Many Yearbooks Incorporate Technology
By Christie Gunn
Upon conducting research into college yearbook market trends for their client Sooner yearbook, Innovative PR, a public relations capstone group, found that many yearbooks are incorporating DVDs and CD-ROMs to combat poor sales.
College yearbook sales are dwindling across the country leaving many yearbooks to fight to stay in production. Yearbooks’ biggest competitors are social-networking Web sites such as Facebook and MySpace. These social networks can offer personalized, interactive content and provide instant gratification whereas printed yearbooks are static and generalized to the entire student body. In addition, students must pay for yearbooks in advance and wait months to receive them, unlike social networking sites that update instantly.
In order to keep up with growth in technological competition, several yearbooks have adopted supplemental pieces such as DVDs and CD-ROMs. The University of Texas’s Cactus yearbook comes with a DVD that includes content from the student newspaper and television station. In 1997, Marquette University canceled production of its yearbook entirely in favor of a CD-ROM version. The new format will include audio recordings from each senior to accompany their picture, video slide shows of campus events, footage of commencement and even music from local bands. “The editors say the digital publication will do things that yearbooks have never been able to do before.”
Other yearbook advisers like Ms. Widmer at Northwest Missouri State see the risks of solely using electronic formats for yearbooks. She said, “In 30 years you're not going to be able to do anything with [a DVD or CD-ROM yearbook] except use it as a coaster.” Librarians at Marquette echoed the sentiment, pointing out that electronic yearbooks may fail to accomplish a yearbook’s basic mission of preserving memories and records for the future.
Innovative PR will distribute surveys to continue researching if students at the University of Oklahoma would like to see their yearbook incorporate more technology, such as a supplemental DVD or CD-ROM.
1 comment:
The yearbook industry is in a major struggle against the ease and access of sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and Picassa. I understand the move to DVDs and CD-ROMs, but it's sad to think that we could be loosing the tactile form of memories. You can't beat pulling out an old yearbook and have a flood of memories. I discovered a technology/yearbook company that aims to create a balance between the two worlds. TreeRing offers an online platform where people can share photos and socialize AND personalize a few pages of their very own yearbook. Now instead of an awkward portrait or blurry candid, students can dictate how their year is recorded. Not only is this new company great for individuals, but schools benefit too! Schools have no financial burden because books are sold on a per student basis, and there is only one final deadline (very near to the publishing date). TreeRing even plants a tree for every book printed! Check them out at treering.com
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