[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by VANDOO

I UNDERSTAND THE PASSION OF AN IDEA!. I ONCE POSTED THAT IT WAS TIME SOMEONE UPDATED AND CORRECTED STONES GLOSSARY OF ARMS AND ARMOR.
HOW ONE MAN DID THAT MUCH IN ONE LIFETIME IS BEYOND MY UNDERSTANDING, IT WOULD BE VERY DIFFICULT TO DO THAT WORK WITH A LARGE TEAM AND UNLIMITED FUNDS TODAY.
THE IDEA OF MAKEING SOME KIND OF UNIVERSITY OUT OF THIS FORUM IS NOT POSSIBLE AS THAT IS NOT WHAT THE FORUM IS ABOUT.
BUT PERHAPS MEMBERS OF LIKE MINDS MAY MEET AND GET TOGETHER HERE VIA E- MAIL OR PM AND WORK TOGETHER ON PROJECTS OUTSIDE OF THE FORUMS. TRAINED PEOPLE IN THESE MANY FIELDS OF INTREST ARE SOMETHING TO BE DESIRED AS THEY ARE USUALLY THE ONES WHO WRITE THE REFRENCES WE ALL SEARCH FOR.
I WOULD THINK LOOKING INTO THE COURSES REQUIRED FOR BEING A MUSEUM CURATOR AND CONSERVATOR WOULD BE A GOOD PLACE TO START. LIKE UPDATEING STONES ITS NOT A BAD IDEA, BUT A LOT OF WORK AND THE RIGHT PEOPLE WHO ARE AND STAY DEDICATED WOULD BE NECESSARY FOR SUCH A LARGE UNDERTAKEING.
I FIND NOTHING OFFENSIVE IN THESE COMMENTS AND THINK THE POSTS IN THE TOPIC ARE INTERESTING AND CAN SEE MERIT IN THE IDEA BUT THE FORUM IS AN ARCHIVE WHICH CAN BE VALUABLE TO ANY ACCREDITED PEOPLE BUT IS NOT UP TO TRAINING THEM.

THE FORUM IS WHAT IT IS AND I LIKE IT AS IS. IDEAS ARE PART OF WHAT WE DO HERE EVEN IF MAKING THEM WORK OFTEN HAS TO OCCUR OUTSIDE OF THE FORUMS WE ALL BENIFIT IN THE END. AS DAVID POINTS OUT GROUPS HAVE BEEN FORMED HERE BASED ON IDEAS IN THE PAST SO HOPEFULLY THIS WILL CONTINUE AND RESULT IN GOOD THINGS IN THE FUTURE.

Salaams Vandoo ~ Last point first; I like it the way it is too !
You are corect to point out that there has been nothing offensive in anything I've written; I have never advocated turning the forum into a school or a university, moreover, I have suggested a small separate department dealing with certification mainly at low and intermediate levels and the ability to go for degree study on line. It was never my intention to create a major earthquake or schism ~ I think your question on Stones is quite understandable and I can name a few other books that need a good sort out including Burtons Book of The Sword and others. Most people see mistake after mistake in museums mainly because "some" curators aren't aware of the detail and on their degree courses ethnographic arms and armour was not covered. (Please ignore if you are a Museum Curator since if you are reading this you are indeed aware of EAA !! )
With respect; I think we are more than an archive. Neither do I think we are there only to be used by degree holders or above to enhance their research. Perhaps this goes to the near root of the debate in that we could enable our members to achieve (if they so wish) certification in their chosen field. I thank you for floating the debate and if I have steered it in an untoward direction I do apologise.

To anyone who has joined the debate I say thank you and a few lines to some of the participants follows but thanks to all !

Ariel; Thank you for your kind words!
Emanuel; I agree with your idea on information being made available ~ Its not a bad point. At least it could be written up and logged into the library. Im sure that can be done.
Spunger; Yes I can see what you mean but they said that about going to the moon.
Mefidk; I quite agree; well put.
M Eley; I agree. It wouldn't change; it would be enhanced.
Fernando; It seems so.
Lew; You seem to be correct.
Dmitry; Did you know that you can get a Phd in "Elvis Presley" in the USA?
Edster; Great reply thanks for all of that. Very encouraging.

David; You have pointed out the difficult hurdles to overcome in the application of this facility concept which appears to be a non starter in your opinion.
I find that hard to follow since the resource is a thoroughly excellent and professional one. Here we have a brilliant retrieval system based on ethnographic arms and armour in a burgeoning library stuffed with research at all levels and it just grows and grows. It is bigger than the Encyclopaedia Brittanica. This vast collection of posts is too big to ignore. My view is that it should be brought onto the world stage as a perfectly respectable certificated program series.. up to degree level and therefor beyond to Phd. It is, however, only my view.

I was having a conversation recently with a particular Sheikh with rather a lot of funds to spare and the question arose that he was looking for something educational in which to support. Just something in the region of a couple of million dollars. By the way Arabs love ethnographical arms and armour and are crazy about historical stuff which is why Guggenheim and Louvre and Co. are scrambling to get a foothold here. I thought about the Forum and this subject. Naturally I made no mention, nor will I, since commercial and financial aspects of Forum are none of my business but it struck a chord and is worth a mention if only on passing. He didn't like the idea of investing in my new Porche ...

Lest I forget I can assure you that there is never any malice in anything I write and the passing spaceship jibe (that you rewrote) was just a light joke.

I am fully aware of the components required to administer certificate and degree courses and have already agreed with Lew and others as to the difficulty in so doing, though, from my viewpoint, from the administrative and legal viewpoint only.

To me it would make perfect sense.

Regards,
Ibrahiim al Balooshi.