Old wine for new bottles: Making the Britannica CD multimedia timelines

Human IT

Volumn 3, Issue 1, 1999, Pages

  Pang, Alex Soojung Kim ^a  

^a Encyclopaedia Britannica   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

BOOKSELLING; CODEX BOOK; ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITTANNICA; LEGAL INSTITUTIONS;

CD-ROM; COPYRIGHTS; DATABASE SYSTEMS; HYPERTEXT SYSTEMS; MULTIMEDIA SYSTEMS; PHOTOGRAPHY; PRINTING PRESSES; TEXT PROCESSING;

ELECTRONIC PUBLISHING;

EID: 3242807746     PISSN: 14021501     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Review

References (35)

1. George Landow, Hypertext: The Convergence of Technology and Contemporary Critical Theory (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992; revised edition, 1996) and Jay David Bolter, The Writing Space (NJ: Erleben, 1992) are among the two most influential books arguing that books and electronic media are fundamentally different. (Back to the text)
2. George Landow, Hypertext: The Convergence of Technology and Contemporary Critical Theory (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992; revised edition, 1996) and Jay David Bolter, The Writing Space (NJ: Erleben, 1992) are among the two most influential books arguing that books and electronic media are fundamentally different. (Back to the text)
3. Michael Hobart and Zachary Schiffman, Information Ages: Literacy, Numeracy-and the Computer Revolution (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998); Frederick Kilgour, The Evolution of the Book (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998) ; James O'Donnell, Avatars of the Word: From Papyrus to Cyberspace (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998); Brian Winston, Media Technology and Society: A History (London: Routledge, 1997). (Back to the text)
4. Michael Hobart and Zachary Schiffman, Information Ages: Literacy, Numeracy-and the Computer Revolution (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998); Frederick Kilgour, The Evolution of the Book (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998) ; James O'Donnell, Avatars of the Word: From Papyrus to Cyberspace (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998); Brian Winston, Media Technology and Society: A History (London: Routledge, 1997). (Back to the text)
5. Michael Hobart and Zachary Schiffman, Information Ages: Literacy, Numeracy-and the Computer Revolution (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998); Frederick Kilgour, The Evolution of the Book (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998) ; James O'Donnell, Avatars of the Word: From Papyrus to Cyberspace (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998); Brian Winston, Media Technology and Society: A History (London: Routledge, 1997). (Back to the text)
6. Michael Hobart and Zachary Schiffman, Information Ages: Literacy, Numeracy-and the Computer Revolution (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998); Frederick Kilgour, The Evolution of the Book (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998) ; James O'Donnell, Avatars of the Word: From Papyrus to Cyberspace (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998); Brian Winston, Media Technology and Society: A History (London: Routledge, 1997). (Back to the text)
7. Mark Leyner, Tooth Imprints on a Corn Dog. (New York: Random House, 1995). (Back to the text)
8. The pros and cons of this literature are discussed at greater length in Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, ́Hypertext, the Next Generation: A Review and Research Agenda.́ First Monday (November 1998), available online at http://www.firstmonday.dk/issues/issue3_11/pang/ ; and Pang, ́The Book is Here to Stay,́ American Scholar (Winter 1998), 139-141. (Back to the text)
9. The pros and cons of this literature are discussed at greater length in Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, ́Hypertext, the Next Generation: A Review and Research Agenda.́ First Monday (November 1998), available online at http://www.firstmonday.dk/issues/issue3_11/pang/ ; and Pang, ́The Book is Here to Stay,́ American Scholar (Winter 1998), 139-141. (Back to the text)
10. Geoffrey Nunberg (ed.), The Future of the Book (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996). The term ́literary technologý is borrowed from Steven Shapin, ́Pump and circumstance: Robert Boyle's literary technology,́ Social Studies of Science 14 (1984), 481-520. (Back to the text)
11. Geoffrey Nunberg (ed.), The Future of the Book (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996). The term ́literary technologý is borrowed from Steven Shapin, ́Pump and circumstance: Robert Boyle's literary technology,́ Social Studies of Science 14 (1984), 481-520. (Back to the text)
12. The fact that the names ́Encyclopaedia Britannicá or ́Britannicá refer both to a company and a publication can lead to some confusion. Therefore throughout this article the former will be referred to in plain text, while the latter is underlined. (Back to the text)
13. The timelines have been praised by reviewers: Ron White called them ́the most helpful and attractive I've seen.́ White, ́Know it all,́ PC Computing (January 1999), 123-24, quote on 124. (Back to the text)
14. Tabulae and the chronograph are discussed in Stephen Ferguson, ́System and Schema: Tabulae of the Fifteenth to Eighteenth Centuries,́ Princeton University Library Chronicle 49 (1987), 9-30; Ferguson, ́The 1753 Carte chronographique of Jacques Barbeu-Dubourg, ́ Princeton University Library Chronicle 49 (1987), 190-230. My thanks to Dr. Ferguson for his generosity in sharing both his published and unpublished work. (Back to the text)
15. Tabulae and the chronograph are discussed in Stephen Ferguson, ́System and Schema: Tabulae of the Fifteenth to Eighteenth Centuries,́ Princeton University Library Chronicle 49 (1987), 9-30; Ferguson, ́The 1753 Carte chronographique of Jacques Barbeu-Dubourg, ́ Princeton University Library Chronicle 49 (1987), 190-230. My thanks to Dr. Ferguson for his generosity in sharing both his published and unpublished work. (Back to the text)
16. Examples of chronologies posted on the Web include Stephen Payne's timelines of World War II (divided into the Pacific and European theatres), ́Christy's Garden of History.́ (www.smokylake.com/Christy/History. htm) and Jacqueline Dana's ́Timeline of Irish Historv́(wwwvms. utexas.edu/~jdana/history/timelines.html). All three are the creations of students; none required high-level programming skill. (Back to the text)
17. Examples of chronologies posted on the Web include Stephen Payne's timelines of World War II (divided into the Pacific and European theatres), ́Christy's Garden of History.́ (www.smokylake.com/Christy/History. htm) and Jacqueline Dana's ́Timeline of Irish Historv́(wwwvms. utexas.edu/~jdana/history/timelines.html). All three are the creations of students; none required high-level programming skill. (Back to the text)
18. An online example is Michael D. Gunther's timeline of art history (www.dc.infi.net/~gunther/tl001.htm), which has several horizontal bars representing a major civilization or cultural complex (e.g. Egypt, Greece, Rome, China, etc.). (Back to the text)
19. The detail for the following narrative is based on a notebook I kept of the project. It includes notes from meetings, telephone conversations, etc., as well as rny own reflections on the state of the project as it was unfolding. (Back to the text)
20. The recent history of Britannica is discussed more fully in my ́The Work of the Encyclopedia in the Age of Electronic Reproduction,́ First Monday (September 1998), available online at http://www.firstmondav.dk/issues/ issue3_9/pang/ (Back to the text)
21. Software development is admirably described in Frederick P. Brooks, The Mythical Man-Month (Academic Press, 1997), a classic in the field; Stephen O'Connell, Rapid Software Development (Seattle: Microsoft Press, 1998); Edward Youden, Death March. (Back to the text)
22. Software development is admirably described in Frederick P. Brooks, The Mythical Man-Month (Academic Press, 1997), a classic in the field; Stephen O'Connell, Rapid Software Development (Seattle: Microsoft Press, 1998); Edward Youden, Death March. (Back to the text)
23. Software development is admirably described in Frederick P. Brooks, The Mythical Man-Month (Academic Press, 1997), a classic in the field; Stephen O'Connell, Rapid Software Development (Seattle: Microsoft Press, 1998); Edward Youden, Death March. (Back to the text)
24. The tension between realism and intervention is explored in Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, ́ 'Stars should henceforth register themselves': The Rhetoric and Reality of Early Astrophotography,́ British Journal for the History of Science 31 (1997), 177-201; and Pang, ́Victorian Observing Practices, Printing Technology, and Representations of the Solar Corona,́ Journal for the History of Astronomy, 25 (November 1994), 249-274 ; 26 (February 1995), 63-75. (Back to the text)
25. The tension between realism and intervention is explored in Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, ́ 'Stars should henceforth register themselves': The Rhetoric and Reality of Early Astrophotography,́ British Journal for the History of Science 31 (1997), 177-201; and Pang, ́Victorian Observing Practices, Printing Technology, and Representations of the Solar Corona,́ Journal for the History of Astronomy, 25 (November 1994), 249-274 ; 26 (February 1995), 63-75. (Back to the text)
26. The tension between realism and intervention is explored in Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, ́ 'Stars should henceforth register themselves': The Rhetoric and Reality of Early Astrophotography,́ British Journal for the History of Science 31 (1997), 177-201; and Pang, ́Victorian Observing Practices, Printing Technology, and Representations of the Solar Corona,́ Journal for the History of Astronomy, 25 (November 1994), 249-274 ; 26 (February 1995), 63-75. (Back to the text)
27. Roger Chartier, The Order of Books (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995); on word spacing, see Paul Saenger, Spaces Between Words (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1996) ; on Casiglione, see Peter Burke, The Fortunes of the Courtier (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh press, 1992). (Back to the text)
28. Roger Chartier, The Order of Books (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995); on word spacing, see Paul Saenger, Spaces Between Words (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1996) ; on Casiglione, see Peter Burke, The Fortunes of the Courtier (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh press, 1992). (Back to the text)
29. Roger Chartier, The Order of Books (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995); on word spacing, see Paul Saenger, Spaces Between Words (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1996) ; on Casiglione, see Peter Burke, The Fortunes of the Courtier (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh press, 1992). (Back to the text)
30. My thinking on this subject has been heavily influenced by Donald Norman, The Psychology of Everyday Things (New York: Basic Books, 1988). (Back to the text)
31. Geoffrey Moore, Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling High-Tech Products to Mainstream Customers (New York: HarperBusiness, 1991), esp. chap. 4. (Back to the text)
32. This is not confined to Britannica: timelines in some other multimedia encyclopedias, as well as products like David Macaulay's The Way Things Work (Dorling Kindersley Multimedia, 1995) perform the same function. (Back to the text)
33. For more on the online job market, see Gina Imperato, ́35 Ways to Land a Job Onliné (www.fastcompany.com/online/16/webjobs.html), Fast Company (www.fastcompany.com) 16 (August 1998). (Back to the text)
34. The notion of ́marketspacé comes from Jeffrey F. Rayport and John Sviokla, ́Managing in the Marketspace,́ Harvard Business Review (November/December 1994), 141-150. (Back to the text)
35. Jay David Bolter and Richard Grusin, Remediation: Understanding New Media (MIT Press, 1999). (Back to the text)