Thoughts on distributing and retaining hobby knowledge

AlanAllen

I've been thinking a lot lately about a conundrum I'm having, and I'd like to solicit advice from the board.

That is, how does an average collector disseminate knowledge he has gained about specific cards and sets so that knowledge is retained by the hobby at large? I'm not the world's expert on modern oddball football, but I've learned a lot through the years and I have some research I'd like to share, because the knowledge doesn't do the hobby any good if it's locked in my head. My thoughts are:

1. Periodically make posts on this, or other, Internet message boards. This provides a good opportunity for discussion, but the the retrievabilty of the information is suspect.

2. Make my own website. This makes the information more retrievable (by Google for example), but without as much discussion/verification of my research.

3. Submit my research to an existing website, like Beckettpedia. This probably has the best chance of getting retained of the Internet choices, and could provide decent discussion, but the site hasn't really taken off and I don't know of viable alternatives.

4. Submit information and corrections to Beckett for the annual football book. This certainly has the best chance of the knowledge being retained, but they have limited space and I don't know how receptive they'd be.

5. Submit information/articles to a magazine. Beckett monthly doesn't seem to care about anything issued before 2006, SCD has never covered very much football, and Gridiron Greats does not cover modern. I don't think I have a viable option here.

6. Write my own book or publish my own magazine. Not gonna happen. I don't have enough information to fill a book or a magazine, and I'm not inclined to publish one anyway.

There have been books written about T206, because there is anough hobby knowledge and interest in the set to warrant it. That research is now retained by the hobby. The website maintained by ripkenintheminors is another example of research that has been published to the hobby, and has increased its body of knowledge. If I wanted to get word out about a picture variation in 1988 Topps Football Stickers, or the distribution method for 1998 Collector's Edge Super Bowl Purple, what would be the most effective way so that an interested collector could retrieve that information? I'd love to hear ideas from this board. Thanks,
Joe

julen23

knowledge is ceratainly power..

1-you could start a thread on "set registry" possibly?
2-try to network on cu to find a person w/ contacts to a magazine possibly?
3-destroy your knowledge and stop collecting ASAP!

julen

AlanAllen

"knowledge is power" brings up an interesting point, julen. There are many collectors who have knowledge on sets they collect, but keep it close to the vest thinking it gives them an advantage in aquiring/cherrypicking cards. Or, just aren't interested in sharing their knowledge. I find this tragic, and it motivates me to do the opposite. I've been published in SMR, but the information I' talking about is lower level than that.

Joe

AUPT

Sounds like that would be right up Tuff Stuff's alley. You can contact their editors on their web site, www.tuffstuff.com

Stone193

<< <i>2. Make my own website. This makes the information more retrievable (by Google for example), but without as much discussion/verification of my research. >>

Joe

That's a really good question.

Many people here have - at times - offered some really good info about a subject worthy of saving.

I usually copy the item and file it.

As you know, some guys have the info on the internet - permanently hosted - like George Vrechek; I have found his articles very informative.

Also, many have bookmarked Bruce aka Brucemo's article on grading.

So, why not start your own web page with selected topics that people can google search as you stated in #2?

Just an idea - and good luck.
Great idea.
mike

qmayer

<< <i>3. Submit my research to an existing website, like Beckettpedia. This probably has the best chance of getting retained of the Internet choices, and could provide decent discussion, but the site hasn't really taken off and I don't know of viable alternatives. >>



Before I even got to this point, I thought of something like a wikipedia for sports cards. I believe this is the best way to get the collective brain power of collectors together. I know the Wikimedia people (who made the whole idea of the wiki, IIRC) fairly recently made their source code public. The Beckettpedia is sad and hard to maneuver through. I for one would donate some of my time to make it happen if others would follow.

Your point of collectors keeping their information to themselves is valid, but I believe other basic information (checklists, images, things to watch out for) would be a valuable source for people looking to jump into a particular set. I know just from reading over here and the PSA Registry board, we already have a lot of information already available from people I"m sure would like to share their knowledge... its just not easy to wade through right now.

Justin

Fabfrank

Joe- IMO the easiest way to do this would be to start a thread. Call it "The Neverending Hobby Knowledge thread" or whatever. Post the article to be read and you'll receive the responses. Than every week (or every other week), post a new article on the thread again to bump it to the top. You can solicit other board members to send you their articles (for editing purposes, check veracity, etc.) and print them. In due time, you'll have a body of work (with collector input) that people can reference on this board. Or you can compile the articles/knowledge into your own website.

NickM

Set up a blog (blogspot has free hosting). Post to it and allow users to comment.
Link to it in your sig file on this message board.

Nick

ajw

<< <i>
3. Submit my research to an existing website, like Beckettpedia. This probably has the best chance of getting retained of the Internet choices, and could provide decent discussion, but the site hasn't really taken off and I don't know of viable alternatives.

>>



While I know nothing about Beckettpedia, it sounds like it's not a very good tool. While that's really too bad, I'd strongly suggest putting something up there. Even if it's just a summary including links to your own page. If Beckettpedia ever catches on, it'll become the first place to go for questions like this, and you'll want your info to be available. Otherwise, have you thought about using Wikipedia itself? I don't know about which set (or card or whatever) you'll be writing, but maybe you should just put up your own Wikipedia page.

Of course, your own website will give you the most freedom, but I'm afraid that, at some point, your interest will die and the page will go dark. It's so disappointing when I go to a reference bookmark only to see the page has disappeared. While hosting accounts are getting cheaper, they're not free.

Additionally, I think message boards, blogs and print media are nice, but are more temporary and don't really offer what you're looking for. (assuming you want someone five years from now to search google and find your info, right?)

Just my few thoughts, as random as they are.

ripkenintheminors

Greetings Joe. Your comments describe where I was several months ago. You have knowledge to contribute that needs to be in the hobby world while this information is able to be collected.

In my case, I started by posting warnings on various message boards while I was in the process of building a webpage. During this time I was also in communication with the editors at Tuff Stuff and Beckett in regards to the possibility of getting the information in print. The guys were fantastic and said to keep collecting information and to get back with them once the site went live. Once I was comfortable with the information on the site and how it looked, I got in touch with them and they assigned reporters to cover the story.

I would suggest building your own website. It's not that expensive and not too difficult. In my case, I went with freewebs because I can access my site manager from anywhere that I have computer access. In addition, I would suggest building your own site because you can add new information as you have it. Possibly the greatest thing about having your own site is the satisfaction that you will get from people that contact you telling you that they have been able to benefit from your efforts.

Something I have noticed is that people will find your site. In my case, there was a guy who had been searching for information for years and couldn't find it. He said that he would occasionally do a search on one of the major search engines to see if new information was available. It just so happens that he did a search after I was picked up on the engines and finally found the information he had been looking for over the years.

There are many additional things that I could add to the topic and feel free to contact me at any time. You sound like your heart is in it and I would encourage you to go for it. If I can help in any way with contact information or anything like that, please don't hesitate to ask.

Good luck!

AlanAllen

Thanks guys! I'm thrilled to see such well thought out advice. I think my initial approach is going to be a combination of options 1-4. I figure the more places the information is, the more likely it can be found in the future. As time goes on, it should become clear which avenue is bearing the most fruit. Thanks again,
Joe

jradke4

what would be nice is if someone on here was web knowledgable, had some type of web space where we could all post info that we know about certain topics pertaining to cards.

it could either be a board such as these or even a repository of writen word docs that have been converted to pdf format so they are more managable size wise (this way one could include pics).

the problem with this stuff is that it is time consuming for everyone involved. at least i know it would be for me, maybe not for something with expertise in the web. but it must be pretty easy, as its not hard to post stuff here.

DaddyRich

I agree with the blogspot.com option. It can be updated and archived - even made to be invite-only. I have 2 blogs (one for sharing rare music and one for a book I am working on) and they are great tools.
Rich

qmayer

<< <i>what would be nice is if someone on here was web knowledgable, had some type of web space where we could all post info that we know about certain topics pertaining to cards.

it could either be a board such as these or even a repository of writen word docs that have been converted to pdf format so they are more managable size wise (this way one could include pics).

the problem with this stuff is that it is time consuming for everyone involved. at least i know it would be for me, maybe not for something with expertise in the web. but it must be pretty easy, as its not hard to post stuff here. >>




I have a personal website that I have extra space for additional sites (and web knowledge). I already paid for it for a year and have a spare domain that we could use (I used to run a card site called cardbuzz.net, but school got in the way of updating it... now I'm done with school). I would be more than happy to get it going if people can give me the information to post on it.

Justin