SELECTIVE BINDING AND VERSIONING

• SELECTIVE BINDING: the creation of multiple editions of a periodical, catalog, etc. by varying the selection of signatures within each version. "Versions" are determined by demographics, purchasing habits, and other databased information about readers. Each version contains a signature or signatures of targeted interest that the other versions do not have.

• Computer-controlled automatic gathering machines and computerized ink-jet addressing systems are the primary tools of selective binding and versioning.

• Automatic gathering machines contain receptacles, called pockets or hoppers, that hold folded signatures in order for rapid, in-line assembly on a saddle- stitcher or an adhesive-binding unit. The more pockets the gathering machine contains, and the faster it can be made to feed high-speed binding equipment, the more versions the bindery line can create.

• Ink-jet addressing enables distribution to keep up with production by correctly matching each versioned copy to its designated recipient. Ink-jet printers spray microscopic droplets of electrostatically charged ink onto personalized pages, mailing labels, or blank mailing spaces on covers from a computer-controlled print head.

• The computer furnishes names, addresses, and other information, one label or field at a time, from the publisher's circulation data banks. The printing of the labels can be made to conform to the categories of information that define the versions--geographic location, household income, reader-survey responses, or whatever other key characteristics the publisher wishes to target.

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