It works now.
community.wvu.edu/~jbb022/
There were several issues, the most consequential of which was my addition of a period to the "www" file, making it "www." which, trust me, doesn't work.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Final Post
The web address for my site is community.wvu.edu/~jbb022/
As of this moment, it may be forbidden to view, but I'm working on clearing that up.
As of this moment, it may be forbidden to view, but I'm working on clearing that up.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Week 13
The chapters got edited at the expense of sleep and another project. But, considering that they are considering using me in the future (and for pay), I figured I could sacrifice a little over there for some confidence in my abilities on the part of my bosses. Hopefully, that paid off and I didn't miss glaring mistakes.
Tomorrow is the poster presentation. I have a title, at the prompting of Dr. Wible's email this morning, but that is about it. The rest of today will be dedicated to reviewing the "things" I've done this semester (i.e., those things I can hold in my hand or, better, hang on a poster) and determine what should be included on this poster. Last week I got my first experience really writing substantially for FIT. I wrote a press release for a book about female athletes that have broken down barriers for future, today's, generations. I wrote a template which will be used to send to the universities the athletes in the book attended in hopes that a mention of an alum in a book warrants their buying several copies of the book. The template was written for Pat Summitt, an alum of UT, so was written to UT. The first couple of paragraphs introduced the book in the context of Pat Summitt's achievements (which are many) and then segwayed into a talk on the book generally and, lastly, the author and his achievements (which are also many). It will serve as a template, primarily, because of the segway sentence and last two paragraphs but will have to be tailored to the individual athlete and university.
Wednesday, Matt and Val are taking me to lunch to finish up the internship (awesome) after a short talk on what was good and bad about this internship. They told me last week to think of some constructive things to say so that they can address any problems or concerns with the next intern. To be honest, though, its hard coming up with any point on which they could better. It's been great.
Tomorrow is the poster presentation. I have a title, at the prompting of Dr. Wible's email this morning, but that is about it. The rest of today will be dedicated to reviewing the "things" I've done this semester (i.e., those things I can hold in my hand or, better, hang on a poster) and determine what should be included on this poster. Last week I got my first experience really writing substantially for FIT. I wrote a press release for a book about female athletes that have broken down barriers for future, today's, generations. I wrote a template which will be used to send to the universities the athletes in the book attended in hopes that a mention of an alum in a book warrants their buying several copies of the book. The template was written for Pat Summitt, an alum of UT, so was written to UT. The first couple of paragraphs introduced the book in the context of Pat Summitt's achievements (which are many) and then segwayed into a talk on the book generally and, lastly, the author and his achievements (which are also many). It will serve as a template, primarily, because of the segway sentence and last two paragraphs but will have to be tailored to the individual athlete and university.
Wednesday, Matt and Val are taking me to lunch to finish up the internship (awesome) after a short talk on what was good and bad about this internship. They told me last week to think of some constructive things to say so that they can address any problems or concerns with the next intern. To be honest, though, its hard coming up with any point on which they could better. It's been great.
Week 12
Posting for last week:
The internship is winding down now. For most of these larger projects, while it is good to get as many sets of eyes on a piece as possible, it is best if the same people can review the whole thing. Consistency is a primary goal of copyediting/proofreading, so if I were to start a project and do, say, four chapters, the next person to look at the work and do the next chapters may take, unintentionally and for better or worse, a different direction with the minutiae making two sections of the book inconsistent.
I was, however, given six chapters of a new edition of a book to copyedit. I've tried to use "comment" as much as possible on points that I may not get to see again to try and keep it consistent. I filled out some paperwork to become one of their freelance copyeditors/proofreaders, and am superpumped about that as I can work from wherever and communicate via email. So, hopefully, I will be the one to continue editing this edition so I can make sure I maintain consistency. Just in case, though, there are quite a few "comments" to the side of the piece. Now, especially, at the end of the semester when real things are becoming due, time management is crucial for me. Projects and papers for several classes are just about falling over one another and I'm trying to work at my "real" (though crappy) job as much as possible these few days so I can do as little as possible just after graduation. So in order to finish the chapters by the time I leave, I need to priortize and work in large blocks of time on individual projects. We'll see how it goes.
The internship is winding down now. For most of these larger projects, while it is good to get as many sets of eyes on a piece as possible, it is best if the same people can review the whole thing. Consistency is a primary goal of copyediting/proofreading, so if I were to start a project and do, say, four chapters, the next person to look at the work and do the next chapters may take, unintentionally and for better or worse, a different direction with the minutiae making two sections of the book inconsistent.
I was, however, given six chapters of a new edition of a book to copyedit. I've tried to use "comment" as much as possible on points that I may not get to see again to try and keep it consistent. I filled out some paperwork to become one of their freelance copyeditors/proofreaders, and am superpumped about that as I can work from wherever and communicate via email. So, hopefully, I will be the one to continue editing this edition so I can make sure I maintain consistency. Just in case, though, there are quite a few "comments" to the side of the piece. Now, especially, at the end of the semester when real things are becoming due, time management is crucial for me. Projects and papers for several classes are just about falling over one another and I'm trying to work at my "real" (though crappy) job as much as possible these few days so I can do as little as possible just after graduation. So in order to finish the chapters by the time I leave, I need to priortize and work in large blocks of time on individual projects. We'll see how it goes.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Week 11
Dr. Wible's comment on my Week 9 blog entry contained a link, so I felt I needed to check it out. It linked to an article on the future of academic journals and scholarly research generally. From where I currently sit, this was a very interesting article. It talked of the evolution (or devolution) of this field because of the recent trend toward (towards is the more generally British version of the word, just so you know--I didn't until recently) internet based information. I am in a unique position in this debate because, not only can I see it from both sides, I am living both sides. As a student writing papers, the internet based journals, JSTORs, and google.scholars have been fantastic. Without them, a forty works cited paper becomes a four or five month process. But as an intern for a publishing company, I hear the debate from their perspective. Their are definitely opponents to this trend because of the likelihood of it completely replacing the existing system. This system not only generates money, unlike blogging and the like, but provides an order and a context for the information provided in the articles. The grouping of articles around themes, for instance, is one of the main goals of academic journals, but with the advent and takeoff of internet based resources (including blogs), these articles are more and more likely to be seen as an individual piece without allowing a reader to see the same topic in a different light or otherwise being presented an argument from a context different than that provided by just one piece. The end of the article had a quote from one of the editors of Victorian Literature which summed up the state of print journals nicely: "You could think of our kind of scholarship," he said, "as something like 'slow food' in a fast-food culture." Very true.
And from what I've heard and what I'm seeing done at FIT, it seems like adaptation will be the necessary route for these articles, to some extent at least. For example, right now I'm designing a blog for one of the journals FIT produces, the International Journal of Sport Finance. This blog will have different contributors, the editors of the journal, and will be linked to FIT's Twitter page (yeah, that's right). This is an outfit that produces sport management/psychology textbooks and scholarly journals. The fact that they are creating blogs and tweeting should give a good sense of the direction these things are taking.
And from what I've heard and what I'm seeing done at FIT, it seems like adaptation will be the necessary route for these articles, to some extent at least. For example, right now I'm designing a blog for one of the journals FIT produces, the International Journal of Sport Finance. This blog will have different contributors, the editors of the journal, and will be linked to FIT's Twitter page (yeah, that's right). This is an outfit that produces sport management/psychology textbooks and scholarly journals. The fact that they are creating blogs and tweeting should give a good sense of the direction these things are taking.
Week 10
For last week:
The FIT team, Val and Matt at least, went to Cumberland on Wednesday to meet with two of the designers they use. I got to tag along as it served as a learning experience of the publishing process. The designers do not work together but are very familiar and friendly with one another. The trip counted as work for both Val and Matt and myself because we dropped off some articles I had edited for a sport finance journal. Business was talked, but it was mostly catching up, exchanging stories, and hanging out over lunch ("When Pigs Fly" in Cumberland has some awesome pulled pork). I didn't see both of the designers' places of work, but the one I saw was pretty neat. Jamie works out of a toy/trinket shop she and her family owns. Behind the counter was one computer hooked into a register and another computer that probably cost more than all of the electronics I own put together: clear and crisp resolution and colors, big screen, and I'm sure more and better programs than I can name. One of those programs is a design program called Quirk which she prefers because she is so familiar with it. The other designer--this was the business that was talked over lunch--used a newer program, though I can't just now think of the name, N-something.
We also got some things from the printer. The catalog is now a "thing" I can hold in my hands. As soon as it came in, Matt found a mistake. That kind of sucks but perfection is rarely achieved. Just about every book on Val's shelf has post-it notes sticking out of the top or side marking something that wasn't caught. For the catalog, the mistake was the addition of an authors name who didn't help write the book, merely part of the foreword. A tiny thing, probably no one will notice save those at FIT and the real authors themselves. But a mistake nonetheless. Other than that, it turned out quite well, I think. We also received hard versions of one of the journals I was working on and the book 100 Trailblazers for which I get credited as "Proofreader."
The FIT team, Val and Matt at least, went to Cumberland on Wednesday to meet with two of the designers they use. I got to tag along as it served as a learning experience of the publishing process. The designers do not work together but are very familiar and friendly with one another. The trip counted as work for both Val and Matt and myself because we dropped off some articles I had edited for a sport finance journal. Business was talked, but it was mostly catching up, exchanging stories, and hanging out over lunch ("When Pigs Fly" in Cumberland has some awesome pulled pork). I didn't see both of the designers' places of work, but the one I saw was pretty neat. Jamie works out of a toy/trinket shop she and her family owns. Behind the counter was one computer hooked into a register and another computer that probably cost more than all of the electronics I own put together: clear and crisp resolution and colors, big screen, and I'm sure more and better programs than I can name. One of those programs is a design program called Quirk which she prefers because she is so familiar with it. The other designer--this was the business that was talked over lunch--used a newer program, though I can't just now think of the name, N-something.
We also got some things from the printer. The catalog is now a "thing" I can hold in my hands. As soon as it came in, Matt found a mistake. That kind of sucks but perfection is rarely achieved. Just about every book on Val's shelf has post-it notes sticking out of the top or side marking something that wasn't caught. For the catalog, the mistake was the addition of an authors name who didn't help write the book, merely part of the foreword. A tiny thing, probably no one will notice save those at FIT and the real authors themselves. But a mistake nonetheless. Other than that, it turned out quite well, I think. We also received hard versions of one of the journals I was working on and the book 100 Trailblazers for which I get credited as "Proofreader."
Monday, March 30, 2009
Week 9
This week I'm still editing a few articles, but nothing like at the beginning of this semester and internship. Thier work is fairly cyclical, especially the articles, published quarterly. So after a wave of articles and deadlines, their seems to be some slackening off. Of course books and other projects, along with general housekeeping items (and actual housekeeping), are still coming in and some are nearing completion.
One of the books that has been sent to the printer will actually credit me as "Proofreader," so that's cool for me. We got a copy of the cover to make sure everything (text too, but mainly colors and layout) was just right before they roll off 500 of these. The paper it was printed on seemed flimsier than that on a previous book of the same series, but other than that, it turned out very nicely. Again, I can't stress enough how important the littlest things are. The pdf sent to the printer had text blocks that looked very boxy, the version sent to us, though, had aligned the text sort of diagonally down one side to better match the graphics wrapping around from the front cover. It looks good and I can't wait to see it.
Matt and I were discussing how I felt the internship was coming, whether I was getting the hours I needed, whether I was learning, etc. when we started talking about what I was going to do after graduation. I told him I wasn't entirely sure, but I sort of had some things lined up (strong emphasis on sort of), and he told me they may like to keep me on as one of their freelance copyeditors/proofreaders. He said, I believe, that three of the last four interns were doing such work, in different capacities and volumes. I said that I was very interested as I have been looking into doing such freelance work over the internet. (God love the internet--I can work from a beach.) So that is very exciting for me, now I sort of (with less emphasis) have more things lined up.
One of the books that has been sent to the printer will actually credit me as "Proofreader," so that's cool for me. We got a copy of the cover to make sure everything (text too, but mainly colors and layout) was just right before they roll off 500 of these. The paper it was printed on seemed flimsier than that on a previous book of the same series, but other than that, it turned out very nicely. Again, I can't stress enough how important the littlest things are. The pdf sent to the printer had text blocks that looked very boxy, the version sent to us, though, had aligned the text sort of diagonally down one side to better match the graphics wrapping around from the front cover. It looks good and I can't wait to see it.
Matt and I were discussing how I felt the internship was coming, whether I was getting the hours I needed, whether I was learning, etc. when we started talking about what I was going to do after graduation. I told him I wasn't entirely sure, but I sort of had some things lined up (strong emphasis on sort of), and he told me they may like to keep me on as one of their freelance copyeditors/proofreaders. He said, I believe, that three of the last four interns were doing such work, in different capacities and volumes. I said that I was very interested as I have been looking into doing such freelance work over the internet. (God love the internet--I can work from a beach.) So that is very exciting for me, now I sort of (with less emphasis) have more things lined up.
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