Originally this task began in elementary schools. I was working with technology and teachers when I noticed there was not much data online that seemed relevant to very young girls. At least I made a conscious effort to discover what interests of second grade girls could be put on the Internet. This was years before the World Wide Web made graphics easily available, so I started a textual project. The rhymes were short, enjoyable to read, and there were some interesting aspects to organizing the little collection. So, the first version of this task was completely text available through FTP sites.
Version 2 happened after the HTML stage of the WWW got started. I was asked to explain to a university administrator what the Internet was all about, and particularly how could they convert text files of policies into forms that would be accessible on this network. So, I decided to make a small project that could illustrate how text files were changed into HTML files. I had several topics to choose from, but decided to convert the text file with the jumprope rhymes into a fully formatted hypertext. The project had every aspect of HTML illustrated in it- linked files, fonts, colors, a few images, even a CGI form for user interaction. The administrator politely thanked me for the demonstration. I could tell that neither the technology nor the academic content registered much to him. Nothing else happened for several years until the WWW was obvious to his clerical assistants, but in the meantime several academic reviewers noticed the content of the jumprope project. It was well reviewed outside my school, but not within.
As time happens to us all, eventually my employment at the university changed. The account which contained the jumprope rhymes was closed. I was given several other computer accounts, but I never got around to replacing the jumprope project. I was no longer working with elementary schools, so other things took up time.
Since then, I was contacted by some people on the Internet to replace the rhyme archive. Version 2.5 is basically the same structure as the HTML hypertext, but a little more generalized for wider access. I took the CGI forms out so as not to tax any web sites that would like to host these archives. I will encourage email contributions or comments, but any future changes will be over larger time intervals, as I do not expect to maintain telnet access to the content once it has been distributed across the networks. Rather, replacement versions may come out once in a while to be picked up by any web sites that want them. Hopefully, by distributing this material across the Internet to any host sites interested, it may outlast the support of my personal employment.
This current version is still text based, so mainly intended for people who can read. I do hope sometime I can construct a version that will sing the rhymes to children too young to read. They are the primary consumers of this material afterall. It may not be a very commercial product because some of the themes are not politically correct for today's child rearing industry. Little girls may find need to continue their oral tradition in order to deconstruct the pastel world of adult life around them. I am not certain that we grown ups will allow the technology to reach what they need to sing about.
Well, perhaps that is not for me to say.