During the past year the Publications Committee has continued publication of URANTIA Brotherhood Bulletin, has assisted in the publication of a second edition of the Study Group Directory, has facilitated the updating and presentation of The History of the URANTIA Movement, has cooperated in the production and demonstration of a computer-based reference aid for The URANTIA Book, has begun to explore the production of materials for the visually and lexically handicapped, and has taken significant steps toward development of a unified publications policy for URANTIA Brotherhood. During next year we expect to continue publication of the Bulletin with expanded contents, to develop a more flexible approach to revision of the Directory, to develop a videotape version of the History, to publish the computer-based reference aid, to assess the feasibility of publishing audio and/or video materials based on conference presentations, and to implement an updated view of our role within the organization. Our work in these and related areas is summarized in the following paragraphs.

Urantia Brotherhood Bulletin

Although the Publications Committee has planned to publish the Bulletin quarterly, this schedule has proven impossible to meet. An unprecedented increase in size of the Brotherhood mailing fist during 1986 increased our production and distribution costs to the point that we were forced to cancel production of the Fall 1986 issue. The Spring 1987 issue has also gone to press somewhat later than planned. The very high surcharges placed by our printer on collation of a six-page issue, combined with continuing Brotherhood financial difficulties will force us to cut back to four page issues for the indefinite future. If the subject matter so warrants, our next six-page issue will be prepared as a gatefold.

Beginning with the Winter 1987 issue, the Bulletin has been typeset "in-house," that is, by the editor, using "desktop publishing" equipment. This practice seems to result in material of adequate quality, and will probably be continued, with improvements in typeface and technique, until such time as the Brotherhood office acquires the necessary facilities and expertise. The principal purpose of this exercise, aside from reducing Bulletin production costs, is to help develop recommendations concerning in-house production methods.

During the next year we hope to broaden Bulletin coverage of memorable events, such as anniversaries, presentations, and history. In addition, we invite members of the General Council to submit brief position papers on organizational and functional matters for possible publication.

On the International front, the Spring issue of the Bulletin is being mailed to French-speaking readers worldwide with an inserted page providing French translations, prepared by Yves Chauvin, of selected articles from the Winter issue. We hope to continue and expand this program in future issues.

The Study Group Directory

During the past year, the Domestic Extension Committee has worked closely with Marian Rowley and other office staff to finalize the contents of the new edition of the Study Group Directory. This booklet is being typeset by Harry McMullan in Oklahoma and is being printed in Chicago. It differs from the first edition produced three years ago in that much more information is presented on each page, a smaller number of pages are used, and members of the study groups are no longer listed by name. The current edition will be printed in sufficient number to be distributed to the entire mailing list, at no charge.

The Executive Committee has asked us to begin a program of more frequent updating and reprinting of the Study Group Directory. We feel that, in the near future, it will be reasonable to maintain a system of regional lists on a computer at headquarters and to print regional lists on request. Updating and reprinting should be much simpler now that the list is maintained on computer.

History of the URANTIA Movement

The historical slide-tape program originally developed by Mark and Barbara Kulieke many years ago has been significantly updated by Mark, Barbara, and other interested readers, and re-recorded by Stephen Zendt. The revised version of this program, with some new slides, will be shown to a number of small groups at the 1987 General Conference. We plan to work toward the production and publication of this program as a videotape, which could be loaned out for efficient presentation to small groups. This initiative may involve more than technical effort, since this program is now exhibited only by explicit permission of the Executive Committee. Computer-based Reference Aid

A preliminary version of this reference aid was demonstrated in Chicago the weekend of 12 June. An improved version will be demonstrated at the General Conference. The data used by the system was developed to my specifications by Nancy Johnson, using the machine-readable copy of The URANTIA Book which she has created for her own use over the past four years. The data structure indexes more than 600,000 occurrences of over 26,000 words in the text of the Book. All but about 50 very common words are included in the catalog. Every occurrence of a cataloged word has been recorded.

This program allows one to browse the master dictionary of the Book and to select an arbitrary number of terms to use in constructing a query. One can then create a reduced list of references by asking the computer to compare the lists of occurrences of two terms to extract those instances which lie in the same section, paragraph, sentence, etc. of the text. When the number of "hits" for a combination of terms falls to a usefully low level the user can direct the computer to print a list of the references.

The Publications Committee is now planning for the eventual publication and distribution of this reference tool by URANTIA Brotherhood, providing no objections are raised by URANTIA Foundation. Issues under consideration include: How elaborately should it be produced? How expensively should it be sold? How fully should it be supported?

Although I believe a number of readers and groups will want copies of this system, we must recognize that its exhaustive nature, and the requirement for a computer to support its use will limit its appeal. The present system is intended to be used with dBase III, or compatible software, on an IBM PC compatible computer, and requires about 8 Megabytes of rigid disk storage. It will be, of course, possible to create future versions of the system which work in other environments. We also hope other software developers can be attracted to this task. In its present form, a computer costing about $1200 can run the reference tool and provide plenty of excess capacity for other work.

Citation Standard Descriptive Pamphlet

We had planned to produce a pamphlet describing the system of uniform citation for The URANTIA Book, which was presented to and approved by the Council last year. It now appears that this will be done as a part of the overall development and packaging of the computer based study aid.

Materials for the Handicapped

In January 1987, the Publications Committee was tasked by the General Council to explore the development of audio and/or Braille materials for the visually and/or lexically handicapped. This does not extend to preparation of The URANTIA Book in this form, since that is the province of URANTIA Foundation. I have been asked what "lexically handicapped" means and why it is included here. Just as "-visually handicapped" means "can't see well" the term "lexically handicapped" means "can't read well." While relatively few present-day readers of the Book are seriously visually handicapped, some Councilors feel that a fairly large number of the present-day readers would prefer audio and audiovisual presentations.

The market for secondary audio/video materials is surely much smaller than the market which would exist for The URANTIA Book in this form. The Publications Committee feels that, if we are to explore this area, we should begin with non-ephemera, such as major conference presentations and articles from The Urantia. Journal of URANTIA Brotherhood, rather than time-dependent organizational news. Toward this end, we plan to make video recordings of some of the plenary sessions at the 1987 General Conference. We will review these recordings to determine the feasibility of their publication in either audio or video form. If it appears that there is a significant demand for such material we will work to develop additional sources and to evaluate whether a Braille sub-market may exist as well.

Unified Publications Policy

We were asked by the Council to assess the problem of overlapping coverage and lack of coordination among the many diverse publications of URANTIA Brotherhood. To this end, we met with Dave Elders and Peter Laurence on 13 June to explore the relationship of the Executive Committee Newsletter and TheURANTIAN Joumal to activities of the Publications Committee, which has Constitutional responsibility for their general supervision.

As a result of these discussions we have arrived at the following viewpoints and plans:

Because of the great difference in readership and style of the Newsletter and the Bulletin, the present moderate overlap in news coverage is probably inevitable, and need not be a serious concern.

The Publications Committee should work to fulfill its Constitutional responsibilities, by providing general supervision of all Brotherhood publishing activities.

It should be the role of the Publications Committee to facilitate, rather than to control the publishing work of the Brotherhood.

The Committee should appoint one of its members to serve as liaison with each of the various Brotherhood publishing efforts. For example, Eileen Laurence will be asked to serve as liaison with the Journal.

The Committee should initiate its own plans for publications of general interest and support the work of the other committees in this area.

The Committee should offer its assistance to the Executive Committee in advising on the publishability of proposed works from the viewpoint of editorial and mechanical concerns.

New Initiatives in Publications

We will begin implementing these new ideas as we work with the Special Projects Committee in helping to realize two important projects in the area of secondary and derivative works. In the first project we will be providing technical support in the publication of the planned directory of secondary works. The second project relates to a proposed, independently refereed, digest of selected secondary works, which would provide a vehicle for recognition and publication of excellent secondary works, ranging from academic studies, through study aids, to inspirational and artistic works and meaningful personal statements.

Summary of Policy Attitude

In an attempt to express these ideas more fully, one member of the Committee formulated the following statement, which was informally supported by members present at the annual meeting:

The Publications Committee,

Desiring to promote greater knowledge of and easier access to a wide variety of secondary works issued by various individuals and groups,

Believing that the Committee's awareness of technical and managerial factors associated with the preparation of secondary works could be useful to others,

Conscious of the need to ensure that material published by and bearing the imprint of URANTIA Brotherhood adheres to the highest standards of clarity and accuracy,

Believing that the Brotherhood's official sanction ought to be reserved for publications which meet essential needs and which in the long run will not inadvertently detract from the central message of The URANTIA Book in the eyes of readers with different social and cultural traditions,

1. Proposes that the Publications Committee and the Special Projects Committee actively cooperate in preparing and publishing a list of secondary works which outlines their content and provides information on how they can be obtained;

2. Offers practical advice and assistance to individuals and groups who are preparing or considering preparing secondary works;

3. Recommends that the Executive Committee seek the Publications Committee's advice during consideration of new publications.

Respectfully submitted for the Publications Committee:
Dan Massey, Chairman

Mark Kulieke
Lisa Renn
Nancy Johnson
Eileen Laurence
Neal Waldrop
July 6, 1987