A BYU tradition is being reborn and reinterpreted. The 1996/1997 Virtual Banyan of BYU, coming this fall, will rekindle the BYU yearbook tradition that has been dormant since 1985, according to Student Publications.
Using new technology, the Banyan will be published this fall on CD-ROM by the consolidated newsroom of The Daily Universe; Newsline, an online news service; and KBYU News, TV and FM. The BYU Instructional Technology Center is authoring the Banyan.
'The best part of the Virtual Banyan is that it will hold so much easily accessible information that will be personalized for everyone,' said Christina Reynolds, editor of the Virtual Banyan. 'The CD-ROM gives us the space to include so much detailed information so every individual will be able to find all kinds of material dealing with whatever they are looking for.'
The Banyan will have components of a traditional yearbook like text, pictures and graphics, but it will also have video clips and links to the full text archives of the daily university newspaper.
'We have endeavored to meld the technologies so we have the advantage of a traditional yearbook, but it's now linked to archives of the daily newspaper so complete stories and information can be readily accessible and searchable,' said John Gholdston, managing director of The Daily Universe.
Curtis Fawson, director of the Instructional Technology Center, said the ITC is excited for the opportunity to show what they can do with technology.
'One of the most fun things will be a virtual tour of campus using QuickTime VR,' said Todd Stubbs, multimedia designer for the BYU Instructional Technology Center. 'And there will be games.'
Other not-so-traditional materials will find a home in the Banyan.
'There will be time-lapse video of the library expansion project; video messages from campus leaders; complete text versions of some of the student publications on campus; faculty and student achievements and video highlights of various sports, performing arts, graduation and student activities,' Reynolds said.
'We will even have a 'Daily Universe news highlights' section and a timeline of all the local, national and international news reported in The Daily Universe and on Newsline,' Reynolds said.
The yearbook will have a link to Newsline, the consolidated newsroom's web publication and a journal entry feature so people can 'sign' the yearbooks if they want, Reynolds said.
The technology has also made a yearbook affordable again. BYU had to abort printing of the yearbook over a decade ago because of the expense involved, Gholdston said.
'The yearbook was first published by the junior class in 1911, and was published every year until 1985, but it just became too costly to print,' Reynolds said.
'The technology now offers much more, for appreciably less money, in a format easier to store,' Gholdston said.
'I mourned the passing of the yearbook,' said Bill Porter, journalism emphasis leader in the Department of Communications. 'I'm excited to see technology allows us to bring a year in review back to students and alumni, yet at an affordable cost.'
Having CD-ROM readers in so many computers is another reason that this project has become feasible.
'While the technology existed previously, there weren't enough machines with fast enough CD-ROMs,' Gholdston said.
The consolidated newsroom also deserves some of the credit for the ability to assemble the content of the yearbook.
'This is just one of the numerous new opportunities that can come out of a consolidated newsroom,' Gholdston said.
The CD-ROM will run on both IBM PC compatible and Macintosh OS-based computers that have standard multimedia components, Stubbs said.
The Virtual Banyan can be ordered through the Newsline web page at http://newsline.byu.edu, or by phoning (801) 378-9097. It will cost $19.97 plus tax and postage and will be available in October.o