Re: Print vs. electronic publishing (was: Splash Pages)

The Inestimable Robin S. Socha <r.socha(at)control-risks.de>
writes:

>> Draconian??? I welcome the idea of a "Chicago..." for the
Web!
>
>Give me CSS for everyone and I'll give you a CMS for
e-publishing.

Yes please! CSS for everyone? The sooner the better! Hey
Robin, it's a good thing that Microsoft are working so hard to
get CSS support on every machine in the world, isn't it?

>> Chicago, or *any* style manual, does not stifle creativity.
If it
>> did, there would not be such a marvellous diversity of
books on our
>> shelves.
>
>That is not entirely correct. The CMS is very interesting, in
particular
>for scientific material (duh...), but have you ever wondered
why, say,
>German books look so much different from yours?  Because our
style guide
>is not the CMS but the works of Jan Tschichold. Create a
LaTeX document with
>the standard styles and with the KOMA-Script styles and
you'll notice
>the difference.

*All* German publications are based on Tschichold's work? I
find that hard to believe, just as I know that not all
English-language books are based on Chicago. Tschichold made
important contributions to the publishing field but he was not
the sole contributor. Unless total uniformity is something of
a cultural trait over there?

>While your last statement is certainly correct, the
comparison of
>printed to electronically published material isn't, IMO. Take
two
>simple examples: most style guides agree that 60-70
characters per
>line ensure optimum readability. How will you cater to that
if you
>don't know if the visitor is running a 10pt font at
1600x1200?

I know that my visitor can resize the browser window until the
lines are a comfortable length.

>Or: you've got a scientific text that is, say, 150 written
pages
>long. With a book, it's pretty easy to ensure that readers
find
>their way through this information by means of TOC, index,
running
>headers and footers, formatting etc. But for e-text?
Splitting
>along eg the H4 will make navigation extremely cumbersome
while
>splitting along H1 will leave the reader with *long* screens.
Now
>what?

I agree. Chunking information for on-line use is a science in
itself, and one that is very hard to get right. There is no
single answer to how to do it. The methods will vary with the
nature of the publication and the nature of the audience (as
well as the nature of the medium: the web and HTML are not the
only ways to deliver on-line information).

Cf. recent threads on page length.

>> I have written style guides for both paper and on-line
publishing. The
>> same rules cannot apply 100% to both media: your style
guide must be
>> tailored to what you are doing. But there are certain basic
concepts
>> that are universal to the written word in any medium, any
style of
>> writing, and any language.
>
>Yes, but... this has little to do with the CMS and its
prescriptive
>approach.

Yes, ok, I was using Chicago as an example. As I noted, I
write style guides. When I do, I draw on Chicago, Hart's,
Fowler, Gowers, the Microsoft Manual of Style, Horton... No
single guide can cover every situation, but all of these offer
sound advice that has been followed by greater writers than I
and that has stood the test of time. You pick what works for
your publications. But whatever you pick, make sure that you
pick *something*.

We spend so much time here advocating standards for HTML
mark-up, how can we then say we don't need standards for what
*really* matters: the content?

>[Snipping a long argument about the state of paper publishing
because (a) I agree and (b) it's not relevant.]


>> What can I rant about next?
>
>How to ensure optimum readability with HTML. I'm still
interested in
>that.


Me too! It's one of my favourite subjects.

In fact you've raised enough topics to spawn another four or
five threads here. I've ranted far too much recently, however,
so I'll step back and let someone else take the floor...

--
David Meadows [ Technical Writer | Information Developer ]
DNRC Minister for Littorasy * david(at)goldenheroes.softnet.co.uk
"Is not this the most reprehensible form of ignorance,
 that of thinking one knows what one does not know?"
      -- Socrates

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