On Transmission

Since my text is a short booklet, I think that the most effective short-term transmission of the text would be through pamphlet-style copies, distributed and made readily available for parishioners and visitors at St. Paul’s.  This method of transmission reflects the original way the booklet was distributed, allowing readers to experience the text as it was intended.  By using standard printer paper and ink, these copies would be very inexpensive, allowing the text to be widely read in a short period of time.  By prioritizing low cost, the transmission of my text would also benefit from easier dissemination among local Catholics who would be interested in learning about the history of the church.

Though this analog method would encourage rapid and wide distribution, the copies of the texts produced would not be sufficiently durable for long-term transmission.  The material survival of a given printed copy would depend entirely on the preservation steps taken by the reader.  In some cases, readers might throw away their paper copies when they are finished with them, while in other cases, readers might carefully put their copies away for future reference or as a keepsake.  The inexpensive printing materials might mean that readers would not consider the text to be an item of particular value, making it more likely that they do not concern themselves with the long-term survival of the text.  In contrast to the direct role of the reader in the preservation of the text, the institution that printed and distributed the text (in this case, St. Paul’s Church) would no longer play a role in the material preservation of the text once those copies are distributed.  This lack of institutional backing is another factor that makes my suggested analog method of transmission less effective in the long term.

Because of these various concerns about ephemerality of pamphlet-style analog copies of my text, I think a digital technology would be most effective for transmitting my text in the long term.  I would suggest that the booklet be digitized and made freely available online as an e-book or PDF.  This would require an institution to make the file publicly available and support its existence on a webpage.  The file could be hosted on the St. Paul’s parish website or by a local public or university library system.  I was able to find one previously digitized version of my text at this web address: https://archive.org/details/stpaulchurchcamb00ryan.  This e-book version is supported on the website “archive.org”, and Boston College is listed as the contributor.  Because the transmission of my text in the digital world depends on there being an institution to support the webpage that it is on, there must be a strong institutional backing in order for my text to be preserved in the long term.  Provided that an institution supports the digital existence of my text, this method would be much more effective than analog copies for long-term transmission, as it can still be cheaply distributed and widely read, but it is not dependent on individual readers for material preservation of the text.

In conclusion, I believe that both analog and digital technologies could help transmit my text into the future.  However, analog paper copies seem most suited for short term and rapid transmission of the text to many readers, while a freely available digital file would be the best