[WEB4LIB] RE: PDF versus HTML

[Walt_Crawford at notes.rlg.org]

Yes, Walt does (thanks, Mark, for mentioning that).

Walt also knows from testing that a well-formatted single-column HTML
version would require roughly twice as much paper as the two-column PDF
form (not just because it's single column)--and that some people who
"prefer HTML" will go ahead and print it out, thus wasting more paper.

By the way, Walt has also started making most essays in Cites & Insights
available as HTML separates, linkable from the content or home page.
Exceptions are:

a. Essays that are so long that it saves paper to just print the whole
issue--which also means they're way too long to read on screen (but I won't
try to stop those so inclined)

b. Essays that don't make sense outside of the issue context, such as Bibs
& Blather, Following Up, and some others of that sort.

And, of course, anyone who finds PDF just so awful that they won't read C&I
as a result has stated their preferences, and is certainly entitled to
them...there's lots of stuff to read out there, so they certainly won't go
begging.

Cheers,
walt crawford


                                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                       




In Walt's commentary regarding why he uses PDF he states as one of his
reasons: so that people will print it out. Walt feels that Cites and
Insights is too long to be read online.

Mark Bardsley

On Wed, 30 Mar 2005, Charlie Irwin wrote:

>
>
>> John,
>>
>> | When should PDF be used and when should HTML be used?
>> [--jimm replies]
>>
>> Walt Crawford recently commented on why he distributes his _Cites &
>> Insights_ newsletter in PDF rather than HTML
>> <http://cites.boisate.edu/civ5i5.pdf>.  It basically comes down to
control
>> over the format and time for him.  It is simply faster and easier to get
a
>> newsletter or magazine article distributed in the layout one wishes with
>
> I stopped reading Cites & Insights after it went to PDF simply because
the
> amount of scrolling I had to do to read a two column newsletter was too
> annoying. Forcing a paper layout onto a computer screen is not
necessarily
> a favor to the viewer.
>
> Charlie Irwin
>
>
>
> "A ship in port is safe, but that's not what ships are for.
> Sail out to sea and do new things."
> Grace Hopper
>
>
>
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