Walt Crawford
Notes on Writing Invitations, Consulting, etc.
I'm definitely open to possibilities. It never hurts to ask.
If you're interested in republishing material from Cites
& Insights, once or on a continuing basis,
send me a note.
Writing and Editing
Baseline
My baseline for professional activities now consists of
Cites & Insights: Crawford at Large, an
irregular free Web-distributed journal of libraries, policy,
technology, and media--my primary writing outlet--and books as
topics and interested publishers allow.
In other words, I'm pretty much open.
Consulting and Other Stuff
Up to now, I haven't done formal consulting as a rule.
I'm not an expert on RFPs, contracts, the overall state of
library automation or that sort of thing. I do have experience
in "looking at numbers"--how they work, what goes wrong,
finding the valuable ones--and in areas I've written about.
If you have something in mind that you think would make sense
for me, ask.
Other stuff? What did you have in mind? Let me know.
Incidentally, if by "consulting" you mean that you'd like me
to look something over and comment on it informally, answer a
question or two, respond to a survey, or whatever, and you're
a colleague or friend, just ask. I'm happy to oblige
if it's feasible. I don't regard that as consulting; I regard
it as being part of the library community. I define
"colleague" broadly. If you're unsure, assume that you are
one.
What I Need to Know
A request can be as informal as a one-paragraph e-mail
message or as formal as a letter. E-mail is a great way to
start. If you want to explore possibilities, that's
fine. I usually respond to e-mail rapidly (unless I'm out of
town). waltcrawford, domain gmail.com (Substitute @ for
domain, but you know that already)
Once I know the basics of an invitation, I'll either rule it
out because it's impossible (schedule, general load, a topic
that conflicts with my work or a topic/approach I can't do
justice to) or I'll ask more questions.
Sooner or later, I'll need to know:
- Topic, length, deadline, character of what you're
looking for.
- Publication or situation: what's going to happen
with this?
- Proposed payment-- although I don't get paid
for every article I write.
- If it's a series or continuing situation I'll need
to know a lot more about what's involved.
That should about cover it. The bottom line
is simple enough: