The Disappearance Of Printed Journals

I realize it isn't 'news' to any of us that publishers are finding it more expensive and more difficult to produce printed material in a digital era.

In the latest American Philatelic Literature Review (from the APS), Roger Brody, President of the APRL Board of Trustees, writes


He goes on to state the Review is not ceasing printed publication, but beginning with the 4th Quarter Issue of 2009, will produce a PDF version of the journal.

If you're interested in the journal, or especially if you haven't seen it before, do yourself a favor and grab the latest issue.

Use the link on the front page of the APS website
http://www.stamps.org

Or use this direct link
http://www.stamps.org/plr/4th-quarter-2009.pdf

KirkS

Yes, this process is inevitable, and on the positive side, it might bring more material within the reach of more people. I use a few different electronic periodicals and catalogues, but I still prefer the physical versions.

My biggest concern with electronic editions is the difficulty of archiving. What happens when a journal ceases publication? The access to back issues may in all likelihood stop, too. If the journal is sent as a PDF, I'm not worried, but so many of them seem to use a software program that prevents saving to your computer (as far as I can tell).

As an example, it doesn't seem possible to save issues of Scott's Stamp Monthly. I often refer to back issues of various publications and journals. I don't want to see that ability come to an end.

Collin

Does anyone know if you can save the digital version of Linn's or the APS's American Philatelist? I haven't tried it yet.

Dude - I downloaded and saved the American Philatelist in .pdf format.

I think I've tried to save Linn's before and their presentation software will not let you save.

I also saved the Philatelic Literature Review.

If you have a PDF-printer (a free downloadable driver/program installed on your PC, like this: http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator/) , then you can print Linn's (and other online publications) as PDF-files.

Alternatively, if You are using Windows Vista or Windows 7, then you have something called as "Microsoft XPS Document Writer" in your printers list. This is a Microsoft's alternative to creating PDF-files.