Doug Chaplin has uploaded Biblical Studies Carnival XLVIII over at Clayboy. He did a great job with the Carnival once again. In a follow-up post today he raises some good question about the future of the Biblical Studies Carnivals. His concerns are nothing new; I have raised them a number of times before. The basic problem is that monthly Carnivals are just too onerous for the typical blogger to do.

Doug presents a three directions the Carnival could go:

1. No change (I see this as problematic)
2. Rely on Biblical Studies Carnival submissions (either via the BSC submission page or email), rather than the hosts being responsible to troll the blogosphere for the contents of the Carnival.
3. Have the host do a theme post with people commenting.

In addition, Mike Kok commented about the possibility of dividing the carnival (a New Testament and a Hebrew Bible one, for instance).

In my mind, the second option is the only real live option. The first option is not viable. The Carnivals are too much work and too big (if you look back through my regular call for hosts, you will see I have regularly noted this). A Carnival is supposed to be a collection of links with commentary on a common topic (in this case biblical studies). When you start getting more than a hundred links, it is just too big. One month is also quite a long period in the blogosphere, so perhaps more frequent Carnivals?

The third option is, well, problematic because such a post is not a Carnival. I’m not saying that it is not a good idea; it is just not what a carnival is.  Mike’s idea of splitting the Carnival is a possibility, although I am not interested in too much specialization. I personally am far more interested in integration and having the various sub-disciplines within biblical studies talk to each other.

My proposal is thus:

• Have Biblical Studies Carnivals twice a month. This will cut down on the workload and make the Carnivals more relevant and useful.
• Keep the focus on academic biblical studies. The host is the editor and one of his/her jobs is to keep the Carnival on track; if something is submitted that is not deemed on target, then it gets ignored.
• Focus primarily on nominated submissions. It is not possible for a typical blogger to be apprised of everything that is going on in connection with biblical studies on the blogosphere. Few if any of us keep on top of all of the people that blog in the area of biblical studies. This will also mean that there is no reason for someone to feel put out because his or her post was not mentioned. We all will have to do a better job submitting links to the Carnival; but I am sure once we get used to the idea it will work well (because there is an unwritten expectation that the host will gather links, most people do not submit posts regularly — I know because I take care of the email account!).

What do you think? Eventually we could move to weekly Carnivals, but twice a month seems like a better plan for now.

If this seems like a good idea, then let’s go for it. Since I am the host of the next Carnival, I will rely solely on nominated links. Since I am the coordinator of the Biblical Studies Carnivals I will only pick hosts that agree to this new procedure (having someone host who doesn’t rely only on submissions would be subversive since it wouldn’t help train people to submit their own posts or those they like).

Let me know what you think!

The month is almost over, so make sure to nominate some posts for Biblical Studies Carnival XLVIII, which will be hosted by Doug Chaplin over at his blog, clayboy. The Carnival will highlight posts relating to academic biblical studies for the month of November and should be posted in the first week of December 2009.

As I said last month, it’s a huge job to host the monthly Carnival (just ask any mortal who has hosted it before), and it makes it a lot easier if you nominate posts. Part of me wants to do what many carnivals do (e.g., the Christian Carnival) and only note posts that were actually nominated. Then the job of hosting would actually be reasonable and no one could complain about the host not mentioning their post, since you would be responsible to self-nominate. Enough of my rant…

Help Doug out and nominate some posts today! To nominate posts you have two options:

1. Send the following information to the following email address: biblical_studies_carnival AT hotmail.com. If you’re not sure whether a post qualifies, send it anyway and the I will decide whether to include it.
   • The title and permalink URL of the blog post you wish to nominate and the author’s name or pseudonym.
   • A short (two or three sentence) summary of the blog post.
   • The title and URL of the blog on which it appears (please note if it is a group blog).
   • Include “Biblical Studies Carnival [number]” in the subject line of your email
   • Your own name and email address.
2. Use the submission form provided by Blog Carnival. (This is probably the easier option if you only have one nomination.) Just select “biblical studies carnival” and fill in the rest of the information noted above.

For more information, please see the spiffy new  Biblical Studies Carnival Homepage.

(I was remiss and failed to note the posting of Kevin Scull’s superb Biblical Studies Carnival XLVII at his  Paul of Tarsus blog. If you haven’t already, make sure to check it out!)

We’re in the second half of the month and every responsible biblioblogger should be nominating posts for Biblical Studies Carnival XLVII, which will be held over at Kevin Scull’s Paul of Tarsus blog. It will highlight posts relating to academic biblical studies for the month of October and should be posted in the first week of November 2009.

It’s a huge job to host the monthly Carnival (just ask any mortal who has hosted it before), and it makes it a lot easier if you nominate posts. Part of me wants to do what many carnivals do (e.g., the Christian Carnival) and only note posts that were actually nominated. Then the job of hosting would actually be reasonable and no one could complain about the host not mentioning their post, since you would be responsible to self-nominate. Enough of my rant…

Help Kevin out and nominate some posts today! To nominate posts you have two options:

1. Send the following information to the following email address: biblical_studies_carnival AT hotmail.com. If you’re not sure whether a post qualifies, send it anyway and the I will decide whether to include it.
   • The title and permalink URL of the blog post you wish to nominate and the author’s name or pseudonym.
   • A short (two or three sentence) summary of the blog post.
   • The title and URL of the blog on which it appears (please note if it is a group blog).
   • Include “Biblical Studies Carnival [number]” in the subject line of your email
   • Your own name and email address.
2. Use the submission form provided by Blog Carnival. (This is probably the easier option if you only have one nomination.) Just select “biblical studies carnival” and fill in the rest of the information noted above.

For more information, please see the spiffy new  Biblical Studies Carnival Homepage.

The October edition of the Biblical Studies Carnival (number 46) is online over at The Hebrew and Greek Reader.  Daniel and Tonya have done a great job highlighting the best of biblical studies in the blogosphere for the month of September 2009. Please make sure to check it out.

The next Carnival will be hosted at the beginning of November 2009 by Kevin Scull over at his blog, Paul of Tarsus. Make sure to nominate copious posts!

For more information about the Biblical Studies Carnival, check out the Carnival Homepage.

This is just a friendly reminder to NOMINATE posts for the next Biblical Studies Carnival, to be hosted by Daniel and Tonya over at Hebrew and Greek Reader. The Carnival will be number XLVI and should be posted close to the first of October, 2009.

I want to emphasize to everyone how important it is that you nominate your own posts as well as those of others. It is a huge job to pull together the monthly Biblical Studies Carnival — if you don’t believe me ask someone who has hosted one! It makes the host’s job so much easier if your submit some entries with a link, title, short description, etc. (see directions below)

And may I say to any WOMEN bibliobloggers out there, that a great way to get traffic to your blog and raise the profile of women bloggers is to nominate some of your posts for the Carnival. Even better, why not volunteer to HOST a Carnival? In the past I have sent emails around to women bibliobloggers asking them to host, and I only had one response: Judy Redman, who hosted Biblical Studies Carnival XXXVIII at her Judy’s Research Blog in February 2009.  If you want to host, send me an email and I’ll slot you in.  For other potential hosts: you do not need to be in the Biblioblog Top 50 to host a Carnival!

How to Nominate Posts

In order to save the host considerable work, please nominate some posts today (and tomorrow, the next day, and the day after that…) It’s really easy. You have two options:

1. Send the following information to the following email address: biblical_studies_carnival AT hotmail.com. If you’re not sure whether a post qualifies, send it anyway and the I will decide whether to include it.
   • The title and permalink URL of the blog post you wish to nominate and the author’s name or pseudonym.
   • A short (two or three sentence) summary of the blog post.
   • The title and URL of the blog on which it appears (please note if it is a group blog).
   • Include “Biblical Studies Carnival [number]” in the subject line of your email
   • Your own name and email address.
2. Use the submission form provided by Blog Carnival. (This is probably the easier option if you only have one nomination.) Just select “biblical studies carnival” and fill in the rest of the information noted above.

For more information, please see the spiffy new  Biblical Studies Carnival Homepage.

I have posted some additional information for future hosts of the Biblical Studies Carnival over at the Carnival homepage. I have hosts into next year, but if you still want to volunteer, please leave a comment and I’ll slot you in.

I have two items of business for the Biblical Studies Carnival to take care of:

Nominate Posts

First, just a reminder to nominate some posts for the next carnival, which will be hosted by my former student, MA student, and new blogger, Michael Kok over at his blog, The Golden Rule. Biblical Studies Carnival XLV will feature posts on the topic of academic biblical studies written in the month of August, 2009, and should be online sometime in the first week of September 2009.

In order to save the host considerable work, please nominate some posts today (and tomorrow, the next day, and the day after that…) It’s really easy. You have two options:

1. Send the following information to the following email address: biblical_studies_carnival AT hotmail.com. If you’re not sure whether a post qualifies, send it anyway and the I will decide whether to include it.
   • The title and permalink URL of the blog post you wish to nominate and the author’s name or pseudonym.
   • A short (two or three sentence) summary of the blog post.
   • The title and URL of the blog on which it appears (please note if it is a group blog).
   • Include “Biblical Studies Carnival [number]” in the subject line of your email
   • Your own name and email address.
2. Use the submission form provided by Blog Carnival. (This is probably the easier option if you only have one nomination.) Just select “biblical studies carnival” and fill in the rest of the information noted above.

Hosts Required

The October Carnival will be hosted over at Daniel & Tonya’s, Hebrew and Greek Reader. After that the schedule is pretty much wide open, so send me an email and let me know what month you would like to host (give me a couple options so I can work out a schedule). I will give preference to first time hosts, women bibliobloggers, and people who have the same views as I do except if they have eponymous blogs and like Zwingli! 😉

For more information, please see the spiffy new  Biblical Studies Carnival Homepage.

Good Ol’Jimmy Bob West will have you in stitches with his caustic odd sarcastic humorous take on the forty-fourth Biblical Studies Carnival over at his stomping grounds, Jim West. The Zwinglian-turned-comedian has rounded up all of the carnival freaks and produced a Biblical Studies Carnival to remember (or forget?).

I should also mention that there is a brand spanking new Biblical Studies Carnival homepage at my recently renovated Codex site. And while I have the next couple Carnivals organized, I’m looking for hosts for the fall and winter, so please let me know if you are interested.

The next Carnival will be hosted by my former student and newbie blogger, Mike Kok (it sounds like Coke) at his blog, The Golden Rule.

Oh, yes, any and all malcontents should direct their complaints about the current carnival to its host — I only organize these things! (Good job Jimmy!)

This is just a friendly reminder to submit some of your favourite posts of the month of July to the next Biblical Studies Carnival that will be hosted by blogger extrordanaire Jim West over at his blog, Dr. Jim West (if that is its name for this month!).

In order to save the host considerable work, please nominate some posts today (and tomorrow, the next day, and the day after that…) It’s really easy. You have two options:

1. Send the following information to the following email address: biblical_studies_carnival AT hotmail.com. If you’re not sure whether a post qualifies, send it anyway and the I will decide whether to include it.
   • The title and permalink URL of the blog post you wish to nominate and the author’s name or pseudonym.
   • A short (two or three sentence) summary of the blog post.
   • The title and URL of the blog on which it appears (please note if it is a group blog).
   • Include “Biblical Studies Carnival [number]” in the subject line of your email
   • Your own name and email address.
2. Use the submission form provided by Blog Carnival. (This is probably the easier option if you only have one nomination.) Just select “biblical studies carnival” and fill in the rest of the information noted above.

For more information, please see the Biblical Studies Carnival Homepage.

This is just a friendly reminder to submit some of your favourite posts of the month of June to the next Biblical Studies Carnival that will be hosted by Pat McCullough at kata ta biblia.

In order to save the host considerable work, please nominate some posts today (and tomorrow, the next day, and the day after that…) It’s really easy. You have two options:

1. Send the following information to the following email address: biblical_studies_carnival AT hotmail.com. If you’re not sure whether a post qualifies, send it anyway and the I will decide whether to include it.
   • The title and permalink URL of the blog post you wish to nominate and the author’s name or pseudonym.
   • A short (two or three sentence) summary of the blog post.
   • The title and URL of the blog on which it appears (please note if it is a group blog).
   • Include “Biblical Studies Carnival [number]” in the subject line of your email
   • Your own name and email address.
2. Use the submission form provided by Blog Carnival. (This is probably the easier option if you only have one nomination.) Just select “biblical studies carnival” and fill in the rest of the information noted above.

For more information, please see the Biblical Studies Carnival Homepage.