New Stanford Digital Repository tool helps SUP preserve and now also serve durable media in its digital publications. When it comes to digital web-based content, longevity can really only be accomplished if something is designed from the start to endure. But it’s difficult to predict what features, formats, and methods will last when they are
A typical book publishing workflow necessarily includes a stage at the end of the process in which a book makes its way into stores and libraries. Because it’s a physical object, it requires physical space devoted to its delivery from publisher to reader. But what happens when the book isn’t a physical object, and doesn’t
While complex web-based projects present challenges in the way of longevity—the average lifespan of a typical website is supposedly two to five years—there are measures that we’re taking to mitigate inevitable decay. In addition to our guidelines package and three-pronged preservation strategy, which we begin planning for before a project is even published, we’re also
When it comes to the format of interactive scholarly works, one size does not fit all. It’s been one of the greatest strengths and the greatest challenges of the kind of work we’re publishing under the Mellon-funded initiative. While other publishers, also in some cases with the help of the Mellon Foundation, are doing excellent
It doesn’t seem right, given my role in and advocacy of web-based digital scholarship, not to say something about the ongoing fight for net neutrality. If you’ve been following the news regarding net neutrality (regarding a lot of things actually), you know we’re facing dangerous times. The recent rollback of regulations on internet service providers,
I had the opportunity last week to observe the 2018 TPAC, W3c’s Technical Plenary and Advisory Committee meetings. The opportunity arose when I was connected to the recently formed W3C Web Publishing working group by a fellow Mellon grantee I met at the New York all-projects meeting at the end of September. He connected us
As is apparent by now, we spend a lot of time thinking about ways to preserve and archive the digital web-based projects we’re publishing. While our technical guidelines provide authors with recommendations for building projects that are more easily sustainable, the fact is technology changes, and even the most rigid technical standards and requirements will
According to Market Share Reports, in August 2017 the top-used web browser on desktop computers was Chrome. Its combined versions were used by 59.38% of people online worldwide. Second place was Internet Explorer, which, combined with the stats for Edge, Microsoft’s new banner browser, accounted for 21.24% of web users. Trailing behind these were Firefox,
The delivery of a book, from author to press and then press to reader, despite its complexity, is pretty well established. Stanford University Press, for example, has been doing it for 125 years. University presses outside the United States have been doing it for as long as 430 years or better. Much can be streamlined in
