For those who may have missed last month’s News @ CSPS “Next Tuesday, a Year from Now—Is 90 Days Away,” we’re reiterating information about the upcoming JSH-Online subscription as well as giving you new information on pricing.
About a year ago the concept of a comprehensive online Journal, Sentinel, and Herald subscription was introduced, and each new day brings us closer to that high goal. As we’ve gained a clearer view of the true value of an online subscription and what it really means to provide the reader with access to all three periodicals, the idea has unfolded naturally.
On March 30, 2012, The Christian Science Publishing Society (CSPS) will launch JSH-Online, as a digital subscription. Your prayers, ideas, and questions have helped mold this new digital periodical into a form that will meet the needs of the online reader.
This new subscription will be a unique resource providing access to digital editions of the current print issues of the Journal, Sentinel, and Herald; access to the entire archives of these periodicals; new online-only content in formats that include blogs, webcasts, and podcasts; as well as unprecedented opportunities to share this content with others. Because finding what you’re looking for is essential in a collection this large, both basic and advanced search features will be included.
Enabling readers of the periodicals to expand and deepen their study of Christian Science has been a primary objective in developing JSH-Online. Understanding that the Bible and Science and Health are the foundation of that study led to a unique feature. JSH-Online will interact with the new Concord Online program giving you the ability to seamlessly extend your study of the content in the periodicals to the King James Bible and the published writings of Mary Baker Eddy by viewing quotations and citations in context. This feature uses an interface called Concord “lite,” which is included with your subscription.
Whenever we talk about online periodicals, it’s like a cue for animal magnetism to stir up fear about the demise of our print periodicals. The best answer to this is: “Peace, be still!” When JSH-Online goes live at the end of March, your print subscriptions will not change. CSPS is dedicated to publishing the print periodicals as part of its long-term plan for sustainability.
The most frequently asked question about JSH-Online is: “When can I get it?” And the second is: “What will it cost?” Today we’ve told you the date, and we also have the answer on the pricing:
- JSH-Online: $19.00 per month
- JSH-Online 6-month introductory offer: $12.00 per month. (This offer requires the subscriber to maintain a subscription to the print edition of either the Journal or the Sentinel in addition to their JSH-Online subscription. The offer expires September 30, 2013.)
Your JSH-Online subscription will require a credit card and e-mail address, and you’ll manage your subscription online. Your credit card will be billed on a monthly basis with your subscription auto-renewing each month until you request it to stop.
The launch of JSH-Online is one step toward that goal of sustainability, which has challenged us to deepen our understanding and prayer regarding both the Manual requirement that members “subscribe” and that the periodicals be “ably edited and kept abreast of the times.” Considering that to sub-scribe can also mean to under–write, subscribing can be seen as even more than just enjoying the benefits of reading these spiritually nurturing periodicals yourself. Your subscriptions are also underwriting the continuous publication of these periodicals for generations yet to come.
The idea of “ably edited and abreast of the times” assures the subscriber that these publications in all formats will be well edited, their content continuously relevant to the times we live in, with the expectation they will provide value to the reader more than equal to their cost.
Our hope is that you’ll find unique value in both the print edition and digital format, and subscribe to both! That members subscribe to the periodicals is not only an expectation of the Church Manual (see “Church Periodicals,” Article VIII, Section 14, p. 44), but is also essential to CSPS’s demonstrating sustainability.
We invite you to join us in exploring a deeper understanding of the Church periodicals’ By-Law and to send your ideas and inspiration to us at CSPSNews@csps.com.
John Sparkman is Managing Publisher, Journal, Sentinel, Herald.
