The New Social – Reflections – 3
The New Social – Reflections – 3
The third update from the project The New Social: Hybrid Strategies for Cultural Spaces will focus on the subproject Hybrid Publications Toolkit that we are developing as well as a three-part event series titled New Ways of Reading where we aim to re-imagine critical reading, writing, and publishing we have planned this coming fall.
1. Publication Tool Kit
The development of the Hybrid Publication Tool Kit consists of four phases:
I. The archive of Framer Framed.
Based on research, we started to draw a data model to capture the main entities, concepts, and relationships relevant to Framer Framed. To make a searchable digital archive, we propose to create a [graph] database based on the data model and to populate it with data harvested from the current website. Besides serving as a digital archive for the future generation, the database will also serve as backend for the publication tool (CMS). In this way, publishing is also seen as archiving. New publications will automatically feed the database with linked data, according to the data model.
II. Hybrid Publishing.
The hybrid-publishing tool will be developed on top of the graph database (FF-Archive), through a custom developed Content Management System (CMS). This CMS will enable the staff of FF to publish new publications, starting with the CICC pilot publication. The goal of the CMS is to create a set of tools in one interface to compile a publication out of different text sources and media. The CMS will generate a publication through a set of 4 design templates: a desktop webpage, a mobile webpage, a PDF template generated from the webpage(s) and a print ready PDF, for the production of a physical book.
III. Making the Archive Accessible to the Public Online.
The focus of this phase is the web visualisation of the new publications (CICC) and republishing the entire archive of magazine / dossiers from the FF website. This space, embedded on the website of FF will enable readers to browse through the hybrid publications online on desktop and mobile, and to export and share them as offline readable pdf’s. The (web) publication will contain an automated index of terms, linking it to the rest of the archive, and it will automatically generate a colophon, based on the metadata of the source publications.
IV. Interaction and Innovation.
Our development focus will be on navigation and discovery based on a custom made annotation tool. Once we have a database in place that contains the FF data and metadata, the custom-made annotation tool will allow staff and readers to continuously enrich the database of FF revealing new relationships and reflecting in the navigation of the archive in real time. From the CMS, the staff of FF will be able to generate the print ready pdfs that will be used to print and bound a publication as either a print-on-demand for small print runs or through offset print, for print runs over 250 copies.
2. New Ways of Reading: Between Experiment and Accessibility
New Ways of Reading is a three-part event series, where we aim to re-imagine critical reading, writing, and publishing in three separate events. During each event, we aim to explore space for slower, more reflective ways of creating and engaging with content through the perspectives of the reader, the writer, and the publisher. Together, we re-discover critical reflection as a powerful tool that allows to formulate questions, confront bias, point contradictions, and look for new directions.
What cultural and digital strategies could be used to create alternative ways of online publishing, that expand the room for reflection and collectivity? Cultural critical publishing practices require new strategies to respond to the contemporary realities of online media. Manoeuvring between corporate and political powers puts independent publishers in a position that is counterproductive for the role and relevance they ought to have in the social and cultural realm. Creating independent critical content requires plenty of time and effort, and it is not meant to be consumed within seconds. While on the Web 2.0 content is cheap, fast, abundant, and addictive.
Part I – Workshop: Owning Readership
Tue 13 Sept | 19:00–21:30
What does reading mean in times of information overload and obscure mix-ups between commerce and content? In which ways do readers want to interact with content, reflect, collaborate, and connect? Can the ways in which content is created and published allow the readers to gain more agency in the way they behave online? What technologies can assist them with that? During this workshop, together with designer Martijn de Heer, we invite readers to share their reading experiences, express their needs and engage in a collective reading experiment.
Part II – Workshop: Imagining Accessibility
Tue 18 Oct | 19:00–21:30
How do writers experience online publishing formats in their practice? Do they find them relevant to connect with their readers? Do they have the freedom to explore new ways of writing that facilitates contemporary readers? Are there things writers would like to change in the publishing process, and unlearn from their own practice?
Part III – Public Event: Publishing Experiments For All
Tue 25 Oct | 19:00–21:30
What kind of publishing experiments inspire readers to reflect and to exchange ideas with each other? How can experiments be balanced with editorial control to create more space for change within the publishing sector, without losing quality and credibility? In the third and final event of the three-part series, we invite publishers and visitors to reflect on the perspective of the readers and writers that emerged in the previous workshop sessions. We also invite everyone to share their experiences with new forms of writing and publishing.