From the Editors

Hello and thanks for reading the Fall issue of Technoscience. During this year’s 4s Conference in Paris the Publications Committee came to the following decisions regarding Technoscience:

“(1) Council charged the Secretary (Wesley Shrum) with implementing the transition to a fully web-based membership system within one year. A Members Only section of the web page will include access to the Membership directory.

(2) Council approves the elimination of the Technoscience newsletter and, as soon as feasible, the implementation of a monthly broadcast email with headlines and links to the full announcements.

(3) The Publications Committee is charged with the oversight of web publications and will be enlarged. One matter to be considered by the next Publications Committee is the enrichment of the Members Only site. The Publication and Web Society would like to ensure that the prize award and acceptance speeches, Author-Meets-Critics sessions, and Presidential Plenary sessions be published. Also to be examined are thesis and dissertation abstracts, (b) lists of recently-published STS books, (c) a scaled-up book review effort, (d) tables of contents from STS journals, (e) short articles contributed by members. Publications committee will formulate a plan, together with the new Contributing Editors, for the enhancement of context.

(4) Council determined to use current newsletter funds to support three students. The title of each will be “Contributing Editor, 4S Web Publications.” The three individuals will work together and share information, though they need not be located at the same institution. Each will have a salary of $3000 annually. The Chair of the Publications Committee has oversight of the work of these three Contributing Editors. The Publications Committee will solicit nominations from the 4S student section and the Council. Two of these will be responsible for managing information on the main page of the site. The third will be responsible for managing information on the Student site, who will be appointed by the Student section Each of the three general categories for information (Events, Papers & Proposals, Positions).”

As per the committee’s decisions this will be the last print version of Technoscience. The editors will continue on as contributing editors to the website where we will join graduate student representative David Conz, a PhD student in Arizona State University's Sociology Department.
We've enjoyed bringing you the print edition of Technoscience over the years and look forward to keeping you informed and involved through our website and the new electronic edition of Technoscience.
Please visit us on the web at http://www.4sonline.org
We continue soliciting photos of STS related activities or subjects to be included on the website and contributors for reviews and articles for the new content sections. Please make submissions to any of the editors of the newsletter at their respective email addresses.