Communications Vision

The Communications Department of The Augustan Society, Inc., is charged with the production of print publications, online publications, reprints, back issues, websites, social media, and email services.

 

Communications Committee

The Communications Committee is lead by a chairman who is styled Editor-in-Chief. This Committee is responsible for all activities of the Communications Department, unless the Board or Editor-in-Chief has created another Committee and charged them with responsibility.

Augustæum

Augustæum is the members newsletter. By definition, it carries items that are either not scholarly, or are not of enduring value (which should be sent to the Augustan Omnibus instead). It is intended to be published more frequently than the Omnibus, but may be mailed with it.

Presently, the frequency is bi-monthly, and the size is four or six pages, as material submitted demands. Longer issues are possible. It is often accompanied by flyers, notices, and other publications, such as the Rose Newsletter.

Regular features presently include:

• Announcements of new members, elections, appointments, honors, arms registrations, and recognitions
• News of conventions, meetings, publications, fundraisers, and other programs
• Help Wanted — an item advertising a particular post, not to be repeated for the following year plus one issue (Thus a January notice in one year would not be repeated until March of the following year.)
• Lists of donors to various campaigns, members of Sub-Groups, or senior members
• "Library Top Ten", a list of ten items from the Library catalog that one member feels are of interest
• If four pages are not filled, an Editorial

Proposal: The Society should publish the members newsletter on a monthly schedule, presuming sufficient funding and material are available.

Proposal: The Society should conduct a survey to test the level of interest in publishing the members newsletter electronically, and a decision made about the value of devoting the time needed to reformat (versus publishing as a PDF file).

The Augustan Omnibus

The Augustan Omnibus is the present title of the Society's scholarly journal. As such, contents are restricted to items of enduring value that have appropriate citations in standard format, and to reviews of relevant books, websites, and software. Also included are occasional official statements from the President, Editor-in-Chief, or Editor, and letters to the editor, which should pertain to the journal and items published therein. Ephemeral items or those not scholarly in nature should be referred to Augustæum.

Proposal: The Society should continue to publish The Augustan Omnibus at not less than 36 pages/issue, and to increase the frequency to as often as quarterly as submissions and staff may support.

To aid in fundraising, advertising is accepted. Historically, these have primarily been support ads from members, but there is also a history of commercial advertising of relevant products and services.

Proposal: The Society should create the office of Advertising Manager under the Fundraising Committee to promote and process both support ads and commercial advertising, the latter perhaps including fly sheets.

The Augustan Society Roll of Arms

The Society's program of Arms Registration is of limited value if those registrations are not made public in some way. The Online Armorial is one tool for this, but it is not the only one. It is also suitable to use published rolls as a general fundraiser, as has been done in the past.

Proposal: The Society should publish additional volumes of the Augustan Society Roll of Arms as registrations permit.

Proposal: The Society should reprint the first three volumes of the Augustan Society Roll of Arms in color.

The Augustan Society Website

Proposal: The Society should monitor and update the Main Website on an ongoing basis to ensure that it remains complete and correct.

The Augustan Store Website

Proposal: The Society should monitor and update the Augustan Store website on an ongoing basis to ensure that the offerings are complete and correct; that they have full contents data; that the genealogical titles have surname lists; and that pricing reflects current costs.

The Forum; an Online Forum

Proposal: The Society should establish an online forum in some suitable venue, possibly the Main Website, wherein public conversations about the Society and Augustan topics are encouraged, as soon as a moderator and suitable rules may be established.

The Augustan Society Library Catalog

This website is discussed under the category of Library Vision.

Back Issue Sales

Proposal: The Society should convert all former publications to electronic form; first as PDF files, then as text files with improved illustrations where possible.

Reprint Sales

Proposal: The Society should continue the Reprint Program, creating and expanding reprints on a topical basis. Single-article reprints should be phased out as stock is exhausted.

Augustan Books

The Little Manual of Heraldry

This work is poorly organized, eccentric in coverage, and printed in black & white. It deserves a thorough revision and color artwork. The existence of a large backlog of the third edition should not discourage this effort.

The Augustan Society Email System

Proposal: The Society should obtain an email server that is tailored to the unique needs of the Society. This may be a commercial product, or a custom application running on a Society server.

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