Computer Magazines

[Erik]

I've got a whole ton of computer related magazines at home that I want to at least represent on the web (I'm probably not going to go scanning and posting many, if any, of them for fear of copyright laws, etc.)

I'm trying to figure out how I want to represent each different magazine in the collection. For instance, for Byte I'll do a brief history of the magazine, it's target audience, etc. but I also want to represent which issues I have and which I'm missing. The best I've come up with so far is a table (see this for a working example.)

Does anyone have any ideas?

Thanks,

Erik

 

[Bheise]

Well, first and foremost, be very aware that whenever posting stuff like magazines, that they are still copywrited. I would defintiely not forget to give credit where credit is due
Secondly, one idea I was going to use with a Home Computer Magazine collection I have was to make scans of the covers, and make thumbnails out of them, then place them in a somewhat neat and orderly manner with a typed out table of contents next to it. Then If someone has more interest in reading on, they can do so, and if not, move on to the next.

Im sure there are better ideas out there, but its one to grow on.

Brian

 

[Erik]

I agree that the copyright issue will be a problem for some publications.

Magazines like Byte and PC Magazine are still around in one form or another and might protect their copyright.

Magazines like Computer Notes and Creative Computing are, on the other hand, probably not going to be defended.

Either way, though, I'd do my best to get permission for anything I posted, including just covers (if I were going to go beyond one or two for samples).

At this point I just want to list what I have accurately.

Thanks!

Erik

 

[Bheise]

In the case of how to display them, though, I still think I would find it very neat, orderly and more navigable to have an entire page for say....1985, with thumbnails of the covers and a table of contents listing for each. Good luck on it!

Brian

 

[Erik]

That's a really good idea. I'm just not sure if I have the time to implement it.

I've got about 20-30 different titles from Creative Computing to Byte to Microcomputing to Computer Notes to Dr. Dobb's to Amiga World and on and on.

I've got mags for TI-99 4s, Atari, Commodore and IBM PCs.

For each journal I probably have, on average, 5-6 years worth of issues.

So, as a rough guess, I've got about 6 years X 12 issues X 25 titles = 1800 magazines. If I work at peak efficiency I can scan a cover in about 2 minutes. 3600 minutes is 60 hours of constant scanning. . .

And that's just the covers. I'd probably scan the table of contents as well.

Some days I wish I were retired or independantly wealthy! :lol:

I'll have to think about it. Maybe I'll come up with a concept that supports both something simple (X=have an issue, .= need the issue) and the scanned thumbnail's.

Erik

 

[Bheise]

Erik

Well something with the magnitude that you have WILL take some time. I would still suggest my idea, but it doesnt have to, of course, be done all at once. You could also implement some sort of Excel or table listing while all the while slowly updating to a scanned thumbnail listing. I see that you have a wealth of magazines, and I would bet that there are a lot of people that could and would benefit from their archival. I personally have a few issues of Home Computer Magazine archived for just that purpose. In the future I will slowly, but surely add them with a scanned listing, by the cover, for easier access to those in need. Again...its a matter of time...A great resource doesnt have to pop up all at once though... Good Luck!

Brian

 

[Erik]

I see that you have a wealth of magazines, and I would bet that there are a lot of people that could and would benefit from their archival.

I would love to archive these. I've actually got another question elsewhere on this board about how to effectively scan magazines.

My two biggest issues are how to deal with the copyrights and how to deal with scanning all of those pages. Multiply my hours estimate from above by 100 or so for the average number of pages per magazine to get the approximate scope of scanning them all.

It would be a real challenge.

Then I also have to figure out how to deal with the bindings. Either I remove all bindings to get single sheets (which lie flat on the scanner) or I get lower quality copies with edges missing.

Even if I scan bound magazines I am damaging the bindings by flattening them out, so it might be a moot point. I guess it comes down to which I value more, the magazine in good condition or the contents thereof.

Erik

 

[CP/M User]

"Erik" wrote in message:

> Magazines like Computer Notes and Creative Computing are,
> on the other hand, probably not going to be defended.

It's a question of if the Publisher who produced those
magazines is still going IMO. A magazine I used to
collect called Amstrad Action ceased back in 1995.
However the publisher Future Publishing is still going
today. The good news about that is they have granted
one of our Amstrad members rights to display the
magazine. However around the same time there was
some dispute about some of the articles which were
done by freelance writers & published them in the
magazine, however the material has been still
presented, but will take it down if there are
complants.

> Either way, though, I'd do my best to get permission for
> anything I posted, including just covers (if I were going
> to go beyond one or two for samples).

Good Idea! ;-)

Cheers.