Winter 2008

Editorial: Challenges, Changes, and New Directions

Alice S. Keller

The current global economic downturnhas affected every industry, and ours is no exception. As one consequence, GIA has decided to postpone the second Gemological Research Conference, originally scheduled for August 21–23, 2009. Our foremost concern is that many people who had hoped to participate are now facing significant budget and travel restrictions, so—rather than risk the success of this important event—the conference will wait until the economy improves. Our heartfelt thanks go to everyone who was involved with the 2009 GRC, and we look forward to the time when preparations can be resumed.

To better continue delivering comprehensive research and exceptional gem photography, Gems & Gemology will be shifting a portion of its content online, starting with this issue. The Book Reviews and Gemological Abstracts sections are now available (in their entirety) only in electronic form, as are our year-end subject and author indexes, traditionally part of the Winter issue. The annual indexes will also be combined with our online cumulative index, which covers the years 1981–2008. Additional content, such as supplemental tables, spectra, and images, will be featured online in the G&G Data Depository. To use these resources, all of them available free of charge, just visit us at www.gia.edu/gemsandgemology.

This issue also marks the long-awaited launch of Gems& Gemology Online, which will offer electronic (PDF format) issues concurrently with the printed issue. Subscribers now have the option of receiving their issues in either print or PDF format, or selecting a combination of the two versions for a nominal additional fee of $25 per year. The online issue will go live the day the printed issue mails (in the case of the present issue, for example, the online version went live Friday, January 16). Those of you, especially overseas, who may have had to wait weeks for your issue to arrive by post will now be able to see it on the Internet the moment it becomes available. Note that we cannot guarantee that the color of the photos seen on your computer monitor will be the same as that verified by art director Karen Myers while the journal is on press. However, the online version uses the same electronic files that are used for the printed version.

G&G Online is hosted by MetaPress, a division of the world’s largest subscription agency, EBSCO, at gia.metapress.com. There you will find electronic versions of every article and journal section from 1981 through the present. Editorials, Letters, Book Reviews, and Gemological Abstracts (as well as all the articles on our Free Downloads page) are available without charge. For a limited time, we are also offering a free look at the entire Fall 2008 issue online. Other articles and sections can be purchased for just $10 each, and entire issues for $20 each. (The smaller-format, predominately black-and-white issues from 1934 to 1980 can still be downloaded from the G&Gweb site at no cost.) If you’re interested in upgrading your subscription to include online access, please contact our circulation coordinator.

Gems & Gemology is no stranger to challenges and change. When Robert Shipley published the first issue in 1934, the world was in the throes of the Great Depression. When the current large-format version was launched in 1981, the diamond industry was still recovering from the speculative boom and bust of the late 1970s. Now, as we implement these new initiatives in the midst of another period of economic uncertainty, we’re confident we can continue to support GIA’s mission to ensure the public trust in gems and jewelry by upholding the highest standards of professionalism in one of our industry’s most important sectors: gemological research. G&G looks forward to maintaining excellence in print and online in 2009 and for many years to come.