EDNote: As part of the transition to a new editorial team, we have come up with a policy document that will govern the nature of discourse on NABOKV-L.  This statement will be posted and linked via the bottom of Nabokv-L messages in the near future.  Please note especially our request for suggestions, below.  ~SB


Statement from the New Co-Editors of NABOKV-L
 
NABOKV-L is an electronic discussion and information sharing group for those with a scholarly or other serious interest in the life and writings of Vladimir Nabokov.  Postings may include queries; annotations; discussion; conference announcements; calls for papers; information on work-in-progress or new publications; and anything else relevant to Nabokov studies.  The list continues to be hosted by the University of California, Santa Barbara.  The NABOKV-L Archives, containing all postings since D. Barton Johnson founded the list in 1993, are fully searchable at: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/archives/nabokv-l.html.
 
Joining NABOKV-L
 
To join the list, send the following message to the listserv (listserv@listserv.ucsb.edu):
 
Subscribe NABOKV-L [your name]
 
Or go directly to the archives, where you can join the list, leave it, or select forms in which to receive postings, including subscription type (regular, digest, or index), header style, acknowledgement, and temporary mail stoppage (http://listserv.ucsb.edu/archives/nabokv-l.html).
 
Guidelines for Posting Information to NABOKV-L
 
To submit a query, announcement, scholarly report or other submission for publication, send it to nabokv-l@listserv.ucsb.edu.  It will be forwarded to the co-editors for review and final posting.
 
We expect to host many lively, spirited discussions!  When disagreements arise, however, we urge subscribers to treat each other with the same friendly, respectful good humor that they would like to receive themselves.  As editors, we will not post messages that engage in name-calling, slander, or attacks on someone’s character and professionalism..  If we receive such a submission, we will ask the author to revise and resubmit it.  We may also invite the target of any scholarly critique to reply.  In any event, we reserve the right to refuse to post material that we judge inappropriate for this forum.
 
Similarly, we will not post messages that contain too many large images or attachments.  In those cases, too, we will ask the author to revise and resubmit the message.  In replying to a message, please take care NOT to include the complete text of the original message: excerpt from it as necessary to save on disk storage space.  Doing so will save the editors a few clicks per message, a time savings they will greatly appreciate.  If forwarding a casual allusion to Nabokov within another source, please excerpt the relevant passage and include a link to the original.  In the interests of keeping subscribers’ mailboxes as uncluttered as possible, the following types of messages will usually not be posted by the editors: messages for individuals, including the editors (please use private addresses), and purely rhetorical remarks not intended to convey or discuss factual information.
 
Editorial Mechanics

During the  present co-editorship, we will alternate the role of primary editor on a (roughly) quarterly basis. Private communications with the editors should be sent to them directly at the addresses below.  Both co-editors will always receive copies of all editorial correspondence, however.  All decisions about editorial matters will be made jointly, except for the routine acceptance, formatting, and posting of submissions.

We hope that the content of the list will continue to develop in various ways.  Some possible features in the future include book reviews (solicited by the editors) and invited essays on particular topics.  The recruitment of associate editors covering specific areas such as non-English bibliography, book reviews, and special topics is a distinct possibility.  Creating an editorial board is another.  In the past, there have been original creative and scholarly works published via NABOKV-L, and we hope to see this tradition continue and expand.

We welcome your suggestions for improvement.  Over the past year, what kinds of postings have you found especially useful?  Are there specific topics or modes of discussion that you would like to find—or to find more frequently—on NABOKV-L?  Can you think of ways in which the list might better enhance your appreciation of Nabokov’s work or facilitate your exchanges with other readers and scholars?  During the next several weeks, please send us (at the private addresses below) your ideas on ways to make NABOKV-L even more engaging, intriguing, and enjoyable.  We hope to implement your suggestions in the near future.

Stephen Blackwell
Associate Professor of Russian, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
nabokv-l@utk.edu

Susan Elizabeth Sweeney
Associate Professor of English, Holy Cross College
nabokv-l@holycross.edu
 
The NABOKV-L Archives are fully searchable via the Web