I cannot entirely pinpoint when I made the transition from being "young" to being "old," but I know, deep down, that it has happened. Temporally speaking, I am reasonable spry, but technologically, I am over the hill. I am a member of the last generation ("Generation X") who remembers when computers were not ubiquitous. I recall the day in third grade when one of the teachers pulled a handful of students aside to train us to use the first computers that our school purchased. It was an innocuous collection of personal computers (model: Apple IIe), which had been set up in a small room. Little did I know that a mere 30 years later I would go from not being able to identify a personal computer to feeling helpless when my Blackberry loses data coverage. Ah, "chasing the technology rabbit."1 Over these many years, I have done a reasonable job of keeping up, as have many of my colleagues.2 I have a smart phone, a Facebook account, a blog, and about 5 000 passwords that I am eternally forgetting. It is not that I am incapable of text messaging, Twittering, or any other such endeavor, I just do not see the point; ergo, "old." To place this in the context of Rogers' Diffusion of Innovations,3 I have moved from the "innovator" category to the "early majority adopter" category without so much slowing down in my rate of adoption, but rather my inability to keep up. C'est la vie.

Public health as a profession has shared with me many of these challenges. As public health has evolved, many professionals have acquired or developed the necessary technological skills while others have become technological "laggards." Although it can be argued that information technology has not been utilized in a manner approaching its potential,4 many areas, such as public health informatics, have contributed greatly to our reach as a profession.5-8 Technology has also made our world smaller, with innovative communication modalities fostering higher levels of collaboration between public health entities9 and the Internet proving a promising medium for the delivery of public health coursework and continuing professional education.10,11 Having acknowledged my own technological shortcomings, I can happily say that I have acquired a number of technological skills over the years that have served me well. One of the most useful to my career has been the ability to acquire information on demand and my resulting harmonious relationship with the Internet.

During the last 10 and more years, we have witnessed an evolution of sorts in the digitalization of scientific journals. In this time, we have evolved from treks to the library with a roll of dimes to electronic retrieval at the click of a mouse. There is more innovation yet to come. As we continue in this new information age, more and more tools are becoming available for the brave and resourceful. This spring, the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice Web site (http://www.jphmp.com) implemented a number of changes that promise to enhance the journal's readability, usability, and impact. The journal has transitioned to Lippincott Williams & Wilkins' new "e-journals" platform, which is the next step in an ongoing journey to keep our journal at the forefront of electronic publishing. Today's public health practitioners, researchers, and students demand rapid delivery of content. Overwhelmingly, electronic delivery is their preferred format. By meeting this need in an interactive on-line format, we are able to provide features to help them target, read, and learn from important new findings in the field of public health. So, what changes can you find at http://www.jphmp.com?

* New content, such as featured articles, "Most Viewed" and "Most E-mailed" articles and more.

* New options for article delivery, including an enhanced HTML format for easier reading.

* New ways to customize the site, including saved searches, personal article collections, e-mail and RSS alerts, and more.

* New capabilities, such as exporting references into your favorite citation manager and exporting figures from full-text articles into PowerPoint.

* Ready access to Publish-Ahead-of-Print articles, society announcements, upcoming topics, and easy-to-find supplementary materials and media.

As public healthcare professionals move forward in an uncertain financial time, efficiency is at a premium. It is our hope at the journal that these new resources will help achieve this efficiency while simultaneously increasing the diffusion of ideas and the dissemination of knowledge and best practices shared by our authors. Perhaps with a little training, some patience, and a little cognitive dexterity, maybe this old dog can learn new tricks. Now if I can only figure out what one does with an RSS feed.

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