Journals
Introduction
In 2000 AW launched a program to convert their entire collection of journals from 1955 to the present into an electronic, browsable form. In many respects the project was a success, requiring a volunteer contribution of many people to index the articles. However, after 2002 no means was made available in order to continue indexing journal articles. For new journals, a new page, that had to be maintained by the web developer, was created with an incompatible index, no provision for searching, and no ability to browse pages online short of downloading the entire file. In October 2006 in addition was made to the website to allow indexing of current journals which obsoletes the “current journal” page on the website and restores the functionality that the old journals had. This document describes data entry workflow in the post-2006 program changes.
Journal Format
Journals should be uploaded in PDF format. To prepare a journal for web viewing, it should be:
- in single page layout (when it is viewed in the PDF viewer, page 1 shows first, followed by page 2, etc.)
- optimized for Web layout
- complete (all 70 pages in one file)
In addition, it has often been helpful if the PDF is saved so that is compatible with Adobe reader 5.0.
Uploading a Journal
To add a new journal to the website, one must know the journal's year and issue number. These two numbers are used to identify the journal on the website and all the related information about the journal. Issue numbers are assigned from one to six and correspond to the six bimonthly issues that AW releases. Originally, the journal was released less frequently than six times a year, and in those cases issue number start at one and continue through the number of issues released for the year. In a case that the journals release more frequently than six times a year, issue number assignment will continue serially through the number of journals.
When her journal is released, a PDF file is generated to be sent to the publisher for mass printing. This PDF file is postprocessed and optimized for web viewing so that its file size falls under 7 MB. Once the file has been generated and the issue number has been determined, the journal can be uploaded to the AW website via the historical journals menu option. A form appears on the left that looks at this:
A user simply enters the year and issue number and presses the “add/edit Journal” button to proceed to the journal information screen. The screen looks at this:
Each field is required.
| Description of issue | This is the description attributed to the issue as printed on the issues cover. Usually this would look something like “July/August” but may say something like “Winter”. |
| Number of pages | This is the number of pages in the journal including the covers and advertisements. You can determine this number from looking at the PDF file. |
| Number of pages to first page | Almost all of the new PDF files start with a cover image, and advertisements that carry no page numbers. This field counts the number of pages without a page number in order for the system to know where the real first page starts. This value can be adjusted at any time. To test if this parameter is correct, or to the journal browser, select the journal, and jump to a page. If the page number at the top of the screen does not match the page number in the image in this using correct and must be adjusted by the amount of discrepancy. |
| File | This is the PDF file. If the file parameter is filled out, then the current PDF file (which may be empty) will be replaced. |
When all the information is filled in, the user can hit the “add/change” button to commit the information to the website. There may be a significant delay as the PDF files being uploaded.
Page Extraction
When the PDF is uploaded, the pages are not automatically available for browsing. An operation called extract pages must be performed before the page browser works. This operation is found either in the journal index page or in the journal page browser at the top of the screen and is labeled “extract pages…”. This operation takes an inordinate amount of time (upwards of 30 minutes). It suggested that you extract the large thumbnails first, that operation takes much less time. After the large thumbnails of an extracted, the Journal cover will appear on the index page and on the your browser. If after you request this operation and the Journal cover does not appear in the PDF is likely bad and must be re-uploaded.
If you choose the extract pages operation prepared to wait 30 minutes. The link on your web browser will likely time out. Hit the back button on the web browser and you should see the images when you go to browse the pages of the journal. If the pages don't show up, it is possible the process is not finished extracting them or that the PDF file is uploaded as bad.
Within the journal year browser, pick a page on the journal that had been uploaded. A page should appear corresponding to the page selected. If the page doesn't appear then the PDF file is bad, upload it again (sometimes it helps to save the PDF using an older version of Adobe Acrobat Format). Verify that the page displayed in the image is the same as the page number shown at the top of the screen. If it is not, cheesy “Edit Journal” button at the top of the screen and change the offset. Go to the end of the journal and verify that the last page in the browser is the last page of the journal. If it is not, hit the “Edit Journal” button at the top of the screen and change the number of pages.
Adding an Article to the Index
While browsing the journal pages an option appears to add an article. A natural way of adding articles is to browse the journal and while scanning for new articles on the page hit the “add article” button. Proceed to fill out the article information as described in the next section.
Editing an Article
While browsing a journals Index, a list of articles associated with the journal appears on the bottom in a table. On the right-hand side appears an option to edit the article. By selecting this option, the user can edit the attributes of the article including a page number that appears on the associated rivers, people, authors, etc. The interface to this page is subject to change in the coming months as part of the modernization effort.
One thing to note is that the only required fields to link an article to a journal is the year and issue number. The other fields may be filled out for descriptive value, but they're not required in order to link the article with the journal.
Deleting an Article
From the edit article screen, at the bottom of the screen appears in “delete article” option. By selecting this, the article will be removed.