From The Editor Evolve Or Fade Away

Print isn't the only game in town. A lot of in-plants are finding this out the hard way after watching their customers switch to e-mail, Web sites and CDs to get their messages out.

That's precisely the situation confronting many college and university in-plants, most of whom have traditionally relied on course packs to keep them busy. Over the past couple of years, course management systems (CMS) like BlackBoard and WebCT have captured the interest of faculty. These systems let professors electronically manage assignments and share information with students, such as notes, PowerPoint presentations, handouts and course packs. Not only are in-plants losing this print work, but they have to watch as students output these materials on the computer labs' laser printers instead of reading them on screen.