Editorial

by Geoff Hart

Previously published, in a different form, as: Hart, G.J. 2000. Editorial. the Exchange 7(2):2.

Welcome to my second issue as editor and publisher of the Scientific Communication SIG’s newsletter. I’ve received good feedback on the newsletter so far, including (blush!) comments on some fairly obvious things I missed in the first issue. Further comments are welcome, and if they’re of broad interest, I’ll add a “letters to the Editor” column and publish them.

This issue includes a wider range of contributors than before, and I hope this trend will continue. If you’ve got an idea for an article, contact me and let’s discuss it. If you’re tempted to write, but haven’t found a compelling topic on which to write, have a look at the results of last issue’s membership survey for inspiration. I’ve provided you with the raw data from the survey, but here’s my own take: none of us are “one-trick ponies”, and because of the multitude of different tasks each of us performs in our daily job, practical advice (“how to” information, plus useful references) would be very gratefully received.

One thing that should concern us all is the relatively small size and low level of activity among members of the SIG. I’ve been talking for a while with Hillary Hart (no relation), who’s managing STC’s Environment, Safety and Health SIG and who faces a similar problem. One possibility we’ve discussed is whether it would prove useful for our two SIGs to work together (and perhaps even merge at some future point if we felt that there were synergies to be gained). Co-sponsoring sessions at next year’s conference in Chicago would be a great start; since I’m not sure whether I’ll be able to make it, we need a volunteer to help organize things; if you’re interested in doing so, please contact Hillary (hart@mail.utexas.edu). We’re also still seeking a manager for the Science SIG (someone who would logically help organize our participation at the conference), so if you’re interested, please contact Ray Urgo (rurgo@aol.com).

My essays on scientific communication have now been collected in the following book:

Hart, G. 2011. Exchanges: 10 years of essays on scientific communication. Diaskeuasis Publishing, Pointe-Claire, Que. Printed version, 242 p.; eBook in PDF format, 327 p.