Greetings,

My name is Brian Yandell, and I am the new Editor of Amstat Online (www.amstat.org). The Strategic Plan of ASA in 1997 proposed that Amstat Online be the nation's leading site for advancing the statistics profession, providing resources to statisticians and users of statistics, and improving statistics education. The key goals are to:

1. Serve the online professional needs of the ASA members and prepare to offer expanded professional services in the future.
2. Support and promote the statistical profession by providing relevant information about statistical science and statistics as a profession to students, teachers, the media, and the general public.
3. Serve as a primary gateway to online information about the field of statistics and material of interest to statisticians and users of statistical methods.

The Strategic Plan of ASA in 1997 hoped that Amstat Online would become "Statistics Central" for the United States. While we in the profession all have an idea what that means, let's remember that we have no ambitions to become "Data Central"--we don't compile data about jobs, sports, etc., for the general public. Rather, Amstat Online should be a major vertical portal for statistical education and research, theory and methods, serving as a magnet for current and potential members and subscribers. In addition, it can be a voice to help clarify puzzling statistical issues of interest to the general public, such as understanding the risks of AIDS infection and the subtle issues facing Census 2000.

The Editor coordinates aspects of www.amstat.org from the perspective of a professional statistician. Current and anticipated areas under the purview of the Editor include:

1. Information about statistics and the profession (What is statistics? Career information, educational opportunities, statistics in the media).
2. Scholarly material (textbook reviews, software reviews).
3. Links (to other societies, federal agencies, academic departments, suppliers of textbooks and technology) and archives (of data, software, and other information).
4. Oversight of ASA Internet publications: journals, proceedings, bibliographic indices, magazines, and newsletters (migration of some or all parts of paper information to electronic form, including abstracts, TOC, addenda, whole articles and evolving electronic communications objects).

The ASA Staff handles many aspects of www.amstat.org including membership, member services, meetings, continuing education, Center for Statistical Education, and employment. However, there are gray areas, such as publications, where we work together, drawing on each other's strengths and ideas. When there are electronic policy questions, we may consult the ASA Electronic Communications Committee.

The ASA Staff actually runs the association's web site on a day-to-day basis. Linda Javins is the WebMaster, responsible for page design, while Tim Gill is the Systems Analyst, in charge of databases behind the scenes. I have been working closely with them and with other ASA Staff, notably Mary Fleming, Program Director for Services, over the past few months as we learn how to use the web to further communication among members through Sections, Committees and Chapters.

We have been working hard to examine current and future options for electronic access to articles in our many refereed publications. Frankly, in some ways we in the statistical sciences are a bit behind the physical and biological sciences in terms of electronic publications. However, with careful choices in the coming year we should be able to "leap-frog" ahead.

The idea here is to view www.amstat.org much as we view other publications, but with a few twists. The ASA Staff handles the publication process, while the newly formed Editorial Board considers the intellectual content and oversees the operation. An effective, distributed system of web editors can help make Amstat Online relevant and current, for both ASA members and the general public, by involving more members in the process of building our web site. The Editorial Board consists of the following Associate Editors (AEs).

The Editor serves as the Coordinator. The first three AEs have already developed close ties with established units of ASA--Chapters, Sections and Committees. The next two AEs would work closely with Textbook and Software Review Editors for society journals to develop interactive review processes. AEs for Technologies and Archives will keep us thinking about where we want to go. Education plays a central role in ASA, hence two explicit AE positions, one focused on youth. Statisticians have strong ties in Industries, Governments and other branches of the Sciences; in addition, we have a responsibility to communicate clearly with Society at large about statistical issues in the public interest. Therefore, each of these domains has or will have an AE.

Already these hard-working members of ASA are drafting their "game plans", which will be posted on the Internet some time after JSM. This is a new venture, wide open to new ideas. We are developing this as we go along, and welcome input from members at large. Associate Editors will each build their own team of Assistant Editors in the near future to realize their plans. There are plenty of opportunities for members to get involved!

The Associate Editors have begun to explore how to work together across their interconnected domains to further their visions of "Statistics Central". Many subjects we may consider, such as offering web-based training of scientists in modern statistical methods, can involve interests of more than one AE. As another example, connections databases from other scientific organizations might involve AEs for Science and for Archives, and possible others. AEs for Chapters and Sections are examining a web interface designed by the AE for Committees (in conjunction with the Committee on Committees and Tim Gill) to see how it can be adapted to needs of their constituencies.

In the past, applied statisticians and statisticians in isolated locales have found it difficult to build community within ASA. The web offers hope and opportunity. Acting as individuals or groups, applied statisticians and isolated statisticians can use Amstat Online to organize, build research and educational networks, and influence the direction of activities of the Associate Editors. We welcome ideas and contributions from people who consider themselves to be isolated statisticians on ways to build our web site as a valuable, dynamic resource to serve all members well.