School Yearbooks go digital

One thing that often get overlooked  when talking about the publishing world is the yearbook. The yearbook is that traditional high school piece of memorabilia that most individuals are familiar with. It’s a collection of images, names, memories and hand written messages that some people will keep for the rest of their lives.

Photo from Student Press Law Center Article



Yearbooks are changing with influence of new media.  In fact, yearbooks today might not even be physical books when all is said and done, but Cd's or files on your email. Yearbooks are becoming digital.

An article by PRNewswire talked about the new browser-based software for yearbooks called Pictavo.

The new software is intended to help yearbook advisers create a trendy yearbook. With the new Walter’s Publishing software advisers will be able to design their book with flexibility, efficiency, easy project management, simple page layout and easier tools.

Pictavo will give advisers and staff the ability to create anytime during the day or night and at any location that has an Internet connection according to the PRNewswire article. The software also has the ability to allow multiple users to work simultaneously in Pictavo. Other features include a built-in chat, and virtual sticky notes.

PRNewswire also had this to say about the new Pictavo software:



photo from Walter's Publishing



Pictavo helps advisers manage their staff and the timeline.  Pictavo's comprehensive project management function enables advisers to assign specific permissions to individuals and groups. Detailed permission levels mean advisers can be assured that staff members only have access to the features they need. Powerful reports and the Dashboard give advisers powerful views of their entire book to make sure everyone stays on track and their books arrive on time.



Walter's Publishing offers the largest selection of yearbook creation software. They have created numerous software portfolios, including EZBook Desktop, EZBook Online and browser-based Pictavo.

EZbook video



Other top digital yearbook companies include Yearbook Life and iYearbook.  Yearbook life also uses EZbook software and is free to its users. iYearbook is more for digital versions of a yearbook rather than a place to develop your yearbook for print publication.

I found this all very interesting and wish that when I was on the yearbook staff in high school that we would have had these kinds of software to work with; would have made working on the yearbook staff a bit more fun. 

But this also makes you wonder if soon there will be nothing but digital yearbooks and eReader textbooks in our high schools. I plan to discuss eReader textbooks in a future post. Until then, here are a few questions to ponder:

• Will students gain or lose from the lack of contact with physical published material?
• Will student eyesight deteriorate due to the increased exposure to digital text and digital media?
  

These are just a few questions that pop into my mind when I think about digital yearbooks. Let me know your thoughts…