[TheForge] theforge history who knows it?

[terry l. ridder]

hello;

thank you mark for the theforge history.

i thought that perhaps the artmetal list archives would exist but it
seems that they are also no where to be found.

please see http://wuarchives.wustl.edu for complete details.

it would appear that part of the wugate theforge archives are lost.
i have all of 1996. i am missing all of 1997 and part of 1998.
december 1998 is when epoch majordomo qth.net begins.

of the epoch majordomo qth.net archives i have everything except
theforge digest volume 1 numbers 0000, 0001, and 0002. so depending on
how the majordomo qth.net theforge digests where number i am missing
either 2 or 3 theforge digest volume 1.

anyone remember the name of the graduate student? there is a possibility
that they may have a copy of theforge wugate archives.

i am open to suggestions as to where to look for either the artmetal or
theforge wugate archives.

On Fri, 26 Nov 2004, Mark Williams wrote:

mark> 
mark> theforge started at the St Louis ABANA conference in 1994. Enrique Vega
mark> organized a small group of folk, no more than 30, at an unscheduled
mark> gathering to discuss ways of using the internet to improve blacksmithing.
mark> The artmetal listserver hosted by Washington University was one result.
mark> The on-line supplier's list was another. A formal request for support was
mark> made to the ABANA board at the November 1994 meeting. However, the ABANA
mark> board was leery of this new medium and took a wait and see attitude. After
mark> several years, during which time the number on the list and in the
mark> supplier's list grew, the ABANA board decided that the ArtMetal list had
mark> too many non-blacksmiths and, so, started theforge as educational outreach
mark> for both the blacksmithing community and for the public. At first, the
mark> host was Washington University. They did this as a public service and
mark> charged zero for it. A graduate student used theforge as a research
mark> project. Problems arose as no one was responsible for maintenence of
mark> theforge after the student graduated. At that time(1998 I think), I was
mark> working at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility. One of my coworkers, Al Waller,
mark> hosted listservers for a large group of ham radio operators. Upon hearing
mark> of the problems theforge was having, he said he could host theforge on his
mark> system for $100 per year. The ABANA board accepted and we've been with Al
mark> ever since.
mark> 

<snip>

mark> 
mark> Mark Williams
mark> 

-- 
terry l. ridder ><>