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The ‘Third Wave’
Journal of Membrane Science 187 (2001) 1
Editorial
The ‘Third Wave’ You may not have realized it, but like most of our readers, you have lived the majority of your life dealing with only the second great ‘wave’ that has swept through the world since 8000 BC. In any case, this is the point of view suggested by the author of the ‘Third Wave’, Alvin Toffler. This book holds that the ‘First Wave’ corresponded to the organization of physical labor, while the ‘Second Wave’ was the application of machines to multiply these efforts for greater efficiency. The ‘Third Wave’ is, you guessed it, the application of information to direct the use of machines for greater efficiency. A recent article (downloadable from the web in PDF format at http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Jonathanjo/surf.pdf), interprets the impact of this ‘Third Wave’ on the publishing enterprise, and it caught my attention. This article notes that publishing is, after all, a service industry. Moreover, it is the industry most directly charged with managing and maximizing the value of information to the creators and users of the information. Without question, therefore, publishing will indeed be crucial to the ‘Third Wave’ in the same way that mass production was crucial to the ‘Second Wave’. As Editor-in-Chief of the Journal, the above viewpoints are valuable to guide our priorities. In addition, however, the above points stress the absolutely invaluable contribution of our referees. In a real sense, each of us serves the intellectual role of checking the engine
0376-7388/01/$ – see front matter PII: S 0 3 7 6 - 7 3 8 8 ( 0 1 ) 0 0 4 2 5 - 2
or transmission of the third wave devices we produce collaboratively, which are the articles we publish in the Journal. Each year, we publish the names of our reviewers, our community of authors and leaders (many of whom are also our best reviewers) from a symbiotic community. The peer review process provides the only realistic validation and value-enhancing mechanism that can be reliably implemented by our community. Scientific publication is only slightly about printing and distribution, or else the daily tabloids would qualify. The validation and quality certification provided by our community’s experts can only come about by peer review. It is this value-addition, along with the production of an accurate archivable instrument that we are both proud of and indebted to our referees for making possible. Why am I telling you this? I have noted a “I’m too busy to review” virus spreading – not just within membranes, but the entire scientific community. Please understand that what we produce as a community still requires the ‘First Wave’ – detailed human effort. This effort is truly multiplied and made possible by the machines that we all know and ‘love’. Nevertheless, to enable the Journal to serve our community, you must serve this community! We are actively implementing electronic communication, article availability and refereeing. Nevertheless, we can always do more. Let us know how you think we can do our part better, and let’s stay at the crest of this new wave together. Bill Koros
Editorial
The ‘Third Wave’ You may not have realized it, but like most of our readers, you have lived the majority of your life dealing with only the second great ‘wave’ that has swept through the world since 8000 BC. In any case, this is the point of view suggested by the author of the ‘Third Wave’, Alvin Toffler. This book holds that the ‘First Wave’ corresponded to the organization of physical labor, while the ‘Second Wave’ was the application of machines to multiply these efforts for greater efficiency. The ‘Third Wave’ is, you guessed it, the application of information to direct the use of machines for greater efficiency. A recent article (downloadable from the web in PDF format at http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Jonathanjo/surf.pdf), interprets the impact of this ‘Third Wave’ on the publishing enterprise, and it caught my attention. This article notes that publishing is, after all, a service industry. Moreover, it is the industry most directly charged with managing and maximizing the value of information to the creators and users of the information. Without question, therefore, publishing will indeed be crucial to the ‘Third Wave’ in the same way that mass production was crucial to the ‘Second Wave’. As Editor-in-Chief of the Journal, the above viewpoints are valuable to guide our priorities. In addition, however, the above points stress the absolutely invaluable contribution of our referees. In a real sense, each of us serves the intellectual role of checking the engine
0376-7388/01/$ – see front matter PII: S 0 3 7 6 - 7 3 8 8 ( 0 1 ) 0 0 4 2 5 - 2
or transmission of the third wave devices we produce collaboratively, which are the articles we publish in the Journal. Each year, we publish the names of our reviewers, our community of authors and leaders (many of whom are also our best reviewers) from a symbiotic community. The peer review process provides the only realistic validation and value-enhancing mechanism that can be reliably implemented by our community. Scientific publication is only slightly about printing and distribution, or else the daily tabloids would qualify. The validation and quality certification provided by our community’s experts can only come about by peer review. It is this value-addition, along with the production of an accurate archivable instrument that we are both proud of and indebted to our referees for making possible. Why am I telling you this? I have noted a “I’m too busy to review” virus spreading – not just within membranes, but the entire scientific community. Please understand that what we produce as a community still requires the ‘First Wave’ – detailed human effort. This effort is truly multiplied and made possible by the machines that we all know and ‘love’. Nevertheless, to enable the Journal to serve our community, you must serve this community! We are actively implementing electronic communication, article availability and refereeing. Nevertheless, we can always do more. Let us know how you think we can do our part better, and let’s stay at the crest of this new wave together. Bill Koros