On Mon, 14 Jul 1997, Terry Kuny wrote:
> At 03:01 PM 7/14/97 -0400, you wrote:
> >From: Peter Graham, Rutgers University Libraries
> >
> >5. OK, use screed if you like; the category i don't find helpful. One
> >person's informal is another's document. A lot of webpages are informal. If
> >that's what you mean, though, why not call it informal instead of a term open
> >to interpretation when not deemed weirdly obscure. Or "personal". Or
> >something that has more semantic value. But mainly I think the category
> >isn't very well defined; maybe a better term(s) would define it better.
>
> A better term might be used. Perhaps "document.informal" is better.
> I don't like "document.personal" as this seems ambiguous and equally
> problematic, especially since there can be lots of "personal" documents.
> "Informal" seems to suffer the same imprecision.
>
> My thoughts in using "screed" was to grab a category of documents that really
> are often personal pages, informal and discursive. The key is an informal
> piece
> of writing which has not got the focus or intent of an article. "Screed"
> has the advantage of being an actual noun which describes an kind of
> informal or fragmentary document.
According to the OED, 2nd ed., the relevant definition of "screed" is
"A long roll or list; a lengthy discourse or harangue; a gossiping letter
or piece of writing."
Certainly in the U.S. there is a pejorative connotation, which is hinted
at by the appearance of "harangue" in the OED definition. I'm with
Peter -- value judgements about the relative seriousness of a
document strike me as problematic, but if others need them, I
would suggest another term. "Screed" is both too diffuse
(see that definition above -- is it a list or a letter?) and
too freighted to be a useful term.
But I am certainly enjoying looking the wordplay... Lead on!
--Robin
Robin Wendler ........................ work (617) 495-3724
Office for Information Systems ....... fax (617) 495-0491
Harvard University Library ........... [log in to unmask]
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