As someone who monitors this discussion and only rarely comments, one small observation in response to David Goodman. Although I appreciate his sentiment, the realia of current academic life cannot be ignored. E.g., for tenure and promotion, for granting bodies, etc., there remains the need to identify items as formally published in a refereed venue. The people/groups who seek such information do not feel qualified to judge the quality of one's work themselves, and so, understandably, look for some indication that those who are qualified have given the items some assessment. In Humanities subjects such as my own, we actually also rely heavily on post-publication review/assessment, especially of our books (which retain a certain pride-of-place as research output). Senior scholars with assured standing can perhaps afford to ignore these matters, but we cannot in good faith suggest to junior scholars that they ignore these protocols, at peril to their own livelihood. If, therefore, we wish to broaden and diversify the definition of "publications" in academia, we must explore with the university administrators and with granting bodies as well other agreed means of identifying research/publication productivity that "counts". Larry Hurtado
L. W. Hurtado, Professor of New Testament Language, Literature & Theology School of Divinity, New College University of Edinburgh Mound Place Edinburgh, UK EH1 2LX Office Phone: (0)131 650 8920 FAX: (0)131 650 7952