01-21-94 OSU and Ginn Press to produce custom history texts OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY AND PARAMOUNT PUBLISHING'S GINN PRESS INTRODUCE ELECTRONIC ARCHIVE TO PUBLISH CUSTOM-MADE HISTORY TEXTS COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ginn Press, a division of Paramount Publishing, and The Ohio State University, this week announced development of The Ohio State University American History Electronic Bookshelf, an on-demand database written by the university's nationally recognized Department of History. The collaboration, which allows professors to custom publish texts for individual courses, marks the first time a major U.S. university has sponsored a personalized on-demand electronic database. "Universities exist primarily to disseminate knowledge. On- demand publishing programs like The Electronic Bookshelf make knowledge much more accessible," said Professor Michael J. Hogan, who chairs Ohio State's history department. "As our curriculum increases in scope and diversity, so does the need to personalize instructional materials for each class. Custom-published materials supplement traditional textbooks, offering professors the flexibility to tailor reading materials to individual needs." Carla Pestana, associate professor of history, is managing editor of The Electronic Bookshelf and Mark Grimsley, assistant professor of history, is associate editor. Some 30 members of the history department contributed to the database. "This is an important step in the development of publishing- on-demand at the university level," said Richard Snyder, chairman of Paramount Publishing. "As we continue to digitize our intellectual properties, production of limited-run texts will be even faster and more efficient, further stimulating the demand for custom materials." On-demand databases traditionally draw upon a vast body of intellectual property owned by the publisher. The collaboration by Ohio State and Paramount supplements thousands of pre-cleared Paramount and outside source copyrights with an original database written by Ohio State professors. In editing a custom-made books for their classes, professors can choose from a menu of essays, historical documents, and journal articles for their specialized texts and add their own notes, pedagogy, theory and other ancillary materials. Ginn Press employs special software and high speed printing technology to produce bound custom textbooks within four weeks. Press runs can be as low as 50 texts. Targeting the rapidly growing market for limited-run, course specific educational materials, Ohio State's Electronic Bookshelf will be available to other college history departments beginning in the winter of 1995 through Paramount Publishing's Prentice Hall division. "With technology revolutionizing publishing, custom publishing is one of the fastest growing niches in the textbook business," says Donald Kilburn, president of Ginn Press. "Progressive schools like Ohio State are embracing custom publishing to satisfy their demand for educational tools that provide maximum value, flexibility and convenience. The Electronic Bookshelf does just that and provides more control and options, setting the standard for the widespread application of on-demand technology." Ohio State's history department annually teaches about 8,000 undergraduate students in its two-quarter survey course in American history for which the custom-published book, "Retrieving the American Past," will be a reader. The database's first five on-line modules currently are being used in the survey course's first part, American history before 1877. The modules include "Witchcraft at Salem," "The Radicalism of the American Revolution," "Liberty on Trial: The Sedition Act," "The Decision for Emancipation" and "The Common Soldier in the Civil War." The first complete series of modules, 30 in all, will be on-line for autumn 1994 classes, followed by 30 more modules for the second half of the American history survey course for autumn 1995. The history department faculty has determined that royalties earned on the electronic database will be earmarked to a special university account to support instruction. The contract with Ginn included a grant of $7,000 and an advance against royalties of $4,000, according to Hogan. The cost of each custom-published book will be about $20 to $22 wholesale. Hogan said faculty members don't want the books to cost any more than a conventional reader and, if possible, slightly less. In addition to Hogan, Pestana and Grimsley, contributors to the database include Kenneth Andrien, Michael Les Benedict, Mansel Blackford, Paul Bowers, John Burnham, Joan Cashin, William Childs, Saul Cornell, Jennie Davis, Merton Dillon, Peter Hahn, Susan Hartmann, Richard Hopkins, K. Austin Kerr, Allan Millett, Margaret Newell, Michael Riley, Randolph Roth, John Rothney, John Rule, Leila Rupp, Richard Shiels, David Stebenne, David Steigerwald, Warren Van Tine, Eugene Watts and Richard Zuczek. For more than 20 years, Ginn Press has been the country's leading publisher of custom textbooks, publishing the work of more than 7,500 professors at 2,000 colleges and universities nationwide. Ginn Press currently publishes over 500 custom titles annually and also offers "Source One" and "Just In Time," on-demand publishing in conjunction with Paramount divisions Prentice Hall and Allyn & Bacon, respectively. Ginn Press, based in Needham, Mass., is a division of Paramount Publishing, the nation's leading publisher of educational materials. Paramount Publishing is the publishing operation of New York-based Paramount Communications Inc., a global entertainment and publishing company. # Contact: Andrew Giangola, Paramount Publishing, (212) 698-7111; Randy Harrison, Ginn Press, (617) 455-7032; and Professor Michael Hogan, (614) 292-3001, or Steve Sterrett, Ohio State's director of news services, (614) 292-8472. Photographs are available of the faculty members and executives of the publishing company. Please contact Steve Sterrett at Ohio State at (614) 292-8472. [Submitted by: STERRETT (sterrett@ccgate.ucomm.ohio-state.edu) Fri, 21 Jan 1994 13:15:49 -0500 (EST)] All documents are the responsibility of their originator.