The August 2011 Cites & Insights adds hyperlinks, for the first time.
And I’ve already been told by a reader that they don’t work.
That’s true, in one area: Hyperlinks in the PDF version of Cites & Insights do not work at this point. That’s a weakness in both Acrobat 9 as a PDF printer and in Office2010’s “Save as PDF” function: Neither one turns Word hyperlinks into PDF hyperlinks.
“So what’s the problem? Just use the PDF tab on the menu bar instead.”
Sure…except that Acrobat 9 will not install an operational PDF tab in the Word2010 menu bar.
I suspect that Acrobat X will do so.
But, of course, that requires upgrading to Acrobat X, which takes money.
Revenue received from Cites & Insights: $0, for all intents and purposes.
So, y’know, just not gonna happen at this point: since I don’t need hyperlinks in other PDF situations, there’s no justification for me spending a couple hundred bucks of my own money.
The hyperlinks do work in the HTML versions of the essays. I’ve tried them.
“Well, then, you should be maintaining two entirely separate versions of C&I: One with hyperlinks for HTML, one with plain-text URLs and without annoying blue underlines for PDF.”
Not. Going. To. Happen. I can’t justify the effort at this point, given the diminished reception and importance of C&I in the community.
One solution: Drop the hyperlinks altogether. If there’s enough uproar, I’ll do that. Maybe adding them was a bad idea…
If I’ve missed something–if there’s a handy-dandy trick for printing to PDF, or Saving as PDF, that maintains hyperlinks–I’d be delighted to hear it. If it involves upgrading Acrobat, I’d be less delighted.
Long time reader (ever since “Future Libraries” was required during my first semester of library school), first time commenter, just wanting to tell you how much I love the working links in the HTML version of C&I. Being able to follow the threads you lay out in your articles for myself makes them much more accessible, and I think I will be more likely to forward your articles to others in the future are a result. I am thrilled to see this change, and I hope enough others agree that C&I can continue to be published. Even though I haven’t spoken up before now, I find your work to be both useful and relevant, and I’m sorry I didn’t say so any earlier.
Thanks for the kind words. People letting me know they consider this worthwhile will certainly help, although sponsorship (or a significant number of donations) would help even more. For now, I’ll continue with links that work in HTML…and don’t in PDF, unless finances improve.