SRJC PAR_911
[P)DF,
A)crobat,
and R)eader]:
an IT3 Research,
Survey, Report and Presentation Project: Fall 2001
BTW, we love
PAR.
||
New to this site: || Thanks
to John Underwood for the .doc, .pdf, and .html reports that are linked and highlighted
below. The two .ppt spots are now live.
Ready,
Set, Good to Go => "Let's Roll " with [PAR_911]:
The P)DF, A)crobat
5.0,
R)eader Research, Survey, Report and Presentation Project. Get the RAP on
[PAR_911]
here.
PAR:
A working definition.
*A P)DF
is a document file , or P)ortable D)ocument
F)ormat is a page layout description language. It is to the
Reader what html is to a browser---it defines, describes and determines what
you view on screen or on a printed page. However, PDFs have more
descriptive power than html, and more features and flexibility in a smaller
package than its father, PostScript Finally, PDFs
are self-sufficient in that they capture into a single file all
the text, image, font, color information necessary for display or print.
*Adobe A)crobat 5.0 is tool than can perform tricks with PDFs
like editing, linking forms
to databases, indexing and cataloging keywords for fast searches. In
addition, Acrobat can annotate, digitally sign and secure documents.
Plus, the little devil can capture in one document an entire Website and
all of its links!
* The free
Adobe Acrobat R)eader
is limited to viewing PDF documents. It
has limited forms capabilities.
The little guys are everywhere you look because PDF is the
lingua franca
of document flow management. They leverage the speed and power of DTP, Web servers, digital distribution on
CD and e-publishing via the Internet. See thePew Internet & American LifeProject for a an
example of a big
picture, high profile, November 2001, PDF publication . A second
example is the UNESCO sponsored E)lectronic T)hesis and D)issertation [ETD]
Initiative. UNESCO has a 1300 page Web
Capture ,Acrobat 5.0 , PDF ver 1.4 Guide to ETD online and current as of
November, 2001. Virginia Tech , located in the wired community of Blacksburg,
Virginia, is an ETD clearinghouse. VT liaisons, John Eaton, Graduate School,
Edward Fox, Computer Science, and Gail McMillan,
[see about the authors] Professor of University Libraries and Director of Digital
Media are the primary players. In addition, abstracting and grant
writing services are using PDF for
both flow and achieving. For example, many newspapers , including the LA
Times, are now electronic distributed around the world to resorts, hotels,
airports, and ships at sea as PDFs
We use
digital technical communication tools for speed, economy, quality and impact.
"He
who knows the tools of his craft , keeps them sharp and at the ready---- wins"
"It
is not what we do not know that gets us in trouble -- it is what we know to
be true that is not so."
PAR_911
Project: Outline,TOC,
Progress, Team, Proposal, Schedule. Biblio, and Links
1.
PAR_911 Report Progress
: Current and Real Time: 2002-04-08
News:
2002-04-08
: SRJC
PAR_911 Technical Writing Merit Award Finalists: The
prize is lunch at the Culinary Cafe. The judging standards are
three: Technical skills, Technical tools, Technical audience and
topic;
Julia Baumhoefer, [the winner] || Maria Gaitan
||, || Dr.
Xuan Ho ||, and || Kerry Campbell-Price.
|| SRJC Institutional Research would have been an award
contender expect for the deadline. Their excellent report, the 2001
FactBooks, is now part
of the online SRJC Institutional Documents at the CWIS site,
http://www.santarosa.edu The Accreditation Self Study PDF document
collection is part of an ongoing drafting/revising/editing/ publishing
project. The collection of 10 standards PDF documents is
now keyword searchable using glimpse!
Minor edits:
Presentation rehearsal Thursday, 1500, 2001-12-13. Thanks to Alex
Drake, tech suppor SRJC for support, trouble-shooting and
Acrobat 5.0 installation. Links to ETD added to this document. Interview with Julia Baumhoefer, Technical Writer,
SRJC, Computing
Services, cccsc User/Tech
documentation project using FrameMaker and Acrobat5.0.
Computing Services Director, Ken Fiori , has
installed Acrobat 5.0 wall-to-wall in his department. In addition, he
supports Academic Affairs Administrative Secretary, Maria
Gaitan who produces PDFs like
organizational charts that are then uploaded to a public server at www.santarosa.edu
to become part of the Institutional Documents collection.
2000-11-20: Google searching and
Acrobat Readiness Quiz added. Minor edits.PS vs PDFdocument converted, annotated and
distributed. StreamedAcrobat client/server training added to
Links. The PDFversion of this report project page is now available online.
2001-11-09: 2001 SRJC Fact Book
Forum presentation by Jeanne Johnson, Research Analyst, Office of
Institutional Research, SRJC. A summary of the presentation has been
completed and will be used as example of a technical communication that uses
print, CD-ROMs and the Web for publishing and distribution. The Fact
Book project is also a PAR opportunity waiting in the
wings. The publication is on Reserve in the Plover Library and will be used
as a reference source for the report
Completed: This
page contains a progress report, participants list, the proposal, examples
of PDF in action, objectives, methods and tools, schedule,
bibliography, and a list of links to Web resources.
Planned:
1. Write an informational/executive Abstract of the
report.
2. Write effective Introduction that explains purpose, forecasts topics,
identifies the audience, explains background, defines terms and limits the
scope of the report.
3. Prepare, Practice at 1500, on Thursday, 2001-12-13, a 4-6
minute PowerPoint Presentation for 1700 , Monday,
2001-12-17.
Problems to be solved:
Editing for time and space a report that is scope and audience appropriate.
2.
Report team players, participants and potential partners are:
SRJC, Community Relations: Kerry Campbell-Price ,Manager
and Mike Garcia, Designer, thanks for PS vs PDF and Insider,
the online weekly staff newsletter.
SRJC, Institutional Research: Kathleen
Boatsman, Manager,
Jeanne Johnson, Research Analyst and the 2001 and Fall 2001 SRJC
Fact Book project. It is
now part of the growing collection PDF Institutional Documents. The
Accreditation Self-Study is part of that collection. It is now indexed and
searchable!
SRJC, Cyndi Reese and Barbara Heiman CIS
Instructors Introduction
to Acrobat 73.21A Spring 2002.
Introduction: This
project will be a survey of the current use of PDF technology and the
Acrobat application suite at SRJC. PDF and
Adobe Acrobat 5.0 have a significant and growing
presence within the SRJC community.
For our purposes, we have
identified three groups of PDF users: the passive group that trolls
and browses with Reader, the archiving and distributing group that
collects and shares their finds, and the creative group includes
technical writers, designers, illustrators and others who create new material, or
edit and repurpose existing source documents.
Clearly, these groups overlap. See the Venn diagram at the bottom of the
page. .
Overview of the Technology: Local stories as tohow
PDF can help save time and money while improving the quality
of many written and graphiccommunications.
* First, to survey and collect empiric data
from SRJC departments, instructors, and staff as to who is using Acrobat
Reader
to view, archive and distribute PDF documents.
* Second, to identify those to
are using Acrobat 5.0 to actively edit and publish PDF files. In a word,
we are inquiring as to the completeness of the technology tool chest the technology tool chest for managing paper flow,
communication, and information in the service of instruction at SRJC.
* In addition, we anticipate that the survey will stimulate a sharing of
"best of breed" practices and ideas that use digital publishing, , and Information Technology.
* Next, we expect to
identify needs for Acrobat 5.0 training, certification
and credentialing.
* Finally, we
anticipate that we will find SRJC examples where Acrobat has been
effectively deployed to improve quality, increase speed and decrease the
cost of managing the flow of information, data and documents to and from
people, the server, the Service Bureau, the publisher, distributor, the
abstractor...whoever.
Report Methods: Data gathering will use direct
interviews. In the future, a form based survey could be used. That
document is an example of an Acrobat /PDF form .Form
may include both questionnaires and
free text information.
That form and its data will be submitted electronically for analysis
and processing into a final report. The final report will be printed, loaded to the
server and can become part of a Power Point presentation before Monday,
2001-12-17. At least one business graphic/chart will be
included.
Report Resources and Tools: MS Word, Excel, FrontPage,
Adobe InDesign, PageMaker, FrameMaker, Illustrator, Photoshop,
ImageMaker, Acrobat 5.0, and
standard Unix client/server services. Both PDF and FTF formats will be
tested. Team members and roles will require
multi-tasking, flexibility, and rapid response to deadlines. In
addition, this project may become a framework for demonstrating Acro.javascript and CGI applications for processing survey form data
using a combination of client-side scripting and server-side
scripting. The spread sheet component below requires than you have Microsoft
Office (Excel) on your computer.
Schedule: On track, on time and on budget. as
of 2002-04-08.
Final presentations done 2001-12-17.
Cost: Time is the primary resource. Output will
equal input.
4.
Report and Presentation:Monday,
2001-12-17 ,1700, 3d floor, Emeritus Hall
5.
Report Bibliography:
Pdf with Acrobat 5.0 , VQG , Jennifer Alspach, Peachpit
Press, 2001
Information Anxiety2, Richard Saul Wurman, Que, 2001
the future of ideas: the fate of the commons in a
connected world, Larry Lessig, Random House, 2001
SRJC Fact Book, 2001, Plover
Library Reserve Desk. and online at CWIS, Institutional Documents.
Ruling the Waves: Cycles of Discovery, Chaos and Wealth from
the Compass to the Internet, Debora L. Spar, Harcourt, Inc. ,2001.(
from the Harvard Business School.
6.
PAR Links:
Sample survey form:
A pdf document using one of many layout tools.
PDF Zone: Q.)
What do HPR, Agilent SR, USAF Family Support Services. the CDC , the NEJM and the IRS all have
in common? A.) Acrobat 5.0, "It is everywhere you look."
Adobe.com:
The place for QuickTime and pdf overviews of Acrobat 5.0.
Acrobat
Training: PDF Conference 2001 and PlanetPDF : Milman Streaming Power
Point and audio. Via DigiPub.com.and Carl Young
PDF Conference West: Nov,
2001.Presentation Summaries: Forms, javascripting, XML, databases,
document management, tips and techniques. Adobe, Cardiff, Ted
Padova, OS X.1
etc. The PDF Conference East will be in Washington D.C. in early June, 2002
The little guys are everywhere you look because PDF is the
lingua franca
of document flow management. They leverage the speed and power of DTP, Web servers, digital distribution on
CD and e-publishing via the Internet. See the
Pew Internet & American Life Project for a an
example of a big
picture, high profile, November 2001, PDF publication . A second
example is the UNESCO sponsored E)lectronic T)hesis and D)issertation [ETD]
Initiative. UNESCO has a 1300 page Web
Capture ,Acrobat 5.0 , PDF ver 1.4 Guide to ETD online and current as of
November, 2001. Virginia Tech , located in the wired community of Blacksburg,
Virginia, is an ETD clearinghouse. VT liaisons, John Eaton, Graduate School,
Edward Fox, Computer Science, and Gail McMillan,
[see about the authors] Professor of University Libraries and Director of Digital
Media are the primary players. In addition, abstracting and grant
writing services are using PDF for
both flow and achieving. For example, many newspapers , including the LA
Times, are now electronic distributed around the world to resorts, hotels,
airports, and ships at sea as PDFs
1.
PAR_911 