JAVS Fall 1997

53

by David Dalton

I would like to express my appreciation to Ronn Andrusco of Toronto, who, with a little help from me, constructed the ]AVS sur vey and, importantly, collected and codified the results. This was an arduous task costing him much time. Andrusco has insisted on doing this and other past surveys on behalf of the AVS as a voluntary contribution. It is fitting that I recognize and thank other steady contributors to ]AVS such as Jeff Irvine, Tom Hall, David Brown, and Tom Tatton. Additionally, I could not forget to thank David Day for his helpful insights, and our ]AVS reviewers, who assist immeasurably in evaluating submissions. They, the various feature-article authors, and other contributors do exactly that: they contribute their services. Some of us associated with the production of ]AVS are paid for the part we play in its production. It was during Alan de Veritch's presidency that he recommended to the AVS board that since ]AVS had increased in size, quality, and in importance to the society, the editor of ]AVS henceforth should be compen sated. My ethical standards were insufficiently high, my moral rectitude too weak, and I crumbled under Alan's and the board's flatter ing approbation. Some six years before, I had been given the editorship of the then AVS Newsletter by AVS President Maurice Riley and had published it in my "spare" time. Having had no previous experience whatso ever in editing, I wandered for a while in the wilderness familiar to every neophyte, while our patient readers suffered along with me. Gradually the AVS has been able to pay for other services related to ]AVS and also for ser vices more directly related to the AVS, which assist in keeping our society operating in a smoother, more efficient way and on a more professional level. Jeanette Anderson has in creased our advertising revenue significantly, Linda Hunter Adams and Marcus Smith of the BYU Humanities Publications Center and

their student assistants such as Jane Clayson, who is responsible for codifying the new entries in PIVA, have improved the layout and accuracy of the journal considerably. I believe they have given it a more professional flair. It should be noted that the Brigham Young University School of Music, with the blessing of its directors, has been consistent in sup porting the production of ]AVS monetarily and with secretarial help, and currently subsi dizes each issue to the viola tune of $500. AVS Secretary Donna Clark's assistants have provided mailing lists and the annual AVS membership roster. Mter an interim of several years, ]AVS is again being printed by BYU Print Services; Paul Gallini of BYU Mail Services has been a valuable help in dispatch ing ]AVS to AVS members three times yearly. I, and others in the production of ]AVS, have made mistakes-a few egregious ones. After four sets of eyes had reviewed every jot and tittle of a recent issue before sending it to press, I opened a fresh copy to find a painfully obvious spelling error in the president's mes sage. Professionals assure me there is no such thing as a mistake-free publication. "To err is human." The gestation period of a ]AVS issue is sometimes unpredictable and the labor sometimes uncomfortable-even bordering on pain. But the delivery is always welcomed on our part with anticipation, and the new born-a bit blemished and wrinkled-to our eyes is still a pretty baby. I can't recall any stinging disapproval of our efforts to produce a professional, peer-reviewed journal. The relatively few criticisms offered in the past have been of the constructive vari ety or uninformed of the limitations of our publication. I once lightly lamented to AVS board member Donald Mcinnes the fact that I didn't receive more critical letters that could lead to improvements. "Relax-" he said, "it's a good sign." Occasionally an unsolicited written or spoken word of encouragement or