Why should the American Amateur Press Association want to venture into the world of the Internet? We have existed quite well for over sixty years using paper and ink to produce our little journals. What do we have to gain? What do we have to offer?
Most members would agree the monthly bundle is the cement that holds the organization together. That is where we see the results of other members' work and get to know people that we have never seen face-to-face.
The AAPA is quite the opposite. We have disagreements, but we know who we're arguing with and focus on issues rather than personalities. This sense of community is an important characteristic that must carry over into the Internet.
Much of the content of chat rooms or news groups seems "off the cuff" and poorly thought out. Most of these writers don't expect their words to be remembered for more than a few days. Although not every ajay paper contains deep thoughts, committing words to paper causes the author to weigh them more carefully and realize that they might be around for a long time.
Taking organized amateur journalism onto the net would allow a whole new group of writers and publishers to participate. The AAPA could provide a framework for organization while preserving the freedom from unnecessary constraints that Internet users expect.
The Web seems like a natural place to post the latest news, such as election results, convention plans, or special commemorative bundles.
Web recruiting is another area that has benefited the AAPA. Our Web site has attracted a dozen or so new members over the past couple of years. It has always been hard to find people who are attracted to our hobby. Using the Internet has provided one more way to reach them.
A couple of us have put back issues of our papers on Web pages. This allows a greater number of people to access our papers and allows prospective members to gain a better understanding of what amateur journalism is all about.
AAPA members could become experts on how to create electronic publications and turn them into Web pages. By blazing a path and showing how to go from desktop publishing tool to Web page, AAPA members could provide a simple "cookbook" method to get others going. Once the basics are in place, it would be fun to experiment and create more interesting formats.
Just as some members today enjoy sharing letterpress printing techniques, others will like to share how Web pages should be put together and the best techniques for using desktop publishing software. There's a wealth of information available on the Internet, but the AAPA could provide expertise helpful to publishers of small papers.
Not all of AAPA's computer publishers have access to the Internet. The AAPA Internet gurus could help these folks out by accepting disks of documents that have been prepared for publishing and putting them on the Web.
The AAPA should consider creating an official Web location. I have set one up using my wife's AOL account, but the account's disk storage limitation could become restrictive if we decide to store lots of AAPA publications. (It would be an interesting exercise to determine how much disk space the last American Amateur Journalist volume would take.) Having a group location would also allow several different members to work on the files.
There will always be a need for non-electronic distribution method of amateur papers. There is a lot to be said for being able to hold the final journal product in one's hand, whether it is letterpress or not. Having the printed product frees the reader from the computer and the Internet. The color and texture of the paper can significantly add to the joy of holding and savoring the journal.
When creating good looking journals via electronic publishing becomes so common and inexpensive, letterpress may only be used for those projects where the printed presentation is even more important than the content.