On June 15th, Larry Krumenaker retired as Cybrarian of NASW On-Line, a consequence of both the increased travel required for his writing assignments and his desire to actively pursue several book proposals. The tributes to his leadership that followed his resignation message were many and heartfelt.
Although I have succeeded him, I missed most of Larry's Cybrarianship, becoming an active NASW On-Line participant only around the first of this year. By that time, I simply saw a smoothly running operation with interesting people having solid discussions, sometimes accompanied by sharp differences of opinion (I contributed to a few of those myself), but always expressed with reason and taste. So to really give you the flavor of what Larry accomplished, I must fall back on his own words from his farewell message.
"I leave very pleased with how NASW On-Line has turned out during my tenure at the helm. When I took this job we had around 200 On-Line members, maybe 500 library files and a reputation for a lot of noise and little substance. No longer...NASW On-Line has matured greatly these two years. We consistently have over 1000 titles on-line in the library, which has a reputation both for standardization and searchability and for safety in holding onto embargoed material. No other service for science news for writers can make that claim. Facilities don't have to be begged to post to our library; they ask to post here.
"Oh, yes. Our membership hovers between four and five hundred members, and it has attracted a significant number of new members to our association. And usually we are between 5th and 7th busiest of all two dozen JFORUM sections, in terms of message traffic.
"But NASW On-Line's finest moments have come from its power to affect our organization, dragging it into the electronic age, and to make its weight known in the universe of science journalism. NASW On-Line routinely galvanizes the association to take quick action over members' concerns. No longer is this the province of a few vocal computer enthusiasts and one or two Board members. Everything that happens here gets the attention of our Officers, all of whom now are on e-mail themselves (when we started, barely half were on e-mail).
"Messages in NASW On-Line brought ProfNet its first batch of PIOs. One of the first organizations to sign up with the Author's Registry was NASW, thanks to enthusiastic support raised in Section 14. NASW's Freelance Committee is directly due to discussion over freelance issues here. More than once, On-Line members have made editors and publishers take notice over "onerous" and "pernicious" contract terms and the folks at EurekAlert service have found out the hard way that NASW On-Line members have a significant medium for making praises and pans.
"All these are not to denigrate the more mundane activities found here meetings set up (and at least one new regional NASW chapter formed here), sources found for stories, financial advice for the freelancer to help them become better businesses and more profitable, and more. Not the least of this is the social interactions of a depth that makes many of us close personal friends, across states and oceans, even if we've never met facetoface. "
Now that I've had a few weeks on the job, I have a much better appreciation of the work involved-not just the amount of work needed to keep things running, but how much more work and skill it takes to produce the sort of progress the board saw under Larry's leadership. Although he has by no means left us, remaining an active participant as well as providing me with invaluable help from his post as Sysop Emeritus, his hand on the helm is sincerely missed.
Larry concluded his message by saying:
"It has been an interesting experience being Cybrarian and I thank all of you, NASW On-Liners, for giving me the honor and privilege of serving as your on-line host."
Larry, the honor and privilege were ours.
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Bill Thomasson is a freelance science/medical writer and editor in Oak Park, IL. He also serves as NASW On-Line's Assistant Sysop. He can be reached at (708) 383-1363 [fax (708) 383-9368] or at 74111.421@compuserve.com.