Thursday, April 24, 2008

Is Feith's Book a Model for Future Scholarly Publishing?

Douglas Feith's War and Decision has been reviewed by National Review, The Wall Street Journal and NPR (h/t). Now, I know that--especially among academics--Feith is considered one of the neocon Sith Lords, but I think he's done something with his book that is, well, pretty neat. He's created a companion website to the book on which he provides links to the 600 documents he's cited in his work. How cool is that? Could this be a way for academics to publish serious and scholarly history and save money by putting their citations on the web? Don't know, but it seems to have potential to me.

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Time Flies, and Baseball is Here

Wow, almost a month, huh? Well, since my beloved Sawx are back in action tonight against the Athletics, why not a shout out to the Library of Congress and their History of Baseball web site? It includes a section on baseball cards (before they became "investments"). Ahhh, that cardboard tasting gum. MMMM.

And "history of baseball" reminds me of Louis Sockalexis, a Penobscot Indian from Maine (where I grew up) who was the first recognized American Indian to play in the big leagues and was the supposed "inspiration" for the Cleveland Indians mascot and logo. (More on Sockalexis' historical importance and the controversy surrounding the Indian's here).
"I don't remember ever seeing a quicker bat or a stronger arm. Among the moderns, possibly one player worthy of comparison is that young man Joe DiMaggio. He has a trace of Sockalexis's stuff, but I don't believe he can run or throw with the Indian." - Red Sox Manager Bill Carrigan
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