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On-Demand Publishing in the Humanities
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Project web site
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http://www.livjm.ac.uk/on_demand/
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Programme area
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On-demand Publishing
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Contact details
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Phil Sykes
The Aldham Robarts Learning Resource Centre
Liverpool John Moores University
Mount Pleasant
Liverpool
L3 5UZ
Phone: 0151 2313147
Fax: 0151 707 1307
Email:
p.sykes@livjm.ac.uk
Dr Peter Childs
School Of Media, Critical and Creative Arts
Liverpool John Moores University
Phone: 0151 231 5021
Fax: 0151 321 5049
Email:
p.childs@livjm.ac.uk
Project description
as of June 3rd 1997
Introduction
Meeting the demand for multiple copies of set texts is a
major problem for academic libraries. This project set out
to examine the benefits and the potential difficulties of
using on-demand publishing by developing a "cheap and
cheerful", WWW-based, model for making electronic texts
available to specific student groups over a university
network.
Description
"Electronic course booklets" were created for three modules
offered by Liverpool JMU's School of Media, Critical and
Creative Arts, consisting of copyright material supplied by
publishers and material supplied by course lecturers. These
were made available, free, to students registered for the
modules simply by using Netscape, with no underlying
database software.
The project aimed for maximum transferability: the intention
behind the project is to create a model for networking texts
and monitoring their use which other institutions can copy
easily and cheaply, without investing in expensive, project-
specific, software and equipment.
Key Achievements
A model has been developed which is easy for other
institutions to copy, and for which the set-up costs are
extremely modest (under 2000 pounds for hardware and software
provided the institution has a web server and a PC is
available).
Adequate levels of document security were built into the
model, despite the constraints of the "cheap and cheerful"
approach.
Users' responses to the materials was thoroughly
investigated, and are fully documented in the project web
pages.
The interface to the materials is effective and easy to use,
and embodies a number of features which "add value" to the
printed original.
Timetable
Electronic booklets for three modules were prepared. The
first was made available in the Spring Semester of 1996; the
second and third were launched at the beginning of the
Autumn Semester of 1996; the first module was then re-run,
with modifications, in the Spring Semester of 1997.
Dissemination Activities
Workshops are being held to disseminate the project finding
during the Spring and Summer of 1997. A final project report
will be made available on the eLib web pages in Summer 1997.
As well as containing a "how to" description of the model
developed, the report will analyse the costs, benefits and
problems of introducing on demand publishing in a large,
teaching-led, university and evaluate the experience of each
of the major groups affected by the project.
Materials Available Online
The project web pages are accessible through the eLib web
pages, or directly
from the on-demand web site. Guests may access the
basic interface to the JMU "Postmodernism and Fiction"
module available to students, though copyright materials are
security protected.
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