>If it's more informed dialogue you're interested in, try ThoughtMesh (http://thoughtmesh.net). I will post more about this publication tool in a separate post, but
>suffice to say that it's designed to link authors--especially across seemingly unrelated fields--who share common themes.
No sooner had I sent this than CRUMB reader Sal Randolph meshed an essay called "Notes on Social Architectures as Art Forms," giving me a readymade illustration of how ThoughtMesh aims to pierce disciplinary boundaries:
http://thoughtmesh.net/publish/231.php
You can navigate Sal's essay via a traditional navigation menu at left, but ThoughtMesh also creates a tag cloud you can use to navigate from section to section ("excerpts here"). The interesting stuff happens when you click on "excerpts out," whose
results show you any other essays that have been tagged with the same keywords.
In Sal's case, clicking on "aesthetics" brings up excerpts from essays on feminist writing, Hermann Hesse, and Guy Debord; "architecture" brings up a piece about digital art and design; "interactions", a discussion of African-American storytelling;
"Situationist International", essays on poetry of the 70s; "value", an essay on the anthropology of trademarks; and so on.
Of course, none of these excerpts may interest Sal, but as more essays are meshed (ThoughtMesh launched only recently) the results should become more and more relevant. Should the number of essays become too large, you can combine tags to refine
your search; for example, clicking "art" + "value" in Sal's essay returns an article of mine called "Why Art Should Be Free."
ThoughtMesh offers much more, even in its current beta state. You can download a meshed essay to host on your own Web site; you can rate and comment on another author's essay.
Perhaps most relevant to people on this list, you can make your own "Mesh", or collection of interlinked essays. This is especially handy for organizing conferences, and has already been used this way by Cambridge University and the National Poetry
Foundation (which alone already has over 40 dedicated essays). More about creating and customizing your own Mesh here:
http://thoughtmesh.net/make_a_mesh.html
My collaborators and I would love to get more new media scholarship on ThoughtMesh, so if anyone wants to give it a whirl I'm happy to help by phone, email, or chat--just let me know. You just need an essay in sections, a browser (Firefox best), and
about 15 minutes.
jon
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"ThoughtMesh invites you to push beyond the surface of your screen"
--Tara McPherson, USC
Tag your writing and join the conversation at http://thoughtmesh.net/
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