Current Issue
Past issues of the Bulletin are available here, or through the ASIS&T Digital Library.

Please tell us what you think of this issue!  Feedback

Bulletin, December 2010/January 2011


Bulletin Editor, Irene TravisEditor's Desktop

Irene L. Travis, Editor

Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science and Technology

Bulletin@asis.org

Content strategy is the subject of this issue’s special section. Guest editors Seth Earley and Scott Abel have lined up top practitioners in this field to address the challenges of seeing that your organization acquires the right content for its website and other media formats and maintains and makes the best, most economical use of this vital corporate asset. In addition to the authors’ general advice on structure and governance, the issue includes a number of case studies that illustrate current practice and trends in content strategy. It’s a privilege to be able to publish such a useful collection of articles in this very active area.

In a feature article we also address media and content, but in this case the focus is on presenting content in Second Life (SL). Can text documents be represented, and what are the challenges of, for example, having a poster session in SL? Author Javier Velasco-Martin, a doctoral student at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, who brings extensive professional experience to his research, has worked with Gary Marchionini, Ed Fox and others on an NSF grant, some of whose results are reported here. 

In our columns and other short items, ASIS&T 2010 Award of Merit honoree Linda Smith and student columnist Cortney Leach embody and discuss the benefits of leaving our comfort zones and finding inspiration in the world of ideas and people around us, whether we are at the beginning or at the apogee of our professional careers. As Linda indicates in her acceptance speech, one of her undergraduate professors at Allegheny College, Dr. Barbara Lotze, who became a valued mentor, was able to attend the Awards Luncheon in Pittsburgh, which made it a special occasion for all of us who were there. Cortney also is a lively and entertaining writer, and I’m sure you’ll enjoy meeting her and finding out more about the Pacific Northwest Chapter’s very popular InfoCamps. 

As 2011 ASIS&T President, Linda Smith offers her first President’s Page, while IA columnist and associate editor, Thom Haller looks for hope and change in Washington – with the passage of the Plain Writing Act of 2010. Let it be so.