So what do we think of the new 'social network' sites? There is one for lute, one for cittern and one for early guitars/vihuelas.
Some have written to me saying they are worried that this list might stop running, but I don't agree. The questions on the Forum of the network sites are generally different in kind, less 'academic', one might say, more social, and some people have contributed there who have not done so here. So I have no fear that the lists will disappear. What the network sites are good at is sharing soundfiles, pictures and scores, and people seem to contact each other more readily when they can see a photograph of the person they are writing to. The Music Player is interesting. Each member has his/her own. You can upload your own soundfiles and have it playing when people visit your My Page. But you can also import soundfiles from other people's pages. I even managed to put my Music Player on my own website. I've been wondering how to do this for some time. Instead of playing one file at a time, you can hear (should you want to, of course!) the whole lot with just one click - then minimise the page while you work on other things. I imagine more players will use this feature in time. See www.songoftherose.co.uk - scroll down the main page. Lots of interesting videos beginning to appear, imported from You Tube - nice to have them all in one place. I've really enjoyed looking at all the images of lutes that have appeared on the photos page - many I haven't seen before, and comments are welcome, leading to discussion. So, I think these networks have their place and are most welcome. But I am happy to still read and enquire on this list. Hopefully both can live in harmony together. I'm sure they can. Discuss... Rob MacKillop -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
