I just added a new link to the resources page. It’s been a while since I’ve added any new resource links, and as I added this one it occurred to me that it would be worth mentioning why I don’t add more links. As a policy, the Lexicon does not include links to any other sites on its pages. We don’t do link exchanges, we don’t put buttons or banners for affiliate sites, and we don’t even tell you when we’ve been nominated for an online award that you’re all supposed to vote for (which means we don’t ever win, sadly). It’s not that we’re stuck up or don’t want to be neighborly. It’s just that we get so many requests that it would be impossible to include everyone. Any link page which we did create that way would be so huge that it would be basically useless as a research tool. Instead, we carefully select sites that we find to be particularly well done and which a serious Potter scholar will need to use in research. That means, for example, that we include links to sites like the The Akashic Record, which is a stunning achievement in Potter scholarship. We also include sites which present Potter information in particularly engaging ways. The new link I’ve added, 12 Grimmauld Place, falls into that category.
There is even bigger news, however. After a few months of working out details, the Lexicon is proud to announce a whole new section, the Hogwarts Library. Some of you might recognize the Library as being the resource website of the alt.fan.harry-potter newsgroup. The Hogwarts Library site has always stood proudly as an independent voice in Harry Potter fandom. Over the years, they have cheerfully and convinvingly taken contrary positions to those of the Lexicon and never feared to offer their own take on Potter research. When it became impossible for the Library to continue as a separate site, I contacted Troels and offered space on the Lexicon to keep the site and that alternative voice alive. I assured him that I didn’t expect the Libray to change one iota because of being affiliated with the Lexicon and the Floo Network and that he and the other staff members would have complete freedom to develop their site in any way they chose. In my opinion, there is nothing more exciting and engaging for a scholar/fan than a variety of viewpoints and an open discussion of ideas. I am thrilled to welcome The Hogwarts Library to the Lexicon and I can’t wait to see where they take their site.
NOTE: The opinions expressed in the Hogwarts Library are those of the individual writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Lexicon or the Floo Network…which is what makes this just so cool, don’t you think?