Just an idea

[Paulc]

It may of course be a silly idea, but I

[petersmith1942]

I think its a great idea and could could end a great year for the Society on a high note.
I dont know about the publishing medium you mention but self-publishing is more practical now than it has ever been. I would love to add a chapter (or paragraphs) about HOn30 and items built from S ales Stand purchases and would be prepared to part sponsor such a book if some of the more prolific contributors on our forum would participate
Next year could be even more noteworthy for 009 if promised rtr arrives and Minitrains seems to be making a determined effort as well, not to mention 3D printing
A modern well-produced and realistically priced book could be a winner for us
Peter Smith

[MickT]

Splendid stuff but................................ who is going to do it?

Once that part is sorted, then the volunteer/s need to submit the proposal to the committee via the Secretary.

Good ideas should always be considered seriously - which is simply my view as a fellow member. As this sort of thing regarding producing Society publications/handbooks has been a need for years and has been often discussed then I can't imagine that,  if the idea is practical and workable and there is someone willing to put in the time and effort to coordinate it, then there would be any reason to dismiss it out of hand.

I hope it goes well!

Mick

[ECMT]

A superb idea indeed. I've got a previous 009 Society Handbook, but an update would be great.
A few years ago I posted a question to the secretary as to the possibility of back issues being made available on CD's or PDFs. Nothing came of it as there were a few issues over the copyright of article contributors. Hopefully your idea is acted on - I vaguely remember hearing an updated copy was in the pipeline ?

Len

[B.Meldon]

...........
(Brian

[garrywhiting]

Work is in progress for an updated Handbook, a more definitive announcement will be made in due course, probably at the 2014  AGM.

Garry

[clayliner]

My brother-in-law has his own publishing business and is a P/D. The two big advantages are that he doesn't have his garage full of boxes of books waiting to be bought (hopefully), and, even more importantly, he doesn't have to spend money printing books which may never be bought, i.e. money doesn't need to be tied up in stock - he prints on demand. So potentially ideal for a small concern like the Society.

David.

[Paulc]

Work is in progress for an updated Handbook, a more definitive announcement will be made in due course, probably at the 2014  AGM.

Garry

Garry, that's good news, I wasn't intending to step on anyone's toes by raising this - I hope some of the points on this thread will be of interest/use to those involved in the update.

Paul

[Tom Haythornthwaite]

The subject of a handbook came up again recently on the 'This Forum' thread.

I suggested "the best format / forum / platform for a 'handbook' would be an interactive Wiki approach" and offered to help. 

Chris Ford kindly noted my offer and very very wisely suggested we move the subject somewhere else if the subject were to be discussed further.  Therefore....

Would anybody else like to chip in with thoughts?  Are any old editions of the hard copy available?  What do people think of the idea of a Wiki that we can all contribute to and improve?  (Note this would not preclude periodic outputs to a static .pdf or paper edition that could be sold to people who preferred it.)

Here is an example of the kind of thing I mean:   
https://dccwiki.com/Introduction_to_DCC

I'd be very keen to hear what people think.

Tom

[Chris Ford]

I'm not sure The Society would buy into a 'free to edit' platform. The possibility of abuse and litigation would be too high. However the basic idea is sound. Who would the long term maintenance fall to though?


The opening post here mentions print on demand. My money is still on a dual paper/online pdf format that could be updated at regular periods. After all the last update was 1989 so this is obviously flexible.

[warbs]

I have a second edition dated 2000, which I guess may be the latest one printed?

[Chris Ford]

Oh you're the one!

[jimowers]

It may of course be a silly idea, but I

[Tom Haythornthwaite]

No, my notion is not like Kindle (Amazon's electronic book devices and software); it is much more like Wikipedia ("The encyclopedia that anybody can edit").

I am proposing that any interested society members write, edit, and improve an on-line public encyclopedia of OO9.  While there would be a coordination role the main added value would come from whoever wanted to contribute.

It could start off with pasted articles from earlier handbook editions.  Then any member could make updates.  Then imagine, for instance, it had no article on 'Turntables in OO9'.  Whoever was interested could start one.  Somebody else could expand it, and then somebody else would make a small correction, and so on.  It would grow as quickly or as slowly as those who were tempted to edit wanted. 

I don't know who runs the DCC Wiki (https://dccwiki.com/Introduction_to_DCC) but it works the way I'm trying to describe.

Perhaps I over-emphasized the bit about publishing to .pdf and so on.  That was to indicate that it was a possible output, but the main value would be the dynamic online version.

The actual web platform would be any of several free thingys that exist.

[George Surridge]

No, my notion is not like Kindle (Amazon's electronic book devices and software); it is much more like Wikipedia ("The encyclopedia that anybody can edit").

I am proposing that any interested society members write, edit, and improve an on-line public encyclopedia of OO9.  While there would be a coordination role the main added value would come from whoever wanted to contribute.

It could start off with pasted articles from earlier handbook editions.  Then any member could make updates.  Then imagine, for instance, it had no article on 'Turntables in OO9'.  Whoever was interested could start one.  Somebody else could expand it, and then somebody else would make a small correction, and so on.  It would grow as quickly or as slowly as those who were tempted to edit wanted. 

I don't know who runs the DCC Wiki (https://dccwiki.com/Introduction_to_DCC) but it works the way I'm trying to describe.

Perhaps I over-emphasized the bit about publishing to .pdf and so on.  That was to indicate that it was a possible output, but the main value would be the dynamic online version.

The actual web platform would be any of several free thingys that exist.

I like your idea Tom.