Product Description

The computer revolution has changed how information is published and distributed around the world. Each person involved in some aspect of the process may be well versed in how his or her part works, but may not understand how the other parts work or how they fit together. For everyone who works in the field, whether book, journal, newspaper, or magazine publishing; catalog or directory publishing; web and e-book publishing; to compositors, printers, agents, and authors: The Columbia Guide to Digital Publishing represents the only comprehensive reference work that covers all aspects of publishing in the digital era. Written by a distinguished roster of experts, the Guide provides quick answers on specific topics and gives an authoritative overview of more broad-ranging information. To make the content as accessible as possible, the Guide features a glossary, detailed table of contents with locators offering an easy avenue to every topic and subject area, as well as a name index, and a general index. Here at last is an up to the minute resource to keep everyone who needs to know abreast of the ever-changing advances in digital publishing technology.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #675275 in Books
• Published on: 2003-01
• Released on: 2003-01-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 816 pages

Review

"A truly interactive resource.... The guide targets professionals and nonprofessionals, and the result is both thorough and readable.... Recommended especially for public and academic libraries." -- Library Journal

"The editor and contributors, who have distinguished careers in digital publishing, have exerted great effort to include all relevant information for beginners, yet they offer enough detail to capture the attention advanced users without expanding to a multivolume work or becoming too long... A superb opening gesture for creating a dialog on the scholarly communication process." -- Choice

"In a world where all things electronic have become dominant, this remarkable volume serves as a comprehensive handbook to every conceivable aspect of digital publishing.... This valuable compendium is most highly recommended for all collections." -- John Maxymuk, American Reference Books Annual

"Columbia's guide was created and edited in a text-encoded electronic format that has been used to derive both the print and Web versions.... A solid electronic resource with good content.... Recommended." -- Choice

"An excellent technical overview of the constantly evolving world of electronic publishing. Updates and hyperlinks add value to the online version, which is well organized and easy-to-use." -- Booklist

"Much is neatly packed into this encyclopedia of information on everything ranging from digital-rights management to digital legal issues." -- Columbus Dispatch

"This book will be a very welcome addition to the bookshelf of anyone working with any form of digital publishing. It is by far the most thorough, authoritative digital publishing reference source available. Editor William Kasdorf, Past President of the Society for Scholarly Publishing, has pulled together an impressive array of experts to produce this definitive guide." -- The Indexer

"The Guide is remarkably successful in fulfilling its intentions... It was a pleasant surprise to discover that although the book does contain many references to specific hardware devices and software programs, it contextualizes these references in discussions that will remain relevant for years to come." -- Maria S. Bonn, Portal: Reviews

"[C]lear out a prominent space on your bookshelf for The Columbia Guide to Digital Publishing... [T]his guide is a compendium of in-depth articles on all these aspects of digital publishing and more, each written by an expert in the field.... Destined to become a classic, The Columbia Guide to Digital Publishing will be the Bible you turn to again and again, whether you need to make publishing decisions large and small, or share a teaching resource with a manager or staff member." -- Darrill Anderson, Technical Communication

" The Columbia Guide to Digital Publishing is the War and Peace of digital communication resources. It is epic in scope and exhaustive in detail, historic, and prophetic. An original. A universe. It's long but it's all substance... The Columbia Guide may be new and it may be the first of its kind, but it has the makings of a classic." -- Linda Hengstler, Science Editor

Review

"I like the project and the best compliment I can give is, 'where can I buy one?'" -- Troy Linker, Director of Publishing Technology, American Library Association

About the Author
William Kasdorf is president of Impressions Book and Journal Services and is also President of the Society for Scholarly Publishing. He is a frequent speaker at conferences across the country on various subjects related to digital publishing. He lives in Ann Arbor, MI.

Customer Reviews

Terribly out of date
Though I contributed to this volume, and it was excellent when first published in 2002, it is now sadly quite out of date and of limited value. I've been pushing the publisher for years to organize an update, as the book is unique in its breadth and depth, and needs only to be revised to regain its value. It was briefly available online, which was going to make it possible for each of the authors to update their sections, but this hasn't been maintained either. Wait for the new edition (if there ever is one): to many of the facts contained in the book would now have to be considered misleading because new information has superseded them.

An Excellent Introduction if you are New to the Field
The first sentence of this book says: 'Today, virtually all publishing is digital to some extent, whether content is delivered electronically or in print.' He is right, and this large (750 page) book covers virtually every aspect of the digital aspect of document production, manufacture, distribution and everything else. The book is produced by a group of people with experience in all aspects of the industry. They are consultants, analysts, professors, authors, printers, journalists, and come from industry, universities, consulting and publishing firms.

Most of the book is on the technical aspects, the hardware, software communications that allow the creation, management and distribution of digital documents.

The last part of the book is on marketing, copyrights and so on. I believe this area is a bigger problem than the authors admit. Yes, copyright law has been extended to cover electronic publishing, but how do you handle web sites in Nigeria or China that simply don't follow the rules? What is to keep them from selling your material on their web site?

An overall excellent book for someone new to the field. It is getting a bit dated, and a new edition would be nice to have.

Who writes this drivel?
Yesterday I helped my 10th grade sister with Politics and the English Language by George Orwell. I explained to her why Mr. Orwell says a double negative is bad English.

I highly recommend all the contributors to this book begin with the basics of writing in the English language. Strunk & White is a good read and not too long and I also recommend Mr. Orwell's essay to elucidate exactly why not not is not not not good English.

The most aggravating aspect of this book however isn't the piss poor English. I have school books for my MA in publishing I am supposedly to learn from that are full of grammatical and spelling errors every other page. It happens. I can deal with that.

No, the worst part of this book are the factual errors that just make me want to throw the book out the window in a fit of rage at the sheer lack of research put into it.

Don't believe me? On page 626, the author predicts that in possibly five years technology may be available that will prohibit users from making photocopies of protected material and that this technology may be commercially viable in seven to ten years.

If the author did the slightest amount of research, he would know the technology is already widely used and has been for nearly a decade. The article on wikipedia about the EURion constellation can provide you all the details.

You know I'm really trying to give the book a fair chance. It is a textbook after all, and I am trying, I really am, but I continually question the intelligence of the authors and their competence in the field they are supposed to be experts in every other paragraph.

Don't buy this book. And if you need it for school, photocopy the parts you can stomach to read.