P R E L U D E

Until recently, if someone had asked me to describe the World Wide Web, I might have replied, "A global arachnid conspiracy?" Likewise, when a friend who works for an educational institution in California urged me to take advantage of e-mail to communicate quickly across the continent, I shrugged her off. I thought the process impersonal and the e-mail addresses--long strings of apparently nonsensical words--irritating at best, off putting at worst. What possible use could I have for such communication across campus let alone across the country?

On the information superhighway, I was in the breakdown lane.

But, largely through the efforts of two staff members, Assistant Editor Allison Adams and Production Manager Meg Goodson, I and the entire Emory Magazine operation have been rescued, serviced, and sent on our way. With the Spring 1995 issue, the magazine and its staff became accessible through your home or office computer.

For starters, you can access the magazine on the World Wide Web. Once there, you will find the Emory Magazine home page, which provides entrée to the spring 1995 issue and, by mid-July, the summer 1995 issue. It includes all major feature articles and departments, plus a selection of photographs. In time, we plan to include class notes, as well, complete with a search index.

You can also contact the Emory Magazine staff by responding through the comments form on our home page. Or you can send an e-mail directly to us at emorymag@emory.edu. Finally, you can send in your class notes via the Internet by e-mailing the Alumni Records office at eurec@emory.edu. (For additional information, see "Entering Cyberspace," a message from Bob Carpenter, executive director of the Association of Emory Alumni.)

E-mail is now an everyday part of my life. I correspond regularly with my friend in California, as well other education professionals across the country. I frequently use it to share information with Emory colleagues, sometimes loading whole documents into the system. Occasionally, I send e-mail to my staff or the other professionals with whom we share office space.

As journalists and readers of books and magazines, my staff and I still appreciate the tactile aspects of the printed word: the feel of the paper, the smell of the ink, the richness of photographs carefully monitored during the printing process. But we have also embraced the future of electronic communication, which enables us to deliver the Emory message to many more people at little or no additional charge.We hope you will sample Emory Magazine electronically and let us know about your experience.--abeierl@emory.edu

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