The Alumni Class Notes E-Publishing Platform enables class secretaries to log in to the application, type and review "Class Notes" for the quarterly alumni magazine, Harvard Business School Bulletin, and then upload their text and digital photos directly to a central database. The e-publishing platform has saved the School 40 percent on pre-press costs and reduced the production cycle by three weeks.
HBS alumni are so prolific in sharing updates on classmates that each issue of the quarterly alumni magazine (HBS Alumni Bulletin) is segmented by classes into three editions to accommodate these hundreds of pages of Class Notes. ITG worked with the Alumni Communications group to build an online Class Notes system that would manage the challenge of collecting this massive amount of text and images, apply online tools for editing, and prepare the notes for both print and electronic publication. As a result, work processes were streamlined, and deadlines could be extended reducing the previous lag time between submission and publication.
Before the Class Notes system came online, 800 alumni volunteers (Class Secretaries) would send their text to the School in various forms; now these are submitted directly into the database. Via the image utility, Secretaries can also submit photos, with captions, which are associated with the alum's class and section.
Once the notes submission deadline passes, special macros stored as an XML file are run to make several hundred search and replacements for text consistency and ease of editing (e.g., date abbreviations). This auto-editing step allows copyeditors to focus only on grammar and content.
Next, the three copyeditors begin their work using the Notes Management admin tools. Via a dashboard view, copyeditors and the staff Class Notes Editor can see the workflow state for each class, which streamlines the communication and approval process. For example, the editor knows to review those notes marked as 'Edited with Questions' and can check progress by filtering for those in the 'Editing in Progress' state.
Before this system, the copyediting process was done traditionally: manually on hard copy. We eliminated the cost, time required, and risk of lost material, for today editing is done directly online. Alternatively an editor may choose to download the entire batch for which he/she is responsible, edit off line, and then return the edited note to its correct home in the system.
Throughout the online Class Notes, alumni names are hyperlinked to the alum's specific entry in the alumni directory, creating a one-click pathway to find out more about fellow alumni. This is accomplished via an in-line 'tagging process' where the editor first selects what text within a note should be considered a person's name (to distinguish it from text which is not a name), and then the system matches those names to alumni in the database.
The notes Edit page which shows alumni names with the custom XML 'person' tag. This view also shows pull down with many of the workflow stages. The other buttons allow the editor to insert an email or web address or picture without needing to know any HTML or XML code.
An advantage to using XML is that we can use one style sheet for the online version and a separate style sheet for the printed version. The exportable Class Notes are sent to the printer with our custom XML tags translated into the tagging codes of the printing company's publishing software. This feature eliminates composition and layout costs for this complex material (previously, text had to be rekeyed and person names tagged since names are bolded in the printed Bulletin). Now they simply import the file that contains finalized notes pages.
In the old system, the HTML version of the notes was manually compiled after the print magazine was finalized. Today, online publication of Class Notes happens automatically and well before the paper magazine is available, which has the added benefit that the news reaches classmates more quickly.
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lass Notes are available to HBS alumni online as soon as the online publication date of the issue has been reached and the individual notes are in the 'publish' state.
Since alumni log into the alumni website, when they click the quick link to 'My Class Notes' we can deliver their specific Class Notes directly to them; no need to search by degree and year first, though that option is available.
Overall, the online Class Notes system streamlined the business process, reduced workflow cycle time, saved time and money, and was met with very positive reviews from both Class Secretaries and other alumni who have access to more up-to-date news about classmates.
