As part of our continuing celebration of our 75th year the first of our new series of Viewpoints articles appears, beginning on page 161. The topic is surface chemistry. You will notice that there is a special logo designating this series - a tetrahedron to symbolize diamond, as in Diamond Anniversary! You will find it not only on the introductory page but also on the page headers throughout the article. Fitting in with the theme of surface chemistry we have two related offerings: a CD-ROM called Flying over Atoms (p 247) and On the Surface of Things, our Classroom Activity #6 (p 176A).

Submit Your Materials - In Non-Print Media

The Journal is not only a print publication - we publish JCE Software (computer software for Mac-OS and Windows compatible computers), CD-ROMs, videodiscs, videotapes, books, JCE Online+, and JCE Internet (materials that are dynamic, whose content cannot be expressed in the print medium). What all have in common is that they are designed for people who teach chemistry, that they are peer reviewed, and that they are affordable. Most of our authors are Journal readers, like you.

This brings us around to a question: do you have something, perhaps in other than the print medium, that you could submit to the Journal for publication? If you are producing video or Web-based materials or courses or animations or dynamic documents, and if they work for you and your students, why not share them with others? Submit these items to the Journal and we will work with you to bring them to publication. We know that these materials are difficult to produce, so let us help you get them to the widest possible audience.

Special Reprinting Service

It appears that many of our readers need copies of specific Journal articles from issues that are not in their personal library or their institution's library. So they contact us and request help. Well, if you have such a need, let us know - we can help.

We have a full set of Journals (1924 until the present) in our collection and can provide you with a photocopy of an article that you need. The contact person is Lin Morris (608/262-5153 or lwmorris@facstaff.wisc.edu). We charge a small fee to cover our costs. If you need overnight delivery, we can accommodate that too.

We also have a sizable number of stray back issues in Journal House. One of these issues might be of interest to you if you are looking for something prior to 1992 (back issues are only saved at the warehouse for five years). So, if you need an old issue for a special purpose or to fill a gap in your collection we can try to help you. The contact person is again Lin Morris.

Supplementary Laboratory Materials

You probably recall that there are new guidelines for writing up laboratory experiments ( J. Chem. Educ. 1996, 73, A 311). We will publish a summary of the experiment in print and other accompanying materials as supplements on the Web. This includes such valuable things as the actual lab experiment and other handouts that the author uses.

This month there is a good example of this feature in the article by Bosma. A summary of his laboratory experiment is found on page 214 and his detailed laboratory procedures are available on JCE Online at http://jchemed.chem.wisc.edu/Journal/Issues/1998/Feb/abs214.html. One of the tremendous advantages of this method is that subscribers will be able to have access to the actual laboratory materials that are discussed in a Journal article. And since lab materials inevitably have limited transferability because of the necessarily specific nature of equipment or supplies, you will be relieved to know that you can modify the supplementary materials.

Original Subscribers? Earliest Subscriber?

In January 1924, when the Journal printed its first issue, there were 1300 subscribers. Ann Cartwright, the newest member of our Board of Publication, was wondering whether any of the original 1300 might still we with us. It is unlikely, but certainly not impossible, and Journal subscriber records do not go back far enough to be of any help.

So we pose a question: how far back does your subscription go? The editor's own subscription began in January 1959 - Volume 36 Number 1. That is a very interesting issue, as it turns out. There is a special report of a symposium on The New Elements organized by Glenn Seaborg. Bill Kieffer, in his editorial, introduced a new look for the Journal, commented about the intrinsic nature of change in chemistry, and went on to introduce a new feature column, Chemical Instrumentation.

But how about your shelf ? Certainly many readers subscribed before 1959. We would like to identify the person whose subscription goes back the farthest, but to do this you need to collaborate. Tell us, and send us a photocopy of the cover of that issue. (Of course, if you have purchased back issues on the used book market, they don't count!) We will award a free one-year extension to the subscription of whoever has subscribed the longest and will publish the name of the person - and the cover of the issue - in this column. To be eligible, please reply by April 1, 1998.