Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, tells us that innovation distinguishes between leaders and followers; innovation is the ability to see change as an opportunity rather than as a threat. Today, the Journal of Neuroscience Nursing sits on an innovative cusp in the world of healthcare publishing, poised to become one of the leaders. With the launch of JNN's new Web site, http://jnnonline.com, we begin our journey into the customer-centered world of electronic publishing. We are moving away from the comfortable, traditional world of printed, bound journals, in which the reader sits alone and thumbs through a journal, into the potentially boundless, interactive world of E-print. We are part of a movement to overturn a paradigm that dates back more than 2,000 years.
Our online site will open up conversations about articles that are timely, situational, and driven by what interests you, the readers, most. Readers can leverage individual articles into bigger pools of knowledge, becoming their own content curators for an online legacy of information. Readers can add their voices to those of our authors and editorial staff. As a group of specialty nurses, we can build new communities around JNN that are not possible with traditional print publishing.
Okay [horizontal ellipsis] it sounds great, but exactly what does the site include? Will readers need a dazzling new array of electronic communication skills, or devices, to use it effectively? The site will be easy to navigate and allow access using any device or tool you currently use, and at first it will include the following:
* Editor's picks, featured articles, and top picks- These will appear on the home page and tell readers what we think is most relevant, most timely, and most innovative and what articles other users access most often.
* eTOCs (translation, electronic tables of contents)-Register to receive the table of contents via e-mail, ahead of print. Readers can quickly scan the eTOC, download it for further reference, or bookmark it for future use.
* Topical collections-Editorial staff creates and compiles content-specific collections of articles to highlight an important or newsworthy topic, a particularly controversial topic, or a series of practice arena-specific topics.
* Online-only text-Articles do not appear in print at all but on the Web site as part of a particular volume and issue of JNN.
* Individual readers' article collections and searches- You have the ability to create your folders to organize articles, images, videos, and other content that appear in our online journal site.
* Articles tools-These allow readers to export content to PowerPoint, to export selected articles to a citation manager, to rollover and zoom images, and to "read" the image gallery.
* Content tools-A full text rendering of articles is available to subscribers (nonsubscribers may use Article Pay-Per-View); a Publish Ahead of Print feature provides readers with rapid access to new information, the latest research findings or practice innovations since the article appears online before it appears in print; and an inline abstract viewer helps users prioritize their reading lists.
* Past issues of JNN-When the process is complete, readers can access any article published since the journal's inception 40 years ago.
When the online site is fully functional, we will also be able to offer video and audio libraries, pod casts, meeting highlights, blogs, conversations with authors, and a host of other features that are being developed and planned. Our online site also allows me, as the Editor, to poll you, the readers, frequently to tap your creative energy, your thoughts, and your willingness to make this change successful.
JNN will continue in print as a source of knowledge about our unique patients and practice even as we "push your eyeballs" to the Web (an e-publishing term). Whether you embrace technology wholeheartedly or fear it a bit but are willing to make the leap forward, the age of digital communication is here, and if we are to remain leaders, we need to help shape it through our interaction with it. Onward!