Publishing SIG IDEA BANK

For the last year or so, we’ve been talking about building an idea bank of projects created by ACE PubSIG members.

We all agree that we learn a lot from our colleagues’ projects, that we always get great ideas from sharing, that case studies for this idea bank should be simple, short, and to the point, that an idea bank would be a useful resource.

So let’s get started.

I’ve submitted the first case study for this idea bank [Word doc]. In it, I hope I have created a fairly simple template that’s flexible enough to accommodate the wide variety of work we do.

What’s in the case study?

Here are the “rules”:

1. Case studies must not exceed two pages

Two pages are quick to write and read. And let’s avoid any fancy font tricks or margin fudging — we’re all in publishing, you can’t trick anybody here. Let’s save our eyes and our time and stick with a standard 12-point type.

2. All submissions must carry basic information at the top

All case studies should include at the top:

• Date Posted — we’ll add this to indicate when this case study was posted
• PubSIG Member’s Name
• Contact Information — for follow up questions
• Institution
• Project Name
2. All case studies must include broad, standard categories

These categories are similar to what you’re already preparing for Critique & Awards entries or your evaluation documents at work, so recycle as needed. Each project is different so what you write in one area may be longer than what others will write in theirs. The categories are:

• Brief Description of Project
• Challenges and How They Were Met
• Other Comments
• Samples, Additional Information
• Team Members

That’s it.

These case studies won’t, can’t, or shouldn’t include every last detail about your project. Our goal should be to simply share ideas on a regular, ongoing basis.

How can you contribute?

Our goal is to start modestly. We want to post a new case study to the idea bank every two months and announce them in the PubSIG leader updates. We’ll also archive them on the PubSIG Web site.

You can help. Write your case study and (for now) e-mail it to Kevin Leigh Smith (kevlsmith@purdue.edu). The goal of the PubSIG leadership is to assign the work of maintaining the idea bank to one of the PubSIG officers. In the years to come, when our idea bank is the envy of everybody else, the chair, vice chair, or vice chair elect will be responsible for maintaining it.

OK? Are we done talking?

Good, let’s get to work.

Kevin Leigh Smith
PubSIG Vice Chair
kevlsmith@purdue.edu

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Last updated 01/24/2008.