NEW TO BLACKBIRD?

In June of 2016, Virginia Commonwealth University shut down its legacy streaming server. All media in this issue has been converted to mp3 and mp4 files. The text below on streaming media remains as a matter of historic record, but no longer applies to archival content.

System Requirements
Blackbird is best viewed in a screen resolution of 800x600 pixels or greater and in either Internet Explorer 5.0 (or later) or Netscape 4.5 (or later).

We have kept Blackbird structurally simple in order to emphasize the quality of its content and to make reading, viewing, and listening to it as effortless—technologically speaking—as possible.

Menu Structure
All pages in Blackbird have six buttons across the top. Three lead to the current issue's basic genres—Poetry, Fiction, and Nonfiction. One leads to Gallery, whose innovative contents cross genres and vary from issue to issue. Another leads to the current issue's Features, primarily audio and video content added twice each month. And the last leads to Browse, a page that offers various ways to read, view, and listen to Blackbird.

All pages in Blackbird also have a menu on the left-hand side. This menu varies from page to page. On some pages, such as this one, its links lead to areas that are primarily informative—Editorial Policy, Submissions, Links, and so forth. On all pages within the genres and Gallery—contributors' notes, poems, stories, and so forth—it provides an alphabetical index of all contributors within that content area so that you can quickly and easily move among pieces within a genre.

Streaming Audio and Video
All audio and video content in Blackbird is configured to play in RealPlayer, a streaming software that is available free at http://www.real.com/. Although we have configured our audio and video content to play acceptably in all versions of RealPlayer, we recommend that, if possible, you update your system to the most recent one.

Printing
On all content pages we provide a version optimized for printing. Select the "print version" icon in the upper right-hand corner of the piece, and then print using your browser's print functions.

Links that Open in Separate Browser Windows
Some links in Blackbird—to sites outside of Blackbird, for example, or to detailed versions of "thumbnailed" illustrations—are configured to open in separate browser windows. Closing those windows when you're finished with them will help avoid confusion.

Please contact Blackbird at blackbird@vcu.edu with any problems you may encounter.  

Note also:

Blackbird begins with a "Foreword" page, an introduction to the issue's content. Selecting the Blackbird logo in the upper left-hand corner of any subsequent page will return you to the Foreword.

Since this is Blackbird's first issue, and all content is readily accessible, there is not a typical "Search" feature on the Browse page. This feature will be added as we publish subsequent issues and the need for it arises.

From any poem, story, essay, or other work, you may move directly to the particular Contributor's Notes or, when applicable, to other pieces by the same contributor.

The quality of streaming audio and video can depend greatly upon the speed of the user's Internet connection. Again, we have configured our audio and video content to play acceptably at all speeds, but, of course, it will play best at the fastest speed.

The only link provided on the print version pages is "back," which will take you to the web version of the piece which you have printed.