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Re: Amazing news coming soon ...

From: BGYKrauth <BGYKrauth~at~t-online.de>
Date: Wed, 14 Jun 2006 20:34:50 +0200
To: "Jules Verne Forum" <jvf~at~gilead.org.il>

Garmt, I fully agree with your notes.

Best Regards

Bernhard
 
 

mail from:
 
Bernhard Krauth
 
have a look at:

www.jules-verne.eu

www.jules-verne-club.de
 
www.bernhard-krauth.de
 
www.bremerhavenpilot.de

  ----- Original Message -----
  From: Garmt de Vries
  To: Jules Verne Forum
  Sent: Wednesday, June 14, 2006 3:12 PM
  Subject: Re: Amazing news coming soon ...


  Dear friends,

  In the recent discussion on a certain discovery presented at the AG of the
  SJV, I feel sympathy for Bernhard, Lionel and others who regret having to
  wait until October before the announcement is made 'urbi et orbi'. I
  myself didn't have the opportunity to go to Paris for the AG, so I'll have
  to wait until October as well, which is annoying.

  On the other hand, I do understand Jean-Pierre's scruples about giving
  away the surprise of the announcement, and stealing the discoverer's
  thunder. As an aside: who is the discoverer anyway?

  As Jean-Pierre wrote:

> Les informations dont il tait question dans mon premier message taient
> confidentielles, c'est vrai! Il me semble normal que les dcouvreurs de faits
> nouveaux profitent un minimum de leur travail de recherche et l'exploitent
> au maximum avant toute publication. Cela se passe comme cela dans toutes les
> quipes de recherches, que ce soit en littrature, en physique nuclaire ou
> en biochimie!

  But once a discovery has been presented at a conference, it's out in the
  open, and why shouldn't the world talk about it?

  Here we see a problem with the situation where the Bulletin is the only
  means that the SJV has to bring out news. There's such a long time between
  the presentation of this discovery at the AG and its publication in the
  BSJV, that those who are in the know find it hard to bite their tongues,
  and those who are ignorant become impatient.

  In science, the results would have been published as soon as possible, and
  while it takes some time for an article to be reviewed and edited, at
  least an electronic preprint is quite common nowadays.

  If the SJV had a website, mailing list, forum or whatever fast means of
  communication, the discovery could have been presented at the AG first,
  and immediately afterwards on the internet. Full details could have been
  kept for the final publication in the Bulletin. This would be a better
  incentive for Vernians to join the SJV and read the Bulletin. Making
  people enthusiastic is just what Jean-Pierre tried to do, but as it turns
  out, if you're forced to be vague, you can't advertise so well.

  On that note, I'm glad to hear that a website is in preparation.
  Jean-Pierre, may I ask who is going to be the webmaster? I'd be happy to
  offer any advice I can.

  I hope that this website will also feature the "Actualites de Jules
  Verne", which are now given in the Bulletin with a delay of months,
  sometimes up to a year!

> Mais dire que la Socit JV est une coterie me semble trs exagr.
> Personnellement j'apprcie beaucoup le travail de qualit qui en est
> issu, la seule chose que j'aime moins est l'a priori anti-Hetzel qui y
> prvaut.

  ... and, to a lesser extent, anti-Michel.

  It's true that the SJV does a great job on going back to the basics. The
  publication of the original versions of Volcan d'Or, Magellanie and other
  posthumous novels is something that all Vernians can be grateful for. Idem
  for the Correspondance Verne-Hetzel, which is an invaluable tool. These
  projects are only possible thanks to the efforts of some dedicated
  Vernians, and also thanks to the contribution paid by the members of the
  SJV. I encourage everyone who has a more than average interest in Verne to
  join the SJV, if only for this reason. Also, the Bulletin is a good read,
  and IMHO its quality has improved over the years, both in looks and in
  content. There has been an increase of original texts by JV, sometimes an
  entire issue is dedicated to a previously unpublished play or story. A
  must for all Vernians.

  But the SJV doesn't strike me as a "Societe" in the sense of people
  interacting with each other. Sure, there is the AG every year, which is
  very nice. The couple of times I've been able to attend, it was a great
  pleasure to meet many friends whom I knew from the JV Forum. But meeting
  only once a year is no basis for feeling connected, and if it weren't for
  the Forum, all members of the SJV would have remained complete strangers
  to me. In the old days, back in the 20th century, it was unavoidable that
  contact between members was scarce, because they lived far apart from each
  other. But today, "la terre a diminu", to quote from 80 jours, and
  distance doesn't exist anymore. A mailing list or website would greatly
  enhance the involvement of members with their association.

  Another thing that I regret is that the members have no say in the doings
  of the society. At the AG, you get to say "yes" or "no" to a few motions,
  and that's it. This is a huge difference with the meetings of the Dutch JV
  Society, which are always very lively. People come up with ideas and
  suggestions, decisions made by the board are discussed in all openness,
  and are often changed during the discussions. None of this happens in the
  SJV, and I guess that this is what provoked the use of the word "coterie".

  And finally, there's the difficulty of getting in touch with the SJV: no
  e-mail address, no website. Members are asked to pay their contribution by
  cheque* and I only got the SJV's IBAN after a long time.

  * For those who aren't French or American: a cheque is a slip of paper
  that was used to transfer money from one account to another, before
  bank transfers were invented. :)

  To put it in a nutshell: the SJV does a very important job in the study of
  JV and in publishing interesting texts, but it's not very open to
  initiatives and ideas from individual members. I think that's a pity, and
  I brought it up before, but I don't think things are going to change soon.
  The creation of a SJV website is a good start, let's hope for the best.

  Sorry, I rambled on a bit there...

  Cheers,
  Garmt.
Received on Wed 14 Jun 2006 - 22:08:28 IDT

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