JCE Software, 1B2: Editorial

Year One--JCE: Software

John W. Moore
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706-1396

Note:
This issue is out of print.

This issue is the fourth and final one for 1988, and it seems appropriate now to reflect on what has been accomplished during this first year of publication of JCE: Software. Clearly the enterprise is a success so far, but to maintain that success will require much work on our part to continue to publish quality materials. We hope that this will engender comparable support from you as a user of those materials support that can best be expressed by subscribing to Volume Two.
Volume One of JCE: Software consists of two Apple issues and two MS-DOS issues. Three disks of software for each type of computer were included, and more than 300 pages of printed documentation accompanied the disks. Much of the documentation was ready for reproduction and use in the classroom. Thinking back on this, it seems to me a tremendous bargain for the total of $110 that was charged for both series of the first volume.

The Future
In 1989 the MS-DOS issues will contain several disks worth of spreadsheet templates and problems written by David Whisnant of Wofford College, and programs on solution chemistry written by Richard Ramette of Carleton College. The spreadsheets utilize either Lotus 123 or SuperCalc and are intended for the physical chemistry course. Ramette's programs calculate titration curves for a great variety of acids and bases or mixtures of acids and bases, provide recipes for preparing buffers, and even include complex-ion formation reactions.

Disks
During the year we learned a great deal about preparing software for publication, working with peer reviewers and authors, developing our reviewer database, and setting up disks so that they will run both the JCE: Software logo programs and the authors' programs without any hitches. Special thanks go to Uni Susskind of Oakland Community College for serving as Issue Editor of the very first issue and for setting up many of the procedures needed for handling reviews, communicating with authors, and preparing final copy for publication. Lynne Divis and Richard Ramette contributed a great deal to the issues they edited, and their suggestions for improving our procedures are much appreciated. Kudos also to Jon Holmes, Technical Editor of all four issues, for his excellent work with Uni in setting up procedures and for a great deal of behind-the-scenes work on each issue to make certain that it would be of high quality.
We have also learned a great deal about duplication of disks, collecting fees and fulfilling subscriptions, printing of written material, and desktop publishing. Jon Holmes set up a system that has worked well for preparing labels and sending them with our master disks to a commercial disk-duplicating service. Valerie Robinson, our Manager for Publicity and Subscriptions, has done yeoman service keeping all of you aware of what we had to offer, collecting subscription fees and setting up a database to prepare mailing labels to send to the printer, and using spreadsheets to provide the statistics that help the Editor and the Board of Publication to make important decisions regarding the number of copies of each issue to print, how much to charge for subscriptions, and how big a budget we will need for 1989.

Documentation
Written documentation for each issue is prepared using Xerox Ventura Publisher Edition on an MS-DOS computer and printed on an Apple LaserWriter IINT. This is not as simple a process as it might appear at first glance, especially considering that more than half the text started out in Applewriter or Appleworks on an Apple II, and some of the graphics first appeared on a Macintosh screen. Martin Rose and Jon Holmes devised methods for transferring files from other hardware to the MS-DOS environment, and Martin drew a number of figures for situations where we were not simply capturing a screen display from a published program.
By far the greatest credit in this area, however, goes to Elizabeth Moore, Assistant Editor, who during the past year has become an expert with Ventura Publisher. It was she who set up the style sheets that govern the layout of each issue, and who imported, tagged, laid out, and printed camera-ready copy that could be sent to Mack Publishing Company for final production. She was aided in matters of style by Debora Bittaker, Assistant Editor of the Journal of Chemical Education, who made several trips from Austin to Ypsilanti and spent several weekends coercing Ventura into compliance with a style that is unique to JCE: Software, but has the flavor of the parent journal. We also thank George Oliver for editing copy to bring it into conformance with the ACS Style Guide, and Dick Siebler and his crew at Mack Publishing for getting each issue printed and into the mail.

Thanks
Much credit should be given the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, without whose catalytic support we would not have begun this venture, and the Directorate for Science and Engineering Education of the National Science Foundation, whose funding has allowed further development of JCE: Software as well as creation of many of the programs in this first volume. Several programmers also received support from the Department of Education, Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education, for which we are grateful. JCE: Software has always had the strong support of the Board of Publication of the Journal of Chemical Education and its Chair, Doris Kolb. Both James V. DeRose, Publications Coordinator, and J. J. Lagowski, Editor, have worked hard on behalf of this new venture and encouraged and advised the Editor of JCE: Software most effectively. We thank them.
Authors of the programs in the first volume of JCE: Software have already received credit through publication of their work--indeed this was one of the main reasons for a publication on computer disk--but I will nevertheless list them here. Volume IA(1): Robert C. Rittenhouse, James R. Hutchison and Martin Rose, Robert H. Good, Dale L. Jensen, and Jon L. Holmes. Volume IA(2): Daniel C. Krause. Volume IB(1): Aw Feng, John Moore, William Harwood, and Robert Gayhart. Volume IB(2): Robert C. Rittenhouse. Their efforts in writing software and enhancing it to adapt to reviewers' comments were exemplary.
A dozen or more submissions have already arrived for consideration by the Editor for future issues, and we are encouraged by this. Obviously we cannot publish a journal if nobody submits material for publication, and we will need much support from program authors if JCE: Software is to survive and prosper. The fact that the first issues have contained many programs submitted by Project SERAPHIM authors should not be taken to indicate that we plan to continue in this way. It has provided a start, but in the long term we must have submissions from everyone in the chemistry community, not just a limited group.

Comments Requested
Finally, thanks go to you for supporting our new venture by purchasing JCE: Software. We hope that you will continue to do so. But in any case we are open to your comments. For example, do you have suggestions for topics for future issues? We have published issues on atomic structure, laboratory computing, the periodic table, and high-performance liquid chromatography. Plans for 1989 are indicated above. What topics would you like to see, and for what type of hardware? What suggestions do you have for improving the publication, our procedures, or any other aspect of JCE: Software? Please write your comments down and send them to the Editor. We look forward to hearing from you.

First Published: December 1988
Citation: Moore, J. W. Year One--JCE: Software J. Chem. Educ. Software 1B2
Keywords:

News | Issues | CD-ROM / Video | Find It! | Technical Support | For Authors

JCE Online | Journal | Software | Internet | Happenings | About JCE | Contact JCE

Last Updated: April 26, 2001
Created: December 3, 1996 Created by: J. L. Holmes
Comments to: jceonline@chem.wisc.edu

© 1997 Division of Chemical Education, Inc., American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.



Year One--JCE: Software
John W. Moore University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706-1396

Note:	This issue is out of print.

This issue is the fourth and final one for 1988, and it seems appropriate now to reflect on what has been accomplished during this first year of publication of JCE: Software. Clearly the enterprise is a success so far, but to maintain that success will require much work on our part to continue to publish quality materials. We hope that this will engender comparable support from you as a user of those materials support that can best be expressed by subscribing to Volume Two. Volume One of JCE: Software consists of two Apple issues and two MS-DOS issues. Three disks of software for each type of computer were included, and more than 300 pages of printed documentation accompanied the disks. Much of the documentation was ready for reproduction and use in the classroom. Thinking back on this, it seems to me a tremendous bargain for the total of $110 that was charged for both series of the first volume. The Future In 1989 the MS-DOS issues will contain several disks worth of spreadsheet templates and problems written by David Whisnant of Wofford College, and programs on solution chemistry written by Richard Ramette of Carleton College. The spreadsheets utilize either Lotus 123 or SuperCalc and are intended for the physical chemistry course. Ramette's programs calculate titration curves for a great variety of acids and bases or mixtures of acids and bases, provide recipes for preparing buffers, and even include complex-ion formation reactions. Disks During the year we learned a great deal about preparing software for publication, working with peer reviewers and authors, developing our reviewer database, and setting up disks so that they will run both the JCE: Software logo programs and the authors' programs without any hitches. Special thanks go to Uni Susskind of Oakland Community College for serving as Issue Editor of the very first issue and for setting up many of the procedures needed for handling reviews, communicating with authors, and preparing final copy for publication. Lynne Divis and Richard Ramette contributed a great deal to the issues they edited, and their suggestions for improving our procedures are much appreciated. Kudos also to Jon Holmes, Technical Editor of all four issues, for his excellent work with Uni in setting up procedures and for a great deal of behind-the-scenes work on each issue to make certain that it would be of high quality. We have also learned a great deal about duplication of disks, collecting fees and fulfilling subscriptions, printing of written material, and desktop publishing. Jon Holmes set up a system that has worked well for preparing labels and sending them with our master disks to a commercial disk-duplicating service. Valerie Robinson, our Manager for Publicity and Subscriptions, has done yeoman service keeping all of you aware of what we had to offer, collecting subscription fees and setting up a database to prepare mailing labels to send to the printer, and using spreadsheets to provide the statistics that help the Editor and the Board of Publication to make important decisions regarding the number of copies of each issue to print, how much to charge for subscriptions, and how big a budget we will need for 1989. Documentation Written documentation for each issue is prepared using Xerox Ventura Publisher Edition on an MS-DOS computer and printed on an Apple LaserWriter IINT. This is not as simple a process as it might appear at first glance, especially considering that more than half the text started out in Applewriter or Appleworks on an Apple II, and some of the graphics first appeared on a Macintosh screen. Martin Rose and Jon Holmes devised methods for transferring files from other hardware to the MS-DOS environment, and Martin drew a number of figures for situations where we were not simply capturing a screen display from a published program. By far the greatest credit in this area, however, goes to Elizabeth Moore, Assistant Editor, who during the past year has become an expert with Ventura Publisher. It was she who set up the style sheets that govern the layout of each issue, and who imported, tagged, laid out, and printed camera-ready copy that could be sent to Mack Publishing Company for final production. She was aided in matters of style by Debora Bittaker, Assistant Editor of the Journal of Chemical Education, who made several trips from Austin to Ypsilanti and spent several weekends coercing Ventura into compliance with a style that is unique to JCE: Software, but has the flavor of the parent journal. We also thank George Oliver for editing copy to bring it into conformance with the ACS Style Guide, and Dick Siebler and his crew at Mack Publishing for getting each issue printed and into the mail. Thanks Much credit should be given the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, without whose catalytic support we would not have begun this venture, and the Directorate for Science and Engineering Education of the National Science Foundation, whose funding has allowed further development of JCE: Software as well as creation of many of the programs in this first volume. Several programmers also received support from the Department of Education, Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education, for which we are grateful. JCE: Software has always had the strong support of the Board of Publication of the Journal of Chemical Education and its Chair, Doris Kolb. Both James V. DeRose, Publications Coordinator, and J. J. Lagowski, Editor, have worked hard on behalf of this new venture and encouraged and advised the Editor of JCE: Software most effectively. We thank them. Authors of the programs in the first volume of JCE: Software have already received credit through publication of their work--indeed this was one of the main reasons for a publication on computer disk--but I will nevertheless list them here. Volume IA(1): Robert C. Rittenhouse, James R. Hutchison and Martin Rose, Robert H. Good, Dale L. Jensen, and Jon L. Holmes. Volume IA(2): Daniel C. Krause. Volume IB(1): Aw Feng, John Moore, William Harwood, and Robert Gayhart. Volume IB(2): Robert C. Rittenhouse. Their efforts in writing software and enhancing it to adapt to reviewers' comments were exemplary. A dozen or more submissions have already arrived for consideration by the Editor for future issues, and we are encouraged by this. Obviously we cannot publish a journal if nobody submits material for publication, and we will need much support from program authors if JCE: Software is to survive and prosper. The fact that the first issues have contained many programs submitted by Project SERAPHIM authors should not be taken to indicate that we plan to continue in this way. It has provided a start, but in the long term we must have submissions from everyone in the chemistry community, not just a limited group. Comments Requested Finally, thanks go to you for supporting our new venture by purchasing JCE: Software. We hope that you will continue to do so. But in any case we are open to your comments. For example, do you have suggestions for topics for future issues? We have published issues on atomic structure, laboratory computing, the periodic table, and high-performance liquid chromatography. Plans for 1989 are indicated above. What topics would you like to see, and for what type of hardware? What suggestions do you have for improving the publication, our procedures, or any other aspect of JCE: Software? Please write your comments down and send them to the Editor. We look forward to hearing from you.


News \| Issues \| CD-ROM / Video \| Find It! \| Technical Support \| For Authors
JCE Online \| Journal \| Software \| Internet \| Happenings \| About JCE \| Contact JCE

Last Updated: April 26, 2001 Created: December 3, 1996	Created by: J. L. Holmes Comments to: jceonline@chem.wisc.edu

© 1997 Division of Chemical Education, Inc., American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.