Home
    Contact Us
    Organization Chart
    Site Map/Search

Reports from:

The Orlando issue of Polymer Preprints marked the beginning of our second year of publishing both a CD and Print version in addition to posting the Preprints on the WWW. The Orlando Polymer Preprints contained preprints from 5 Symposia, 3 Award Symposia and General Papers for a total of 464 papers presented with 412 Preprints published. (ACS Award Symposia do not require preprints.)

Boston Overview: The deadline for submission of Preprints for the Boston Meeting was April 17th. The Boston Polymer Preprints will contain preprints from 6 Symposia, 1 Award Symposium and General Papers. To date, we have received over 700 preprints and it is anticipated that the Boston Preprints will set a record for the number of Preprints published. This means we will be pushing the capacity limits of the CD Rom, and with this in mind, it was necessary to set a file size limit of 1 MB for all Preprints. The editors want to thank all the authors for diligently preparing their preprints and keeping within the size and editorial guidelines.

Financial Status: As can be seen from the Table below, the overall cost of delivering Preprints continues to fall. We are experiencing significant savings in the cost of delivering the CD version due to the fact that we continue to streamline the process and move some of the production steps from Mira to the Preprints editorial staff. We continue to invest in improvements to the functionality of the CD and some of these costs have been/are "one-time" expenses. The Print Version of Polymer Preprints remains very expensive and is expected to rise. Printing and postage are the major cost items and these are generally not under our control. The per book charge for the spring issue was approximately $19.00 and it is anticipated that the Fall issue will approach $25.00. These costs are less than the corresponding 2001 issues. Currently fewer than 250 members subscribe to the Print version and approximately 50 more purchase or order with new membership the Print version at the Division booth. At $50.00 per year we are covering the direct costs of producing and mailing the Print Copy.

Southwest Texas State University has increased its commitment to provide office and infrastructure support at no cost to the Division. In 2002 SWT has agreed to staff the Preprints office with one full and one part-time senior editorial administrator; the editors serve at no salary.

It is a goal of the Editors to elevate the stature of Preprints in the world of scientific publishing. Pursuant to this goal we are striving for a uniform look and consistent formatting (Macromolecules format) of each and every preprint. We endeavor to make Polymer Preprints the benchmark for scientific publications of its type. We can improve only with your help. Your input and suggestions for improvements to both the CD and Print copies is earnestly solicited.

Thanks to the hard work of everyone involved, Polymer Preprints has transformed from a 2 inch thick print version to a portable, user-friendly CDRom with the optional offering of the print version. The second CD was produced with improvements which included packaging which allows for advertising, UNIX capability, and menus with larger clearer print.

This conversion saves the division and its members a significant amount of money while moving forward with available technology. The cost effectiveness of moving to CDRom is evident by the savings indicated below compared to a few previous printed versions:

The printed book version of Polymer Preprints is very expensive. The per book charge is higher than previous book costs due to the smaller volume of books printed. For Spring and Fall 2001 $20.00 was charged for the optional print version. This price included both issues. For 2002 that price has been increased to $50.00 for both issues.

We encourage comments, feedback, and suggestions from division members. Please direct these to Co-Editors Pat Cassidy at pcassidy@swt.edu and Stan Israel at si02@swt.edu, or Editorial Coordinator, Diane Grimm at dgrimm@swt.edu.

Report for Spring 2001

Polymer Preprints S. Israel

A milestone has been reached in the successful transition from hard copy to CD Rom. Thanks to the hard work of everyone involved, the first publication of Polymer Preprints on CD Rom was created for the San Diego meeting in April 2001.

This conversion will save the division and its members a significant amount of money while moving forward with available technology. The cost effectiveness of moving to CD Rom is evident by the savings indicated below (just half the cost of the printed version).

The cost of creating and shipping Polymer Preprints, Vol 42(1),San Diego meeting, is shown below compared to a few previous printed versions:

In addition to the CD Rom version, which is included with dues, a printed book version of Polymer Preprints is available for an additional cost of $20.00 per year. This charge is higher than previous book costs due to the smaller volume of books printed (only 700). The charge for the print version is proposed to increase to $30.00 next year to cover costs of printing and mailing. Only 252 members of the 9,000 Polymer Division membership have ordered print versions, with libraries purchasing the remaining at a higher cost. With lower production numbers, price increases for the printed version are inevitable in the future to meet production costs.

The cost of printing and shipping Polymer Preprints, Vol 41(1) is shown below, compared to the costs of previous issues:

Preprints in Volume 41(1) are the most uniform in the history of Polymer Preprints. Every preprint is archived as a pdf file, enabling a web edition and CD-ROM.

We have shipped a total of 401 copies of Vol. 41-1 of the PREPRINTS to library subscribers: 309 (including 8 by Air Mail) via Port City Press, and 92 copies from Newark, New Jersey via U.P.S., to addresses requiring special handling.

So far, we have 365 paid-up (including free) accounts. The balance are good risk accounts from the previous year, from whom we expect settlement in the near future.

We had a larger than usual number of claims for missing Vol. 40-2 from Canadian Library and member subscribers, serviced by the printers. Shipments via U.S. Postal Service to Canada, are exceptionally costly due to the cut-off of the book rate for parcels exceeding 4 pounds. U.S. postage for a single copy of Vol. 41-1 is $3.38 domestic and $11.36 to Canada. Shipments to the rest of the world is $7.91.