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Columbia University Press Set To Publish First Ever "Bible" Of Digital Publishing
The Columbia Guide To Digital Publishing will be released in March 2003 in both print and online editions -- and it practices what it preaches. DCLnews reports

GO TO YOUR PUBLIC LIBRARY and you'll still see shelves packed high with books. Check out any school or university and printed textbooks still line the shelves. And bookshops remain full of paperback and hardback books. Clearly, the printed book is not about to become extinct as some pundits predicted a couple of years back. But appearances can be deceptive. The printed book is on the decline in certain quarters. There are currently "bookless" colleges and schools, for example. And in scholarly publishing, electronic journals are fast making their print counterparts obsolete. Reference works are following suit -- from the online encyclopedias used by students writing term papers to the medical reference works consulted by hospital doctors.

Considering the phenomenal rise of digital publishing, up until now, no one thought to publish a definitive guide to the subject -- one covering every angle from both technical and non-technical perspectives. But in March next year, Columbia University Press will publish the epic The Columbia Guide To Digital Publishing, which already looks set to become the bible on the subject. The Guide has an impressive list of authors, including Bill Kasdorf of Impressions Book & Journal Services (Bill is also General Editor of the Guide), and DCL President Mark Gross, who has authored the chapter on data conversion.

The Guide will be available in both print and electronic formats. But the question is, will the two compete?

"The online version of the Guide is designed to complement, not compete, with the printed version," says Bill Kasdorf. "It will be available by subscription to individuals or as an intranet-enabled version to organizations like publishers, libraries, tech companies, printing firms, and so on."

The online edition will also make full use of the capabilities offered by the electronic medium.

"Online readers will be able to access the Guide in three ways," explains Kasdorf. "Firstly, through a table of contents, which organizes the material by subject, topic, and sub-topic. Secondly, through a glossary, which leads the reader from a quick definition of a topic or term to a lengthier discussion in the text of the Guide. And thirdly, via a professionally-created subject index that focuses more on the intellectual organization of the content rather than on topical or structural organization."

On publication, the text of the online version of the Guide will match the print edition exactly. But while the print edition will only be re-issued periodically, the online version will be updated constantly.

Another strength of the forthcoming Guide is it isn't just theory, it practices what it preaches.

"The production and publication of the Guide itself serves as a model of digital publication," continues Kasdorf. "Readers will be given a look behind the scenes to see how the guide was written and edited using style-based Word templates that generate XML. They will also be able to see the online publishing process, which uses a custom-written XML-based Content Management System [CMS]. Plus they'll be able to view the print publishing process."

As far as Kasdorf is concerned everyone in the publishing world needs to digitize the whole process -- from writing, editing, and production, to marketing and distribution.

"No-one involved in publishing can afford to ignore the impact of digital technology," he states. "The benefits are enormous and make it possible to publish more effectively and more economically than ever before."

The Columbia Guide To Digital Publishing will provide the first roadmap to the subject for both seasoned pros and newcomers to publishing electronically.

11/6/2002
DCLnews Editorial

Read more about electronic publishing at DCL Library

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