Bookbinding question...or archiving question really, I suppose

[luzula]

I am going to make collections of all my old due South stories, because it would be very nice to have them on my bookshelves. Also my older non-due South stories, of course. But I can't decide how much I should strip them of the metadata and context in which they were written: who beta-read them, when they were posted, and in what community or for which prompt or challenge, and whatever other author's notes I made. Although I can't, of course, preserve all the comments and discussions that embed them in a fannish community.

One issue is how much work it would be, which is not trivial, because my hands ache when I type too much. Another is how I would format that metadata in a book--my best idea so far is to use the Latex "abstract" environment, which is what you have in the beginning of a scientific article written in Latex. It seems like a lot of bookbinders bind longfic, where of course it's not as much an issue, since you can just have a preface. Also not as much work as when you have lots of short fic!

This also leads into more philosophical questions--I suppose I don't actually trust the internet to last, let alone specific sites on it. When I'm eighty (assuming I live that long) would I be happy I preserved that information? Would anyone else? Or would it not matter much, given the probable general loss of that fannish community and the ephemeral conversations that were had in it?

Comments

[desireearmfeldt]

Not sure if I'm quite understanding how you're thinking about this, but in a short story collection, there will often be a little blurb at the beginning or end of each piece, saying things like where it was first published, or a longer author note about why they wrote it or whatever. I think if you did something similar with metadata/author notes it would seem pretty natural.

(I download PDFs of all my stuff in the name of not trusting the internet, or at least the AO3, to last forever.)

[luzula]

Yes, that's pretty much what I meant--I'm leaning towards doing it, although it would be some work.

(I save the word files that I write in, and also save epubs of other people's fics that I particularly enjoy.)

[desireearmfeldt]

I save my Word files too, but the AO3 downloads are more definitive and have the metadata.

[hurry_sundown]

I think it's worth a footnote as to where and when a fic was first published, who beta'd it, and what event or which person it was written for, if any. I don't think I'd worry about context beyond that, unless there was something particularly noteworthy about it that you'd want to remember.

[luzula]

I am not so into the idea of footnotes, if only because I'm not sure where I would put the asterisk or whatever. At the title? At the first sentence? No, I think it would need to be a note between the title and the beginning of the fic. I'm leaning towards doing it...

[seascribble]

I think that when you are eighty, it's not just about how you will feel about having them on your shelves but also that you've preserved some ephemera and early 2000s thought/art/community for future generations and perhaps even archaeologists and historians.

[desireearmfeldt]

Yes.

And also, it's about looking back and remembering your friends/community of that time. Or it could be.

[luzula]

Oh, definitely! What I would like to save, too, are the comments on the fics, although maybe not in the book--I do wish there was some DW version of lj-archive. Or do you know if one exists?

[desireearmfeldt]

I don't know -- I keep meaning to look into that and not getting around to it.

[regshoe]

When I think about all the stuff I read from the nineteenth century and earlier, I'm very glad that these writings—even the non-'literary', more ephemeral stuff like people's personal diaries, articles on then-current events or the early experimental works of people who became my favourite authors—has been preserved for us to read now. The most obscure stuff can be historically fascinating! And I'm sure that some historians in the future will be interested in fan communities and fanworks as an interesting corner of history. I certainly hope some of our present fandom gets preserved for that sort of purpose.

Anyway, that's my philosophical thoughts! As for the practical questions—I think it'd be good to keep things like dates and challenges etc. there—would combining information for the different fics in a single preface work? Although that might be a bit more work collating everything.

[nnozomi]

(Jumping in to comment on a comment, if that's okay)
even the non-'literary', more ephemeral stuff like people's personal diaries, articles on then-current events
As I tend to mention a lot, things like these, along with letters, personal photo albums and so on are among my very favorite things to read, sometimes more interesting and revealing than anything more high-flown. I think of Dreamwidth as a kind of updated, interactive Mass Observation format a lot, and if all our posts and comments remain fifty etc. years from now I bet people like me will be fascinated with them in just that way.
On the original question, I feel like if the metadata has sentimental value for you it's worth putting it in fic by fic, as a little introduction (even a footnote on the title, the way academic papers do with the author's affiliation sometimes?). Or add a little table at the end of the book as a whole, with columns for title, beta, date, relevant collection/event, author's notes etc.

[regshoe]

I think of Dreamwidth as a kind of updated, interactive Mass Observation format

Oh, I like that! I hope they do remain for future people to be fascinated by :)

[luzula]

I think of Dreamwidth as a kind of updated, interactive Mass Observation format a lot

Oh, that's neat.

And yes, I've pretty much decided that it's worth it to make those notes, anyway. : )

[luzula]

Yes, for sure these things are interesting to preserve! For example, I was just searching HathiTrust and archive.org for Margaret Ogilvy's or Isobel Haldane's letters or diaries...of course, they might still exist somewhere, just not online.

In the specific question, I've pretty much decided that it's worth it to make those notes, anyway. : )

would combining information for the different fics in a single preface work?

I'm doing that for the volume of longer stories, where there are just five or so. But for lots of shorter stories, I think it will be better with a note at the beginning of each one.