Polybiography

Article summary

A Polybiography is the use of archived internet email services such as ListServs and WWWeb to publish historical information by those involved in the history. The historical web site and ListServ provide for formal historical articles, images, photographs, commentary, and discussion of those items in a process called a "polybiography"... the history by many of the many events. The site is designed to be a searchable repository of "raw material" for those with an interest in the history of Diagnostic Medical Sonography (ultrasonography). This Internet based historical archive has been referred to as a "polybiography" because it is both biographical and autobiographical; the many individuals involved write the history of the many events discussed. The resulting archive is expected to be similar to an oral history where an editor records and transcribes the various stories into a cohesive narrative. However, the oral history will have a slant due to the selection of participants and how they are edited. The polybiography will avoid a bias or slant from an editor because the participants are self-selected. The stories will be in the unedited words of the individuals who made the history. The primary problem anticipated will be the differences in individuals' writing styles, and a possibly confused organization.…

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Discussion questions

1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
2. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
3. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

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