In the thread on Any Old Iron, somebody noted that this English music hall song has a @Irish classification in the Digital Tradition. In another thread, somebody else noted a couple other songs that were incorrectly classified as @Irish. I've often thought it might be a good idea to go through the Digital Tradition and check our category listings and cross-references and other data, and to correct lyrics where needed.

Here and there, people have taken potshots at the Digital Tradition, complaining that the database hasn't been updated for a couple of years. People get frustrated because Max or Dick hasn't done this or that. People say they've offered to help, but they get no response.
Well, I suppose it would be wonderful if Max and Dick could do everything we want them to do, but they can't - and we have no right to expect them to.

However, we have this Forum, and we can do with it what we want. What I'd like to suggest is that we undertake a systematic review of the Digital Tradition, to supplement and correct what we already have. I'd also like to set up a system for indexing all the lyrics e have that have not yet been included in the Digital Tradition.

I'll start a DTStudy thread today, so you can see what I have in mind. I think we should have one (and only one) DTStudy thread for each song, and that each thread should be edited like a PermaThread, so that it becomes a permanent reference for that song. I know our usual policy is that we don't copy-paste DT lyrics and post them in the Forum, but I think I'd make an exception in this case. I'd start the thread with a copy of the lyrics, links to related threads and related songs, and a copy of the Traditional Ballad Index entry for the song, if there is one. Then I'd leave a blank second message for a working correction copy of the lyrics. I think we also have to fit the tune in somewhere. Then I'd open the thread for comments, corrected or alternate lyrics, and discussion. I think anybody should be able to start a study thread, with the understanding that the thread will be edited and the format should be fairly uniform.

I'd like to use this "proposal" thread to solicit ideas for this review. I have a pretty fair idea how to start - Alan Foster and Malcolm Douglas gave us a great example in the threads on the Penguin Book of English Folk Songs. My main concern is how we should systematize and index our review. Any ideas?

-Joe Offer-

---

27 July 2002

OK, we've had some experience with DTStudy threads, and they seem to be working quite well. I'm reluctand to do extensive editing on the threads quite yet, because I'm still not sure where we should go with this, and I'm working out some technical stuff with Pene. Let's keep playing with the idea and see how if develops.
For now, here is the format I would like to see. If there are variations, I'll probably edit things to keep them standard.

The thread title MUST contain the title DTStudy:, with a colon and no spaces - (generally) followed by the song title as listed in the Digital Tradition. The first message should begin with the following tag, which you may copy-paste:

<font color=teal size=-2>This is an edited DTStudy thread, and all messages posted here are subject to editing and deletion.<br>This thread is intended to serve as a forum for corrections and annotations for the Digital Tradition song named in the title of this thread.</font><hr><h3><a href=/threads.cfm?Title=dtstudy&age=25000 target=new>Search for other DTStudy threads</a></h3><hr>

After that, the first message should have the lyrics as posted in the Digital Tradition (right-click on the lyrics entry page and do a "view source," and copy-paste the entire text, beginning with the song title and going to the end - omit the garbage at the top).
The first message should also include the Traditional Ballad Index entry, again done by a "view source."
It would be nice to have the first message include links to other threads on the song. If any of these elements are missing from the first message, I'll add them, so don't get overly worried about following format.

The second and following messages should contain commentaries, links, background information, and corrected or alternate versions of the lyrics and tune. I will delete or move off-topic messages.

When I finally get around to editing the study thread, I may leave the original DTStudy thread intact, and create a new summary document, which may or may not be in the format of a thread.

Any comments or suggestions?

Thanks for all the good work Mudcatters have done so far of the DTStudy threads. I've had a lot of fun with them.

-Joe Offer-