Website search engines have pretty much made obsolete the notion of an
online version of the traditional glossary, dictionary and encyclopedia.
Entering a search term can turn up hits in context of an interactive forum
(like this mailing list) which, while not usually succinct, can often shed
more light than conventional texts.
The most exhaustive photo-related websites I know of are these:
1. The far reaching "website" variously referred to as Jeff Albro's or
Robert Monaghan's website (I doubt either fellow cares who gets the credit).
Jeff's site actually consists of a long page of links to other sites, all
related to providing better information for buying used gear. It, in turn,
links to Robert's sites, which cover topics ranging from using medium format
gear to the famed list of "cult classic" third party lenses.
To help surfers know whether they're still "in" the realm of this huge site,
or have left the building to visit other sites, all of the Albro/Monaghan
pages have a blue background by default, and are light on graphics to make
for faster downloads and browsing.
2. The other is Philip Greenspun's baby, photo.net, which is equally
expansive and has many contributors or co-editors by now.
Equally voracious in digesting all things photographic, photo.net has a
better search engine and its own active forums and classifieds (the
Albro/Monaghan sites copy relevant discussions from usenet/newsgroup
threads, but does not actually sponsor an onsite forum). To participate you
merely need to log in with your e-mail address and password. Browsing the
site doesn't require logging in.
In comparison, Monaghan's pages are more to-the-point. He, or other
contributors, present a viewpoint - usually well balanced and informed -
followed by relevant posts from usenet/newsgroup discussions.
Greenspun's site is free-wheeling. He is a verbose, often entertaining
writer. The onsite discussions engender the expected flurry of dittos,
counterpoints and near-flames. But the best part of the site, aside from
the wealth of information, may be Greenspun's tales of travel and adventure
with his dogs. He's a fine, introspective writer - I'm surprised this stuff
hasn't been published in paper form. It's a natural for "summer" reading.
And, at least for me, reading lengthy text on a computer is tiring.
Not that it stops me from running off at the keyboard...
=========================
Lex "Long-Ranger" Jenkins
=========================
Date: Sat, 20 Jan 2001 03:24:11 EST
From: Doggre@xxxxxxx
...someone asking what is bokeh...it would be nice to have a dictionary of
photographic terms...Is there a site online that would fill the bill?
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