Business Model Issues in the Development of Digital Cultural Content

This paper examines business model aspects of digitizing cultural content. It is based in large part on a Study conducted by the author and his colleagues for the Department of Canadian Heritage. Based on data collected from several cultural institutions regarding their efforts to digitize content, the study found that implications for the cost side have been significant, leading to explorations of facilities and content sharing programs, formalized budgeting, the need for better copyright expertise and improved mid to long term planning. On the revenue (funding) side, a clear need for more rigorous assessments of user demand emerged. In addition, the possibility of revisiting organizational mandates was identified, as well as various revenue-generating opportunities including sponsorship, user-fees and private/public sector partnerships.

Wall, Gerry. First Monday (2003). Articles>Publishing>Online

CD-ROM Publishing: Personal Coaching from Industry Experts  

Are you considering publishing your documentation on CD-ROM? Sign up for an individual consultation with industry experts. NOTE: This "workshop" takes place in individual 15-minute one-on-one sessions; with three consultants, we can offer 20 sessions. Please try to arrive early and sigh up for your time slot; then you're on your own (for example, to visit exhibits or meet with colleagues) until your session time. This way all participants receive the complete attention of a CD-ROM consultant. We'll work with drop-ins if any time slots remain unassigned.

Gale, John, Stephanie L. Rosenbaum and Pamela Sansbury. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Publishing>CD ROM

Changing the Way the Profession Communicates: A Workshop for Prospective Journal Authors  

This session will help participants understand how to write and submit a manuscript for publication in Technical Communication. It covers the types of articles the journal publishes, its audience, and suggestions for choosing topics, doing research, andpreparing a manuscript.

Hayhoe, George F. STC Proceedings (1997). Articles>Publishing>Writing

Choices, Challenges, and Constraints: Putting Documents on the World Wide Web  

A case study of the Unidata Program Center’s efforts to move information into online formats on the World Wide Web. Types of documents placed on line are discussed, as is the appropriateness of the medium for those documents. The conversion process is looked at. Obstacles to placing information online are also reviewed.

Hicks, Matthew B. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Publishing>Web Design

The Cigarette Papers: Issues in Publishing Materials in Multiple Formats

This paper will describe the products resulting from the Brown and Williamson document collection - two Internet products, one hardcover book, a series of journal articles, and one compact disc (CD) - and comment on associated issues in electronic publications.

Butter, Karen, Robin Chandler, and John Kunze. DLib Magazine (1996). Articles>Publishing>Single Sourcing

Cinderella’s Slipper—Does It Fit Americans and Europeans?  

This paper represents an international study of IBM customers in the U. S., England, and Germany to see what effect the layout of a technical document has on usability for an audience of Americans and Europeans. The results indicate that while Americans and Europeans want most of the same usability features, they do not agree on all features. Communicating effectively with readers from different countries requires that writers work closely with international readers who represent the readers of their document; interview people who represent their audience; work with a document designer before starting the first draft; and test the draft document on representative users.

Ryan, Suzanne V. STC Proceedings (1993). Presentations>Usability>Publishing

Collaborative Learning and Cultural Reproduction in Cyberspace  

Traditional notions of publication are clearly undergoing a massive change in the electronic age. New technologies, and internetworked communications in particular, have blurred the boundaries between the public and the private, the professional and the nonprofessional, the 'published' and the 'unpublished.' Many of us, as teachers in the humanities (admittedly amidst concerns about intellectual property, shifting configurations of literacy, and our own roles in a new paradigm) have embraced the promise of at least one form of electronic publication: publishing our students. It feels a bit awkward to objectify students in that phrase

Payne, Darin. Journal of Electronic Publishing (2001). Academic>Publishing>Online

Color Forecasting

Every year I look forward to the Communication Arts issue that has the color predictions for the coming year. Mostly because I'm fascinated with the subject, but also because I want to see the funny color names they come up with.

Poynter Online (2004). Design>Publishing>Prepress>Color

Color Management Resources

A collection of dozens of links to color management prepress resources.

IPA. Resources>Publishing>Prepress>Color

The Complete Beginner's Guide to Writing Articles

So how do you get started? What do you write about? What do you actually DO with your articles once you've written them? It seems daunting, I know. I was petrified myself when I first started writing articles, I still get nervous every time I start submitting a new article all over the net.

Stewart, Anna-Marie. DevBay (2005). Articles>Writing>Publishing>Online

Computer to Plate Hits High Tide

Technology tends to be an irresistible tide, tugging individuals and businesses toward the newer, the faster, the better, and punishing the holdouts with obsolescence. No industry and no profession can escape that steady march of upgrades and improvements. Computer-to-plate imaging (CtP) has certainly not been an exception, driving all but niche shops to abandon the old (film imagesetters) for the promise of the new.

Franklin, Tom. Digital Output (2003). Design>Publishing>Prepress>Printing

Conditions for Viable Scholarly Electronic Journals: The Role of Digital Libraries

Three characteristics of hard-copy scholarly journals--visibility, immutability and longevity--which electronic journals might emulate to gain more acceptance and trust of potential authors and readers, are pointed out. The role of digital libraries in helping electronic journals in the emulation is also discussed.

Yamamoto, Takeo. ISRDP in Digital Libraries (1997). Articles>Publishing>Online

Consortia vs. Reform: Creating Congruence  

Margaret Landesman, the head of collection development at the Marriott Library, University of Utah, and Johann van Reenen, assistant professor and director of the Centennial Science and Engineering Library, University of New Mexico, discovered that two of the most popular solutions to the serials crisis may cancel one another out.

Landesman, Margaret and Johann Van Reenen. Journal of Electronic Publishing (2000). Academic>Publishing>Online

Creating a PDF File  

This handout can help you with your PDF problems in Acrobat 3, 4, and 5. This handout does not attempt to address the Truth, but tries to share some hard-won advice about consistently getting good PDF.

Anthrobytes Consulting (1999). Design>Publishing>Online>Adobe Acrobat

Creating a Usable Electronic Newsletter In House

Many organizations are opting to convert existing print publications into electronic newsletters (e-newsletters)—and for good reason. E-newsletters can be developed for a fraction of the cost of their print counterparts and delivered to a global audience instantly. While marketers are discovering the ease of reaching a target audience with e-mail, many e-mail users are frustrated by the barrage of e-newsletters that muddle their inboxes monthly, weekly, or even daily. An onslaught of unsolicited commercial e-mail (spam) has made readers wary of marketing attempts. To reach these wary readers, companies need to create e-newsletters that respond to their audience’s specific needs—namely usability and trust. By following a few guidelines, you can launch a usable and successful e-newsletter.

Lawless, Amy. Usability Interface (2003). Design>Publishing>Web Design>Usability

Creating Online Newsletters Without Pain and Aggravation  

Online newsletters can be a surprisingly effective means of distributing information among engineers. The paper presents a tested low-anxiety method for creating newsletters to facilitate information transfer among engineers in a hi-tech environment.

Huntington, Don. STC Proceedings (2001). Design>Publishing>Online>Newsletters

Creating PDF Files from FrameMaker Documents

An issue that has come up over and over again on several FrameMaker and Acrobat/PDF email lists as well on the corresponding Adobe User-to-User forums is that of creation of PDF files. FrameMaker 5.5.6 and 6 have what looks like a convenient feature that is supposed to allow you to create PDF files via simply saving the document as a PDF file. I have gone on record as advising end-users not to use this approach for reliable creation of PDF files from FrameMaker documents under Windows and MacOS with FrameMaker 6 and earlier. Why do I most vociferously offer this advice and why doesn't the problem get fixed? And how SHOULD you create PDF files from FrameMaker?

Isaacs, Dov. InFrame. Design>Publishing>Online>Adobe Acrobat

Cross-Platform Publishing  

Desktop publishing has evolved tremendously over the last 10 years, coming from manual paste-up and manual design to complete digital photo-editing and digital graphic design. The challenges and issues we face in the translation industry are directly related to the authoring methods and build-environments of today’s writers. One of the biggest issues to date is the use of more than one platform for the authoring and localization (translation) of texts, ads, publications and software. The two most prominent platforms used for publishing media are the PC platform (Win 95 & 98) and the Macintosh. When a document is created, it is often authored for the source language; in other words, the authoring is not done with translation in mind.

Knoerndel, Dan. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Publishing>Document Design

Crossing the Divide    

This essay summarizes the editor's views of publication in the field of human-computer interaction. Digital technologies have begun changing the way journal articles and conference papers are produced, reviewed, published, accessed, and used. This period of profound change presents challenges and opportunities for both new and existing channels of scientific and technical communication.

Grudin, Jonathan. ACM TOCHI (2004). Articles>Research>Publishing>Online

D-Lib Magazine

D-Lib Magazine is a solely electronic publication with a primary focus on digital library research and development, including but not limited to new technologies, applications, and contextual social and economic issues. The magazine is published eleven times a year and is released monthly, except for the July and August issues which are combined and released in July. The full contents of the magazine, including all back issues, are available free of charge at the D-Lib web site (http://www.dlib.org) as well as multiple mirror sites around the world. The primary goal of the magazine is timely and efficient information exchange for the digital library community. To meet this goal, both the articles and the shorter pieces are solicited or selected from among unsolicited submissions.

D-Lib Magazine. Journals>Publishing>Online

Database Management: Data Into Dollars

Imagine controlling your customers' information, including how it is updated, managed, printed and distributed. Printers that provide database management services don't have to dream about such a scenario.

Bauer, Chris. Printing Impressions (2006). Articles>Publishing>Databases

Deconstructing the Author Photo

Let's be honest. Writers used to be a homely lot and most of them still are. The general unattractiveness that spurs them to write in the first place (versus, say, leaving the house) is compounded by a characteristic, bloodshot squint earned through hours of deciphering Canada Council grant applications and the night before's Molson marinade, downed to obliterate the rejection-letter blues. Lighting and soft lenses can only hide so much. Yet publishers insist on including the author's photo on the book jacket, their unsightly portraits like roadside accidents from which you can't turn away. Trolls belong under the bridge, not on the bridge's architectural brochure.

Boucher, Lorie. Writer's Block (2002). Articles>Publishing>Marketing