Chemical Literature, Volume 11, Number 4, Winter 1959 Page: 1

                                
CHEMICAL LITERATURE

Vol. 11, No. 4
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'.A. .-  Winter 1959
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'     11

A NOTE FROM THE PAST-CHAIRMAN
OF THE DIVISION
As I look back on my term in office as chairman
of the Division of Chemical Literature (the shortest in
its history, due to the change in by-lawsl), I am pleased
to be able to note two achievements in areas which
have long concerned this Division:
I. ACS approval of a new serial publication
on chemical documentation.
2. Establishment of a joint committee with the
Division of Chemical Education to study
the needs for instruction in chemical
literature as part of the college chemistry
curriculum.
This Division has long sought to find a medium
for publication of worthwhile papers in the field of
chemical documentation, particularly those presented
at our own meetings. Last September, the ACS Board
of Directors approved the establishment of a new serial
(probably annual) publication in this field. This has
come about through patient negotiation and cooperation
by many people and particularly through Dr. Herman
Skolnik's recent efforts. Many details remain to be
worked out, including establishment of an editorial
board and appointment of the first editor, but it is hoped
that the publication will be a reality by 1961.
With two Divisions involved it has taken
longer than expected to establish the committee on
instruction of chemistry students in the use of the
chemical literature. Now that we have such a committee,
with Dr. M. G. Mellon as chairman, the workof surveying
existing provisions can at last begin, with a view to
recommending improvements if necessary.
A third achievement, less apparent but equally
important for the Division, is in the area of program
planning. After ten years during which our program
committees had little to guide them in the selection of
topics and speakers for Divisional Programs except
their own intuitive knowledge of the needs and inclinations
of the Division members, we have begun to

analyze and redefine the objectives of the Division and
are trying to formulate the kinds of programs best
suited to fulfil these objectives. The groundwork for
this and other long-range activities was laid before
my term of office. I am glad to be able to report that
some progress has been made during 1959. The Advisory
Committee on Program Planning is now developing
guidelines for future program planning. It is my sincere
hope that these will be sufficiently crystallized in
time to affect program planning for 1961.
It is the opinion of your executive committee
that the quality of individual papers can be improved
by insisting that the complete paper be submitted for
review before it is included in any Divisional program.
Review of papers was successfully handled by a separate
committee during the past two years; in the future this will
be a function of the program committee.
During 1959, we presented programs at two
national meetings, as usual, but deliberately limited
them to a shorter time. If attendance and unsolicited
comments are any criteria, both were successful. At
both meetings, the Committee on Chemical Documentation
held open meetings in the evening which drew
large and interested audiences.
The next spring meeting of the Society, to be
held in Cleveland, will be an extended 'over-theweekend'
meeting. This Division will meet during the
first week, Wednesday through Saturday morning (April
6-9). Details of the planned program will be announced
elsewhere in this bulletin. Plans for the Fall 1960
meeting are in the hands of the Division Chairman,
Dr. Karl F. Heumann. The 1961 meetings are already
being planned by Dr. Herman Skolnik since, under our
new  by-laws, program planning is the responsibility
of the chairman-elect.
I am proud to have been allowed to guide the
affairs of the Division of Chemical Literature during
the year of our tenth anniversary. While we did not
achieve everything we had hoped for, I believe we
succeeded in concentrating our efforts in a few areas
and making some progress in these.