Editing Notes and Queries (section)

==Format==
''Notes and Queries'' was first published in 1849 as a weekly [[periodical]] edited by [[William Thoms|W. J. Thoms]].<ref name=vol1/> It was founded as an academic correspondence [[magazine]], in which scholars and interested amateurs could exchange knowledge on [[folklore]], [[literature]] and [[history]]. The format consisted of "Notes" (miscellaneous findings of correspondents that they and the editors considered of interest to the readership), and "Queries" (and responses to queries), which formed the bulk of the publication.<ref name=vol1/> The magazine has been likened to a 19th-century version of a moderated Internet [[newsgroup]].<ref>[http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/YKS/CBW/ynq/ GENUKI Yorkshire Notes and Queries.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120202165127/http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/YKS/CBW/ynq/ |date=2012-02-02 }}</ref>

Many of the entries in the journal for its first seventy years were only a few paragraphs long, and occasionally as short as a sentence or two. Very frequent contributors include the Rev. [[Walter W. Skeat]], one of the most important figures in the field of English [[etymology]], and [[Eliza Gutch]], a founding member of [[The Folklore Society]]. The foundation of such a society was suggested by Gutch through a query to the publication. Gutch contributed to the publication for over seventy years, using the pseudonym "St Swithin".<ref name=DEF>Jacqueline Simpson (Editor), Steve Roud (Editor) (2003). ''A Dictionary of English Folklore''. [[Oxford University Press]]</ref><ref>Peacock, Max. ''The Peacock Lincolnshire word books, 1884-1920'', Barton on Humber: Scunthorpe Museum Society, 1997, p.8. {{ISBN|0-907098-04-5}}</ref>

Today the magazine is produced as an [[academic journal]]. The articles are typically much longer than they were during the journal's early years, though they are still shorter than those of the typical academic journal. In addition, the "Notes" now far outweigh the "Queries", and book reviews have also been introduced. The focus is now almost entirely on literature.