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Australian Journal of Educational Technology, 1999, 15(3), iii-vi.

Editorial



With this issue we achieve an increase in AJET's frequency, from two issues to three per year. Foreshadowed in AJET Editorial 15(1) and attained after fourteen years of publication, this upgrade is expected to contribute significantly to AJET's reputation and its attractiveness to authors. The increase of frequency has a basis in the record established since publication of AJET was taken up by ASCILITE and ASET, because we have produced six issues, 13(1) to 15(2), in less than 24 months.

The circulation of a journal is also an important factor in attractiveness to authors. AJET's print run for 15(3) is 830, the same as for 15(2). Distribution is mainly to the members of AJET's supporting Societies, ASCILITE, ASET, and ISPI Melbourne. The number of subscribers (subscribers are recipients other than members of the Societies) has remained relatively small and constant, at 47 for Volume 15 (1999), compared with 48 for Volume 14 (1998), and 48 also for Volume 13 (1997) (subscription data does not count five Australian libraries which receive complimentary legal deposit copies). The distribution of subscribers is Australia 35, Singapore 1, Hong Kong 3, Europe 5 and North America 3.

Whilst the picture with numbers of subscribers is static, the web page version continues on a strong growth path. AJET's home page logged 23,150 "hits" between 11 Dec 1996 and 2 Dec 1999, and has a current access rate of 300 per week. However, lower level pages for which data is available show a slower trend, as shown in the following table.

Date Home pageVol 15Vol 14Vol 13Search
1 April 1999 13533-31834029-
3 Aug 1999 181461921517339811058
1 Nov 1999 218023615609446151809
2 Dec 1999 231504252640848742099

Counters for individual articles were used for the first time in Volume 15. A preliminary examination indicates that for the October-November 1999 period, hit rates are in the range 5 to 25 per week for articles, and 3-5 per week for editorials.

AJET has received good coverage from major search engines and library catalogues. For example, the table below records some results from searches for AJET's home page [http://cleo.murdoch.edu.au/ajet/]. This record is not intended to be comprehensive or rigorously based upon a random sample, as the purpose is simply to give an illustration of the position AJET has attained to date. It is an encouraging position.

Search engine and search stringRank of AJET site (date of search); Notes
http://altavista.yellowpages.com.au/
journal +educational +technology		First in 33700 matches (23 Nov 99)
http://www.anzwers.com.au/
journal of educational technology		First in 1234 (world) (23 Nov 99)
(select exact phrase option)
http://www.looksmart.com.au/
journal of educational technology		Second match (23 Nov 99)
http://www.yahoo.com.au/
"journal of educational technology"		First in 1206 matches (23 Nov 99)
(include double quotes)
http://www.alltheweb.com/
journal of educational technology		5th of 3080 docs (24 Nov 99)
(select exact phrase option)
http://www.altavista.com/
journal of educational technology		First in 1,418,465 matches (23 Nov 99)
http://search.excite.com/
journal of educational technology		18th of 4,440,793 matches (23 Nov 99)
http://search.excite.com/
"journal of educational technology"		9th of 852 matches (23 Nov 99)
(include double quotes)
http://infoseek.go.com/
"journal of educational technology"		First in 1,054 matches (24 Nov 99)
(include double quotes)
http://www.lycos.com/
journal of educational technology		9th of 18,268 sites (24 Nov 99)
http://www.directhit.com/
australian journal educational		First match in unspecified number
(3 Dec 99)

AJET is indexed in a number of library reference sites, for example:

The citation of AJET by major search engines and library catalogues depends in part upon submissions of AJET's URL to them. Whilst this form of free promotion is obtaining good results and will continue, other forms of promotion are also in use. For example, we seek free promotion at conferences, for AJET as an online journal, a print journal or both. We are considering an email list with free subscriptions, to provide an avenue for notifying readers that a new issue of AJET is ready, similar to the list for the electronic journal E Law [http://www.murdoch.edu.au/elaw/].

In the rapidly evolving world of online publishing of scholarly journals, we need to be alert to new options for partnerships and consortia. As examples of trends, we note that the University of Western Australia and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign recently initiated a new online journal, the International Journal of Educational Technology, [http://www.ecel.uwa.edu.au/ijet/]. Compute-Ed, initiated in 1995 at the University of Sydney and University of Technology, Sydney, has taken an American partner and a site [http://computed.coe.wayne.edu/index.html] at the College of Education, Wayne State University, Michigan.

Thanking our review panel

AJET's peer review process is demanding upon reviewers, as it strives to provide formative feedback and the best possible presentation of each article. The Editors and the Board acknowledge with gratitude the work done by AJET's 1997-99 panel of reviewers, who are listed at:
http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/about/rev-panel97-99.html
Roger Atkinson
AJET Production Editor



Conferences advertised in AJET 15(3)

Eleventh International Conference on College Teaching and Learning
Teaching, Learning and Technology: Challenges for Creating Sustainable Change in the New Millennium
12-15 April 2000, Jacksonville, Florida.		 ASET-HERDSA 2000
Flexible Learning for a Flexible Society
2-5 July 2000, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba.




The Australian Journal of Educational Technology is published twice a year jointly by the Australian Society for Educational Technology and the Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education. Members of ASET, ASCILITE and International Society for Performance Improvement, Melbourne Chapter receive AJET as a part of their membership benefits. AJET's 1999 Editorial Board, nominated by ASET and ASCILITE is: Copyright in individual articles contained in Australian Journal of Educational Technology is vested in each of the authors in respect of his or her contributions. Copyright in AJET is vested in ASET (1985-86), AJET Publications (1987-1996), and ASET and ASCILITE (from 1997). Republishing in the online archives at ASET's web site is by permission and as a community service by the [ Teaching and Learning Centre ] at [ Murdoch University ].

For details on submission of manuscripts, subscriptions and access to the AJET online archives, please see:

or for manuscript submission contact the Editor, Dr Ron Oliver, Mt Lawley Campus, Edith Cowan University, Mt Lawley Western Australia 6050, r.oliver@cowan.edu.au, or for subscriptions contact the Production Editor, Dr Roger Atkinson, Teaching and Learning Centre, Murdoch University, Murdoch Western Australia 6150, atkinson@cleo.murdoch.edu.au

© 1999 All rights reserved. No part of this journal may be reprinted or reproduced without permission from the publishers. ISSN 0814-673X.

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