Thanks for filling us in on what is going on. You are right. This is an important topic – one I hope will be brought up again in the future. Continue to let us (bloggers) know what we can be doing to help you guys better archive the content for future retrieval.

TNB

Those of us who are historians and archivists have been having this conversation for well over a year. Jason Fowler and I are both working on developing policies for our respective institutions. We have both also encouraged the Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives in Nashville to develop a policy. At bear minimum, we are encouraging bloggers to save at least one hard copy of everything that they post. We are also encouraging bloggers to, from time to time, save all of the information to a CD, which also preserves the “look” of the blog, comments, etc. Blogs are still a new type of primary source in the field of historical preservation, and nobody has figured this thing out yet. Jason is working on a database which hopefully will solve our problems. Until then, Timmy’s suggestion sounds as good as any I have heard so far.

Thanks for bringing up this very important topic in this public forum.

NAF

I recently had a conversation with Jason Fowler in the Archives and Special Collections wing of Boyce Centennial Library, and Dr. Wills happened to be there when we began talking about archiving blogs. Jason is really interested in trying to preserve SBC blogs, and I am not sure how far along in the process he is in that project.

One of the best parts of a blog is the conversation that ensues in the comments. However, archiving a long thread of 100+ comments could be quite cumbersome. Perhaps there could be a meeting of archists, historians, and bloggers on how we record the blogs of the past and incorporate a running system of archiving similar to what is being done with state papers. A simple way to begin, I think, is to make a PDF of an entire post and the comments, archiving the PDF’s monthly in folders, and creating separate files for each blog. But I am sure Jason and the other archivists have a much better idea of doing it than me!

First let me say thanks for the work you have done to bring more Southern Baptists into the conversation. You are both correct to say that we all bear culpability for shameful things said or un-Christlike attitudes had. As I have reflected on the past three years writing publicly and interacting, I can see how God has used this as a tool for my sanctification, to help me learn how to disagree in love and to listen rather than offer what I thought was “wisdom from above.” There is still much that I have to learn, but the painful experiences of the past are a reminder of what God has taught me and how He has used such expereinces to humble me. May the Lord use our feeble and weak attempts to use your minds, hands, feet, and hearts for his glory and the good of His church.

Tom Ascol, I think, and I had a conversation about archiving the blogs last year about this time. He, I believe, mentioned it to Dr. Nettles who, I believe, was to ask Dr. Wells about it. If my memory recalls, Dr. Wells is in charge of the appropriate dept. at SBTS for this. You have the easiest access to him of anybody I know, since you are right there. You should get with him about setting up an archive of the blogs, and the bloggers (of all parties) could send their work to him and/or a central source at your library.

I agree with Marty. Nicely said.

Also, I have given permission to Nathan Finn to archive my blog, but it is not leaving. I am not taking it down, nor erasing what was said. All that I have said, even that of which I was ashamed, will remain on the net for quite some time, at my expense.

I am working on how to archive hard copies of the articles and comments and what is the best way to do it, for those who may wish to have it.

See you around.

Art