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A message from the new editorial team
ARTICLE IN PRESS
Int. J. Human-Computer Studies 61 (2004) 1–2
Editorial
A message from the new editorial team We would like to thank Brian Gaines, who retired as Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Human–Computer Studies on January 1, 2004, for his 30 years of leadership and important contributions to the field of human–computer interaction. The journal was founded as the International Journal of Man–Machine Studies in 1968 by Brian, Barrie Chapin, and John Gedye at the University of Essex. The original aim of the journal was to establish an outlet to publish high quality research on human–machine systems. At the time researchers reported their work in a wide range of journals, and thus reached only a small segment of the potential readership. The journal began as a small enterprise, publishing 400 pages per year on a quarterly basis. It quickly expanded to 6 issues in 1974, 8 in 1980, and 12 in 1983. In recent years it has published up to 2000 pages. The journal changed its name to the International Journal of Human–Computer Studies (IJHCS) in 1994. In its early days, the journal covered knowledge acquisition in addition to human–computer interaction. In 1989 a sister journal Knowledge Acquisition was spun off from IJHCS and remained independent until 1995, when it was reabsorbed by IJHCS. Broadly speaking, IJHCS has evolved over the years and it now covers the whole spectrum of work relevant to the theory and practice of innovative interactive systems and to the study of people and technology in general. The journal is inherently interdisciplinary, covering research in computing, artificial intelligence, psychology, linguistics, communication, design, engineering, and social organization, which is relevant to the design, analysis, evaluation and application of innovative interactive systems. Although other HCI journals have been founded more recently, in the 1980s and 1990s, IJHCS is distinguished by its breadth and scope. IJHCS’s long and successful run owes largely to Brian Gaines’s vision, leadership, and many years of hard work. Brian is now Professor Emeritus at the University of Calgary; during the years he guided the journal he was an active author of over 400 papers and 10 authored or edited books and held demanding administrative positions as Dean of Graduate Studies and Associate Vice President for Research at Calgary. His dedication has made the journal a primary source of information in human–computer interaction. The fact that Brian is being replaced by three new Co-Editors-In-Chief, Wendy Mackay, Enrico Motta, and Susan Wiedenbeck, expresses not only the tremendous growth in the field, but also the enormous role that Brian has played in that growth. 1071-5819/$ - see front matter r 2004 Published by Elsevier Ltd. doi:10.1016/j.ijhcs.2004.04.001
ARTICLE IN PRESS 2
Editorial / Int. J. Human-Computer Studies 61 (2004) 1–2
The new editorial team is now in place. We are operating as three equals, each handling approximately one-third of submissions. Below we briefly describe our personal research interests and the kinds of papers we generally handle as co-editors of IJHCS. Wendy Mackay’s research interests include HCI research methods, multi-media and mixed and augmented reality. Enrico Motta’s research focuses on the use of knowledge and language technologies to support knowledge sharing, semantic web applications, distributed problem solving and in general the development of intelligent, interactive systems. Susan Wiedenbeck’s research interests fall into three areas: end-user programming, HCI of information security, and HCI of web use. We believe that having three co-editors with different research expertise will be an advantage in handling the wide range of papers that characterize IJHCS. However, our goal is to work together as a cohesive unit. For the readers and authors, IJHCS must continue to have a common editorial voice. We will work closely with each other and Elsevier to maintain a consistent editorial process. The original mission of the journal, providing an outlet for publication of high quality research on human–computer interaction, will remain the same. However, we want to explicitly represent recent trends in the field. In particular, as technology is becoming more and more complex, innovative interactive systems are becoming more and more interdisciplinary in nature. For instance, solutions to knowledge management problems increasingly require systems that can integrate semantic, language and web technologies. Semantic technology may also combine with peerto-peer communication to support research on presence and with multimedia to provide intelligent access to various media artifacts. Designing interactive systems requires expertise from the social sciences and design as well as software engineering. Hence, we expect that many journal submissions will cut across several of the topics and other disciplines as well. We have updated the list of IJHCS topics, which may be viewed online at http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ijhcs and are appointing a new editorial board to reflect this increased scope. We also plan several innovations for the journal, including: discussions of groups of papers, debates on current issues in the field, and demonstrations of software that illustrate the best practices in HCI. In conclusion, we look forward to this new era for IJHCS. The journal’s strength is based on a vibrant and growing community and we will do our best to support this community, to ensure that the high standards of the journal are maintained and that the journal remains at the leading edge of human–computer studies.
Wendy Mackay Enrico Motta Susan Wiedenbeck
Int. J. Human-Computer Studies 61 (2004) 1–2
Editorial
A message from the new editorial team We would like to thank Brian Gaines, who retired as Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Human–Computer Studies on January 1, 2004, for his 30 years of leadership and important contributions to the field of human–computer interaction. The journal was founded as the International Journal of Man–Machine Studies in 1968 by Brian, Barrie Chapin, and John Gedye at the University of Essex. The original aim of the journal was to establish an outlet to publish high quality research on human–machine systems. At the time researchers reported their work in a wide range of journals, and thus reached only a small segment of the potential readership. The journal began as a small enterprise, publishing 400 pages per year on a quarterly basis. It quickly expanded to 6 issues in 1974, 8 in 1980, and 12 in 1983. In recent years it has published up to 2000 pages. The journal changed its name to the International Journal of Human–Computer Studies (IJHCS) in 1994. In its early days, the journal covered knowledge acquisition in addition to human–computer interaction. In 1989 a sister journal Knowledge Acquisition was spun off from IJHCS and remained independent until 1995, when it was reabsorbed by IJHCS. Broadly speaking, IJHCS has evolved over the years and it now covers the whole spectrum of work relevant to the theory and practice of innovative interactive systems and to the study of people and technology in general. The journal is inherently interdisciplinary, covering research in computing, artificial intelligence, psychology, linguistics, communication, design, engineering, and social organization, which is relevant to the design, analysis, evaluation and application of innovative interactive systems. Although other HCI journals have been founded more recently, in the 1980s and 1990s, IJHCS is distinguished by its breadth and scope. IJHCS’s long and successful run owes largely to Brian Gaines’s vision, leadership, and many years of hard work. Brian is now Professor Emeritus at the University of Calgary; during the years he guided the journal he was an active author of over 400 papers and 10 authored or edited books and held demanding administrative positions as Dean of Graduate Studies and Associate Vice President for Research at Calgary. His dedication has made the journal a primary source of information in human–computer interaction. The fact that Brian is being replaced by three new Co-Editors-In-Chief, Wendy Mackay, Enrico Motta, and Susan Wiedenbeck, expresses not only the tremendous growth in the field, but also the enormous role that Brian has played in that growth. 1071-5819/$ - see front matter r 2004 Published by Elsevier Ltd. doi:10.1016/j.ijhcs.2004.04.001
ARTICLE IN PRESS 2
Editorial / Int. J. Human-Computer Studies 61 (2004) 1–2
The new editorial team is now in place. We are operating as three equals, each handling approximately one-third of submissions. Below we briefly describe our personal research interests and the kinds of papers we generally handle as co-editors of IJHCS. Wendy Mackay’s research interests include HCI research methods, multi-media and mixed and augmented reality. Enrico Motta’s research focuses on the use of knowledge and language technologies to support knowledge sharing, semantic web applications, distributed problem solving and in general the development of intelligent, interactive systems. Susan Wiedenbeck’s research interests fall into three areas: end-user programming, HCI of information security, and HCI of web use. We believe that having three co-editors with different research expertise will be an advantage in handling the wide range of papers that characterize IJHCS. However, our goal is to work together as a cohesive unit. For the readers and authors, IJHCS must continue to have a common editorial voice. We will work closely with each other and Elsevier to maintain a consistent editorial process. The original mission of the journal, providing an outlet for publication of high quality research on human–computer interaction, will remain the same. However, we want to explicitly represent recent trends in the field. In particular, as technology is becoming more and more complex, innovative interactive systems are becoming more and more interdisciplinary in nature. For instance, solutions to knowledge management problems increasingly require systems that can integrate semantic, language and web technologies. Semantic technology may also combine with peerto-peer communication to support research on presence and with multimedia to provide intelligent access to various media artifacts. Designing interactive systems requires expertise from the social sciences and design as well as software engineering. Hence, we expect that many journal submissions will cut across several of the topics and other disciplines as well. We have updated the list of IJHCS topics, which may be viewed online at http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ijhcs and are appointing a new editorial board to reflect this increased scope. We also plan several innovations for the journal, including: discussions of groups of papers, debates on current issues in the field, and demonstrations of software that illustrate the best practices in HCI. In conclusion, we look forward to this new era for IJHCS. The journal’s strength is based on a vibrant and growing community and we will do our best to support this community, to ensure that the high standards of the journal are maintained and that the journal remains at the leading edge of human–computer studies.
Wendy Mackay Enrico Motta Susan Wiedenbeck