D-Lib Magazine
January 1999

Volume 5 Number 1

ISSN 1082-9873

From the Editor

An Introduction and an Invitation

Regular readers of D-Lib Magazine know that the editorship of the magazine changed hands in October 1998. This is the third issue published since then, and the first in which I step out from behind the curtain to introduce myself and point out some changes that you will see in this issue of D-Lib.

I am the half of the interim editing team charged with getting the magazine out on time and in good order. I would like to say that it was my previous impressive experience at editing that earned me this position with the magazine, but the truth is I happened to be in the right place at the right time. So, here I am, learning on the job as quickly as I can, striving to preserve all that is right about D-Lib Magazine, and daring to make some incremental changes that, I hope, will make it even better. But first I need to take a good look at D-Lib and its style.

D-Lib's mission (of which the magazine is one part) is to support the community of people with research interests in digital libraries and electronic publishing.

We support this community by presenting stories, commentary, and briefings and by providing pointers to other sites on the web. Additionally, D-Lib Magazine is itself a subject for research in electronic publishing. (For example, we have obtained a prefix from the International DOI Foundation, and this month we are assigning Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) to the main sections and stories in the magazine.)

Typical readers of D-Lib have little time to spend relearning how to navigate the magazine's site from month to month. The look and organization of the magazine doesn't change frequently or radically, but it does change. We try, by design, to make it quick and easy for readers to find what they need. This month we are making slight changes to the navigation to make it even more obvious where a link will take you. For example, "Top" will now go to the top of the page being read, rather than to the D-Lib Program page, and "Home" links to the newly created magazine home page instead of to the current issue's table of contents. To get back to the table of contents, use the link labeled "Contents."

We try to be a facilitator for readers and authors. For the most part, D-Lib stories are not light reading. Topics covered -- while limited to those of research in digital libraries and electronic publishing -- still represent a very wide range of topics. In the coming months, look for new features, including a glossary and a dictionary of acronyms, abbreviations and initialisms. They will be added to the D-Lib site to make it easier for readers to quickly find definitions outside their area of expertise.

Because we want our authors to write what is most compelling to them, editing of stories is light. We provide authors with advisory guidelines if they request them, but these guidelines are intended to make things easier for the author, not restrictive. This is one element of D-Lib's style that we won't be changing.

This month, we launch a new magazine home page and a new subscription information page. We also add a new monthly feature to "show rather then tell" readers about excellent digital collections. More additions and changes are planned for future months. Stay tuned.

It's time for me to slip behind the curtain once more. But before I do, I invite you to let me know what you like or don't like about D-Lib, what works or what doesn't. I'm new at this. I'm all ears.

Bonita Wilson
Managing Editor

Copyright (c) 1999 Corporation for National Research Initiatives

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DOI: 10.1045/january99-editorial