Kevin has hit it bang on the head, fantastic. That's what we'll do :) On Sat, Feb 27, 2010 at 11:24 PM, Kevin Godby <god...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Here's some background on how the publishing history information > typically works in books. The publishing history is included on the > copyright page of the book. The following information is taken from > the Chicago Manual of Style: > > ``Publishing History. The publishing history of a book, which usually > follows the copyright notice, begins with the date (year) of original > publication. If a book is reprinted, the number and date of the > current impression are usually indicated. Corrections are sometimes > made in new impressions, but if significant revisions are made, the > result may be a new edition. The number and date of the new edition > become part of the publishing history. The copyright dates of all > editions may be accumulated in the copyright notice, but usually only > the original edition and latest editions are reflected in the > publishing history. > > ``Edition versus impression. `Edition,' as opposed to 'impression,' > is used in at least two senses. (1) A new edition may be defined as > one in which a substantial change has been made in one or more of the > essential elements of the work (e.g., text, notes, appendixes, or > illustrations). As a rule of thumb, at least 20 percent of a new > edition should consist of new or revised material. A work that is > republished with a new preface or afterward but is otherwise unchanged > except for corrections of typographical errors is better described as > a new impression or a reissue; the title page may include such words > as `With a New Preface.' (2) `Edition' may be used to designate a > reissue in a new format---for example, a paperback, deluxe, or > illustrated version---or under the imprint of a different publisher. > > ``Edition number. A new edition is best designated on the title page > by its number: Second Edition, Third Edition, and so forth. Such > phrases as `revised and expanded' are redundant on the title page, > since the nature and extent of the revision are normally described in > the prefatory material or on the cover. > > ``Impression. The impression is usually identified by a line of > numerals running below the publishing history. For example: > > 07 06 05 040 03 02 01 99 1 2 3 4 5 > > The first group of numerals, reading from right to left, represents > the last two digits of succeeding years starting with the date of > original publication. The second set, following a space of an em or > more and reading from left to right, represents the numbers of > possible new impressions. The lowest number in each group indicates > the present impression and date. In the above example, therefore, the > impression is identified as the first, and the year of printing as > 1999. The following example indicates a sixth printing in 1998. > > 04 03 02 01 00 99 98 6 7 8 9 > > This method involves minimal resetting in each new impression, since > the typesetter merely deletes the lowest number. Indicating a new > impression not only reflects the sales record of a book but also > signals that corrections may have been made.'' > > --- > > Whew! Okay, so the basic concept are that there are two levels of > revisions of a book: editions and impressions. An impression is just > for fixing minor typos while a new edition indicates more substantial > changes. > > I would say that Getting Started with Ubuntu 10.04 is the first book > in a series of books. The series would contain the following books: > > Getting Started with Ubuntu 10.04 > Getting Started with Ubuntu 10.10 > Getting Started with Ubuntu 11.04 > Getting Started with Ubuntu 11.10 > etc. > > When we release Getting Started with Ubuntu 10.04 in April, that will > be the first edition (and first impression/printing) of the book. We > don't need to indicate this on the title page. > > Ideally, we won't need multiple editions or impressions. However, > since we'll probably find typos after April or programs have changed a > bit, we'll want to keep the manual up to date, and that will require > new impressions. I think that information about new impressions can > be safely relegated to the copyright page -- a notice shouldn't be > placed on the front cover. > > If we make major revisions to the manual -- add a new chapter, for > instance -- then that may qualify as a new edition. If this occurs, > then we should place a 'Second Edition' notice on the cover of the > manual. > > Now as to how this information should be presented on the copyright > page: The reason they used the line of numbers (explained above) is > because they used to generate metal plates for printing the books. > When a new impression was created, it was easy to scratch off the year > and impression from the existing copyright page plate and reuse it > without making an entirely new plate. Since we're all electronic > here, we don't have that problem. Further, very few people know what > that line of numbers means anyway. Therefore, I would recommend that > we use a versioning system similar to what's used for software, e.g., > Version 1.1 for the first impression of the first edition. (The year > is less important, given the timeliness of our manual.) > > So here's what I would recommend: We will (hopefully) have rare need > to generate a new edition of the manual. If we do, though, we'll > place the edition number on the front cover. On the copyright page, > we should include the manual's version. The major version number (the > number to the left of the decimal) shall refer to the edition and the > minor version number (to the right of the decimal) shall refer to the > impression. We can also include the date the impression was generated > (in YYYY-MM-DD format). > > Are there any objections to this? > > --Kevin > > _______________________________________________ > Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-manual > Post to : ubuntu-manual@lists.launchpad.net > Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-manual > More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp > -- Benjamin Humphrey Ubuntu Manual Project Leader Dunedin, New Zealand https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-manual www.interesting.co.nz
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