The dawn of a new era

Earth sciences, however sophisticated present-day models may be, are based essentially on field data. Such data must not only be collected, but also a nalyzed and communicated. This was done during the past few centuries prima rily in the form of printed material. An era of new ways to disseminate sci entific knowledge seems ahead. There will be new media for distribution, bu t the classical way of handling manuscripts (in particular the refereeing, editing and distribution) will change as well. This will have great impact on the infrastructure of the scientific community. The new generation of ed itors should be aware that profound knowledge of the technological and soci al developments is essential for an optimum transfer of information. For th e purpose, they should join organizations that deal with these aspects in a professional way. Earth scientists involved in editing a journal (or in so me related activity) have the possibility to join the Association of Earth Science Editors (AESE). Members of this organization met in Washington last year, at a conference organized jointly with the European Association of S cience Editors (EASE) and the Council of Biology Editors (CBE). The topics discussed at the meeting provide a glimpse of a new era in (earth) science communication. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.