Patent ID: 7076450

Claim:
A method for automated institutional print order processing that provides different groups of institutional agents with different levels of editorial control over the content of printed products, the method comprising: defining format-specifying templates for a set of print products for an institution, said format-specifying templates defining the typography and placement of a plurality of graphical and textual elements adapted to be populated with individual-indicative content supplied by user profiles and institution-indicative content supplied by institutional profiles associated with said user profiles; providing a member of a first group of institutional agents with an Internet accessible requestor interface for selecting and ordering print products; operating the requestor interface to determine if a user profile has previously been created for said member or if a user profile has not been previously created, creates a user profile for said member; if a user profile has been previously created presents said member with selectable options including: an option to modify the user profile an option to place an order and an option to review an order where said order is an order for a print product from said set of print products for which said format-specifying templates for said institution have been defined and for which the member is authorized; generates a previewable representation of the ordered print product that populates the graphical and textual elements of the format-specifying template associated with the ordered print product with individual-indicative content extracted from the user profile of the member of the first group and institution-indicative content extracted from an associated institutional profile; maintaining audit information related to said user profile, said audit information sufficient to identify the date the addition or modification was made, what was added or modified, and who made the addition or modification; providing a second group of institutional agents with an Internet accessible purchaser interface operating the purchaser interface by a member of said second group to define and modify institutional profiles to provide institution-indicative content for the format-specifying templates; requiring a member of the second group to view the previewable presentation of the print product order by the user prior to processing the print order request.