Advice on Shift to Electronic Publication

Hello all,

A rather drastic budget cut accompanied by the promise of more to come has prompted our
department to look for ways to save money. One obvious target is the amount we spend
on paper, toner cartridges, and photocopy charges to print materials for public
circulation--Undergraduates Handbooks, Style Manuals, etc. As you might imagine, many
in our department are firmly attached to their little books composed of
landscape-printed 8-1/2 x 11 sheets that have been quired, folded in folio, and stapled
together saddle-style. I'm afraid that without some solid alternatives, the discussion
over electronic options will quickly descend into dueling anecdotes and never
accomplish anything.

Have any faithful readers of Humanist tried a similar move to electronic publication?
Do you have examples of successful models that I might present to the committee charged
with revamping our documents? I can mock-up some prototypes on my own, but as the
resident "computer guy," my contributions are viewed as biased testimony. It would
help a great deal if I could demonstrate that other departments have survived the move
with bookish sensibilities intact.

Thanks as always for your advice,
Dave Gants

________________________________________________________________
David L. Gants *** Canada Research Chair in Humanities Computing
 --- English Dept: 506.458.7401 (VOX) ** 506.453.5069 (FAX) ---
 --- Etext Centre: 506.447.3461 (VOX) ** 506.453.4595 (FAX) ---
 --- University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB * E3B 5A3 ---
Received on Tue Mar 15 2005 - 20:28:02 EST