Feedback from students in English 209 who attended the colloquium

"Attending the Colloquium on New Technology and the Future of Publishing opened my eyes to see the excitement and dedication of the digital publishing world, especially when it concerned helping students and scholars worldwide. I personally attended the session entitled "Digital Publishing in the Arts and Humanities" (and) I took with me the shared enthusiasm of both Eduard Fuhr and Caroline Eisner. Dr. Fuehr showed me how incredibly much just three of four motivated people could do. …Dr. Eisner, from Georgetown University, jumped on-stage with enthusiasm for integrating technology in to the classroom." - Karen Zimowski

"The Colloquium on New Technology and the Future of Publishing was a wonderful event for me to attend. Even though I was only able to go to one session, I am sure that the others were just as good, if not better. Mark Herring and John Price-Wilkins helped me understand the future of technology in regard to digitizing libraries. Before the event, I had no idea of any information regarding the publishing, communication, or future of libraries. The whole experience was truly intriguing and informative for me." - Nikki Garnto

"This was, in my opinion, a great presentation. Before I heard Michael Groden speak, I had never given any thought to annotation and any problems that it might present. Not only did he seen to find a way to solve these problems, but he also gave a possible glimpse at the literary future. …It doesn't get any easier or more realistic than what Michael Groden and his colleagues have done. …Upon seeing this presentation, I couldn't wait to get my own copy of the virtual Ulysses." - Kevin Ard

"This presentation showed us how Emily Dickinson and her work were trying to be gathered into one on-line archive…The sole purpose of this archive, according to (Martha Nell) Smith, is to learn from Dickinson's work as a writer, not just a person. The archive would make it possible to compare many of her works, side by side, so that the styles can be compared and contrasted. To me, there is no greater thing than to learn from another writer as to their mode of thinking and expression. This can all be made possible through the Emily Dickinson on-line archive project." - Kevin Ard about Martha Nell Smith's "The Emily Dickinson Archive Project as a Scholarly Edition"

"Clemson University's Colloquium on New Technology and the Future of Publishing showcased faculty from various schools to address the future of digital publishing. Martha Nell Smith was one of the participants.…Smith holds a co-editor position on the Dickinson Electronic Archives (DEA), and the DEA editors reveal more Dickinson through all of the work's intellectual and abstract forms. Dickinson's actual letters are scanned onto the site with virtually no changes made to them. The DEA includes stamps, cut outs, and other attachments to the letters, so that the reader can decide whether these are in fact "poetic"....Smith's argument for the advantage of digital publishing certainly cast a favorable shadow on the future of publishing. The opportunity to present an author's work in its pristine form, untouched by translating editors, is very exciting, for this conveys the true meaning of a work. Clemson University's Center for Electronic and Digital Publishing future is reflected by one of Dickinson's own proclamations, "I dwell in possibility."- Josh Burgess with a Reflection on Martha Nell Smith and the Electronic Dickinson Archive

"If reading traditional footnotes is like "going downstairs to answer the door while making love," the footnotes in a project Michael Groden has been working on, will be like changing the channel with a remote control in hand. Michael Groden, director of the Ulysses Hypermedia Project and professor at the University of Western Ontario, is doing amazing things with James Joyce's Ulysses. His work will make reading much more informative and enjoyable. His software, which will be on DVD, is amazing. It does everything imaginable and much more. It uses a color-coding system with the text of Ulysses. A word in orange can be clicked on, and a box will pop up with that word's definition. A green word can be clicked to get information on Dublin, blue words give information on characters, and red words give information about other literary works. Some links even contain pictures or maps. Groden's speech was titled "James Joyce's Ulysses in Hypermedia: Problems with Annotation." Annotators need to decide how much information to give the reader, and Groden seemed to have a problem with that. He says "Different people annotate in different ways. With a computer, we are not limited to either way." The first link that comes up is short, so if people crave more information, they can get it through the links within links. This way first-time and second-time readers can get notes that are more or less involved. At the top of the screen there are tabs that give an introduction to each chapter, criticisms on the book, influence, and links to the Odyssey that are relevant to Ulysses. Other tools that the project has are a search tool, a highlighter, sticky notes, and marks to dog-ear pages. The reading experience is going to be so much better with this new technology, but it does not have to be a reading experience. It can be a listening experience, or a reading and a listening experience with the audio that will read the story. This project will drastically change the reading of Ulysses. Now, the knowledge that normally would take several books to attain can be gathered from one DVD. At the beginning of his speech, he says, "Ulysses is a book to be studied, not read," and with his and his colleagues work, studying Ulysses will be much more efficient and thorough." - Mary Stevenson with a Response to Michael Groden's "James Joyce's Ulysses in Hypermedia: Problems of Annotation"

"I attended the discussions presented by Eduard Fuehr and Caroline Eisner on the topic of Digital Publishing in the Arts and Humanities. These presentations were very informative and educating. They allowed me to become more informed about things being done across the country (and internationally) to educate others about the use of technology in the arts and humanities…I really enjoyed Fuehr's presentation because it informed me about the useful information that this site has to offer and how I can access this information in my educational search.…Caroline Eisner's presentation on building a scholarship of teaching and learning in the humanities…stressed the importance of linking technology and its users. Ms. Eisner wants her students to move from fact-finding to understanding. She wants to use interactive technology and new media to help students learn more about humanities….The use of interactive technology in allowing students to converse with others and express their viewpoints is something that should be utilized more often in the educational process. This allows them to engage in less threatening, more democratic learning because their beliefs and viewpoints are not being challenged or critiqued. I feel that this approach to learning is very useful in educating students about life and the importance of issues that may arise." - Keisha Barr

"Have you ever wanted to see the actual works of a world-renown poet from the comfort of your own home? After attending the Colloquium on New Technology and the Future of Publishing, I found out exactly how that can be done. In a presentation written by Martha Smith, co-editor of Electronic Dickinson Archive and Director of Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities, University of Maryland, I discovered that there was a website filled with information on Emily Dickinson.…A visitor to the site would be able to see Emily's poems, other family member's poems, responses, and other resources all in one easy-to-navigate site." - Mary Stevenson with a Response to Martha Nell Smith's "The Emily Dickinson Archive Project as a Scholarly Edition"

"The last speaker on the program was Michael J. Lentine, President of Earth Artist Tradigital Studios. Lentine's topic was on emerging technology in production. Out of the three presentations that I attended, I found this one to be the most interesting. Part of this is because I have always had a love for film, but also I enjoyed it because he had plans of involving Clemson University. Lentine wants Clemson University to be the center of the Couth Carolina Film Institute. He feels Clemson would be the best location because it would coincide with Clemson's mission. He also felt that Clemson was qualified to have the Film Institute because Clemson knows how to interact and responds to the private sector and to (South Carolina) industries. Establishing a Film Institute in Clemson would also be the first step in establishing a major production company in the Southeast. Lentine wants this production company to be able to accomplish all means of production in this region. This includes the screenplay, the storyboards, pre-production, principal photography, post production, marketing, and distribution." - Lee Crowther

"I think overall this colloquium was very well put together and it gave a good insight of what the future of publishing is going to have in store. The speakers showed that they cared about what they were talking about. It was obvious that they were excited about the new projects and what it meant for publishing. There are a lot of new opportunities out there due to the expanding use of computers and I think it will be very interesting to see the effects it will have on publishing in the future." - Tracy DeFontes

"James Inman discussed "Visible Digital Technologies and their Implication for Digital Publishing." He stated that in order for digital publishing to be popular it must be kept visible. He said "that keeping digital publishing visible will help reach out to more diverse audiences." Inman spoke about Kairos journal for teachers. The Kairos online program has been redesigned to reach more readers. Inman illustrated how Kairos included lessons beginning with the web and then going beyond. The digital press is something new at Clemson but it well on its way and as the possibility of becoming a huge success story.…It is impressive to be involved in a university that is interested in rising above the traditional publication programs and offering much more." - Andrea Corzine