Proof and Press

Tags

Handbook, Indexing, Printing, Publishing

It all went very quiet with the Handbook over the summer.  I was on hols, super editor on hols, other Facet folk on hols …

Anyway, it’s all happening again.  I’ll be getting a list of queries from the copy editor in a week or so, and then proofs sometime in October, which I will need to check; I’ll also be doing the index.   It’s exciting – I’ve published in printed form before, but not really been involved in the copy/proof side.

I think I will find it strange to return to the book.  I lived with it so intensely from April to June, and then it was over.  I haven’t looked at the text since I sent it off, though of course the issues discussed are part of my working life and I’m always engaging with and writing about them.

I don’t exactly look forward to the copy/proof stage, but I know that it is necessary to make the book the very best it can be, as useful as possible to its readers.  I’m not precious about my text.   I expect that my grammar and punctuation will be dodgy in places – I have certain quirks, and constant use of social media probably hasn’t helped.  It’s great that Facet edit their books properly.  I always think it’s so sad when a book which could have been amazing with a bit of care (sorting the structure, honing the text)  just comes out as OK.  I’m determined that won’t happen to Handbook.

(Cheers to -Kj. for the pic, from flickr).

Incunabubbles

Tags

Bradford, Incunabula, Libraries, Printed Books, Printing, Rare Books, Universities

I enjoyed looking at the University of Glasgow’s Incunabula Project earlier today, which got me thinking about Bradford’s incunabula.  Or rather, our lack of them.  (Incunables/incunabula are books printed with movable type before 1501, the term coming from the idea of the cradle or early years of printing).

Special Collections at Bradford includes many volumes from the handpress era; our oldest book is a 1639 edition of Bacon’s Essays.   Pretty historic; and to most of our users, an impressive survival.   However, in some ways, I wish we had more earlier books.  I find pre-1501 books exciting not just because they are old, or quaint, or beautiful, but because they show printers beginning to understand a new way of communication.  Printed books start out looking like manuscripts, and then the potential of the new techniques begins to be seen: title pages, contents pages, italic type etc.  (I feel that we are in a similar situation with the internet and electronic communication: the growth of social media, linked data etc begins to reveal the true potential of these new ways of communication).  Anyway, I try to visit or view online incunabula and other printed books whenever I can.

There are particular reasons why Bradford does not have incunabula, if one thinks about the ways universities get such materials: inheritance from earlier times, donation, purchase.  We didn’t exist when such books were the normal stock of a library, unlike Oxbridge colleges or older universities.  We received our Charter in 1966, which is rather late to benefit from the kind of philanthropy which would collect and then donate large collections of historic books.  The University grew out of a technical college, then an institute of technology, adding social and political concerns when we became a University.  Our humanities teaching and research tends to relate to our locality and the radical traditions of the region: modern history, archaeology – rather than bibliohistory and medieval studies.  Our Special Collections reflect Bradford’s radical traditions and industries, the story of Yorkshire, and our concern for applied knowledge, in particular peace studies.  Fortunately, this means we have so many great collections, full of stories and visual interest, that I don’t miss the very early printed books toooo much.

Meet up in the Year 2000?

Tags

Internet, Printing, Web

Over the last month or so, I have spent a lot of time in the year 2000 (I managed at the same time to be immersed in 1940*!). I’ve been clearing out my filing cabinets, and auditing/rewriting the Special Collections web pages before we move to the content management system this winter. I created most of the contents of cabinets and web pages between 2000-2004.

Revisiting my work from those years really brought home to me how my working practices have changed.  I still spend a lot of time at my PC, but what I do there, and how I feel about it, is very different.  I also do much more work at home or when mobile.

I trust our systems and servers more so I print out much less.  I certainly don’t back up onto floppy disks any more!  When I save onto my memory stick, it is to carry work about, not for ultimate safekeeping.

Much of my marketing, networking, and just keeping up to date has moved. I remember how much I used to enjoy writing web pages.  I no longer find this deeply satisfying: it has become a chore.  I get the enjoyment I used to get from playing around with html now from social media, especially twitter and my family of blogs, where I feel free to be creative. I spend a lot more time on cloud-based media, less on conventional web pages or mailing lists.

In future posts, I’ll try to tease out why I made these changes and look at what I do now with social media.

* Writing weekly Postscripts.