IUPAC : News & Notices: Minutes of 71st Bureau

11. FELLOWS AND AFFILIATE MEMBERSHIP PROGRAMS
Dr. Jost reviewed the status of these two programs. Prof. Jortner noted the positive response he had personally received to the Fellows program. The Committee approved the continuation of the distribution of Chemistry International to Fellows indefinitely. The Committee recommended that the Bureau and Council be asked to continue the Affiliate Membership Program indefinitely.

12. IUPAC WEB SITE AND OTHER PUBLICITY ABOUT THE UNION
Dr. Jost demonstrated the IUPAC web site for the Committee and described the changes that had been made in the site over the past year. These included the introduction of improved navigation aids, the mounting of the complete contents of the IUPAC Handbook online, an improved directory of members, and the complete set of current projects of Divisions and Standing Committees.

12.1 IUPAC ANNUAL PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS

Dr. Jost noted the publication on the web of the annual report to ICSU. Prof. Jortner commented that this report was a good summary of the Union's activities and was a valuable tool in communicating the work of the Union both to members and outside organizations.

13. STATUS REPORT ON IUPAC SECRETARIAT
Dr. Jost reviewed the activities of the Secretariat in 1998. The staff is now three, Mrs. Linda Tapp, Administrative Assistant, Dr. Fabienne Meyers, Electronic Publishing Specialist, and Dr. Alan Senzel, Publications Manager, hired in February 1999. Dr. Senzel has assumed responsibility for the management of the Union's print publications, Pure and Applied Chemistry, Chemistry International, and books. Dr. Meyers, in addition to her responsibility for the IUPAC web site, will also be responsible for the administrative aspects of the new project approval system. The major accomplishments of the year include the expansion and improvement of the IUPAC web site and the improvement of the processing of claim forms by switching from Merrill Lynch to the Wachovia Bank for bank transfers and foreign currency checks.

14. PUBLICATIONS

14.1 STATUS REPORT CHEMISTRY INTERNATIONAL

Dr. Jost reviewed the change in publication process of Chemistry International. This is now edited by a contract copy editor and printed by Cadmus Journal Services. The latter firm also handles mailing and distribution. The new arrangement is working well. CI will be back on a normal printing schedule with the July issue. That is, the July issue and subsequent issues will be printed in the month before the date of the issue. The costs have been in line with those projected when the change was proposed, resulting in a small decrease in the cost of producing CI.

14.2 STATUS REPORT PURE AND APPLIED CHEMISTRY

Publication of PAC continues to run behind the issue date. The December issue was printed in April. The January and February issues will be combined into a single issue, due to the length of the special issue, A review of oil spill countermeasures technologies and response methods. This will be printed and distributed in June. [It was learned after the EC meeting that, after editing, the material for the special issue would not require a double issue. The issue dates noted here should, therefore, be moved back by one month.] The March issue will be printed and distributed in June and the April issue is planned for printing in June and distribution in July.

14.3 PUBLISHING CONTRACT - RESPONSE TO RFP

Dr. Jost reviewed the response to the requests for Proposal sent to nine publishers. Five proposals were received, including one from Blackwell. Dr. Jost then reviewed his paper on the self-publishing option. The main advantage of this option is the independence and flexibility as compared to using an official publisher. The discussion emphasized the importance of the Union being able to disseminate the information from its work as widely as possible. It was felt that this was of the greatest importance to the future of IUPAC. The financial analysis indicated that this option would also be preferable.

The Executive Committee accepted the policy of self-publishing PAC and directed the Executive Director to implement this decision in consultation with the Committee on Printed and Electronic Publications. Books will continue to be published using an official publisher for the IUPAC compendia. The Executive Director was asked to contact the publishers who received the RFP to request proposals covering only book publishing.

14.4 PAC SPECIAL ISSUE: NATURAL AND ANTHROPOGENIC ENVIRONMENTAL OESTROGENS

The publication of the special issue, Natural and Anthropogenic Environmental Oestrogens, was a major event for IUPAC in 1998. Response to the special issue has been good, with a number of individual and group sales being made. Income from these sales has already recovered the Union's cost of having extra copies printed. IUTOX has asked that a number of copies be sent to participants in workshops on environmental oestrogens as well as to members of the International Program on Chemical Safety, a UN sponsored group. The Committee felt that the Committee on Chemistry and Industry should continue to work to publicize the special issue. The Secretariat will make the contents of the special issue available on-line in HTML/PDF format.

14.5 SPECIAL TOPICS EDITOR FOR PURE AND APPLIED CHEMISTRY

Dr. Jost noted that Prof. James Bull of the University of Capetown, South Africa, had been appointed as Special Topics Editor of PAC at the end of 1998. Prof. Bull has been in contact with the Division Presidents to solicit ideas for future special issues. One idea is now being worked on, "Green Chemistry". Prof. Fischli suggested that Chemistry and Food, with the cooperation of the International Union of Food Sciences, and Genetically Modified Plants as Food Sources, might also be possible topics for special issues.

14.6 FORUM EDITOR FOR CHEMISTRY INTERNATIONAL

Prof. Jortner noted that he had, as yet, had no success in finding a suitable candidate for this position. Dr. Jost commented that, in the absence of a Forum Editor, he had arranged for the publication of special articles on chemistry in Poland, the Czech Republic, and South Africa. An article on chemistry in Brazil will be published in the July 1999 issue. He had also arranged for an article on science policy for developing countries by Prof. J. Goldemberg to be reprinted from Science magazine.

14.7 SUPPLEMENT TO "HISTORY OF IUPAC"

Dr. Becker briefly reviewed the background on this project and noted that it had been decided to delay publication until after the 1999 General Assembly at the earliest. This would allow inclusion of the significant decisions to be taken at the General Assembly, as well as including the 80th anniversary year of the Union.

15. CONFERENCES ON NEW DIRECTIONS IN CHEMISTRY
Prof. Jortner briefly reviewed the background of this conference series. The first conference, a Workshop on Advanced Materials, WAM-1, organized by Prof. M. El-Sayed, will take place this June in Hong Kong. Organizers for the next two conferences in this series are being sought.

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