Louisville—The Kentucky Baptist Convention annual will be distributed to churches on CD-ROM rather than in book form this year in a move to make the information easier to access and dramatically cut the cost of the publication.

KBC Communications Director Robert Reeves said the new annual will be mailed to churches during the first week of May. The CD-ROM will use a computer’s Internet browser to provide information in the common Adobe Acrobat PDF file format. Most computers already have Adobe Acrobat installed, but the program also is provided free on the CD-ROM.

“We are really excited to be offering the convention annual to the churches in this form for the first time this year,” Reeves said. “The same material is provided as in the printed version, but we believe this electronic version will be much easier to use—especially because of the great search feature provided by the Adobe Acrobat Reader software.”

Users will be able to print any page or section of the book they need or move the entire annual to their computers if they so desire, he added. The CD-ROM also contains the KBC Services Directory.

Reeves noted that individuals who prefer to have the annual in book form can still receive it by request at a cost-recovery charge of $15.

The switch to the CD-ROM format will bring a substantial cost savings as well, Reeves pointed out. Last year’s 675-page book cost a little more than $20,000 in Cooperative Program funds to design, print and mail. This year’s annual is expected to cost less than half that amount.

“A number of state conventions have already moved to producing their annuals on CD-ROM with great success and I think people are going to like this product here in Kentucky as well,” he said.

“I’m also really pleased that this format will allow us to be better stewards of our Cooperative Program dollars.”

For more information about the convention annual or to order a printed version, visit www.kybaptist.org/annual or call (502) 489-3578, or toll free in Kentucky at (866) 489-3578.