness this change, because all of the researchers will be blind due many hours spent in front of the computer. On the other hand, if digital environment is the one which will determine blindness, then maybe the same digital environment with its open access principle will provide a necessary cure for the blindness, in the form of any revolution in eye care. Finally, one problem might be the fact that if there will be found an attribution model for the digital scholarship, then scholars will rush to get everything online, hoping to get the feedback from other scholars, who will be also busy in uploading their own content online. In this situation, my question will be: who would comment on the uploaded content?P.S. Disclaimer, All the similarities with the motives from Jose Saramago's Blindness is purely accidental.

For my future digital project, I would consider the following models:Parallel ArchiveA project developed by the Open Society Archives in Budapest, which according to the About section of the site, "is at once a personal scholarly workspace, a collaborative research environment, and a digital repository." The project started in 2008 and is still a beta version. As a matter of fact, the website is designed to be a gathering place of numerous documents hidden in the personal computers of the researchers or other professionals in the preservation and scholarship business. In order to gain access to the full functionality of the site, the visitor should register with the site. The site features two kinds of possibilities for the members to keep their collections: they can either place the documents in the public collection or they can keep them on 50 MB of a private collection for two years, after which if not deleted the private collections automatically turn into public documents. Any non-registered visitor to the site can browse through the narrow public collection. One of the positive aspect of the repository is the possibility to search through different collections of OCR-ed files. Among some weak features of the site, I would mention the limited number of documents available in English and the overwhelming dominance of documents in Hungarian, which as we know is not a easy language to speak or to learn. Another weakness of the website is their copyright policy. The contributors to the website cannot apply any type of Creative Commons licenses on their uploaded content, and instead all the documents are under the copyright laws. This also limits the possibility for contributors to make use of attribution as one of the main gains of the digital media.The Valley of the ShadowThis is a well-known website, which represents a milestone in the first attempts to explore possibilities offered by the digital media in the research of the past. This web project started with the idea of Edward Ayers, a scholar from the University of Virginia, to write a book on the different experiences of the Civil War by the people of two communities from the US. In turn, this initiative has developed in a different direction, along with the new possibilities which the Web offers for the comparative study of two local communities. As the years passed, the once envisioned analogue, individualistic and static book has been transformed into a digital, collective and dynamic repository of numerous possibilities to research the history of the Civil War from different perspectives. The idea for the book came to Ayers in 1991, and the final version of the site has been released in 2009. So, it has been 18 years of experiments, but the work is not finished yet. Now, the library of the University of Virginia works on the preservation of the whole website in its digital collection. If the Parallel Archive provides some examples of preservation techniques, then the Valley of the Shadow is in line with my intention to shape a repository or, to what Roy Rosenzweig and Michael O'Malley refers to as "an invented archive," of two neighbor communities. Among the positive features are the ease of use and the clarity of the design, as well as the ability to capture a multiple audience for this site. In my view the main weakness of the website is the same concern with the copyright. All the content on the website is under the ordinary copyright law and does not allow for a diversification of the options provided by Creative Commons.

After reading NINCH Guide to Good Practice, I can say that now I fully recognize the workload and responsibility of the people who try to deal with the Scarcity or Abundance of the future histories. In addition to this major achievement, these readings convinced me once more that simplicity is the recipe for any successful digital project.When I am referring to the term "successful digital project," I have in mind not a one day short-term exercise in PR, but rather a durable project, which, if it will not last 200 years, at least will manage to entertain the life of the contributors to the project. I do not intend to make a distinction between the audience and contributors, because, as we already know, and if you didn't, then you'll know that: "the ideal digital project is the project when the distinction between the audience and the contributors is if not non-existent, then at least it is very blurred." Referring to the value of digitization for my project, I can say that it plays a crucial role. At the same time, since it is not yet associated with any institutional framework, then I suppose all I need is to do some more or less qualitative job with cheap equipment and with almost zero funds. In this sense, I will proudly sacrifice my Sony Cybershot digital camera in order to transfer the material from analog to digital realm.Nevertheless, apart from many other objective issues, such as natural or, not less natural, human-generated disasters, that can be solved with a good backup strategy, there is a one objective issue, which is totally independent of my control: since my web project will rely on a collaborative framework with the local communities, then I will have to choose either between a centralized digitization of the materials or to rely on the skills of the each contributor to renounce his bias and to capture his personal history in a professional manner.

AbstractThis project will potentially be a part or an annex of my PhD dissertation, which I will hopefully write during my participation in the PhD program of the History and Art History Department, at George Mason University. As my dissertation project will focus on the comparative analysis of two neighbor towns-Ribnita and Rezina-situated in the north-eastern corner of this map, which represent a de jure non-existent, but a de facto entity called Transnistria, my web project will entail a structure of different layers (maps, images, photos, texts), which will illustrate the evolution of these two localities during the first half of the 20th century.The necessity of the projectIn addition to the objective necessity of fulfilling certain academic requirements, the project will focus on the achievement of following goals: It will serve as a platform for the cooperation involving both the scholars in the field and people in the regionIt can be an instrument for the exploration of the online environment in different conflict-resolution strategiesIt will serve as a valuable tool for teachers and students who want to explore the journey of "real people" through different political, social and economic contexts.Main featuresFirst of all, it will be a web based collection of different tagged items pertaining to the history of the region. Secondly, it will be possible for visitors not only to comment on each entity of the collection, but also to tag different elements inside the items. Finally, the web resource will also have a section, which will deal with my dissertation. This section will display an interface similar to a blog, with entries referring to my ideas on the dissertation and readings on this subject.AudienceI have mentioned some thoughts on this issue, in my previous post. Since at that time, I was thinking about two projects, I might say that at this stage, the audience is a sum of the both projects' audiences. Thus, it is targeted toward scholars and local communities.TechnologiesFor this undertaking I consider mainly two technologies such as: Omeka and GIS. First tool is for the management of the collection and second is mainly for the creation of complex environments from the individual items.Interactive elementsReferring to the existence of certain Web 2.0 applications, I would say that, initially this project will rely mainly on the "Comments" feature enabling each visitor to comment on the items and on any blog post. The next step would be to develop the trust of the community and to involve it into the online mechanisms of documents collection.

Since I have in mind two projects I will try to convey a general idea about the audiences of both projects. In the case of a website for The Moldovan National Archives, I guess the main audience would be researchers from all around the world, interested in browsing through numerous collections of the Archives and finding their way through them without making a journey to the Archives. Of course, it is impossible to provide all the content in the digital form, but at least, this web site will provide general guidelines, such as: available collections, hours of operation, archival policies in the area of document reproduction, telephone numbers and physical address of The National Archives and of other archives from the area. Since Archives are open not only for researchers but also to the local communities, the web site will also try to reach to the local population in terms of genealogical research or other services, such as, for example, the restoration of property rights after the fall of USSR.Concerning the second project, the one concerning the analysis of the two localities in the first half of the 20th century, there is a chance that this project will have as its audience the local population. I am referring to "a chance" because as any new media project this one has got a lot of unexpected elements. Taking into consideration the fact that, nowadays, the two localities Ribnita and Rezina, which can be located in the upper right corner of this map, are divided not only by the Nistru river but also by the legacy of the Transnistrian conflict, then the web site can be not only a historical project but also a site of shared memories, where each community could share its moments of pain and hope. This being said, I am waiting for your comments and criticism.

The Web 2.0 component of the new media is perhaps the most exciting part of the interaction between "old" and " new" media in the process of learning and teaching humanities and other disciplines. If somebody may object to the quality of the content disposed on Wikipedia or other collaborative wiki platforms (although as Rozenweig's piece suggests some problems can be transformed into advantages), then I guess both "experts" and "amateurs" enjoy the possibility to share their views and thoughts on a certain topic, or to engage in an interdisciplinary discussion.Here the excitement is not merely that the Web 2.0 will replace the traditional conferences, but it is the great opportunity to display your thoughts and your research process to the scrutiny of the diverse audience. Of course, there is a risk that after an extended session of exchanging comments in a virtual realm, one might found out that there are no more subjects to debate at the conference table, but at the same time, there is another opportunity, that the lively debate will transcend the pixelized format and will jump into the implementation stage.When in comes to the implementation stage, "First Monday" series featuring Schnapp's idea of any public institution as "a glocal enterprise" transcends the concept of the archives, libraries and museums as physical repositories of memory and make the "memory palaces of the 21-st century more permeable." In this sense, new media has to be an additional layer of means which will not only bridge the communication gap between different social groups, but will also generate interest and non-traditional insights into the physical space of the museum.A new medium needs new tools. In other words, you cannot make modern cars only with hammers. Although they are still used and will be used, you need some special technical skills to operate different techniques. In this sense, Bruce's project can be characterized as an online photo laboratory which train photographs for the possibilities and challenges of the new medium.

"Of the subjects in the secular curriculum, it [history] is the best at teaching those virtues once reserved for theology-humility in the face of our limited ability to know, and awe in the face of the expanse of human history.On his journey from China to India, the Venetian traveler Marco Polo ventured into Basman, believed to be Sumatra, where he chanced upon a species he had never before seen: the rhinoceros. But Polo did not see it that way. As his diary records, he saw insteadunicorns, which are scarcely smaller than elephants. They have the hair of a buffalo...[and] a single large, black horn in the middle of the forehead. They do not attack with their horn, but only with their tongue and their knees; for their tongues are furnished with long, sharp spines... They are very ugly brutes to look at... not at all such as we describe them when... they let themselves be captured by virgins.Our encounter with history presents us with a choice: to learn about rhinoceroses or to learn about unicorns. We naturally incline toward unicorns-they are prettier and more tame. But it is the rhinoceros that can teach us far more than we could ever imagine." (Wineburg Samuel, Historical Thinking and Other Unnatural Acts, 2001 24)

As any new media project is a work in progress, I hope this start will be a "good progress." After reading Manovich and a couple of articles for Learning and Teaching History in a Digital Age, which is another course I am taking this semester, I was inspired to think about the following projects:a) in line with my dissertation interests with the borderlands of modern Eastern Europe and with Manovich's observation that, with the usage of new media, history is becoming more spatialized, one possible project would be the virtual representation of two border regions or two border towns during the first half of the 20-th century. As a possible model for this type of projects I liked the idea of Hypercitiesb) since I spent this summer in the Moldovan archives and I noticed that they don't have any websites or home pages, I decided that a viable project would be to design such a website with the possible extension of creating a database with digitized documents.In this way, my project proposals are quiet complementary. On the one hand, first project seems to be a bit S(cience)F(iction). On the other hand, the second project looks quiet viable. Although, with the current level of Moldovan bureaucracy, it is not impossible that my evaluation would have the opposite results and the first project will be much more realistic than the second one.

Today this blog and its author are expecting to expand its audience to the English-speaking audience. As usually happens for an event to happen, one needs the illusion of planning this event out of random circumstances. Actually, I was planning to switch to English some time ago, but due to my objective laziness I was unable to overcome the subjective perception of the missing circumstances. Due to a new course on History and New Media, which I am taken now at George Mason University, I will try to subvert my objective laziness and to take advantage of the random circumstances to develop some of my ideas regarding the peaceful and constructive cohabitation between history writing and electronic devices. Hopefully, it will last more than one semester.P.S. To those few readers who followed my earlier native language thoughts, I am confident that most of them fluently comprehend English, and this will not be a problem for our further cooperation.

De obicei, in mentalitatea colectiva, notiunea "arhive" este asociata cu un cerc restrans de batranei, care din obisnuinta sau din necesitatea de a-si alina plictiseala se apuca de scotocit printre cutii si dosare pline de praf, in speranta ca vor descoperi acel Graal, care le va permite "sa intre in istorie", de parca cineva isi permite sa iasa din ea. In acest moment, din considerente pur speculative, imi voi permite sa-i plasez pe acesti batranei in categoria de "grei" ai arhivelor si detinatori ai centurii de "ocrotitori ai tezaurului national". In limbaj mai uzual, acestia pot fi numiti "guru", "corifei", "intaistatatori". Bineinteles, nimeni nu le poate contesta faptul ca, daca le-ai stinge lumina, ei oricum vor gasi dulapul unde si-au lasat propriile dosare. Mai mult ca atat, chiar si angajatii arhivei, apeleaza la acestia in momentul in care un vizitator mai cu pretentii paseste pragul templului memoriei colective.Pentru a alina indignarea celor care, ajungand la Casa de Nebuni, asteapta de la Medicul-Sef tot felul de retete miraculoase sau cazuri deochiate, si nicidecum "povesti plictisitoare" despre memoria colectiva si birocratie arhivistica, accentuez ca nu exista nicaieri in lume un loc mai bun pentru un nebun decat peretii si dulapurile prafuite ale arhivei. Putem doar sa ne imaginam cate vanitati, ambituri, pasiuni, drame, comedii, destine se ascund in hartoagele mai mult sau mai putin lizibile aranjate in mii de "dosare", sute de "inventare" si "fonduri". Pentru cei neavizati, ultimele notiuni din propozitia precedenta reprezinta de fapt unitatile sau daca doriti bitzii cu care opereaza pasionatii de arhive. In ciuda aerului ezoteric ce inconjoara orice limbaj profesional, nu este nimic complicat. Documentele din arhiva sunt clasificate in concordanta cu o structura ierarhica dupa modelul: fondul incorporeaza mai mult inventare, care la randul lor sunt constituite din dosare. Primul pas este consultarea ghidului arhivei, care cuprinde toate fondurile din arhiva. Cu alte cuvinte, la orice arhiva, in mod teoretic ar trebui sa existe o compilatie in care sa fie reprezentate toate fondurile din arhiva. Fondurile sunt grupate sub umbrele tematice, astfel incat dupa ce ti-ai ales un fond, urmatorul pas este sa ceri inventarele acelui fond. Adica vrei sa vezi dosarele ce fac parte din fondul x, inv.y. Daca ati rezistat pana la acest moment, inseamna ca sunteti potential client al arhivelor sau al Casei de Nebuni. Mai mult sau mai putin, pana acum, lucrurile au fost sau sunt clare. Totul este simplu: esti curios sa-ti afli stramosii mergi la arhiva, consulta fondurile, alege inventarele si solicita dosarele. Doresti sa-ti scrii teza de licenta, master sau doctorat fa acelasi lucru. Oops, am uitat sa mentionez un detaliu minor, dar foarte important. Arhiva nu este un organism mort, iar dosarele au capacitatea de a migra dintr-un fond in altul. Deoarece oamenii care lucreaza la arhiva sunt si ei oameni vii, nimeni nu le-a anulat liberul arbitru, care mai obisnuieste sa faca risipa de cartonase galbene si rosii, astfel incat volens nolens acestia cu voie sau de nevoie contribuie la migratia dosarelor si la formarea memoriei colective. Dar sa ramanem optimisti. Uneori soarta iti mai surade si aceasta goana oarba in urma timpului pierdut iti poate aduce si unele suprize placute. Astfel, poti sa dai comanda de un fond in care astepti sa gasesti macar ceva si deodata ti se aduce acelasi fond, doar ca dosarele sunt total diferite, si, paradoxal, dar constati ca ai mai mare nevoie de dosarele date decat de cele pe care le-ai comandat. Cineva ar mai spune: exact ca in viata, cauti ceva, fiind convins de faptul ca anume asta este ceea ce cauti, si dai peste altceva, care ajunge sa te convinga, ca anume asta era ceea cea cautai cu adevarat.P.S. Aviz amatorilor de filme: Daca doriti sa slabiti, priviti filmul "Taxidermia" (2006). Aviz adaugator: desi nu este o colectie de retete dietetice, garantez ca vizionarea constanta si dozata a acestuia induce o silueta de invidiat. Enjoy!

In continuarea postarii de data trecuta inca un fragment din ziarul "Plugarul Ros", din acelasi indepartat-apropiat an 1927. De data aceasta fragmentul apare la rubrica "Intrebati si om raspunde". De fapt, aici, cu toata selectia si cenzura de rigoare, se mai intrevad uneori preocuparile locuitorilor din regiunea RASSM. Asadar, atentie la intrebare dar mai ales la raspuns:

Nu sunt specialist nici in ortodoxie si nici in postmodernism asa ca imi permit sa evit diplomatia caracteristica specialistilor si sa-mi asum un punct de vedere fie si amator in ceea ce priveste o cartulie pe care am avut ocazia s-o citesc zilele acestea. Cartea are si o denumire destul de intriganta: "Ortodoxia pentru postmodernisti", iar autorul este Savatie Bastovoi. Sa incepem cu partile pozitive: Cartea se citeste rapid, lejer si cu nerabdare. Aici tin sa-i dau dreptate autorului, care mentioneaza ca atunci cand te apuci sa scrii o carte trebuie s-o scrii asa de parca ai dori s-o citesti si tu. Nu exclud ca la lejeritatea lecturii contribuie si fragmentarea continutului in forma de franturi din diverse texte cum ar fi eseuri si articole semnate de autor, in cadrul unor conferinte si publicate in presa. Cartea mai include si o serie de interviuri in care autorul dialogheaza cu Dumitru Crudu, Andrei Kuraev, Nicolae Balota, Mihail Vakulovski, Serban Axinte si Claudiu Tarziu. Despre majoritatea autorilor pe care i-am insirat anterior nu cunosc mai nimic, dar i-am enumerat in cazul in care cineva ii cunoaste sau va avea curiozitatea sa-i cunoasca.Nu va fi o surpriza pentru nimeni daca voi spune ca cei mai ultilizati atat la propriu cat si la figurat sunt termenii "ortodoxie" si "postmodernism". Desi autorul nu exclude comunicarea dintre ortodoxie si postmodernism din text transpare o atitudine usor persiflanta in adresa postmodernismului si o pozitionare superioara a ortodoxiei in raport cu celelalte religii. Pe langa "desertaciunea postmodernismului", autorul se refera de atlfel la inutilitatea intregii productii culturale, ce nu-si propune sa ajunga la Adevar. In special, parintele Savatie se refera la tentatiile orientaliste ale poetilor romantici, care in opinia sa sunt mai mult adepti ai noptii si pun un accent prea mare pe religiile orientale. Dupa parerea sa, ortodoxia este superioara religiilor orientale pentru ca acestea concep creatia ca fiind un rezultat al haosului, pe cand ortodoxia se refera la creatia din neant. Mi-a placut comparatia poetilor cu niste copii, care plang dupa o cana sparta si refuza atunci cand li se propune o cana noua. Cu alte cuvinte, poetii deplang viata si tanjesc cu frica dupa moarte, in loc sa se gandeasca la viata vesnica a sufletului.Totusi dupa titlu ma asteptam sa vad mai multe usi deschise pentru postmodernisti pe cand autorul se refera mai mult la O critica a postmodernistilor din punct de vedere a ortodoxiei si astfel autorul inchide accesul postmodernistilor la usa ortodoxiei. Postmodernistii in conceptia autorului sunt niste feciori rataciti prin lume care in loc sa caute frumosul si lumina se avanta sa redea cat mai precis si mai demonic esenta raului si mizeria lumii in care traim. Sunt de acord ca nu tot ce este postmodernist este si genial. Mai mult ca atat pe cat de sincretic este stilul postmodernistilor, pe atat de dificila este definitia postmodernismului. Insasi Savatie recunoaste ca niciodata nu s-a perceput ca fiind un poet postmodernist, desi criticii literari l-au plasat in categoria celor mai promitatori poeti romani postmodernisti.Pe langa motivele ortodoxiei si postmodernismului, in text se simte atat prezenta Tatalui ceresc cat si a celui biologic. Astfel, printr-o ironie, motivul freudian al revoltei impotriva tatalui este continuat cu reintoarcerea fiului ratacitor, in sanul bisericii ortodoxe si a Tatalui ceresc. Autorul parca s-ar zbate intre cei doi tati: unul care a fost propagandist al ideilor marxit-leniniste si a dumnezeului cu "d" mic; altul care i s-a revelat in chipul Dumnezeului cu "D" mare. De altfel, poate ar parea prea radical, dar la un moment dat, citind aceasta carte mi-am adus aminte de mostrele de istoriografie sovietica care isi propuneau sa critice "istoriografia burgheza." La fel si parintele Savatie isi propune sa realizeze o critica a postmodernismului prin intermediul ortodoxiei. Poate este doar impresia unui istoric care este prins in capcana timpului si la fel ca artistii plange dupa o cana sparta in loc sa priveasca dincolo de aparente si sa accepte cana cea noua.