Comments
The Joyce Project is a huge undertaking and largely a one-man
job, so mistakes, oversights, glitches, and simple failures to
achieve omniscience are inevitable. I am grateful to the dozens
of email correspondents who have found typos, inquired about
coding problems, identified factual errors, suggested relevant
scholarly works, supplied more complete attributions for images,
pointed out unseen subtleties in Joyce's text, and so forth.
Most images, videos, and audio recordings on the site have been
downloaded from the internet, with identification of the source
and precise information about the work when available, but
without permission or compensation. If you object to my using
something to which you hold the rights, write to
john.hunt@umontana.edu and I'll remove it without delay.
Positive feedback is also welcome, whether from long-time
Joyceans or from people making their way through Ulysses
for the first time. The site was originally conceived as an aid
for my students, so it is satisfying to hear that new readers
find it helpful. A sense of international connection sustains me
too, having corresponded with more than one hundred users in the
US, Ireland, Northern Ireland, England, Scotland, Australia,
Canada, Mexico, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Denmark, Finland,
Poland, Russia, Japan, China, Iran, Iraq, Israel, India, and
Bangladesh.
Many people write to me with suggestions for notes, or for changes or additions to existing notes. A much smaller number offer to write notes themselves. Such submissions are welcome but typically involve laborious back and forth between writer and editor, given the innovative and demanding form of Joyce Project notes. Anyone who wants to submit a note should pay close attention to these elements of house style:
- Gloss short passages in the novel (from one word to a few
sentences) that can be spotlighted with hyperlinks. Some notes
may and should address multiple passages.
- Frame notes that will be accessed from multiple passages in such a way that they make sense when opened from any of these locations.
- Within the note, quote details from the text to help users find what they are looking for and to save them from having to go back and forth between note and text.
- In the first paragraph, summarize what is most essential
for a first-time reader of the novel, trying to condense the
main points covered in the note.
- Use later paragraphs to go into more detail, explore less obvious implications, draw connections to other parts of the novel, summarize relevant scholarship, and so forth.
- Cite sparely, acknowledging the most relevant scholarship but trying not to clog the note with sources of commonly available information.
- Present more objective information first, more subjective interpretation later.
- Make general critical observations only to shed light on particular passages.
- Move from point to point logically, avoiding merely associative connections.
- Avoid finality, remaining open to contrary viewpoints and interpretations.
Submit notes to john.hunt@umontana.edu and I will respond as quickly as possible. If I post your work I'll credit you at the bottom of the note and also on the Contributors page.