8/12/97
ATHENS, Ohio -- The thoughts and musings of Ohio University literature professors are reaching beyond Southeast Ohio thanks to a new World Wide Web page Wired for books: Community Reconsidered. English Professor Marilyn Atlas and Emeritus English Professor Edgar Whan host the program, featuring a discussion of books and authors that focus on community.
The program is broadcast on WOUB-AM and is available at http://www.tcom.ohiou.edu/books on the Web for listeners worldwide. Listeners can listen to the program using the software program RealAudio and respond to the discussion by posting written messages on the Web site. After the initial broadcast, a recording of the program is available at the Web site.
The Wired page debuted May 25 with a discussion of the late novelist and short story writer Raymond Carver and other authors have been discussed.
So far, respondents from more than 25 countries -- including Argentina, Japan, South Africa, Italy and the United Kingdom -- have visited the site.
For Whan, the cyberspace forum offers opportunities unavailable in the traditional classroom setting. "Constraints of time vanish," Whan said. "No one is trying to impress or is worried about a grade." Whan and Atlas will discuss The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison Sunday, Aug. 31 from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. While the advent of the Internet has stimulated discussions about the demise of books, WOUB-AM Program Manager Connie Stevens says books and computers can go hand-in-hand.
"Reading is making a comeback," Stevens said. "This is a wonderful way to discover authors and new books to read."
The Telecommunications Center project received funding from the Ohio Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities.