Rock Garden Quarterly

[McGregor]

Hi Rick

I've written a guide for the next issue of the Quarterly - but the answer is yes you can. USe the button at the top right with the downward arrow.

Malcolm

[IMYoung]

Exciting news about this advance - Well done to NARGS for grasping this opportunity. 

[Booker]

Hearty congratulations to NARGS on this wonderful innovation ... but please resist any temptation (much further down the line) to replace the splendid Quarterly with a solely electronic format - or not (at least) until I have departed to that great rock garden in the sky.  Polemonium heaven.

[McGregor]

Great reception for the Digital Quarterly - the response has been unprecedented and all in favor but there have been various points in various emails and other contacts:

1. This will NOT replace the paper edition - it is a free bonus

2. Access is available to anyone at the moment and will be to the next edition (which is being worked on at the moment) after that you will have to be a NARGS member to get access.

3. NARGS members will have to register their email address with NARGS (email <NARGS@nc.rr.com> subject "NARGS email address") if they have not already - if you had an email notification of the new Digital edition of the Quarterly from us, then we do have your email.

As I say, I'm working on the next edition at the moment but have hit a holdup getting the proofs from our printer in Kansas. With Memorial Day last Monday and then the Queen's Jubilee holidays on Monday & Tuesday this week the proofs which would normally have been here last Friday did not make it and were delivered yesterday - unfortunately the Fedex driver managed to deliver them (and get them signed for) by someone unknown to us, and we don't know where (although we're hoping Fedex will be able to find out). So I'm currently waiting for Fedex to retrieve them and then try again.

Still hoping that we'll be able to finalize everything by the beginning of next week, uploading any revisions over the weekend. So still looking at a dispatch in the last week of June with the Digital edition online around July 1.

Fingers crossed...

[Fermi]

Malcolm,
as much as I love to have the paper edition in hand, I really see the advantage of having the electronic version as well. For one thing, no more complaints of how long it takes to get to the other side of the world
Perhaps more non-members who see the quality of the mag will opt in to become members once the "free veiwing" is over!
Keep up the great work,
cheers
fermi

[McGregor]

NEWS

1. The launch of the digital Quarterly seems to have gone very successfully with great enthusiasm only tempered with the worry that there might be a move to stop issuing the paper version. As is made clear in the upcoming issue (Summer 2012) this is not the plan. The digital Quarterly has been initiated to offer members an extra format in an age when this is becoming much more popular. The hope is also, obviously, that we can attract new members.

2. The Summer 2012 issue of the Quarterly has been printed and is in the process of being dispatched. Lots of exciting stuff in this issue which has a one-off extra 32 pages - 128 in all

3. The digital version is scheduled for release on July 1. And having announced it I'm now going to be keeping my fingers crossed that we keep to schedule.

Very best to everyone

Malcolm

[Cockcroft]

Having traveled with Kim Blaxland in China in 2007, I was very distressed to read of her death in the Spring Quarterly.  Kim was a great travel companion, thoughtful, upbeat, and generous with her knowledge.  She was also something of a pied piper -- by the end of the trip, my son and I were both spotting violas that we might have overlooked before we met Kim.  :-)

The tribute to her in the Summer Quarterly was a spirit lifter.  Thank you for it!

[McGregor]

Summer Edition of DIGITAL QUARTERLY now online

www.nxtbook.com/allen/roga/70-3

Pleased to say we've met the deadline (which was pretty tight) and the new edition is now up and running - have fun - and do try the USER OPTIONS in the toolbox - you can turn sound and shadow on and off, and you'll also find the archive section (as yet of course with only two issues in there.)

[IMYoung]

Paper version of the Quarterly is here in Aberdeen as well, Thanks! Super issue and we love the chance to see it online as well.

[McGregor]

So pleased your paper issue got through so quickly this time. Much quicker. I usually get my copy the same day as you but not this time.
Yes, I think the Digital Quarterly is really nice as an extra - in the long run all sorts of possibilities open up - extra pictures which space prohibits in the printed version, extended articles with extra material and so on.

[Fermi]

The paper version is yet to reach here so it's great to get a look at it on-line
cheers
fermi

[McDonough]

Summer Edition of DIGITAL QUARTERLY now online

www.nxtbook.com/allen/roga/70-3

Pleased to say we've met the deadline (which was pretty tight) and the new edition is now up and running - have fun - and do try the USER OPTIONS in the toolbox - you can turn sound and shadow on and off, and you'll also find the archive section (as yet of course with only two issues in there.)

I was anticipating some response to this announcement, regarding how the digital version of the NARGS Rock Garden Quartery represents a major milestone for the society, but allow me to jump right in and offer my thoughts.  A sincere Thank You to all involved for making this development a reality.  My first take on the online version, hosted by nxbook.com and Allen Press, is the right venue has been selected; it is an excellent, intuitive interface that makes reading the NARGS Quarterly digitally a true pleasure.

I'm critical of poorly implemented software (don't get me started on Facebook ), so it is a real pleasure to see something so well implemented as the hosting site for digital NARGS Quarterlies.  When first reaching the site for the latest Summer 2012 edition, I find the viewing and navigation tools very easy to use and logically presented.  The first thing that catches my attention, is that all of the web addresses, mail addresses, and article pages, are hot-linked; just click on them and they go to that page or activity.  When "mousing" over items that are hot-linked, such as an article page in the Table of Contents, or the website for a plant nursery advertiser, it highlights in yellow and provides "tool tips" right at the mouse cursor.




Not only is there the conventional Table of Contents which is clickable to jump to any article or page, but there is a special "extended" Contents view, done graphically, interactively allowing selecting an article or page to jump to.  Cool.




When viewing/reading the journal, there are simple interface tools to use; a "zoom slider bar" for sizing the content to what fits best on the page and reaches best legibility.  I use the "zoom slider bar" at the top and set it to 2-pages with medium level zoom, to see and read 2 pages at once.  The cursor is also interactive, showing icon tips, such as the 4-way arrow icon to indicate one can click and drag the screen to "pan" or move the view to read more.  There are dog-eared page-turning links at the corner of each page, to turn pages back or forward, complete with a fun page-turning sound if wanted (I'm easily amused by such features).  There are many other additional book-reading controls for you to try.




I was surprised by one feature, with the fact all of the advertiser web pages are hot-linked, I found myself actually clicking on those links and investigating the advertiser's wares.  In the hard-copy of the NARGS Quarterly, I see the advertiser's ads, I often think I should go and look them up, but then never actually go to the trouble to do so, yet in the digital version of the journal the advertiser's links are just a single click away, and I visited each. The direct hot-link connectivity of the digital version is a huge plus.




Last, it should be noted that all links are live, so mail addresses and links to specific sections of NARGS web page activities are all live and instantaneous. Need to send an email to a NARGS Chapter head, or to our illustrious NARGS President, the link is live and right there to click on




Last but not least, I must say this latest edition of the NARGS Quarterly (Summer 2012) is the finest in recent memory, something for everyone, from David Sellers remarkably beautiful phoptos in his article on "Photographing Alpine Plants", to a memorable focus on the genus Viola and work of Kim Blaxand, western Phlox, and so much more.  Thank you to all who have contributed to this edition, and of course a special thanks to the leadership of NARGS Quarterly editor, Malcolm McGregor, and to our NARGS President's (Peter George) vision to improve the quality, value, and accessibility of NARGS member resources.

[Tim Ingram]

I would thoroughly agree with Mark's scholarly overview. Not being so IT savvy i haven't discovered many of the features of the on-line Quarterly but can see how well it has been thought out - so thanks to everyone involved! It is a great issue, beautifully put together and must have been very satisfying to have produced. With the Quarterly on-line and the SRGC IRG it makes you really feel alpine gardening is going somewhere!

[McGregor]

The FALL ISSUE of the Quarterly is now at the printers and our expectation is that it will be dispatched by them sometime next week.

The DIGITAL QUARTERLY will then be posted around October 1. The only way to view this issue will be through the website link - click through from the Digital Quarterly image on the homepage (or follow the RGQ Online link) and then clicking on the cover. You will be asked for

YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
YOUR MEMBERSHIP NUMBER

THIS MEMBERSHIP NUMBER WILL BE ON THE WRAPPER OF THE QUARTERLY just above your address.
The Spring and Summer issues will remain open to non-members so that non-members can see what they are missing but, in line with the President's letter in the last issue, new issues will only be accessible to members.

[McGregor]

FALL ISSUE of the Quarterly is now in the post.

DON'T FORGET TO MAKE A NOTE OF YOUR MEMBERSHIP NUMBER ON THE WRAPPER