WHY PUBLISH ON THE WEB?

The question is obvious: "Why publish on the Web?" The most frequent answer from colleagues is predictable, although it may never be uttered: "What's the matter; can't you find a publisher?" If I did not believe there were a number of other, more valid reasons for presenting one's work on the Web, my book in progress, The U.S. Army and Irregular Warfare , would not be available for viewing.

I was already thinking about a Web publication when I visited the home page of William F. Sharpe, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics. At that site I found something very encouraging, an investment text that Professor Sharpe called "an Electronic Work in Progress." As he said in his presentation of the work on his Home Page, "In simpler times, this would have been a book (either a textbook or a reference book, depending on your point of view)."

Unlike Sharpe, I lack the credentials of a Nobel Laureate, but we do have one thing in common. My work, like his, has appeared piecemeal, over an extended period of time, and like Sharpe's text, The U.S. Army and Irregular Warfare began as an electronic work in progress. Still, the basic question remains to be answered: Why publish on the Web?

• Web publication is virtually instantaneous. One can make chapters available as they are completed, rather than waiting until an entire work is in finished form. This aspect of Web publication may be particularly appealing to authors working on projects over a long period of time since it allows them to see meaningful progress.
  
• Equally appealing, with Web publication one does not need to go through the very time consuming process of finding a publisher and seeing a work through the traditional publication process.
  
• Publication on the Web is virtually cost free, as is access to readers. For scholars whose main concern is making their work available, that is a distinct advantage. It is also particularly advantageous to authors who wish to make their work available internationally.
  
• Web publication can bring virtually instant feedback from readers, through e-mail, creating an ongoing dialogue between author and reader. Such feedback, combined with the other attributes of Web publication, makes revision easier and, as a result, more likely.
  
• Whether traditional scholars like it or not, for many students and younger individuals in general, the Web and not the library is the first and sometimes the only place one goes for information. If that is the case, then the Web may well be the preferred place of publication for authors who want to maximize the chances of their work being read. More significant, perhaps, the tendency of people to draw information primarily from the Web is likely to increase in the future, and if scholars eschew Web publication through some misdirected sense of what constitutes legitimate scholarly work they will surrender a very powerful medium of communication to others.

To be candid, however, I must admit to having at least one additional motive for deciding to publish on the Web. As a tenured professor at a small college, I am under no pressure to publish. Many of my younger colleagues in history and other departments are not so fortunate. If they are to fulfill the expectations often set for them, then they will need opportunities to get their work before their peers, and Web publication is one way to do that. It will not be considered valuable, however, until other scholars pave the way, making Web publication a legitimate endeavor worthy of rewards comparable to those accompanying publication in more traditional forms. With luck, I will help to achieve that kind of recognition for faculty members at this and other institutions by having chosen to present my work as I have here.

Publishing on the Web does present at least two problems for an author.

• Copyright infringement is one potential problem, but a minor one for authors who are not particularly concerned with material rewards. A greater worry is plagiarism, in which credit for the work published on the Web may be transferred to an undeserving plagiarist. I want my work disseminated, but I also want to receive the credit I deserve for having done the work.
  
• Dissemination of one's work on the Web is not predictable. Search engines often appear to have minds of their own and users familiar with traditional search techniques used in libraries can get frustrated long before they find an author's work on the Web. Over time, however, one can anticipate an improvement in the skills of search engine users and designers that will work to overcome this problem.

Web publication also creates a significant problem for readers. Since many Web publications, including the one on this site, have not gone through a process of peer review, how can a reader determine the reliability of the information being viewed? In the case of this specific site, I would like to think that any claim to value for what is written in the electronic work found here is supported by the following:

• I spent my career as an established faculty member at a well regarded liberal arts college, as can be determined by the location of my Web pages at The College of Wooster's Web site.
  
• My work is complete with footnote references to enable readers to judge my scholarship and the evidence for themselves.
  
• For large sections of many of the chapters in The U.S. Army and Irregular Warfare peer review has already taken place, although that is not something one should expect of most Web publications.
  
• Readers wishing to evaluate my scholarship further may look at other publications not on the Web (see list of selected publications)
  

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