Time for the boneSmart Book???

[nickji]

Hi Everyone,
This has to be the best forum ever, soooo, has anyone collated all this amazing information yet? If so, how do I get hold of it? If not, isn't it time to put a pdf ebook together simply by collecting all the relevant posts and sorting/cross-referencing them under the appropriate headings. Sell the book online for a reasonable price and use the proceeds to support the forum.
Enjoy it all,
Nick

 

[Josephine]

What a great suggestion, Nick! Are you volunteering?

 

[nickji]

Hi Josephine,

I'm not sure, to be honest. It would be an excellent thing to do, but a huge amount of work. I'll give it some thought.

I was a professional writer/editor back in the '80s, so my instinct would be to propose that if BoneSmart did sell an ebook, whoever put it together might reasonably expect a percentage of the income. But, be assured, this is NOT why I suggested the idea, I'm very happy with my present income , and to be honest, I'm not sure if I have the time. But there might be someone out there with more time than I have who'd like to do the work, either with or without a financial reward. It would be great.

Enjoy it all,

Nick

 

[YoungM]

Nick, what a great idea! My only concern would be that the forum would lose it's activity if there was a quick book to get all your answers. I think the current set-up works -researching the past posts and then posting if you can't find your answer.

 

[nickji]

Could be, but I think one of the main reasons we all love this site is because we're communicating with each other in a very direct way, a book couldn't replace that.

 

[Judles]

(Hats the beauty of the forum is the immediate responses! You'd never get that in a book!

 

[Jamie]

I'm thinking there are probably two distinct needs. Sometimes a person considering surgery might like to read a good chronicle of what people have been through and a book would be very helpful at that point. At other times, people need immediate information and that personal contact from people who can really relate to their experiences. I could see a need for both.

 

[Josephine]

People also like to answers that address their own personal issues.

 

[nickji]

Absolutely. Nothing can replace the personal immediacy of the forum; a book would just be a useful addition to leaf through (if you can leaf through an ebook!)

 

[nickji]

Hi Josephine,
I agree with Jamie about an ebook and am seriously thinking about putting one together for your consideration. Problem is, I won't have broadband once I leave Switzerland in two weeks. I'll then be in Andorra with a download speed of about 14 Kbs - sloooow. So, if you still feel a book could be useful, is there any way I can download the whole site? Then I could work on it easily at any time. I've been going through posts and started to build up a data base, and really feel it could be very useful as a small addition to this lovely site.
Nick

 

[Josephine]

Oh my goodness! The whole site?

Well, you can make it 'printable version by clicking on Thread Tools at the top and selecting that. It would take a lot of paper, though!

Actually, Jamie and I have been discussing it so if it would be a logistical problem, let her have a go at it to begin with. I understand she's had experience in that kind of thing.

 

[nickji]

Oh my goodness! The whole site?

Well, you can make it 'printable version by clicking on Thread Tools at the top and selecting that. It would take a lot of paper, though!

Actually, Jamie and I have been discussing it so if it would be a logistical problem, let her have a go at it to begin with. I understand she's had experience in that kind of thing.

Hi Again Josephine,

Re-working this post. Talked to my resident computer genius who tells me that downloading the site is not an option. So, instead I can just save pages as archives onto my disk while I've got broadband, and then work on them later. Shouldn't be a problem. If Jamie would prefer to do it herself, of course that's fine. I guess we could share it between us if we could work out agreed main headings under which to sort out the posts. Ahh, just remembered, Jamie is Knees, so we could split it up between hips and knees maybe.

Nick

 

[PRGal]

Before you all get too far into this, may I suggest someone check if such a project passes legal muster vis-a-vis the stated privacy policy? Especially if selling content is being considered . . .

 

[Josephine]

This is already being done, PRGal. The FARM legal beagles are being asked to check it out first.

But the information would be without any identifying material - just the subject matter.

 

[Jamie]

Hey Nick. Boy are you every quick - you've started already!!!

It might be a good idea to share the work....things would go faster and I definitely am more knowledgeable about the knee side of things and not hip replacements. Jo and I will talk it over and see what she and the forum bosses would like to do. It's really their call.

You mentioned you were downloading information into a database. What kind of database program are you using?

 

[nickji]

Hi Jamie, I'm in the flint axe stage of data mining - just copying/pasting into an Adobe pdf format to make a searchable text which I'm sorting by 'hand' into sections. So 'data base' was slightly misleading I'm afraid. If you have advice on a program worth using, please let me know. (I'm on Mac.)

Incidentally, I began just copying relevant content, then realised that the date of the post is also important, so have to go back and start again; also I started with early posts, but see that things change fast in this field, so now I'm starting with most recent posts.

*Update: just finished first sorting of the first page's threads, and estimate that with editing each full page will take about 4 hours - 22 pages!!! Going to be fun....Problem will be access once I get to the Pyrenees, but sufficient unto the day . . .*

I did check the privacy statement first, and it seemed to allow a project like this, but let's see what the legal bods say; either way, it's interesting to compile the info.

Enjoy it all,

Nick

 

[Jamie]

I don't have any suggestions for a program. I haven't gotten as far as you. I'm starting with the existing material published by FARM on the web page. It's been pretty hectic here the last few days and I've had ZERO spare time. We can keep in touch now an then (except when you are out of the loop for a while).