Student Newspaper Group on Issuu Allows For Easy Sharing of PDF Files

Most publications advisers know one of the best ways to motivate students and give them newspaper ideas is by…well, showing them really good newspapers. But with postage costs going up and time being a hot commodity—labeling, sending out and receiving dozens of examples of scholastic journalism from around the nation can be problematic. This, however, is an issue that can be resolved by the use of Issuu.com.

By simply uploading documents, spreadsheets and pdfs, users can reach a whole new platform of readers throughout the digital world.  The site offers access to easy storage space due to the ability to upload and download documents, the capacity to archive each issue of your paper, and the opportunity to distribute your paper digitally. As a user, you are given an option to share publications by embedding them on your website, distributing them through email or social networking and by optimizing results for search engines. The site offers several other useful features including making the print edition interactive by activating links and adding audio.

Recently, I created a group called “Student Newspapers” on Issuu in hopes of creating a place to do an electronic paper exchange with schools from around the nation (and hopefully the world). This can potentially serve as a place for our students to see what other schools are covering as well as brainstorm ideas for design and stories. This group will allow publications classes around the nation to see a broader scope of student work as well as cut down the costs of sending a million exchange papers out every issue.

To join this group you should:
1.    Become a member of www.issuu.com, if you aren’t already.
2.     Go to www.issuu.com/groups/studentnews
3.    Click on the “Join this Group” button in the upper right-hand corner

From there you will be a member of the group and can invite other people, upload your own paper and comment on other schools’ papers.

If you have any trouble or are having difficulties joining the group, please feel free to contact me at jmclean3@gmail.com