A new, easy-to-read digital edition of YorkU magazine has been posted at the YorkU site, yorku.ca/yorku. The format allows readers to page through the magazine on screen just as they would a printed copy.
“This system is much more reader friendly than a PDF,” says York Publications Director Berton Woodward, who edits YorkU. “Navigation is quick and straightforward, text is easy to read, and links in the stories and ads are all live.”
PDFs of previous issues will remain on the YorkU site. Use of the digital edition, a proprietary technology based on the Adobe Flash format, starts with the October 2007 issue. To read it, just click or double-click on the upper corner of a page and it will turn. You can jump to any story from the Table of Contents on page 3 or from a “TOC” option that appears on the toolbar. You can zoom to any depth you like – click for the default. Text is easily searchable within the digital edition, and will soon be searchable from the Web. The technology also offers more Web-based options to advertisers, such as inclusion of videos and other rich media.
Right: Click on the cover to see the digital edition
“Digital editions are growing in popularity among publishers,” says Woodward. “Few see them as a replacement for a print edition, which has many advantages. For us, the digital edition is a great way to reinforce the magazine and give people a way of going back to it, as well as to increase its readership by non-Yorkies. We hope it will be a handy resource for the entire York community.”
Launched in the fall of 2003, YorkU is published bimonthly five times during the academic year, dated October, December, February, April and Summer. Every issue circulates on campus in large numbers (at least 15,000), addressed to faculty and staff and picked up by students at campus racks. The October, February and Summer editions are also sent to alumni and friends of the University, with circulation reaching at least 185,000. The magazine has won numerous awards for design, writing and overall quality from the Canadian Council for the Advancement of Education and the Washington-based Council for Advancement and Support of Education.