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Someone posed the question "How bad will 2009 be for gemologists?" While saddened by the staggering cutbacks in the gem world, particularly on this side of the pond where hundreds of jobs were lost at gemological institutions, I was trying to look at the bright side somewhere today. One place in which I see some light is in the increased ability to access and exchange information, allowing us to continue to grow and expand our knowledge base in gemmology and related sciences. As the New Year starts I was contemplating the shelves of journals in my office, as well as open issues all over my desk which is completely covered by "works-in-progress," all the while thinking about the publication changes in relatively recent times throughout the world of scientific literature. Many journals are now available in digital format online, which for me is a great asset as I travel and at the same time try to keep up with writing. It is also so when a researcher on the other side of the world refers me to a paper; what a miracle of sorts that it appears on my screen instead of having to wait for the vagaries of the mail system before it lands on my desk. As an employee of a large university I have access to an extensive digital periodical collection, even when working remotely on a laptop via the phone while hurtling down the highway in a car (as a passenger); how can one not help but be astounded by this ability! But, until recently that convenience hasn't included the major gemmological journals. I am eagerly looking forward to reading JOG papers as they are added to the Gem-A website in the coming year and to the year-end hardcopy to go in my reference library. I hope that the hardcopy will always be a successful venture going forward into the future. I am equally enthusiastic about the Gems & Gemology digital version which includes the ability to search for selected authors and topics. As a contributing writer to G&G and in work editing for various authors and journals, this digital access age is nothing short of miraculous as I said above. I can't help but remember laborious research and writing as an undergraduate at Cornell when I had sometimes 3 laboratory classes a week with 20-30 page reports due for each, let alone semester term papers to do. Writing in those pre-computer days seems far distant and to me the digital age is most welcome, though perhaps nothing beats hours of sitting in the library periodical stacks, flipping through piles of journals and cross referencing subjects with bound series spread across the floor and any other available horizontal surface. I will always covet quality printed paper, but this new access format has opened a world of research and learning at the fingertips for all of us. A month or so ago this was nowhere more evident to me as when I was working on a fast-tracked editing job for a major publication in the process of which I was exchanging rewrites hourly around the world from the two authors located in Bangkok and Basel, as well as the other editors who were at the time in California, New York City and somewhere in Nigeria; all the while also accessing journals online to fact-check (12 hours, start to finish, over many time-zones). This just would not have been possible not too long ago! When one thinks about it, it just is an amazing world (and yes, the paper in question was eventually published both on paper and online). Just some positive news for the coming year I hope. Elise Skalwold, January 2009 The Working Library Postscript: one year later, I sift through yellowed pages of The Gemmologist and old JOGs, searching out references, looking for bits of wisdom lost and finding more than I imagined. | |
 The past is mirrored in the future; best wishes for the upcoming book! |
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