I was the editor of my state library association journal and recently moved to another state. Not all that bad except as the editor I did the layout and sent to the printer, etc. Problem - the software belonged to the association not to me and I was moving! I couldn't take it with me. Tine to the rescue - she volunteered to lay it out for me. I couldn't have been more grateful. With the exception of one meeting before I actually left town (at a Pizza Inn, no less) we've collaborated on this issue using Yahoo! IM and e-mail. Yes, we've done it virtually and have what I think is a pretty good product to boot. I've coordinated many items with the Associate Editor via e-mail, but I believe chat improved this a great deal, including walking me through changing the page numbers, as it is "real time." There is no delay. And, in many ways it's better than the phone, because conversations usually remain on "target." Not to mention the multi-tasking that can be done while chatting.
We wound up using different software, Microsoft Publisher, rather than Adobe InDesign, but in the end it worked out. I actually have Publisher at my new job, which made it possible for me to do some of the edits. Publisher has presented a couple of challenges with the printer, but we're on the downswing now. The important thing was getting it laid out and ready for the printer. Tine and I have always done professional collaboration using chat, but I'm a little impressed that we managed to put together an issue of a state library journal virtually.
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