Bonnie Coblentz
Editor/Writer
Mississippi State University

Background

MediaLink 2001 is a CD-ROM designed as a reference tool for members of the media. It is the latest version of what was originally a printed sheet of paper that listed topic specialists and their phone numbers. This list was updated annually and also included contact information about Mississippi State University's Office of Agricultural Communications. The goal of this information, then as well as now, is to be a ready source of information and story ideas on a wide range of topics, and to offer university specialists as experts on these subjects.

As the content of these information sheets grew, the task of fitting it all in the space provided became more difficult. And as media needs changed, we realized that what we were offering was no longer the most useful. We also wanted to provide more material for users.

Some organizations have begun offering information about themselves in electronic form on CD-ROMs. The idea for the project came from the Southeastern Conference's media guide, a CD-ROM that provides information about the sports teams in the SEC. The CDs have team rosters, photographs, stats and university information for each of the member schools.

A CD-ROM can be interactive, holds a tremendous amount of data, and can provide print quality images, hyperlinks to websites, sound and video files, and more. CDs are small and nearly indestructible. OAC has the in-house capability of burning mass quantities of these media, printing the front, designing the cover and compiling the content. The decision was made to proceed with the project and design a media resource on CD-ROM for 2001.

Method

Cost
We began with a cost estimate to see if the return on the project was worth the investment. The office traditionally sends our expert list to everyone on our news distribution list. We also hand out copies at the Mississippi Press Association and Mississippi Association of Broadcasters meetings, and anytime we contact members of the media. We decided that we needed 500 copies to meet our distribution needs for the year.

The in-house computer services department agreed to supply the media and cases, burn the CDs and print the fronts for $1.50 each. Cost for the actual CDs was $750. We received three bids for printing the fold-out front cover and the back cover. We accepted the bid of $540.35. When we began, no estimate was possible of how much staff time this project would require.

Development
We determined that the project had five parts, and pulled a team together composed of one person in charge of each area. A graphic designer was responsible for developing the functioning CD-ROM. A photographer was charged with collecting the photographs and cutline information. Another graphic designer created the cover, an editor compiled the experts list, contact information and university data, and a special projects coordinator was responsible for gathering logos and word marks.

The graphic designer who created the program used Director, a CD authoring program. The designer was familiar with the software, but became much more expert in its use while she developed the CD. She began by choosing a color scheme and designing a unified look for the menu screens, buttons, layout and sections. Once the basic elements of the CD were in place, she began to add content.

What was originally envisioned as the centerpiece of the project is a searchable directory of 61 experts categorized by 75 subjects. The CD allows searches by first name, last name and specialty area. Each person's phone number and e-mail address is provided in this directory.

The searchable database was designed using V12 Database Engine, a database creation program. Director does not have the ability to create a database that was usable for this project, so our graphic designer found a program that filled the need and was compatible with Director. The designer had never used V12 before and had to learn the software as she worked.

Experts List
Specialists for the database were gathered through a variety of avenues. Each year the existing experts list is updated to account for such thing as retirements, phone number changes and new hires. Space limited the number of topics and specialists that could be included on this list in years past. With the experts list going electronic, space no longer was an issue. We sent the existing list to appropriate administrators with a request that they update it as necessary and add any other topics and experts as needed.

Compiling an inclusive database was difficult under deadline pressure. Some administrators sent lengthy lists of specialty areas and contact people, while other areas were less well represented. Decisions on who to include were made based on which topics have the most relevance to members of the media. The database is searchable by name, but to be useful to those who don't know who they need to talk to, we made the list searchable by topic as well. The challenge was coming up with common-sense topics for the specialists' areas of expertise.

Photo Gallery
The photo gallery is divided into three sections: logos, portraits and ag scenes. The portrait section offers photos of each specialist listed in the database. Color images were included when possible. Other portraits provided are those of administrators, university leaders and other staff that are more widely known throughout the state.

The ag scene section is a compilation of 103 stock photos shot by OAC photographers of the majority of Mississippi's agricultural enterprises. The photographer collected photos of the state's major crops in various stages of production and harvest, state scenery, noteworthy insects, farm equipment, forestry practices and MSU's College of Veterinary Medicine. These images are available in high and low resolution files for either print or web-based applications. Included with each photograph is cutline information.

The third section of the photo gallery includes the logos and word marks. Here users can find print-quality logos and word marks for MSU and several of its units, departments and colleges. Logos are provided in color and black and white versions when appropriate. The CD also gives the university's policy and guidelines governing how these images can be used.

Background Information
An editor gathered a variety of information for the rest of the CD-ROM. The project begins with an overview of MSU's Division of Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine. A summary of the Division and a description of each unit is provided, along with the name, phone number, e-mail address and physical address of each unit's dean or director.

One section offers a lengthy hyperlinked list of useful web sites within the Division. A news story and chart is provided that details the value of Mississippi crops in 2000. Another button takes users to a page where contact information for OAC staff can be found.

MSUcares.com
A final section gives a preview version of the website, MSUcares.com. OAC operates this website for the Mississippi State University Extension Service and the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station. The site was downloaded for MediaLink on May 10, 2001, and a note was placed on-screen alerting viewers to this fact. The CD-ROM version is fully functional and allows users to pursue the website virtually without actually logging onto it. The actual website is updated on a daily basis, and users can visit the working site by following a link provided on the Web Links section.

The team discussed at length how to introduce users to the website in the best way. We considered providing a very limited preview, then linking users automatically to the actual site. However, this idea was not used because that would require users to launch a browser and go online. The primary audience for MediaLink is the members of the state's print media. Mississippi has hundreds of small newspaper offices, many of which have only limited access to the Internet. We chose to place a static version of the website on the CD rather than require viewers to tie up their telephone lines to view the website online.

Visual Design
A second graphic designer borrowed the look of the CD and carried it over to the cover. The same color scheme and graphical elements from the CD were incorporated in the design of this piece. The front cover was designed to unfold into an information sheet that lists subject area experts along with their phone numbers and e-mail addresses. Photos for the cover were taken from the image database provided on the CD-ROM.

Results

Staff and student workers spent 361 hours working on the project, at a value of $13,046. The total project carried a price tag of $14,336.35. Time was the biggest expense, and creating the functioning CD-ROM in Director was the single largest consumer, followed by collecting, sizing and writing cutlines for the photographs. Gathering names and contact information for the specialists directory was the next longest task.

Costs to produce this medium in future years should be much lower as it only will need to be updated and revised annually, not created again. The biggest savings will result from fewer staff hours spent working on the project. Photographs and the experts list will have to be updated annually, as will the agricultural statistics and overview story. However, most of the rest of the contents should change little each year.

Producing MediaLink 2001 was a tremendous learning experience for the team. The department had not done such a project before, and certainly not under such an ambitious deadline. Team members did not have many examples of similar work to look at and learn from.

Before we released the CD-ROM, we tested it on several people, including the editor of a newspaper and the editor of a university publication. Team members provided very little information about the CD to these testers, and simply watched while they perused the piece. Our observations and their comments were valuable in helping us improve places where navigation became difficult. Their comments also affirmed our estimation of the product's usefulness.

Conclusions

Even as we completed our project, we noted things that we would have liked to have done differently or that we determined to change next year.

For example, many of our specialists are listed in the database more than once as they have multiple areas of expertise. Under the pressures of working with unfamiliar software, the only way we were able to make the database searchable by topic was to list these specialists more than once. These names were entered into the database once for each specialty area. In the update, we would like to eliminate multiple entries.

Team members assumed the database of experts would be the centerpiece of the project, but the photo gallery eclipsed it in popularity. Early feedback indicates users are pleased to have free access to these high quality images. Future editions may include more photos.

MediaLink was made to operate on either Macintosh or Windows platforms. The Mac interface works smoothly, but there are problems sometimes for Windows users. Designers bypassed this problem by printing a troubleshooting note on the front of the CD itself directing users where to find help.

Ideally, team members should have had more time to work on this project than they had. Because of the hurry, information was gathered quickly, but with as much thoroughness as possible. When an early version of the project was sent out for in-house review, it received mixed reviews. Future updates should allow more time for administrator input to avoid last-minute changes.

While team members are proud of MediaLink 2001, each saw areas where it could be improved. One such area is the images section. A characteristic of the software we used is that it does not allow images seen on the screen to be copied. Users must exit MediaLink and go to an accompanying file to download the photo they want. Ideally, users would be able to select an item and be given the opportunity to download on-site.

MediaLink is not self-launching, another item designers would like to change in future versions. Later releases also will be designed with a standard back cover and spine that will not change from year to year. The current cover lists the name MediaLink 2001, making it unusable for future generations of the project. The next design may change the name simply to MediaLink, but whatever is done, the back cover will be designed to be appropriate for the next few years.

As with any project dealing with large numbers of people and a large organization, some information was outdated even before MediaLink was released. Such things as turnover, retirement and new employees make it impossible to be 100 percent current with such a database. An update is needed at least once a year for the project to be mostly accurate.

Because of the capabilities CDs offer, future versions of MediaLink can include video clips and audio files that would highlight more of the services offered by MSU's Office of Agricultural Communications.