[EDITOR-L] CELJ support letter; CELJ history--addendum

[David Hanson]

No matter how many times I read a posting before hitting "send," something
will occur to me after it's too late. I meant to mention the name of my
colleague in history, Dr. David Benac. The students will introduce
themselves to you later.

thanks again,
David

David C. Hanson
Professor of English
Editor, Nineteenth Century Studies
President, CELJ
Southeastern Louisiana University
SLU-10861
Hammond, LA  70402
USA
Ph.: 985-549-2113 (voice); 985-549-5021 (fax)
email: dhanson at selu.edu

-----Original Message-----
From: editor-l-bounces at mailman.depaul.edu
[mailto:editor-l-bounces at mailman.depaul.edu]On Behalf Of David Hanson
Sent: Monday, October 18, 2004 6:07 PM
To: editor-l at mailman.depaul.edu
Subject: [EDITOR-L] CELJ support letter; CELJ history


Dear Colleagues:

Thanks to all of you who sent suggestions for improving "The Contributions
of Journal Editors to the Scholarly Community," CELJ's document in support
of editors seeking professional advancement and support for their journals.
The committee has taken your suggestions into account, and our webmaster is
in the process of placing the final version on the website. You'll find it
in two places, under current news on the right sidebar, and also under a new
button on the left, "Support for Editors."

Thanks again to our hardworking committee, who patiently worked through
draft after draft: Beth Luey (Documentary Editing; Scholarly Publishing
Program, Arizona State); Richard Mathews (Tampa Review; University of Tampa
Press); Chris Pinet (French Review); Daniel Simon (World Literature Today);
Susan Skomal (Publications Department, American Anthropological
Association); Hank Stam (Theory and Psychology); and, for CELJ, Jana
Argersinger and I.

As another initiative, we've launched the CELJ history and archive project.
You may remember that the committee for the support letter started work by
searching for a similar document that had been drafted several years ago but
that no one could find. The search confirmed the officers' growing concerns
that CELJ records have become so widely scattered and inaccessible that
we're steadily losing control over the organization's records. As a related
concern, members have pointed out that the organization's history posted on
the website is inaccurate.

My university has provided a generous grant to two students who will (1)
organize a paper archive from what has been passed along to me by past
presidents Michael Cornett and Al Shoaf; (2) research the archive to draft a
revision of the website history; (3) attend MLA in Philadelphia to interview
veteran CELJ members and officers and share their draft history for
correction and revision; and (4) establish procedures for future archiving
to assure we don't let any more important documents slip away. The students
are working with me and a colleague in the history department, who teaches
archival work, and who's generously giving his time to the project (and one
of the students will probably sign up for a seminar with my colleague to
complete the project).

This is a splendid learning opportunity for our students, and CELJ gains the
benefit of an archive that no one in the organization has the time to sort
and compile. So I wish to thank the Southeastern Louisiana University
"Oscar" Program on behalf of CELJ. I also want to give all of you the heads
up. I'm not at this time issuing a call for stray folders of materials you
may have stuffed in the backs of file drawers or in your attics; it's the
students' job to write and disseminate those calls. But I would like ANYONE
who can share some oral history about CELJ, and who will be attending MLA,
to volunteer a little of your time to our students in Philadelphia. This
will be these students' first MLA, and I very much hope we can make it a
productive experience for them, and one they'll remember. For now, please
just identify yourself, and I'll ask you later, closer to convention time,
what times you'll have available.

If you won't be attending MLA but have something to share, I ask only that
you identify yourself at present; again, I'm trying to stay out of the way
of the students' procedures. They'll figure out for themselves what to ask
you. I'd like at this point, however, to collect some contacts.

regards,
David

David C. Hanson
Professor of English
Editor, Nineteenth Century Studies
President, CELJ
Southeastern Louisiana University
SLU-10861
Hammond, LA  70402
USA
Ph.: 985-549-2113 (voice); 985-549-5021 (fax)
email: dhanson at selu.edu

_______________________________________________
EDITOR-L is the official listserv of the Council of Editors of Learned
Journals www.celj.org
Editor-l at mailman.depaul.edu
http://mailman.depaul.edu/mailman/listinfo/editor-l