Publishing on the CSG WWW Server

[from Gary Cziko 950829.0223 GMT]

Kent McClelland (950827.1700 CDT) asked:

One piece of good news over the summer was that the publisher of
Sociological Perspectives has given permission for the final manuscript of
my December 1994 paper on "Perceptual Control and Social Power" to be
distributed via the Internet. Gary Cziko, if you're out there, can you
give me directions on how to get it on the server?

Well, if you had been at the CSG meeting in Durango like you shoulda been,
you'd know all about this!

But let me make some comments about this for you and others who wish to
contribute to the growing number of papers and books on PCT available via
the CSG Web site.

Basically, you have to convert your document to HTML, which stands for
Hyper Text Markup Language. The newest versions of the high-end word
processors like Word and WordPerfect have (or will soon have) options for
saving files in this format. Or you can save your document in "interchange
format" (also called RTF for "rich text format") and then use a conversion
program such as rtftohtml to convert from RTF to HTML. Embedded grahics
will probably be converted to separate graphic files with links in the main
document, but rtftohtml converts graphics to PICT files which need to be
converted to GIF files (using GIFConverter or similar program) for use on
the Web.

Since HTML is a plain text format, you can send this to me via e-mail with
no problem. But you should check your documents using a Web browser in
local mode (File -> Open) to check the formatting.

If you want to put in links to other resources on the Web, you will have to
learn more about HTML authoring. Just look under "Help" in Netscape about
authoring your own documents for information.

Rick Marken has promised us a Web version of his _Mind Readings_ book and
Tom Bourbon is working on Web versions of some papers published in _Closed
Loop_. I will be happy to put on the CSG server any books or papers that
have been published or presented at a professional meeting relevant to PCT,
as long as the author obtains the proper copyright permission and takes
care of the conversion to HTML format.

The CSG Web site can be accessed at http://www.ed.uiuc.edu/csg/ (don't
forget the final slash).--Gary

[Martin Taylor 950829 11:30]

Gary Cziko 950829.0223 GMT

But let me make some comments about this for you and others who wish to
contribute to the growing number of papers and books on PCT available via
the CSG Web site.
...
Rick Marken has promised us a Web version of his _Mind Readings_ book and
Tom Bourbon is working on Web versions of some papers published in _Closed
Loop_. I will be happy to put on the CSG server any books or papers that
have been published or presented at a professional meeting relevant to PCT,
as long as the author obtains the proper copyright permission and takes
care of the conversion to HTML format.

This is a wonderful service, indeed. I would like to encourage everyone
to involve themselves in it, and hope to do so myself.

Tom Bourbon is working on Web versions of some papers published in _Closed
Loop_.

A great opportunity for the figures in "Models and their Worlds" to be
shown in animated form, to emphasize the message of the paper.

But Web publication is a supplement to, not a substitute for, journal
publication. CSG-L discussions are largely among PCT-initiates, and a
WWW cluster of pages is likely to be the same. Papers in journals reach
a target audience more widely distributed, of whom many _should_ be
interested in PCT, but won't be unless they are touched, as they may be
by being presented with the issues in a top journal to which they (or
their library) subscribes.

All this is a prelude to a further plea for development of the Special
Issue on PCT of the International Journal of Human Computer Studies.

One persistent undercurrent of CSG-L discussion has been the difficulty
of getting PCT papers published in the technical literature. Over two years
ago, we were offered a whole issue, of indefinite size, of a forefront
journal in which to present a wide-ranging view of PCT and its applications.
I was asked to edit this issue, with final say as to the admissibility of
any specific paper. I solicited proposals, and as of Jan 1995, the following
list was what I had received by way of papers and proposals for papers.

ยทยทยท

------------------------
Powers and Bourbon: Models and their Worlds. (As printed in Closed Loop,
with any amendments decided on by Powers and Bourbon. Withdrawn by Bourbon
this Aug 1, in favour of publication on the CSG web page. I hope it will
be reinstated).

Powers on the Arm Demo (A draft was circulated, but I'm not sure which
version is intended for the special issue. Bill, if you still intend it
to be published, could you send along what you consider to be the current
draft, please?).

Powers on the Artificial Cerebellum (Present and correct).

Bourbon on interacting control systems (No further word since before January.
I hope that it will be written and submitted. If not, I may turn a working
paper of mine, "On Helping," into a journal paper, as Bill Powers once
suggested I do. But as editor of the issue, I don't want to be in the
position of accepting my own work.)

Marken on using PCT in human factors studies (Promised and withdrawn twice;
after reading Marken on his use of PCT in satellite control, I strongly
hope that it will be written and submitted).

Taylor et al. on PCT and Layered Protocols in human factors design (Drafted
but not complete)

Haakma et al. on using and testing LP in designing an interface to a
real commercial product (a new kind of digital tape recorder). Haakma
is with Philips. The paper is in complete draft form.

Tucker, et al. on using the Crowd program to simulate the formation of arcs
and rings. (Complete)

Ford on PCT in schools and other institutions (withdrawn, because of the
pressure of actually doing good work and helping people. More power to Ed.,
but I'd be delighted if he could find time to write even two pages about it.)

Marco Rodriguez wrote me once that he would like to submit a paper, but I
have heard nothing since, and I don't know the topic.

Jim Wise, of Battelle Pacific Northern Labs proposed a paper on the use of
PCT in (I think) Architectural Design, but I haven't seen it.
------------------------

The editor of the journal, who asked me to guest-edit the special issue, has
made a decision that publication in Closed Loop in no way precludes
publication in IJHCS, so that is no bar. I would hope that WWW publication
would be treated in the same light, though I cannot say so with any authority.

Note that none of these papers has been circulated among the other authors
for comment and criticism, as I had intended; a secondary reason for that
circulation was intended to help the authors to cross-reference each other's
papers to make a more coherent issue. The intention was to circulate them
as a package when they were all available, but as you can see, that is far
from the case at the moment.

All in all, there are two complete papers, one of which was withdrawn from
the issue, several drafts, and several unfulfilled proposals. If even
some of the proposals are turned into actual papers, I think we should have
quite an important issue of the journal, and something to which future PCT
submissions can make reference, which is, after all, one of the criteria
for getting future work into the mainstream.

Publication on the Web can be important and useful, but in 1995 it is a
supplement to, rather than a substitute for publication in a prestigious
journal. Perhaps by 2025 the situation will be different. But perhaps by
2025 the various proposed papers will have been written and the special
issue will have been published :slight_smile: At least I hope so.

Martin