Editors’Column TEMPERATURE CONTROL FOR
LC COLUMNS Temperature control in liquid chromatography has generally been neglected. Improved resolution, efficiency, and precision often result from operation of LC
columns at controlled temperatures above ambient.
Bioanalytical Systems offers a low cost column heating system based on a metal block heater and solid state controller. The versatile controller can be used with other heating elements and probes for a variety of laboratory applications.
LETT2
BIOANALYTICAL SYSTEMS INC.
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Update
Analytical Chemistry’s Move into the Computer Age Analytical Chemistry keeps moving further into the computer age. Although the composition part of the publication operation has been computer-driven for some years, this year, for the first time, the research papers are available as part of an experiment whereby the file of this JOURNAL and other American Chemical Society journals can be searched via a telephone, modem, and terminal (Anal. Chem. 1980,52 (13), 1371 A). Searching can be done by any word in the manuscript, except by articles and prepositions such as “a,” “of,” and “the” (72 in all). This experiment is being conducted with about 300 volunteers who have access to the files. The ACS Books and Journals’ R&D Department is conducting the experiment and in early 1982 will have results that should indicate the usefulness of this computer on-line system. Earlier this year we announced (Anal. Chem. 1981, 53 (9), 1048 A) that we were putting our manuscript and reviewer files on a computer and planning to use it to aid us in reviewer selection and manuscript processing. We sent forms to all of our active reviewers and asked them to designate their areas of expertise. We are now nearly finished entering these data into our system. And, since Sept. 3, manuscripts submitted to us have been entered into our electronic files rather than being set up on paper. As we have progressed in learning to use the three terminals and printer in our office (the central processor is elsewhere) and in learning the tricks to make the system go, we have had
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ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY, VOL. 53, NO. 14, DECEMBER 1981
share of problems. Many can be attributed to discovering how to make best use of the system. Others, of our
course, were due to bugs in the system.
Fortunately, we have a sensitive computer specialist and programmer, John Keys, who never says, “It can’t be done” when we ask for changes. Along with the computer system designed for use with manuscript handling, we have acquired, almost as a side effect, word-processing capabilities. This in itself is a plus for our office and for all of the editorial staff who have to prepare material for the magazine section of the JOURNAL. Although all of us approached the system with some misgivings and fear, we were won over immediately by the ease which which we can compose, change, and edit prose. We are hoping that the new system will improve our selections in the manuscript reviewing area. The system permits us to locate the names of reviewers with five connected specialties, and we can ask for only those reviewers who have put a particular specialty high in listing their areas of expertise. We hope to use many more re-
viewers and avoid the overuse of our well-known core stable of reviewers. If any of you wish to review technical contributions for Analytical Chemistry and have not received a letter and form from this office, do write to the editorial office at 1155 16th St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036. We will send you the form and put your name and areas of expertise in our file of potential reviewers. Josephine M. Petruzzi
