Online Journals

After looking at both Computers and Composition Online and Kairos, I was most impressed with how different these journals are than traditional print journals. This is something I knew is some form or another, but hadn't really thought about or experienced first hand. And, what surprised me even more is how uncomfortable I was with the format. I use the internet all the time and enjoy searching around for various things. However, I guess I still and an old-school linear type reader when it comes to academic journals. I tended to not give as much credence to what was being said because the medium didn't seem appropriate.

So, that got me thinking about my expectations and why I have them. I honestly think I am most uncomfortable with the online formatting because I feel that everything that is written in an academic article is important (as opposed to things posted on Wikipedia--I have no problem bouncing around there), and I'm afraid I'll miss something vital if I'm allowed to choose where I go next. Also, it seemed like there was too much information thrown at me all at once. If I read in a printed journal, I know that an article is, say, 15 pages. However, with this online format, I didn't know how long I'd have to read before I covered all of the information that I could access for this particular article. I wanted to have a clear stopping point.

I find all this interesting about myself because I know that even a linear journal article can't contain everything in 15 pages. I know there is more out there. But, I have this artificial sense of reading "all of it" rather than wondering if there was a hyperlink that I missed somewhere. I did find more articles in Kairos that I was slightly more comfortable with because they had the option of clicking the "next" and "back" keys (or something similar). The Computers and Composition Online site didn't have anything that looked like "traditional" formatting to me (which I think is the whole point).

I'll have to think more about my comfort level and try to identify why I am unnerved by a different format. I am especially interested in this because I consider myself a pretty techy person. This has given me a new appreciation for how uncomfortable my students may feel with some of the assignments I give them. I knew there was a level of discomfort, but it has been so long since I've experienced that with technology that I'd forgotten just how uncomfortable it can feel.