Issues for Resolution in Electronic Publishing

by Barbara Meyers

It has become highly fashionable for (print) publishers to rush into the Electronic Age out of a desire to keep up, to use the technology just because it is there, or to avoid being left behind forever if they don't do it NOW. Electronic publishing has become a sexy keyword ever since the 1980s. Often, however, one needs to stop and find out just how the term is being applied. On the one hand, it is used to define the front-end processing of information through word processors and computers into a digitized format. On the other, it is the dissemination of such information through machine-readable form on a screen, printer, disc, or tape.

Over the last two decades, there was first a plethora of technical articles and meetings concerned with the front-end electronic processing of information followed by an equal number concerned with the ways and means of electronic distribution for information products. This article's focus is on the issues concerning dissemination. In this context, electronic publishing refers to computerized information retrieval (direct access, disc, or tape) as opposed to dissemination via print-on-paper after computerized composition. The "how-to" of this type of retrieval has also been widely discussed and explained. What is the topic of discussion here is whether or not a "print" publisher should in fact "go electronic."

Several issues should be considered in that decision-making process. Of primary importance is the appropriateness of the information for electronic dissemination. How critical is the timeliness of the information? When is it updated? If the information is produced (printed) annually or quarterly, a publisher should pause before deciding that the immediate access provided via computer is essential. Also, the culture of the Internet and the World Wide Web is one where readers expect constant updating of the information to be retrieved. They expect an "evolution" of content with a refreshing or addition of new items of information on a frequency, heretofore only achieved by daily newspapers and wire services. Scholarly publishers need to assess how they can appropriately "stream" their information into an electronic product so that readers will be satisfied with the currency of the material.

Thus, the next question to be asked is whether the volume of information, in terms of historical or current amount, warrants dissemination electronically, as the searching tools available add a value not capable through a print edition. Computers, as we all know, were originally meant to process, store, and output large quantities of data quickly. Thus, small databases sometimes have difficulties sustaining a user's interest or fulfilling a user's needs. Scope is therefore of critical importance.

How the data are used will also influence a publisher's decision concerning electronic publication. A reference check is often done more quickly and economically by pulling a volume down off the shelf than by logging on, setting up a search strategy, and spending the connect charges still associated with many databases. Other usage considerations are functional activity and disciplinary investigations. Senior business management seeks trend information for applications different from those needed by scholars such as social scientists intent on studying behavioral patterns. Users' needs for information in terms of time and applicability are diverse. There is no single model upon which a publisher can formulate an electronic publication plan. Each discipline or speciality is evolving at different speeds and levels in its affinity and degree of comfort in retrieving information electronically.

Frequency of use must also be weighed. If the information contained in the print product is retrieved only quarterly, then unless the sheer amount of data sought or searched through is excessively time-consuming, a manual search and retrieval will probably be more efficient. And users are still prompted by efficiency.

Finally, the importance of browsability and the serendipidity of research should not be underestimated. How easily is the computerized version scanned on the screen by the human eye? Can a user "happen upon" an interesting bit of information that might enhance current lines of investigation or open up new vistas? Newer search tools attempt to mimic such discovery, but have only achieved a certain percentage emulation. Some claim that this is an issue of time efficiency versus results. This is true when one is considering the results of a search in terms of quantity ... also known as the 90% solution. That is, the extra 10% of information retrieved may not be worth the time and effort to achieve it. But, if we define the aspects of browsabiity and serendipity of discovery in terms of quality, then that 10% which might go unfound in a computer search because the "right" keywords weren't used to have a "non-sequitor" piece of information pop up, could mean the difference between continuing down a hackneyed route of research versus discovering a whole new line of investigation.

All the above lead to the most critical question of all: What is really different about this electronic product? Basically, there are five major differences between the print and electronic versions, or editions, of a product:

Formats differ between the printed page and the computer record. Printed material is retrieved by the eye finding the title, author, results, etc. in a journal article, for example. In many computerized versions, each item must be preceded by an identifying "tag" that enables a searcher to retrieve it. With the latest technologies, nearly all of these "tags" are transparent to the user. So, transparent in fact, that oftentimes the printed page is emulated perfectly on the screen. But does this really take advantage of the new technology's capabilities?

The marketing of an online product differs from that of its print counterpart in several ways. For example, promotion is dramatically different; "sample" copies of a computerized product can not always be sent in the mail, as is so often done for a print piece. Initially, the potential user must be "brought" to the product through exhibits or costly on-site demonstrations. Furthermore, there is still a question about the acceptance of such electronic publications as viable avenues for scholarship in terms of tenure and promotion.

There is the matter of education. Users of print products have been taught to read by an industry other than the one producing such products (i.e., the school system). While many schools are becoming "wired," we are a long way from having a totally computer-literate population by way of a public/private education. Electronic products are not merely read; therefore, they require user support mechanisms of a magnitude heretofore unknown to the publishing industry as a whole. Publishers must now teach their customers to use (rather than just read) their products effectively and efficiently. Otherwise, users will not pay for mechanical access to information that is available in the more familiar and comfortable print format. The expertise and costs connected with documentation, training sessions, and user groups should not be underestimated.

Publishing management must consider a new vendor interface. Instead of, or in addition to, a compositor and a printer, there is now the database vendor, CD-ROM producer, Internet publication service provider. This brings to light numerous issues. For example, if your file is small and the database vendor has many other or larger files, you will probably get lost much more quickly in the promotional and mechanical shuffle than in a similar situation with a printer. Inexperience with contractual arrangements with these vendors could produce situations (for the small publisher especially) where control and ownership of the data are lost, and anticipated profits or royalties are not fully realized. It is important to remember that when you as the print publisher own the original copyright, it is your data. Be wary of giving that ownership and control away just to be an electronic publisher.

Pricing appears to be the most uncertain area of all. Should the information be available free on the Internet? Should a subscription to the online product be tied to the printed version? Should a database file be open to any or all with access to the vendor's database? Or should it be restricted to "qualified" users at a premium? There has even been talk about attempts to discern the value of the information retrieved in order to provide a basis for pricing.

Publishers are in the process of creating a new mindset for these new electronic products and potential new markets which is necessary before embarking on what appears to many as the only road into the future. It is critically important that publishers digitize their information NOW via the appropriate front-end processing technologies. Then, they should resolve each of the above issues to their benefit and determine whether there is, in fact, a market for an electronic version of their product at this current moment in time. Then, and only then, will print publishers be truly ready and capable to deal successfully with their transition into this new Electronic (Internet) Age.

One of the major strategies that publishers need to learn and adopt to be successful in providing electronic information products is the art of alliances and partnerships with vendors. The technical knowledge necessary for competent electronic publishing is available among the companies in the information industry (i.e., online vendors, data conversion companies, and Internet publication service providers). Publishers need to align themselves with appropriate partners over the near-term in order to move competently into the Internet Age with the skills and knowledge needed for a prosperous transition.

Best wishes for a productive evolution!

Note: This article was updated from the original printed in the SSP Letter 6:3 June 1984. In a dozen years, while there have been major advances in publishing technologies for both front-end processing and dissemination, the issues surrounding financially-viable electronic publishing have remained very much the same ... many still without full resolution.

Barbara Meyers
President, Meyers Consulting Services
& Editor, IP News

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