SAA Bulletin 13(5): Advisory Poll

ADVISORY POLL ON CURRENT RESEARCH

The original decision to withdraw Current Research from American Antiquity was made in response to increased numbers ofmanuscripts submitted for publication. Because financial resources prohibit an increase of journal size, the removal of Current Research has allowed more space to be devoted to publishing peer-reviewed manuscripts. SAA's executive board now seeks advice as it evaluates publication of the material that previously comprised Current Research. One option is to reestablish the publication of Current Research in the journal. Although once again fewer pages would be available for articles, this option has the benefit of making a printed version of Current Research available to all members at no additional cost.

Alternately, as SAA moves into the electronic delivery of information and services, a new model is proposed to offer both electronic and printed versions of Current Research. This proposal is to:

Establish Current Research as a searchable database on SAAweb, the society's World Wide Web site that will be launched in January 1996. All new submissions would be added to the database. Members could, at no cost, view, search, and print it, as well as submit contributions electronically to Terry Majewski, the coordinator of Current Research.

Annually print Current Research on acid-free paper in a journal-sized format, available by advance subscriptions.

Members opting for this would be billed for the subscription along with the annual membership billing each fall, and the printed version would be mailed to subscribers early in the following year. (The initial printed version would be a "bonus" version, including reports submitted since the withdrawal of Current Research from the journal.) The fee would be established once the number of subscribers and the number of pages to be printed were determined.

Investigate the possibility of adding all previously published Current Research into the database.Generate, for sale, CD-ROM disks that contain research reports from a span of years (e.g., a decade).

The benefits of this model are in that it (1) expands the range in Current Research, given unlimited storage space; (2) disseminates Current Research in a more timely manner; (3) provides electronically-searchable access to the entire range of Current Research stored online; and (4) maintains a printed archive without competing with manuscripts for space in a journal.

ADVISORY POLL

By completing this poll, you will express your preferences and help expand the profile of what electronic capabilities members have. Please respond to the questions, copy the page (or tear it out), and return it to the SAA office via fax [(202) 789-0284], mail (900 Second Street NE #12, Washington D.C. 20002), or by email (To Top of Page