Format: Sources
"An American Time Capsule: Three Centuries of Broadsides and Other Printed Ephemera" found at <http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/rbpehtml/pehome.html> is "a collection of over 7000 advertisements, catalogs, newspaper clippings, leaflets, menus, pamphlets, proclamations, programs, timetables, and other ephemera." The collection can be searched by keyword, title, genre, and originating location. Most of the items are either free of copyright or the Library of Congress has been unable to trace any such rights though a credit to their source is requested if used.
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The US Copyright Office has a lot of information on copyright on their web site <http://www.copyright.gov> including the ability to search their records.
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If you are looking for any of the many useful articles from the old Adobe Magazine, the archive are now back on the main Adobe website:
<http://www.adobe.com/products/adobemag/pastissues.html>
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It's the QuickTime movie clip which has shot around the prepress world. Called "We Didn't Trash Your File." Download it for PC or Mac at <http://www.gxo.com>. It is around 8MB and runs for about 4.5 minutes. You'll have heard the excuses, but not in song.
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Wondering about the new four-digit Pantone colors which aren't available in the swatches of, for example, QXP or the latest version of Illustrator 9 among many other programs? There's more info at: <http://www.pantone.com/>
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Try <http://www.refdesk.com> for access to nearly 300 links to reference and research information, 260 search engines covering 19 categories, a virtual encyclopedia covering 45 subjects, and loads more. There are also links to worldwide newspapers, plus search facilities for headlines and summaries on a range of topics.
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If you are looking for printer drivers the new site name is: <http://DriversGuide.com>. It does require joining but is free and has a database of drivers for all platforms.
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If you are looking for comparison information on laser printers, large-format inkjets, digital cameras, scanners etc. it may be worth looking at the set of web sites operated by FLAAR. Their sites include <http://www.laser-printer-reviews.org/> and <http://www.wide-format-printers.org/> The information seems a little patchy and the sites are described as "Organized by the Digital Imaging Technology Center, a department of F.L.A.A.R., a non-profit research institute dedicated to digital photographic technology. F.L.A.A.R. has offices in St Louis, Missouri, Guatemala, and Essen, Germany."
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If you want to know whether something is a trademark, try the International Trademark Association's site at <http://www.inta.org>. Look for Trademark checklist.
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One of the world's great newspapers, the Guardian, in the UK, has published its new style guide on its web site, at <http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/styleguide> as a 292k PDF.
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You can get a sample issue in PDF format of Design Tools Monthly at <http://www.design-tools.com>. Mainly useful for Mac users but has some info useful on the PC side too. There are also some useful Mac utilities for download from the same page.
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HELP WITH INDEXING
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Indexing is a problem which faces most of us at some stage, and a useful site for information is <http://www.wrightinformation.com> run by indexer Jan Wright. The site includes guides for indexing in PageMaker and Word that are available for around US$10 but there is also a lot of free information on indexing tools. If you click on the link to an example of on-line indexing, you will find a lot more information in an example of what can be achieved within a web browser. It was certainly an eye-opener for me -- and well worth the wait while a substantial javascript loads. The site was built with eHelp's WebHelp utility for HTMLHelp files <http://www.eHelp.com>
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The Assignment Editor web site at <http://www.assignmenteditor.com/> has a range of online papers, experts, media gossip etc. Basically just lots of links but with a newsroom angle.
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ISBN AND BARCODES TO CHANGE
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A warning has been given by the international ISBN Agency that the ISBN system (the numbers allocated for books) is to change in 2005 from 10 digits to 13 "alpha-numeric" characters. This will also change the present system under which the 978 prefix is added to the ISBN number to create a 13-digit product barcode (the last number of the ISBN is omitted because it is a check digit and a new final check digit created for the barcode).
The warning is mainly to ensure that database systems can cope with 13-digit entries by the beginning of 2005. The ISBN system derives from the system developed in 1967 by W H Smith, the leading UK book retailer, and is based in Germany, though the link to <http://www.isbn.org> takes you to the Bowker site in the US, which has details of ISBN agents around the world as well as on the system's history.
There does not appear to be any corresponding change proposed for the ISSN system for periodicals including newspapers, which uses the 977 prefix before the first 9 digits of an ISSN number to create a barcode. More info on ISSN at <http://www.issn.org>
We have avoided referring to this type of barcode by terms such as EAN or UPC because they now have a new term: GTIN (Global Trade Item Numbers).
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A place for those elusive logos: <http://www.logotypes.ru/default_e.asp>, in Russian, but you'll recognise the international logos. Logos are of course the property of the companies but how often do advertisers expect you to do a good job with something torn from a catalogue, or even a photocopy?
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Graphics List (details at <http://www.graphicslist.org>) "was set up to provide a means whereby professionals and lay people could meet and discuss issues related to the theory, techniques, history, and practice of graphic design." It includes a search engine for fonts and foundries, but little in the "announcements" section when we called in.
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The web page and archives for the typography list is at <https://listserv.heanet.ie>. Scroll down to "TYPO-L, Discussion of Type and Typographic Design".
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"Lapsing Into a Comma: A Curmudgeon's Guide to the Many Things That Can Go Wrong in Print and How to Avoid Them," is a useful editorial reference by Bill Walsh. See his site at <http://www.theslot.com>
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Many publications have still to establish more than perhaps a token website. A concept-to-Web tutorial is available in the online searchable pricing database at <http://www.brennerbooks.com>. The tutorial describes how to estimate the cost of a complete web project. The full detail is not free, as it provides an online version of their books on publishing costing, but there are some good pointers in the free area. Also on the site is a useful free guide to "Pricing Color Proofs".
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A good general graphics and DTP info site: <http://www.designer-info.com>
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