Support BMCR!

As any reader of DCC doubtless knows, Bryn Mawr Classical Review is the essential digital project in classics, arguably one of the most successful projects in the all the humanities disciplines in the history of the digital humanities. Most classicists cannot now imagine professional life without it–all the more remarkable because it runs on volunteer labor. I am passing on this email message from the good folks at BMCR, who have done so much for the fields of classics and archaeology, in hopes that you will support their efforts to upgrade their infrastructure. I know I will!

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Dear colleagues, readers and friends,

The end of the year is nearly upon us, and we write to you with news of BMCR and also a request for aid.

BMCR is now engaged in a complex process of renewal. We will share more information in due time, but the short of it is that our systems are a patchwork whose core was first constructed nearly two decades ago. Nothing in the world of computing or digital humanities has stood still, and we are now contracting to build ourselves a better platform, to make our own work more efficient and to enable us to serve our readers and authors as fully as possible into the future.

The catch is that this work is expensive. What is more, as every one of you knows, BMCR has always been and remains committed to being open access, and relies nearly wholly on volunteer labor for every aspect of its operation. I need hardly point out that, if one gives away the product, one must live without a revenue stream.

For its day to day operations, BMCR has long survived on a combination of in-kind infrastructural support from Bryn Mawr College and income from the sale of Bryn Mawr Commentaries. This has generally been sufficient for our limited operational expenses. The scale of expenditure for a new platform and the migration of our historical data are another thing altogether.

We have embarked on a number of efforts to raise money for this process, and this will include—soon! —a direct appeal to you. We write today to ask you to assist us with an indirect and easy form of aid.

BMCR’s parent, Bryn Mawr Commentaries, is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization. BMCR is thereby registered with both the Amazon Associates program and with Amazon Smile. This means that—with a tiny effort on your part—BMCR can receive a donation from Amazon every time you make a purchase. If you are in the US and using Amazon.com, you can do this in one of two ways:

(1) Select BMCR as your charity of choice via Amazon Smile: smile.amazon.com. If you follow this link and have not registered, you will have the opportunity to select a charity. Enter “Bryn Mawr Commentaries.” Henceforth, every time you arrive at smile.amazon.com and make a purchase, BMCR will receive a contribution based on the sale.

If you have already selected a charity but want to switch to BMCR, you may do so via the options under “Your Account.” Simply look for the option, “Your AmazonSmile.”

(2) If you do not wish to register a charity in this way, you may also use/bookmark the following link: https://www.amazon.com/?tag=bmcreview-20. This directs a donation to BMCR via the Amazon Associates program.

Thank you very much for entertaining this appeal.

We will write again soon to announce BMCR’s annual break for the holidays. In the meantime, best wishes for the holiday season.

yours,

Camilla, Cliff, Jim and Rick

 

Praise for Mulligan’s Nepos on DCC

Tip of the hat to Rex Stem for his kind words about DCC in a recent BMCReview of Bret Mulligan’s Nepos:

I have never taught from an online commentary, but I am persuaded that this text would be an effective way to do so. The different types of information that the student needs are easily accessible, the format is pleasing and intuitive, and the level of the notes is appropriate and rigorous. The printed version is successful in itself, but the appeal of the online version is manifest. My pedagogical habits would have to change somewhat if I were to teach from an online commentary (would we all have screens in front of us? would we also still want to have printed texts to annotate?), but this is precisely the sort of online teaching resource that encourages experimentation with new formats and methods. As a pedagogical platform for teaching Latin with digital materials, this text is visionary in its design.

If you are experimenting in this way, please leave a comment and let everyone know how it’s going!