I traveled a lot, and almost always I would have JFK books or other research documents with me. In regard to the book and the web site, yes, I think that my publisher and I see this as the future for historical writing. It is a way to give the reader access to the primary research documents, photos, and other material that could not be put into a book. We are hoping to enhance the site to contain audio and video clips of interviews and other contextual material.
As time passes the trail grows cold, yet as time passes more and more documents come to light as they are declassified. Is the time lag between an event and the release of information through the FOIA (Freedom Of Information Act) too long?
Yes, the time lag is far too long. It keeps researchers from seeing material that would allow them to interview primary sources while their memories are relatively fresh. With the existing system it is questionable whether sources will even be alive, never mind about what they can recall. Of course that may be desirable for some of the parties involved.
It totally defeats private and independent investigations of criminal activities. The HSCA investigation was defeated by the very agencies that it needed for access to the source documents. Unfortunately the HSCA committed the double sin of then classifying what material they did manage to turn up, effectively preventing anyone from checking their findings.
How big a help were online resources in your research? For example I noticed that there is a very active Usenet newsgroup about JFK, and a cursory look shows your name mentioned; did any help come from this arena?
Online resources are immensely helpful as long as they are of professional quality and historically vetted. Good examples are the National Archives, History Matters, The Mary Ferrell Archives and the JFK Lancer site.
Unfortunately there are also a host of sites that contain rumor and speculation rather than hard facts. Research on the web is a double-edged sword.
As far as the Usenet forums go, they are a valuable source for meeting and evaluating other researchers and for getting help with questions. I have met a lot of extremely good people. However, most of the new and groundbreaking work tends to come from more private forms of communication.
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