Yearbook
Virtually all American and Canadian high schools, most colleges and many elementary and middle schools publish yearbooks. The term may also refer to a book of statistics or facts published annually.
Compilation
A 1939 copy of the yearbook La Ventana from Texas Tech University
Yearbooks are generally compiled by a student committee, which may or may not be advised by members of the faculty.
The committee usually has one or more editors who are responsible for collecting and compiling all of the information to be contained within the book, also deciding the layout and allocation of space for each contributor.
Book layout process
Layout
Layout is the appearance of the pages, and it may include the following elements:
The Headline: This is a theme that ties the page into the story and draws attention to the reader.
The Story/Copy: Consists of several paragraphs, capturing the highlights of a specific department, sports season, organization, etc., from the past year. Often, yearbook staff members will either send out surveys/interview students, teachers and others for comments.
Photographs: Candid shots of students, suitable to the page's topic and theme.
Often, editors seek to include a cross-section of the student body (e.g., classes, races, school involvement, etc.). Features include easy web-based creation of pages, collages, personal profiles, and recordings of specific event situations.
Schools that use 35 mm cameras may have a special negative scanner, which allows users to obtain more detail from a photograph than from a print.
Word processing
Paragraphs of text added to pages, also known as 'copy', are often typed and edited using a word processing program. The copy is then saved to a hard drive or disc and later imported onto the pages.
It is also possible to insert a copy straight into the pages, themselves, as they are being designed.
Pagination/Layout
In the past, most yearbooks were laid out by hand, with photographs physically cropped and placed on layout boards. The work was tedious, and required multiple deadlines and contact with a yearbook publisher.
Today, virtually all yearbooks are published using computers, which allows for shorter deadlines and easier editing.
Some yearbook publishers have agreements with schools, whereby the staff send photos and copy for layout by the publishing company; the layout is later sent to the school for final editing.
Students typically paginate, or lay out, pages using a computer program such as Adobe PageMaker, Adobe InDesign or Quark Xpress. Students are quickly able to size photographs and place copy, leaving minimal white space behind.
These programs are designed for easy navigation, copy/edit/paste functions, and more. Some people might just put pictures around the writing or have writing over a picture.
Sections
Most yearbooks have a similar format, which includes individual photographs of students; information on activities; sports; and other activities.
People (Seniors, Underclassmen, Faculty)
In the U.S., where a yearbook often covers the whole school and not just the final year, these sections are arranged in chronological order by class (freshmen, sophomore, junior, and senior), in either ascending or descending order.
Normally each student will have an individual photo of them accompanied by their name and perhaps one or two lines of text. Senior photographs are usually larger than underclassmen's and are often accompanied by text about their accomplishments throughout high school, and their future plans (if known).
Also, (in some high schools) the senior's photos will be in color while the underclassmen photos are in black and white. Frequently, seniors are polled to nominate their classmates for "superlatives" or "class celebrities" (such as "most likely to succeed," "most athletic," "most spirited" and "class clown"), are often published in the senior section.
Some private schools and smaller high schools set aside an entire page for each senior. In Year 11 (England & Wales) members are usually grouped by form/class; whilst Year 13 tend not to be grouped in such a way, but instead just appear alphabetically throughout the book.
The editorial team chooses questions for members to answer (such as "Favourite teacher?" or "Where will you be in 5 years time?") and these answers appear alongside member photos. These photos and answers are sometimes also collected online.
Student Life
Several pages are often used for pages chronicling activities undertaken by students, such as trips abroad, activity trips, sporting and other special events.
Outstanding accomplishments are often included in the front section of the yearbook, in addition to their usual page.
Memorial page
Often, students will have to deal with the death of a classmate or teacher due to illness, suicide, accident, or other cause. Usually, an editor keeps a master list of who is included on each page, to ensure accuracy.
The index is not always included in high school yearbooks, as it can be time consuming to put one together, but due to advancements in technology, programs such as Sonar Bookends and Webdexer have made the task easier.
Colophon or dedication
Typically the last page of the book. Additionally, the colophon may include technical information pertaining to the yearbook such as publisher, total number of pages and paper weight.
In some schools, this page will also serve as a dedication page, for example for a retiring long-time faculty member, a prominent school supporter or the senior class.
Sometimes, the dedication will be included in the beginning of the yearbook.
Signature or Autograph Page
Most yearbooks contain a few pages which will be left blank for people to write messages about the preceding year and summer. This gives the school a final opportunity to make adjustments or changes.
After all the proofs have been returned to the publisher the requested corrections are made, the books are printed, bound, and then sent to the school for distribution.
Some yearbook publishers work providing designers and production specialists to lay out the entire book. In some cases, yearbooks are mailed to the parents' homes of graduated seniors.
Colleges, elementary and middle school yearbooks
Colleges that publish yearbooks follow a similar format as high schools.
College yearbooks are considered by the Associated Collegiate Press to be a form of journalism. ACP holds the annual Pacemaker competition for college yearbooks as well as other collegiate media outlets.
Elementary and middle schools may have a designated staff member who is in charge of putting together that school's yearbook, with or without the help of the students.
These books are usually considerably smaller than a high school or college yearbook.
U.S. Military
Warships of the United States Navy often produce a yearbook style publication upon completion of a long deployment (typically six months or more).
These books, referred to by sailors as "cruise books" are produced on board by the ship's Morale, Welfare and Recreation department and Public Affairs staff, and then printed ashore by the same printing companies that publish high school and college yearbooks. The book is called "The Keel" after the part of a ship that is constructed first, as RTC or boot camp sets the foundation for the sailor's career.
Australian yearbooks function as an annual magazine for the school body, with a significant focus on objectively reporting the events that occurred during the schooling year. Yearbook staff predominantly consist of only one or two school teachers who serve as editors in chief.
Australian school yearbooks are predominantly created on A4 paper size, featuring a softcover style front-and-back cover, typically 250 or 300 g/m² density.
Hardcover style yearbooks are not as common, and it is a phenomenon yet to pick up in the country due to cost reasons.
To substitute for the lack of student life coverage in school yearbooks, many senior students in Australian schools publish a separate Year 12 yearbook. The Year 12 yearbook typically provides up close and personal coverage of student personalities through profile questions, a large number of personal and group photos and collages, quotes, awards, and humorous light-hearted entertainment.
There is rarely coverage of academic, sport and school related matters as these topics are considered in the school yearbook.
Year 12 yearbooks are created almost entirely by school students with a school staff member, typically the grade's year advisor, providing guidance and supervision. A lot of long-term summer camps (1 month or more) have digital yearbooks.