Date: Sun, 01 Aug 2004 21:04:05 -0400
From: Eleanor Cook (Appalachian State U.) <cookei_at_appstate.edu>
Subject: The future of AcqWeb and other updates
Dear ACQNET subscribers,
It's been way too long since I have updated the Welcome Message and
Editorial Policy - I usually
do this in January or February each year. Of course I have great excuses
for why this did not
happen - but you probably don't need to hear them!
I am indeed tardy in saying farewell to two people in particular. I owe
them both a deep thanks -
two outgoing editorial board members, Ladd Brown and Karl Debus-Lopez.
And I am just as
remiss in welcoming new editorial board members, Marla Chesler, from
Northeastern University,
and Susan Scheiberg, of the RAND Corporation. And as always, a huge
thanks to the continuing
board members for their interest in ACQNET's welfare. Without the help
of assistant moderators,
Rick Anderson (who keeps the Acqflashes moving along so quickly), Paul
Orkizewski, Deborah
Duke and Lisa German, the year 2003 for ACQNET would not have been
possible. A very special
thanks also goes to Eric Lease Morgan, who serves as ACQNET's official
archivist, and without
whom we would be far less accessible!
As of 2004, we lost Lisa German's time as a moderator (though she
remains on the Editorial Board),
but we welcome Thelma Diercks as a new moderator this summer (she is
currently in training). I also
want to acknowledge the MANY years of behind-the-scenes assistance we
have had from Terry
Combs, the list master extraordinaire at ASU who retired this spring.
Fortunately, we still have the
other fabulous behind-the-scenes guy, Martin Moore, whom I know will
keep us going!
And now the biggest news of all - and part of the reason that this
message has been so late in
coming - determining the fate of our sister entity, AcqWeb. As many of
you may have noticed,
AcqWeb has become out-of-date. This is because of changes in the
editorial responsibilities.
AcqWeb's creator, Anna Belle Leiserson, ceased being an acquisitions
librarian several years ago,
becoming instead a full-time webmaster. In the fall of 2003, the ACQNET
editorial board
discussed a strategy for migrating AcqWeb. We are almost there. AcqWeb
will soon be operating
from Appalachian State with a new, simpler domain name. Paul
Orkiszewski, AcqWeb's new
editor, will head up the effort to revitalize and revamp AcqWeb
Before any radical redesign is done, however, we will want to hear from
YOU, the
ACQNET subscribers, who are the core users of AcqWeb. We'll probably
also poll some
other like-minded groups before embarking on any changes. Right now we
are simply trying to
get it moved so we can update the basics. More about all this very soon!
In the meantime, we need to brag on AcqWeb for making it into the 12th
edition of Magazines
for Libraries. (We've been listed several years now.) Who would have
thought back in 1994
that an acquisitions librarian's sideline hobby would eventually be
recognized in one of the premier
reference tools of our trade! With this in mind, it is very important
that the volunteer effort we have
sustained to make AcqWeb a useful web site for librarians of all stripes
(not just acquisitions and
collection development folks) continue in a fashion in which we can be
proud. So we know we
have some work ahead of us to get AcqWeb back on track.
Lastly, I want to thank all of you loyal ACQNET subscribers who continue
to find our efforts
of some use to you in your day-to-day work life. I realize we sometimes
drag our heels getting
the postings out, but we are dedicated to keeping ACQNET a spam-free,
moderated list. And
the viruses and worms that have attacked the Internet lately will not
deter us, as much as they
might try to fool us.
Thanks and more news soon, I promise!
Eleanor Cook
Chief editor, ACQNET-L
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Received on Sun Aug 01 2004 - 20:56:08 EDT