The people behind the NoCOUG Journal

Now in its 28^th year, the NoCOUG Journal is the oldest Oracle user group publication in the world. No other small user group in the world has a printed journal. Most large user groups do not have printed journals either. But little NoCOUG does. I am the editor of the NoCOUG Journal and—I must confess—I get sad when I see a discarded copy of the NoCOUG Journal at a NoCOUG conference. But the person who discarded it probably didn’t realize how much it costs to produce the Journal—$15 per copy—and how much volunteer effort goes into each issue. A very special mention goes to Brian Hitchcock, who has written dozens of book reviews for the Journal over a 12-year period.

And the production qualities of the Journal are simply awesome. The Journal is professionally copyedited and proofread by veteran copyeditor Karen Mead of Creative Solutions. Karen polishes phrasing and calls out misused words (such as the noun “reminiscence” instead of the verb “reminisce”). She dots every i, crosses every t, checks every quote, and verifies every URL. Then, the Journal is expertly designed by graphics duo Kenneth Lockerbie and Richard Repas of San Francisco-based Giraffex. And, finally, Jo Dziubek at Andover Printing Services deftly brings the Journal to life on an HP Indigo digital printer. The professional pictures on the front cover are supplied by Photos.com.

The content of the Journal is beyond awesome. But I’ll let you judge that for yourself. Click on the icons below to download the last four issues of the Journal.