Rebooting Electronic Literature: Documenting Pre-Web Born Digital Media

Photos of David Kolb's "Socrates in the Labyrinth"



Folio, Front
The folio measures 6” x 9” in size and is made of an off-white, heavy card stock with brown and tan images and text printed in ink. The top of the folio is a tan block around the title "SOCRATES IN THE LABYRINTH" and measures 5 6/16” x 2 6/16”. The space around the title and the inside edge of the tan block border measures 3/16” bottom, 2/16” left, 3/16” top, and 9/16” right of the word labyrinth. The title is milk chocolate in color, left aligned, serif font with light and dark thin outlines, and separated into four lines. Line one reads: “SOCRATES”, line two reads: “IN”, line three reads: ”THE”, and line four reads: “LABYRINTH:”.

The border around the tan block is outlined by a 1/16” line, tan on the left, light tan on the top, dark brown on the right, milk chocolate color on the bottom, and outlined by a 1-pixel black line that cuts through diagonally in the corners. The drop shadow under the title block is a milk chocolate color and measures 5 ½” x 3/16” at the top and 4 6/8” x 3/16” bottom of the diagonal slope.

Text and images are set underneath the title block and covers the middle half of the folio. The text is dark brown, serif font, and separated into three lines. Line one reads: “HYPERTEXT”, line two reads: “ARGUMENT”, and line three reads: “PHILOSOPHY.” The text position is left aligned at the top, nearly centered in the middle, and right aligned at the bottom.

The ASCII art to the left of the text is a light tan data flow diagram showing bubbled texted with arrows that bend and lead down to ASCII art of a circular maze. The text inside of the diagram bubbles is not inked, it is centered in the bubbles, and is in a sans-serif font. The data flow diagram states that “P” and “Q” lead to “S” which leads to “U”, but “R” leads to “T” which also leads to “U”. The longest data flow diagram arrow extends down from the “U” bubble by 7/16”, extends to the right by 1 5/8”, and extends down by 1 ¼” into the center of the maze ASCII art. The circular maze ASCII art is dark brown with random patterns of tiny white dots and extends nearly ½ over the bottom page tan block.

The bottom of the folio contains a tan block that is split into two main parts. The top part of the bottom block is the same color as the block at the top of the folio, the maze ASCII art drop shadow is bottom and right aligned on top, a 1-pixel black border outlines the block, and measures and 5 ½” x 4 13/16” at the top and 5 ½” x 15/16” at the bottom of the diagonal slope. The drop shadow of the maze ASCII art is milk chocolate colored, angled away from the ASCII maze art, and measures 3 13/16” x 11/16”.

The second bottom tan block is around the author’s name “David Kolb” and measures 5 6/16” x 2 3/16”. The title is milk chocolate in color, center aligned, sans-serif font, and contains light and dark thin outlines. The blank space between the title and the inside edge of the tan block border measures 2/16” bottom, ¾” left, ¼” top, and 13/16” right. The border around the tan block is outlined by a 1/16” line, tan on the left, light tan on the top, dark brown on the right, milk chocolate color on the bottom, and outlined by a 1-pixel black line that cuts through diagonally in the corners.


Folio, Back
The folio measures 6” x 9” in size and is made of an off-white, heavy card stock with brown and tan images and text printed in ink.

The top of the folio is the title of the work and is separated into two lines. The title is serif font and dark brown (same as folio cover title). Line one reads: “SOCRATES” and line two reads: “IN THE LABYRINTH”. The line one is adjusted left and from the edge of the folio measures 3/16” left, 5/16” top, 3” right, and approximately 2/16” from line two. The line two is adjusted right and from the edge of the folio measures 1 5/16” left, 13/16” top, ¼” right, and 3/16” to the top of the text reviewing the work.

The review of the work is underneath the title, serif font, centered, dark-brown, covers nearly half of the folio, and is separated into two sections. Section one contains ten lines. Line one reads: “Studded with insights and thought-provoking discussion, Socrates in the”, line two reads: “Labyrinth is a wide-ranging exploration of the relationships between hyper-”, line three reads: “text, rhetoric, and philosophy. Kolb challenges the assumption that linearity.”, line four reads: “is either traditional or desirable in intellectual writing. Socrates in the”, line five reads: “Labyrinth brings out the tradition of nonlinearity in philosophical work—”, line six reads: “from the Socratic dialogues through Hegel—and essays of this hypertext”, line seven reads: demonstrate that a non-linear approach to rhetoric can work exceedingly”, line eight reads: “will in both theory and practice. Kolb sees hypertext as a way to extend phi-“, line nine reads: “losophy in radical new”, and line ten reads: “directions.” Section one measures 11/16” left and ¾” right from the edge of the folio.

Section two is separated by section one by a top 3/16” margin and contains nine lines. Line one reads: “Socrates in the Labyrinth”, line two reads: “shows how most talk”, line three reads: “about hypertext leaves”, line four reads: “unexamined the important work done by many different”, line five reads: “kinds of discourse, and the roles hypertext might”, line six reads: “come to take in those many parts of our lives.”, line seven reads: “This is central reading for those concerned with", line eight reads: “issues of hypertext writing, discourse, rationality,” and line nine reads: “and argument.” Section two measures 11/16” left from the edge of the folio.

The ASCII art to the left and on top of the review text is a light tan data flow diagram showing bubbled texted with arrows that bend and lead down to ASCII art of a circular maze. The text inside the diagram bubbles is not inked, centered in the bubbles, and sans-serif font. The data flow diagram states that “P” and “Q” lead to “S” which leads to “U”, but “R” leads to “T” which also leads to “U.” The flow diagram arrow extends down from the “U” bubble by 7/16”, extends to the right by 3 3/4” through section two’s line four, and extends down by 9/16” into the center of the maze ASCII art. The circular maze ASCII art is faded dark brown with random patterns of tiny white dots and measures ¼” from the right edge of the folio and 3/16” margin from the section two text.

The 2-pixel dark brown border is between section one and two’s review text and aligned to the right and measures 3 3/16” x 15/16”. The border location is ¼” right to the folio edge and 1/16” margin between the border and the review text. The text in the border is separated into four lines. Line one reads: “For even if the line is required, it may”, line two reads: “not necessarily be the single controlling”, line three reads: “element in philosophical writing. Not all”, and line four reads: “paths follow the line.” The text in the border is sans-serif font, left adjusted, dark brown, and the margin to the border is 2/16” top and bottom and 1/16” right and left.

The image of the author David Kolb is under section two’s review, aligned to the left, and measures 14/16” x 1”. The image is shades of dark brown and is outlined by a 1-pixel dark brown line. The location of the image is 3/16” left from the folio edge and 1/16” margin from text.

The biographical information about the author is created in a serif font, centered, dark brown, underneath the review text of section two, covers a quarter of the folio back, and is separated into two paragraphs. Paragraph one contains five lines. Line one reads: “DAVID KOLB is Charles A. Dana Professor of Philosophy at Bates”, line two reads: “College. He hails from the suburbs of New York City, and worked”, line three reads: “briefly in a city planning office in Baltimore, but has spent most of”, line four reads: “his life teaching and writing philosophy. Kolb received his advanced degrees”, and line five reads: “in philosophy at Yale.”

Paragraph two contains four lines. Line one reads: “Kolb’s other books include The Critique of Pure Modernity: Hegel, Heidegger”, line two reads: “and After, and Postmodern Sophistications: Philosophy, Architecture, and”, line three reads: ”Tradition. Kolb enjoys hiking in Maine, travel, reading science fiction,”, and line four reads: “writing and reading hypertext, and, if he had time, the game of go.” The location of the biographical information is 1/16” from the bottom border, 11/16” left, 10/16” top margin to the bottom of the section two review, and ¾” right.

The 1 to 2-pixel border is dark brown, centered, and measures 5 ½” across. The computer information is created in a sans-serif font, dark brown, left aligned, and underneath the dark brown border. The computer information reads: “For (image of a circle) Windowstm or (image of a circle) Macintosh.tm Requires 2 MB RAM and a hard disk drive.” The computer information is located 3/16” left, 2/16” top, 10/16” right, and 3/16” to the top of the publisher’s information. The publisher’s logo and information is underneath the computer information and covers the left half of the folio. The publisher’s logo is dark brown and is a rounded stone doorway in a stoned wall that measures approximately 1 ¼” x 1 1/16”. The publisher’s logo is approximately located ¼” left, 3/16” top, 1/16” left, and ¼” bottom. The publisher’s information is created in a serif font, left aligned, dark brown, and to the right of their logo. It contains six lines. Line one reads: “Published by”, line two reads: “Eastgate Systems INC”, line three reads: “134 Main Street”, line four reads: “Watertown, MA 02172”, line five reads: “(800) 562-1638”, and line six reads: “(617) 924-9044”. The publisher’s information is located 3/16” top and 6/16” to the bottom of the folio.

The ISBN number is sans serif font, dark brown, centered, separates the publisher’s information and the barcode vertically, and reads: “ISBN 1-884511-17-1”. The barcode is centered in the right half of the bottom of the folio and located 5/16” left, 5/16” top, 6/16” right, and 6/16” bottom.







Folio, Spine
The folio spine measures 9” x ¼” in size. The left of the folio spine reads: “Socrates in the Labyrinth”. The center of the folio spine reads: “DAVID KOLB”. The right of the folio spine reads: “Eastgate Systems, Inc.” The words are printed with the dark brown ink matching the color scheme used for the words on the front and back of the folio.


 
Folio, Inside, Opened
Folio, Inside Left: The inside folio page is a sleeve that stores the works and paper materials through a vertical opening. The top of the page contains an advertisement for Eastgate Quarterly Review of Hypertext. The advertisement encourages the reader to subscribe to the Eastgate Quarterly Review of Hypertext for four issues priced at $49.95. The bottom of the page contains the copyright information, trademarks, Eastgate Systems, Inc. logo, and Eastgate Systems, Inc. contact information.

Folio, Inside Right: The inside folio page is a sleeve that stores the works and paper materials through a vertical opening. The top of the page contains a detailed explanation of what Storyspace is, how it is used, why it is good, and reviews from Robert Coover of New York Times Book Review, George Mitrevski of IALL Journal of Language Learning Technologies, and Prof. George Landow of Brown University. The bottom of the page contains the price for Storyspace and a ten pack of Storyspace. The Storyspace text explains that educational discounts are available for all Storyspace products.



CD, Front
The CD has a diameter of 4 7/16”. The CD is dark red with twelve white lines that create large circles that are offset to the bottom right. The publisher’s name is serif font, white, and located to the left and aligned to the top of the clear, circular plastic piece of the CD. The text inside the circles is sans-serif font, white, and separated into two sections. Section one is located top-right in the first circle and reads: “www.eastgate.com”. Section two is located bottom-right and reads: “commodity-firmness-delight”.



Booklet, Front
The booklet front is the same as the cover of the folio, but the color is converted to black and grey inks. The top of the page contains the title Socrates in the Labryinth in a border. The center of the page is the image of a data flow diagram that leads to a circular maze. The text at the center of the page reads: “HYPERTEXT, ARGUMENT, PHILOSOPHY”. The bottom of the page contains the author’s name, David Kolb, in a border.


Booklet, Back
The booklet back is made of white printing paper and measures 5 1/2" x 8 1/2". The page is blank.


Booklet, Pages 1 & 2
Page 1: The top of the page contains a detailed list of information about the software license agreement and a detailed explanation of the limited warranty and disclaimers. The bottom of the page contains the copyright information, trademark information, and contact information and logo for the publisher Eastgate Systems, Inc..

Page 2: The top of the page is the content list of the booklet. The contents include getting started with Macintosh, an introduction to Storyspace for Macintosh, getting started with Windows, an introduction to Storyspace for Windows, words from the author, about the author, and questions. The bottom of the page contains the author’s acknowledgments and reads:

“In writing these texts I have been helped by many people; I would like to thank especially Michael Joyce and George P. Landow for their inspiration, Mark Bernstein and Eric Cohen at Eastgate Systems for encouragement and expert advice, James Parakilis and Mary Hunter for insightful suggestions, and James Bauer, Linda Spugnardi, and Martha Crunkleton for their patient hardware and software support.”
 

Booklet, Blank & 3
Left Page: The left page is blank and not numbered.

Page 3: The page describes how to get started with “Socrates in the Labyrinth” on a Macintosh. The “Socrates in the Labyrinth: Hypertext, Argument, Philosophy” work contains one short-book-length essay, “Socrates in the Labyrinth”, and four short essays. The four short essays are Aristotle Argument, Earth Orbit, Cleavings, and Hybermas Pyramid. The instructions explain that Storyspace or Storyspace Demonstration is needed to run the program. The bottom of the page contains a note explaining that a CD version is available.
 

Booklet, Pages 4 & 5
Page 4: The top of the page contains text within a border that highlights the importance of not installing both Storyspace and Storyspace Demonstration on the same computer. Underneath the border is a numbered list of steps to follow when installing Storyspace Demonstration on a Macintosh. The image of the getting started file and Storyspace Demonstration icon are used in step three.

Page 5: The top of the page contains a numbered list of steps to follow when installing “Socrates in the Labyrinth” on a Macintosh. The images of the five Storyspace files are included in step 3. The information on how to start reading is underneath the installation instructions. The bottom of the page contains instructions about the fonts and explains that Palatino font bold, italic, and bold italic are needed to view the text in the intended format.
 

Booklet, Blank & 7
Left Page: The left page is blank and not numbered. According to the numbering system, this page is number six.

Page 7: The top of the page contains a brief introduction for reading “Socrates in the Labyrinth” with Storyspace for Macintosh. The explanation of window types is underneath the introduction. There are two kinds of windows: text and map.
 

Booklet, 8 & 9
Page 8: The page contains a description of what a map window is and how to use it. Next to each of the textual steps is an image of what should happen on the computer screen.

Page 9: The top of the page contains the last part of a sentence from page eight’s instructions on map windows. The explanation of other map features is underneath the instructions on map windows. The other map features explain how to change the type of view, scale the active view window, magnify the view and overall information about the links between spaces. Next to each of the textual steps is an image of what should happen on the computer screen.
 

Booklet, 10 & 11
Page 10: The top of the page contains a description of what a text window is and how to use it. The image of the text window with the introduction of “Socrates in the Labyrinth” is used as an example. The description of text links is underneath the text windows information. The text links information explains about computer keys and has images of the keys in the instructions.

Page 11: The top of the page is a continuation of page ten and shows an image of a text window with visible links. The instruction for following a link is underneath the image of a text window. The instruction for following a link explains about computer keys. The instruction for following a link has images of the keys in the instructions and an image of the map window’s toolbar to the right of the paragraph. The bottom of the page contains instructions on other navigation tools. The other navigational tools explain about computer keys and have images of the keys in the instructions.
 

Booklet, 12 & 13
Page 12: The page is a continuation of page eleven and finishes the instructions on other navigation tools. The image to the right of the text shows the map window’s toolbar.

Page 13: The top of the page describes how to get started with “Socrates in the Labyrinth” on Windows. The “Socrates in the Labyrinth: Hypertext, Argument, Philosophy”​ work contains one short-book-length essay, “Socrates in the Labyrinth”, and four short essays. The four short essays are Aristotle Argument, Earth Orbit, Cleavings, and Hybermas Pyramid. The instructions explain that Storyspace or Storyspace Demonstration is needed to run the program. The bottom of the page contains a note explaining that a CD version is available. The bottom of the page contains a numbered list of steps to follow when installing “Socrates in the Labyrinth” on Windows.
 

Booklet, 14 & 15
Page 14: The page is a continuation of page thirteen and finishes the instructions on installation on Windows. The images between text and at the bottom of the page show the Storyspace icon for each of the four short essays and “Socrates in the Labyrinth”.

Page 15: The top of the page contains a brief introduction for reading “Socrates in the Labyrinth” with Storyspace for Windows. The explanation of window types is underneath the introduction. There are two kinds of windows: text and map. The bottom of the page contains the first sentence for the description of map windows.
 

Booklet, 16 & 17
Page 16: The top of the page is a continuation of page fifteen and finishes the description of what a map window is and how to use it. Next to each of the textual steps is an image of what should happen on the computer screen.

Page 17:
The page contains a description of other map features. The other map features explain how to change the type of view, scale the active view window, magnify the view and overall information about the links between spaces. Next to each of the textual steps is an image of the buttons and what should happen on the computer screen.
 

Booklet, 18 & 19
Page 18: The top of the page is a continuation of page seventeen and finishes the description of other map features. The bottom of the page contains a description of what a text window is and how to use it. The image of the text window with the introduction of “Socrates in the Labyrinth” is used as an example.

Page 19: The top of the page is a continuation of page eighteen and finishes the description of text windows. Next to each of the button descriptions is an image of the buttons. The bottom of the page contains a description of text links. The text link information explains about computer keys and has an image of the text window as an example.
 

Booklet, 20 & 21
Page 20: The top of the page is a continuation of page nineteen and finishes the description of text links. The rest of the page contains information about the path browser. To the right of the path browser information is an example image of the path browser.

Page 21: The page is an afterword by the author David Kolb titled Some Words of Orientation. The afterword contains information on hypertext, each of the programs in “Socrates in the Labyrinth”, and how the programs are to be utilized.
 

Booklet, 22 & 23
Page 22: The top of the page is a continuation of page twenty-one and finishes the information on hypertext and naming conventions used for the links. The bottom of the page contains a detailed description of each of the four essays and “Socrates in the Labyrinth” and their different argumentative structures.

Page 23: The page is a continuation of page twenty-two and finishes the detailed description of each of the four essays and “Socrates in the Labyrinth” and their different argumentative structures.
 

Booklet, 24 & 25
Page 24: The page contains biographical information about the author David Kolb and an image of the author. The biographical text reads: “DAVID KOLB is the Charles A. Dana Professor of Philosophy at Bates College. He hails from the suburbs of New York, and worked briefly in a Baltimore city planning office, but has spent most of his life teaching and writing philosophy. Kolb’s other books include The Critique of Pure Modernity: Hegel, Heidegger, and After, and Postmodern Sophistications: Philosophy, Architecture, and Tradition. Kolb enjoys hiking in Maine, travel, reading science fiction, writing and reading hypertext, and, if he had time, the game of go.”

Page 25: The page contains the logo and contact information for the publisher Eastgate Systems, Inc.
 

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