Title: Editorial Comment on Behalf of ACCU Committee

Hi there. At an ACCU committee meeting today the committee read and discussed the editorial above. The committee asked me, as secretary, to summarise the discussion for C Vu. In particular they asked me to summarise the discussion about changing the content and nature of C Vu.

First of all, the committee agreed with the idea. We thought it was sensible to have a general ACCU newsletter, which you get as an ACCU member, and then decide which specialist journals to subscribe to. The stand-alone newsletter might drop into a cheaper postal bracket and its print-run could be lowered if a stock of back-issues was not required. Basic membership would then give you the newsletter, full access to the ACCU web site, and discounts (on ACCU conferences etc.).

The idea of packaging the four mini-journals in a single publication was discussed at length though. It was pointed out that under this scheme, Overload would be a single publication, but other interest areas would end up in a joint publication. I'd like to make it clear how we imagined this would work. Each mini-journal would have its own editor. Each editor would act exactly like Francis and John currently act as editors for C Vu and Overload. At the agreed deadline, editors would submit an electronic copy of their journal to an ACCU member. This member would then publish (but in no way edit) the mini-journals as a single publication. Each mini-journal would naturally evolve and retain its own style. Publishing the mini-journals as a single publication would be done solely to save money. We envisage that if an individual mini-journal regularly exceeded a certain size, then it would be separated off into its own publication, just like Overload. Once again both (by now slightly slimmer) publications might drop into a cheaper postal bracket.

We think it is a fairer scheme too. Members who currently only read CAUGers or Overload, are, in effect, subsidising C Vu readers. Under the new scheme many members' subscription costs could actually come down. It is also fairer for the individual editors, as their workload will be considerably lighter than that of the current C Vu editor. No small consideration that.

Lastly I would like to reiterate that the ideas are just that. Nothing is decided yet. The details of any changes will need to be formally proposed and accepted at the next AGM. ACCU is your association. You, the members, make it what it is. So please, do participate in the discussion as we collectively shape ACCU's future.

Thanks Jon Jagger

In order to give as large an opportunity for discussion as possible we will shortly be setting up a newsgroup for you to discuss these issues and any others that you believe are relevant in the context of the above. Details will be announced via accu-announce as well as being placed on our WWW site. We Hope that many of you will share your ideas and insights.

Francis Glassborow (Chair of ACCU)