[Corpora-List] The genre of the Web

[Paula Newman]

Re John Sowa's:
> I agree with Mark Lane on that point:
>
>  > I don't think of the Web as a genre at all.
>
> On the other hand, it's not clear that the web
> is a medium.
The web is a medium of communication that makes material available both in
pre-existing genres, and in new genres that have evolved to exploit its
capabilities.

So re the initial query (by Mark Davies)
>Going even further, does it make sense to even try and relate the web to
pre-defined genres, rather than perhaps just referring to it as its own
"Web" register?
There is clearly not a single "'Web' register". But discovering and
classifying the new genres represented by web pages  would be highly useful
in assisting search. Identifying the sets of features needed for such
classification would be a major part of the work,

And also re the initial query:
> I'm looking for publications or URLs that look at the genre of the web in
quantitative terms.
There has been work in identifying web pages in particular genres, for
example, Tom Mitchell's work in identifying different types of pages
associated with computer science departments.

Paula
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> [Original Message]
> From: John F. Sowa <sowa at bestweb.net>
> To: Mark P. Line <mark at polymathix.com>
> Cc: <corpora at uib.no>
> Date: 9/18/2005 3:58:24 PM
> Subject: Re: [Corpora-List] The genre of the Web
>
> I agree with Mark Lane on that point:
>
>  > I don't think of the Web as a genre at all.
>
> On the other hand, it's not clear that the web
> is a medium.
>
>  > It's a very flexible medium, in fact, because
>  > it seems to carry all genres effectively.
>
> In that regard, it's more like a very dynamic
> library.  But it is also as interactive as
> telephones or video games (which it carries
> as well).
>
> And I certainly don't agree with Mark Davies on
> that point:
>
>  > most would probably agree that the web is more
>  > like NEWSPAPER and ACADEMIC
>
> That's probably what most people on Corpora list
> would say.  But the people who make the most money
> from the web are the gambling casinos and the
> porno peddlers.
>
> John Sowa
>
>