Friday 8 December 2017

In memoriam

Unfortunately, it falls to me to be the bearer of some very sad news. I've just learned that one of the pillars of our site is no longer with us.

Cornell University's Making of America series, which we've generally used for access to the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies and Navies, has been shuttered and transferred to Hathitrust.This is a pretty big blow- not just because almost every existing link in this blog goes to that site, but because it was probably the most user-friendly version of the OR available.

Thanks to my crippling autism, I'll now need to spend some time going through past entries and trying to fix all the broken links as best I can. As such, actual new content may be a little light (at least on my part) for the next few weeks. I haven't worked out which of the alternate versions of the OR would be best to use, so if anybody has a recommendation then let us know in the comments below.

I may also make some other tweaks, such as tagging the articles more systematically. When we set up the site I don't think we were ever expecting to reach nearly 200 articles, and the existing tags may not be as helpful as they could be in finding things. Again, if you've got suggestions for tags that would make your lives easier, then drop them in the comments.

Thanks to everybody who's read and commented over the past few months- and here's to many more!
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13 comments:

  1. Saphroneth12 December 2017 at 05:12

    I'm not sure if it's a "transfer pending" situation, but this:
    http://ebooks.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=moawar;cc=moawar;rgn=full%20text;idno=waro0009;didno=waro0009;view=image;seq=0007;node=waro0009%3A3

    still seems to be working. I picked a page I've not read before.

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    1. cerebropetrologist23 December 2017 at 06:20

      I'm fairly certain it was a test migration and will be made permanent at some stage. It wasn't just a case of the pages timing out- they changed the full introduction to reflect the move to Hathitrust. I'm using the breating space to make a note of what pages we've linked to, so that the change will be painless if and when it's made final.

      Delete
  2. anthryax20 December 2017 at 17:39

    Why bother? TFSmith has not posted anything new on his story in over a year and indeed has not been seen online in that time.

    You are beating a dead horse

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    1. cerebropetrologist23 December 2017 at 06:49

      Just because TFSmith's a quitter doesn't mean the rest of us have to be. Clearly there are still people anxiously checking the site for updates (your good self among them) and we have a moral duty to provide them with more of the content they want.

      I fully agree that it would have been better if these lies had been revealed while TFSmith was writing the story. Unfortunately, when people tried, you complained about them 'engag[ing] him in an ongoing thread he started that he is using to tell a story'. Still, better late than never.

      If the phenomenon of 'liars being found out' does actually upset you in some way, however, there's an easy solution. It's the little 'x' button on the top right hand corner of your screen.

      Delete
    2. anthryax24 December 2017 at 20:46

      If you have proof of plagerism, as you are charging here, you should have presented it.

      You didn't



      Delete
    3. cerebropetrologist27 December 2017 at 04:18

      If you're having trouble finding the posts in which we lay out the various sources which TFSmith has plagiarised, it's because you can't spell 'plagiarism'. Try:

      burnishedrowsofsteel.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/plagiarism

      Delete
    4. anthryax11 January 2018 at 19:42

      You accuse him here, where he can make no response or defense. You did not dare do so in the forum, as after all on that website there are consequences for false accusations.

      Delete
  3. anthryax24 December 2017 at 20:44

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  4. anthryax24 December 2017 at 21:13

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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    1. cerebropetrologist27 December 2017 at 04:28

      I'm sorry, but we cannot accept these kind of racist screeds on our blog. I'm disgusted that you would espouse these kind of white supremacist, Anglocentric and discriminatory views, and I will not accept your whitewashing of history. Galveston Bay/Anthryax, I refuse to publish any further comments from you.

      Delete
    2. anthryax11 January 2018 at 18:47

      So going with slander now are we? As I made no such post.

      I merely pointed out that two of your contributors were removed from a forum because of their positions.

      Delete
    3. cerebropetrologist19 March 2018 at 11:15

      For a start, written untruths are libel, not slander. Secondly, I think you'll find that moderators are always correct. As such, if they accuse you of holding a particular position, it's not for you to contest that you did not actually hold that position- let alone that the punishment is wholly disproportionate to the supposed offence you committed. So back in your box, you evil white supremacis, you.

      Delete
  5. anthryax11 January 2018 at 18:52

    I have reported your blog for bullying or harassment, as that is exactly what you are doing to TFSmith

    Have a nice day

    ReplyDelete

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