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Web-to-print: an alternative way of writing and publishing books

Robin de Mourat, Clémence Seurat and Thomas Tari's book "Le champ des possibles. Une enquête collective à Sevran", published in bookshops in autumn 2023, is now available online. The use of web-to-print, a methodology enabling the graphic design of a book to be created using open-source tools, has had various advantages throughout their work, from fieldwork to publication, including writing and layout.

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A year ago, Clémence Seurat, Robin de Mourat and Thomas Tari published their book "Le champ des possibles. Une enquête collective à Sevran". It presents an ethnographic survey of the Montceleux plain in Sevran, an area of 32 hectares often described as an urban void, which they set out to nuance.

We realised that this space, which had been defined as an urban void, could actually be described in many different ways. (Thomas)

A participatory survey

The particularity of this survey, carried out as an extension of their work on controversy mapping, lies in its collective dimension, present from the beginning to the end of the research.

This project is a survey, but it's a collective survey in many different ways. The collective in question evolved and was a little different at each moment in the life of the research. (Robin)

In particular, the three authors worked with La Poudrerie - théâtre des habitants, which enabled them to make contact with the residents of Sevran.They set up a number of workshops during their research to exchange views with locals. They also collaborated with the Sciences Po cartography workshop, which produced original maps based on data collected in the field by the authors, to illustrate certain chapters of the book.

We worked with very different people, but they all had their own attachment to and knowledge of this space. [...] For a year and a half, we kept returning to the same terrain, each time looking at it with new people and new lenses. (Robin)

Combining work on the table and in the field

The writing phase was also collaborative, with the authors setting up a ‘residents' reading committee’ made up of six to eight people who had taken part in the survey workshops. The documentation produced during each workshop with the residents and invited experts served as the basis for writing the book.

We tried to link the table and field sides, which was also important in this way of showing that it can be observed, described and represented in very different ways. (Clémence)

The book is now available online, a logical decision for the three authors.

Facilitating group work and the writing process

The first advantage of web-to-print is that it facilitated the collective work of this research, which included a lot of people in addition to the three authors. It was important for them to include the people who had worked with them on the research in the writing process. The need to have access to a tool that would enable them to share their work seemed obvious. They called on Sarah Garcin, a graphic designer and developer, who set up a collaborative web platform.

It was important for us not to write in our own corner, saying to ourselves: "that's it, we've experienced something together and goodbye, we won't be seeing each other again." [...] We needed a tool that would allow us to share the writing in progress, and that's why we worked with Sarah Garcin. (Clémence)

Transforming the layout and design exercise

As well as facilitating the collective work and the writing process, web-to-print made it possible to produce the graphic layout of the book. This method enabled the authors to see how the book would look visually as they went along, to share it with the ‘residents' reading committee’ and to make gradual adjustments.

Sarah Garcin set up an interface that allowed us to see as we went along what the book might look like in the end. [...] We were also able to discuss the design of the book directly with the content as it was being created. [...] We could also test things out and end up with a book that was as suited as possible to the material we had and the messages we wanted to convey. We could make adjustments in real time. (Clémence)

Making the book more accessible

Another advantage of the web-to-print lies in its distribution possibilities. Thanks to the complementary nature of the paper and online formats, content is more accessible and can reach different audiences.

The different formats will allow the same research to circulate and be discussed with different audiences. It's not just a matter of spreading to anyone more openly, but I think there are people who would never have known about it if it had just been a book without a website. (Robin)

Putting it online means you can reach a different audience, such as students.

The web format circulates much more easily than a book, especially among the most remote people, whether geographically, in terms of interest or attachment to the issues. (Robin)

The authors' future projects

In a few months, Clémence, Robin and Thomas will be starting a Europe-wide research project, following on from the ‘Champ des possibles’ project. It involves comparing different brownfield sites in France, Switzerland and Belgium. The aim is to draw up a way of characterising these places and making the most of them in urban planning. For this survey, they are keen to maintain a collective and interdisciplinary dimension.

As they have not yet begun this research, the question of web-to-print has not yet arisen, but the authors are open to the idea of again using this method, which proved its worth for Le Champ des possibles and Controverses mode d'emploi.