Course Description and Objectives:
Official Description:
Theory and practice of producing professional publications in both print and electronic formats (such as the Internet): writing and editing copy; soliciting and selecting manuscripts; working with writers; copyrights; laying out text and graphics for print and electronic media, using desktop publishing programs or by hand; and son on. Course content varies according to the needs of the students enrolled, because students will work both on their own publishing projects and as a member of a team creating a real-world product (such as a web site, a literary magazine or web zine, or a brochure). Offered in Spring semester. Prerequisite(s): ENG 102 or permission of the Program Chair.
Informal Description:
Students in this course will form the staff for a Heritage University DTP or webpublishing project. During the semester, we may be soliciting additional manuscripts and artwork/photos, selecting suitable materials for our project, entering manuscripts and artwork/photos into the computer using scanners and wordprocessing software, working with authors and artists to edit the selected works, laying out the magazine using desktop publishing software, producing camera-ready or web-ready copy, assembling the completed project, publicizing our product, and distributing it to the student body and community in appropriate hard copy and on-line versions. In addition to their project duties, students will carry out several individual assignments to further practice the skills explored in the course. By the end of the semester, students should have developed their skills in the following areas:
(1) Establishing an editorial “voice” for a magazine or newsletter or website
(2) Evaluating manuscripts and artwork in terms of that “voice”
(3) Editing manuscripts
(4) Working with contributors from practical, legal, and ethical standpoints
(5) Integrating wordprocessing, graphics, and desktop publishing software
(6) Laying out text and graphics
(7) Producing HTML pages for the web
(8) Producing and marketing magazines, newsletters, websites, etc.