Work in Progress

Recent visitors to the website of SIAM News might have a sense of shifting ground – and justly so.

Having worked with a web design/implementation firm, we introduced a new format with our September 2014 issue. Shortly afterward, we transformed all of our existing 2014 issues into the new format. You can see what we’re talking about at sinews.siam.org.

For the moment, you will be able to select “Current Issue” and view the content of the current print issue. You will also be able to select “All Issues,” which actually means “all issues converted so far to our new format.” SIAM News was founded in 1953; “All Issues” will never really mean “all issues.” We’ve been online since 1998 and, working backward, plan to convert issues from 1998 to the present, as time permits. During the transition, “All Issues” will continue to take you to issues in the new format; “SIAM News Archive” will call up issues from 1998 to where we are in our conversion effort.

A few observations: First, we hope that the changes are more than cosmetic (although we do like the look of our new online version). Mainly, the experience should be more intuitive, like selecting articles to read in a newspaper, from a clearly presented home page. You can access the new SIAM News online from any mobile device.

Both readers and prospective authors should be aware that we can embed video and, of course, link to related websites. We’re now exploring the possibility of slightly different print and web versions of the same article––perhaps with expanded reference lists, additional illustrations, or links to other supplementary materials in the online version.

What we strive to do––in print and online––is present content that is relevant, interesting, and appealing to the SIAM community, from senior researchers in areas covered by the articles to graduate students in the process of settling on their interests. Beyond questions of design, aesthetics, and ease of web access, we would like to have your input (to [email protected]) on the level of our articles (accessibility to you and your students), the balance of areas of applied/computational math covered, and topics you would like to read about in the future. Be judicious in making suggestions: You might be recruited to write an article!

Gail Corbett is the managing editor of SIAM News.