Military kilt forum?

[Steve Ashton]

After discussion among the staff it was felt that here was actually two components to Jock's suggestion.

The first component was a suggestion that a new forum section be created specifically for the discussion of the uniforms, history and details of kilted military units.
The discussion among the staff agreed that the creation of a specific forum section for this topic could be a good addition to the forum.

A new forum section has been created as a child of the existing History and Heritage forum section.
This new forum section is under the "Ask our Experts" general banner. Let's make it a place for research and a source of answers from our resident experts.

(As this forum section will deal with the military it will be exempt from the restriction of weapons being posted only within the weapons section as laid out in Rule #11. It will however conform to the same guidelines as listed within the weapons section.)

Please note that this section is in response to just the first component of the suggestion.


The second component of the suggestion was a bit harder to generate any interest among the staff. While it was agreed that creating a specific place for discussion of the history and heritage of kilted military units, some concern was expressed that it could become yet another repository of random photos.

The second component of the suggestion was a question about where would be the appropriate section for all the threads containing random photos found on the internet, within member private collections, and unusual things found on sale sites such as EBay.
There is no specific forum section that covers all of these different types of threads.
The staff realize that surfing the web for kilt photos is a pastime enjoyed by some of our members.
It is also realized that a few of our members have vast personal collections of photos, memorabilia, and collectibles.
And it is also realized that more than a few of our members keep up to date on the sales listed on the various internet sales sites.

One concern that we have always had was over respect for intellectual property rights. There are internet sites that are in the business of selling art, photos, and memorabilia. Some post photos of their wares. Lifting those photos and posting them here could, and has on occasional, been a problem. Some photos have had to be removed due to copyright or intellectual property right infringement. We have repeatedly asked our members to respect these rights.

Members with personal collections have a right to be proud of their collections. Other members enjoy when items from personal collections are shared with the membership.

And finally there are some very interesting items offered for sale on the internet. Sometimes the descriptions and/or the knowledge base of the seller is not up to X Marks standards. Many members appreciate when one of our experts post a warning to buyers or goes into detail that their expertise can lend to a full understanding of what an item actually is.

No interest was shown among the staff for a separate, dedicated forum section that would try, or could, cover all of these possibilities.

The Staff would like to thank Jock Scot for his suggestion. It is hoped that the solution presented will address the first component of his suggestion.
For now it is felt that we must table the second component of the suggestion.