The Evaluation of an In-House Publication

The Evaluation of an In-house Publication

Table of Contents

Presentation of contributions

Title

Publication and business details

Contents list

Indexes

An evaluation of an in-house publication according to the guidelines it should fulfill. Companies and businesses distribute an in-house publication monthly or annually, containing the activities, achievements and goals of the company or business, which is dispersed into the public. Abases' in-house journal the Abacus for August 2005 has been selected for evaluation in this assignment.

"Every annual report normally contains the same kind of information, but reports differ from company to company as to their order or their headings. Most contain the following five elements: (1) a letter from the chairperson; (2) the auditor's report; (3) financial statements; (4) a longer section narrating pertinent facts about the past year's operation; (5) photos and charts" (Nowson, Turk & Kruckeberg 2004: 266). The Abacus contains a chairperson's letter, the section about the year's operations, photos and charts. Though the monthly report excludes the financial statements and the auditor's reports, the annual report includes these vital details of the recent financial situation.

"Its impact an all audiences should be weighed, but specifically its effect on priority publics should be determined." (Nowson, Turk & Kruckeberg 2004: 266) The Abacus includes all audiences and projects for these audiences namely the elderly, the disabled, adults and youths. "The heart beats even more strongly for Absa's employees with disabilities" (Abacus August;2005:37) "Absa has launched a campaign to recognize and reward customers who have been with the bank for 50 years or longer." (Abacus August; 2005:12)

"Many annual reports contain copy that touts diversity in the workforce and professes a commitment to teamwork." (Nowson, Turk & Kruckeberg 2004: 266) Absa promotes diversity in the workplace by appointing different races and genders to top positions in the organization. Absa also maintains a commitment to workers operating as a team. "Venete Klein, newly appointed executive director, is part of the new face of Absa. She is driving Absa into new markets and a new way of thinking about how the banking group interacts with the full cross-section of South Africa." " (Abacus August; 2005:52)

Table 1: Strong points and weak points of the Abacus August addition for 2005.

Strong points Weak points

Future prospective No form of conclusion

Accomplishments Not very objective

Social events No indication of past development

Bilingual No financial statements

Chair person letter Few factual information

Photo's and charts No auditors report

Cultural sensitive No indication of problems and solutions

Diversity in workplace

Diverse audience

Entertaining

Structured and informative

Proper language and understandable

Openness to Suggestion

Names of authors indicated

Adequate information

Correct title

Figure 1: Graphic illustration of strong and weaknesses.

Presentation of contributions

"The contribution should contain a heading indicating

* The title, and if necessary, the subtitle;

* The name(s) of the athor(s) with firstname(s) or initial(s) in alphabetical order if each author contributed equally, otherwise the main author is mentioned first or indicated by an asterisk;

* Affiliation(s)." (D.E. Haag 1986:4)

The Abacus complies to the above criteria of title, authors and affiliations

The contribution should contain a synopsis or abstract (in one paragraph) that provides sufficient detail to

* Enable the reader to identify the contents quickly and accurately;

* Provide sufficient information to those readers to whom the article is only of slight interest;

* Identify the keyword of the article for information alerting and retrieving al services.

Articles in a language not widely used internationally should be accompanied by a full or extended translation of the synopsis in at least one widely used language

Title

The title of the periodical is important as it is the primary identifier of the periodical and its contents. It should, therefore, be carefully selected according to the following criteria. The title should be:

* Unique, otherwise it might be confused with another periodical carrying the same title.

* Distinct, i.e. not similar to another title.

* Unambiguous, i.e. not similar to the name of an institution or organization. If the similarity cannot be avoided qualify the title with Journal or Bulletin.

* Concise: lengthy titles are cumbersome, more difficult to remember, identify and quote, and more difficult to accommodate in computer programs.

* Indicative of the subject: it should define as precisely as possible the field of knowledge and activity dealt with in the publication, even though it may not always be possible to indicate the whole field covered. Important words, especially words expressing the content, should appear at the beginning of the title. The title should not: