|
Can it be done better? As scientists, we ask this question. The publishing business is also asking this
questionand the results of their explorations are found on the Web.
Beginning in January 1998, the American Chemical Society brings forth its Articles
As S<oon As Publishable (ASAP) for all 26 ACS publications. See the ACS Publications site (http://pubs.acs.org) for information about complete journal articles 211 weeks before they appear in the print journal.
Remember that the Journal of Chemical Education (which, by the way, is published by the Division of Chemical Education, not by the American Chemical Society) has long been a leader, and remains so, in this newest of publishing endeavors. JCE Online + (http://jchemed.chem.wisc.edu/Plus/index.html
) will allow Web subscribers access to JCE Internet articles that include animations, color, sound, and links. See how animations can add to understanding in "Animated Vibrational Modes of Triatomic Molecules" by Giles Henderson and Christine Liberatore
(http://jchemed.chem.wisc.edu/JCEWWW/Articles/WWW0001/index.html
). QuickTime animations of four vibrational motions of SO2 are displayed simultaneously for
comparisonimpossible to portray on a printed page.
And how can these potential articles be peer-reviewed? Another new idea: Open Review of potential articles for JCE Internet, a part of JCE Online + (jchemed.chem.wisc.edu/JCEWWW/InReview/index.html).
Would you like a free newsletter that covers the "business of chemistry"? Subscribe at Chemical Online (www.chemicalonline.com), a marketplace for the chemical industry. Informative articles about chemical news are found in the newsletter, which is delivered to your workstation every two weeks. This delivery to your door is another type of Web publication.
How pervasive is this effort at Web publishing? See a list of international online chemistry journals
from ChemConnect at http://www.chemconnect.com/library/journals.shtml#complete
. This list includes more than 35 journals that are completely free; almost 100 journals that are free, but with some limitations; and more than 250 journals that list their table of contents and/or abstracts on the
Web. There is no doubt: Web publishing is well on its way.
The Web can be used to include many who would otherwise not be included. See SEM (Science, Engineering, and Math Program), which strives to increase access for all individuals (http://www.asel.udel.edu/sem/). This University of Delaware site receives funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Reviews of search engines and information about adaptive laboratory equipment can be found here.
Web site designers can use this globe symbol to indicate that efforts have been made to accommodate the needs of deaf, hard-of-hearing, and blind and visually impaired users. This public domain symbol
(http://www.boston.com/wgbh/pages/ncam/images/access1.5.gif
) was developed by the National Center on Accessible Media of WGBH and is available free of charge. Information about HTML 4.0 can be found at http://www.w3.org/Press/HTML4-REC; table and form
text can be rendered into braille or speech.
Go to
http://www.rit.edu/~easi/index.html for EASI,
Equal Access to Software and Information, an affiliate of American Association for Higher Education. This site is also sponsored in part by NSF. Here you will find information about online workshops, legal issues, and adaptive hardware and software resources. All of us can benefit from technologies that are easier to use. All our students can benefit from what we can learn by using the information found online.
World Wide Web Address:
access date: January 1998
|
Citation
Always in the