The Concept
- Conventionally, a single paper book is the "authentic copy," and the electronic edition (if any) is an electronic form of the paper book.
- Revised Prayer Book: The Prayer Book is the "content", and this "content" is deployed and delivered to the user in various forms, including a paper book.
- Content = semantically structured text. Basically, cosimetic information (e.g. font information) is not included in the content.
- It is impossible to predict today what means users will use to access "the content" in the next 30 years. We are preparing a platform that can be used in the most appropriate form for that time period and target, and leave it to future generations.
Implementation
Paper books
We plan to prepare two types of paper books:
Daily Edition (portable version)
- Assuming the same size as the current version
- Regularly used contents will be selected (some contents will not be included).
- Content that can be handled by distribution of document files (e.g., ordination ceremony) and by a separate booklet or electronic version (e.g., daily lectionary) will have little impact even if omitted.
- Priority is given to portability and ease of reading.
Complete Edition (desktop version)
- Probably larger than current version
- All content will be included.
- Assumed to be used on a desktop without regard to portability.
Other editions (e.g., Holy Communion excerpt booklet) will be made available via the document file described below.
Electronic Version
Several options are available:
Document File
- Word document files, PDF files, etc. distributed electronically
- Word files can be edited
- Open fonts (the Noto font family is currently being considered) will be used for typesetting, so that the font and other formatting will be similar to the original (book version).
- As the number of liturgical options increases, it is anticipated that it will become more difficult to worship using the Prayer Book itself. We will also encourage each congregation to create their own service booklets from the document files.
Web Applications
- Application-like website
- We realized that native applications for smartphones and other devices are difficult to implement due to compatibility issues, lack of maintenance capacity to continue supporting new OS versions and models, and cost limitations.
- Through this web application, the prayer book data can be accessed and used with smartphones, PCs, tablets, etc.
- To reduce costs, we plan to develop a simple functionality ourselves.
Digital book
- Easy-to-read format on existing platforms
- Usable devices depending on platform
- Consideration will be given to creating data in a common format (EPUB, etc.) and distributing it as data.