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On Line for Five Years: A Progress Report Prepared by the Board of Directors January 1999 The Journal of Extension, the official refereed journal of the Cooperative Extension System, strengthens the knowledge base of Extension professionals and others to improve their effectiveness as educators (mission statement adopted by the Journal of Extension Board of Directors, 1998). Introduction The year 1994 was a landmark one for the Journal of Extension because it was the first year the Journal began publication in an electronic format only. After 30 years of publication in hard copy, the decision to move to a totally electronic publication was prompted by the following factors:
In 1992, the Journal's Board of Directors authorized a pilot project to test the feasibility of producing and distributing the Journal electronically. The pilot project was conducted in 1993 by the University of Wisconsin-Extension with the assistance of 13 land grant universities in 12 states and financial support from ES/USDA. Following a careful review of results of the pilot project and a related evaluation, the Journal's Board of Directors decided to discontinue publishing the Journal in hard copy and to publish the Journal only in electronic form (see Pigg et al., 1994 for a thorough description of the pilot project and evaluation). Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE) was selected as the host institution for the first editorial and technical operations of the electronic Journal of Extension (1994-95). VCE editorial staff worked with the University of Wisconsin-Extension pilot project staff to convert the editorial and publication operations of the Journal to a totally electronic format. This process was successfully completed in approximately six months. The Journal became fully operational in its new electronic format in mid-1994. In 1996, the editorial operation was taken over by Oregon State University; the technical operation continued at Virginia Tech through 1997 and was moved to The Ohio State University in 1998. In its new electronic format, the Journal is published six times per year versus four times per year in hard copy. The decision to increase the publication cycle was based on a shorter manuscript submission to publication time because of the electronic format. In hard copy, the manuscript submission to publication time was typically one year or more. In the new electronic format, the manuscript submission to publication time has been shortened to six to eight months. Initially, the electronic Journal could be accessed in two ways: electronic mail (email) and World Wide Web. In the email format, users subscribed to the Journal and received an announcement of the current issue via email. The email announcement included the contents of the current Journal issue with abstracts of the articles. Subscribers accessed full articles by sending requests via email. In the World Wide Web format, users access the Journal home page (http://www.joe.org/) and can "point and click" to retrieve the current issue and articles. Purpose of the report Since its inception as an electronic publication in 1994, the Journal has faced many challenges. Through a tremendous amount of hard work and creativity from many Extension professionals who have served in a voluntary capacity on the Journal's Board of Directors and in various editorial and technical roles, the Journal has met these challenges. The purpose of this report is to document the progress of the Journal in the first five years of its electronic format and to identify needed future actions (See Appendix A: Journal of Extension Milestones for selected events documenting the development of the Journal from 1956 to the present. This chronology was based on a document entitled, The Journal is Born (Schuh, 1992)). The remainder of the report is presented in the following sections:
Editorial Operations In moving to the new electronic format, the Journal revised its editorial operations to be electronically processed via email. This included receiving manuscripts, sending manuscripts to reviewers, and communicating with authors. This conversion process took six months to complete. In addition, the electronic Journal began publishing six times per calendar year (every two months, with the first yearly issue published in February) in its electronic format, rather than four times per year in hard copy. A complete description of the electronic editorial process is described in Lambur and Herr-Hoyman (1995). Even with a six-month delay in publishing the first electronic issue (June, 1994), the volume of manuscripts submitted, processed, and published in 1994-95 remained about the same as the hard copy format (approximately 100 manuscripts per year were published in hard copy). Statistics on the number of manuscripts processed and published for 1994-97 are presented in the table 1 below. Table 1. Manuscripts electronically processed and published in the Journal (1994-97)
From an editorial perspective, the initial conversion to the electronic format went much more smoothly than expected, and very few modifications have been made to the process since 1994. Overall, both authors and editorial committee members (those who review the manuscripts) have readily adapted to the electronic format. However, the number of manuscripts submitted and published has decreased somewhat in the past five years, when compared to the hard copy version of the Journal. Recruiting Extension professionals (primarily agents and specialists) to serve on the editorial committee has been a challenging task. Editorial committee members serve a three-year term and can be re-appointed for three additional years. There are currently 18 members on the editorial committee. Each committee member is asked to review no more than two manuscripts per month. The editor selects one individual from the committee to serve as chair of the Editorial Committee. The chair becomes a member of the Board and is expected to attend two face-to-face Board meetings per year at their institution's expense. Since 1994, editorial committee chairs have regularly attended all Board face-to-face meetings and have made significant contributions to the Journal. The editor's position is voluntary and represents an in-kind contribution from the hosting institution. It takes approximately 35% of a person's time to handle the editorial functions. In addition, an annual stipend of $24,000 is made available to the hosting institution to help support the editorial operations. This money is used for clerical support and other functions. Traditionally, the editor served a two-year term and could be re-appointed. VCE served as the host institution for both the editorial and technical operations for 1994-95. In 1995, the Board developed and issued a request for proposals (RFP) to recruit a new Extension institution to host the editorial and technical operations for 1996-97. After an intensive recruiting effort, only three viable proposals were received. All institutions that indicated interest in hosting the editorial and technical operations of the Journal after its initial conversion to an electronic format declined the opportunity for various reasons. At this point, the Board re-evaluated its expectation that one institution would host both editorial and technical operations. As a result, only the editorial operations were moved to a new location (an Extension Specialist recently retired from the Oregon State University Cooperative Extension Service assumed the role as editor). The technical operations remained at VCE through 1997. Because of the difficulty in recruiting an institution to host the editorial operations of the Journal, the Board decided to continue with the current editorial operation at Oregon State University through 1999. In 1998, the Board developed a new RFP for the editorial operations and extended the time period for this function to three years. Three proposals were received in response to the RFP. Purdue University was selected as the editorial operation site beginning in 2000. Technical Operations The electronic Journal was made possible by the emergence of the Internet as a global network for information distribution and general adoption and use of the Internet by the Extension system. Initial access to the electronic Journal was via gopher, wais, and almanac. Access via the World Wide Web began in 1996. In addition to access, technical services include the procedures by which new issues are processed and integrated with the server, maintenance of the email distribution lists for announcing new issues, and maintaining an archive of Journal issues. All access to the Journal was based on a client-server model, using only standard protocols. This permitted use by anyone connected to the Internet and eliminated concerns of generating new client software. The Journal server is a standard UNIX system. Initially, delivery and maintenance of the Journal was done with plain text to accommodate the least electronically capable users. Other formats were experimented with (Postscript, PDF, HTML), but the majority of the archive was plain text. Email users sent requests to the server. The server then responded to the request via email. This process was generally successful, although less than perfect, and required technical skills or training for users. Gopher use was straightforward. Users connected to the gopher address, then followed menus. Ultimately, World Wide Web use was determined as the direction for the future of the Journal. At the Board meeting in June 1998, it was decided that as of December 1998, the Journal would be available on the World Wide Web only. This decision was prompted by the fact that a majority of users were familiar with web browsers and their ease of use. Movement to the web also provided the capacity to incorporate more design opportunities for the Journal, as well as support more innovative features such as images and multimedia. To alert users of an issue, an email announcement is sent to all subscribers. The Board also acknowledged that it needed to accommodate users who do not have access to the web. These users are still able to request and receive articles via email after receiving the Journal announcement. As mentioned above, technical operations continued at VCE through 1997. In 1998, they were moved to The Ohio State University. An annual stipend of $20,000 is made available to the hosting institution for technical operations. Because of the difficulty in securing a host institution for technical operations, the Board approved a contract for five years for this function. Usage Use of the Journal is difficult to document because of the nature of the electronic medium in which it is published. In hard copy, the most quotable piece of data to describe use of the Journal was the number of subscribers. From 1964-1990, the average number of subscribers was 6,081 per year (the range was 3,928 in 1983 to 12,431 in 1990). Because of the nature of electronic publishing, similar information was not available beyond 1990. Number of accesses In electronic form, the number of accesses is the piece of data that documents one perspective of use. For example, as of July 1998, the Journal subscriber list included 2,777 electronic addresses, which conservatively represents about 8,300 individuals (the majority are from Extension). The total number of electronic accesses for the Journal from January - June, 1996 was 114,682. The total number of electronic accesses for the Journal from January - November, 1998 was 344,623. While it is difficult to equate accesses with traditional use of the Journal, these statistics appear encouraging because they are increasing. Subscriber survey Another perspective on use are the results of an email survey of electronic subscribers in 1996 (Lambur, 1997). A survey instrument was developed and emailed to all electronic IDs on the Journal subscription list as of September, 1996 (N=2,037 subscribers). Individuals were given the option of responding by email reply, fax, or surface mail. The survey consisted of six items: 1) Extension responsibility, 2) state identification, 3) last access of the Journal, 4) how the Journal was accessed, 5) the Journal article last accessed, and 6) perceived usefulness of the article in Extension work. Some key results included:
Out of 203 respondents, 72.9% liked the electronic Journal and used it, 20.2% didn't like it and didn't use it, and 6.9% were not capable of accessing it. Conclusions from the study indicated that:
The survey was conducted again in 1998. Results were very similar to those in the 1996 survey. One notable difference was that access of the Journal via the web had almost doubled - from 32.9% in 1996 to 63.5% in 1998. In addition, responses continued to suggest that that the ideas and information in the Journal are generally useful and will be used in their work. One conclusion from the 1998 survey was that the Journal has had a positive impact in engaging Extension professionals in scholarship and continues to fill a useful role for the profession. Institutional and Technical Representative Support To facilitate and promote communication about and use of the Journal, each Extension organization has an appointed institutional representative. As the Journal shifted to an electronic format, a technical representative was selected to assist Extension personnel in electronically accessing the Journal and to resolve any technical problems. These people have been very important because they serve as the link to the Journal in each Extension institution. As such, much effort has gone into keeping them informed about the Journal. Some key activities are described below. Audio conferences In July of 1994, four audio conferences were conducted for institutional representatives, technical representatives, and Directors/Administrators. The purpose was to inform them of how to access the Journal, address technical issues on how their state could best manage and expand access, and answer any questions their faculty and staff had. Forty-two states were represented on the audio conferences. Promotional packets In 1995, a promotional packet of materials was developed and sent to all institutional representatives. The packet included a Journal poster, camera-ready artwork for reprinting in appropriate media, a page-size flier and artwork for a handout, and a set of teaching materials for a professional development session on submitting manuscripts. Surveys Fifty-three Extension organizations (forty-five 1862s and eight 1890s) were represented in separate telephone surveys of technical representatives (1996) and institutional representatives (1997). The purpose of the surveys was to determine distribution and access methods and use of the Journal. A summary of the results for these 53 institutions include: Distribution and access 87% of the institutions have a home page and 71% have a Journal link on the home page. Those without a link were encouraged to establish one. 42% of the institutions were exploding and sending the Journal table of contents electronically to nearly 5,000 county and state personnel as soon as it appeared. 60% of the institutions have web access for all Extension personnel. Institutions without web access or email distribution lists were using local bulletin Boards (3) or almanacs (13). The cost of county connection to the Internet was being borne mostly by Extension, the university, or individual counties with some sharing among local, state, and federal sources. Nearly all the responding institutions felt the cost was somewhat or very significant. Use of the Journal and promotional materials 40% of the institutions provided inservice training to personnel on general computer operations, internet/web access, and hands-on Journal access. Newsletters, instruction materials, workshops, and audio conferences have been used in Journal training and/or general communications. Institutions that had not used the materials in the Journal promotional packet requested and were sent copies. Comments and suggestions Most respondents felt that the electronic Journal was versatile (especially the search feature), easy to access, and used in many ways (read, print, file). Suggestions for improving the Journal and its management and use included: produce it in HTML, make it fully web-based, better and more frequent communication between institutional representatives and the Journal Board, clarify the institutional representative's role, make the Journal more interactive with readers (surveys, reader dialogue, ask Journal). At the December 1997 Board meeting, the technical representative position was discontinued. This decision was prompted by the movement away from subscribing and receiving the Journal via almanac to a web-based system. In addition, the past president of the Board was designated as the Board's communication liaison with the institutional representatives and has developed a communications plan to be used with this group. Funding The Journal was first published in 1963. At that time, the Journal charged a $5.00 subscription fee to individuals. To help offset production costs, a land-grant institution allowed a faculty member to serve as editor with 40% release time to produce the Journal. Given the level of institutional support, a large budget was not necessary. Over time, publication costs continued to escalate, and institutions faced with their own rising costs and staff reductions were unwilling to continue supporting Journal operations. Subscription fees increased substantially, and an assistant editor and a clerical support person were eventually employed by the Journal. In 1973, ECOP recommended that each state pay for the Journal subscriptions for their professional employees, and most did. In 1983, the Journal Board approved a budget of $58,500; in 1993, the approved budget was $135,000. With the advent of the electronic Journal in 1994, ES/USDA provided a one-time grant of $25,000 and ECOP approved a funding formula by which institutions would pay to support the electronic Journal based on the size of their professional staffs (full-time equivalents, or FTEs determined by ES/USDA records). Institutions with fewer than 100 FTEs are assessed $500 per year; 100-299 FTEs pay $750; and over 300 FTEs pay $1000 per year. These payments are considered "voluntary institutional sustaining subscriber" fees. No institution is required to pay the fee. However, because the Journal is by and for those people working in Extension, the institutions are called on to support the publication of the Journal. These fees are the only means of support for the current Journal. If all Extension organizations paid their voluntary institutional sustaining subscriber fees, income would total $110,500 for a two-year period. For 1994-95, the amount collected was $87,000; for 1996-97 the amount collected was $98,000. Reasons for not paying have included not being able to expend federal funds for Journal payments, lack of funds, no electronic connectivity, and the decision to provide no financial support for the Journal. The current budget supports all operations of the Journal. Professional Association Support When the Board was incorporated in 1962, seats on the Board were designated for regional directors and administrators, USDA, and the professional associations affiliated with Extension (see Board Responsibilities below). The input of the professional associations was considered crucial to the Journal. Each association was asked to select a Board member and to fund the member's travel costs to attend two face-to-face meetings per year. All four associations-NEAFCS, NAE4-HA, NACAA, and ESP-were actively involved with the Board for many years. In 1996, NACAA determined that it would no longer provide the funds to support its designated member's travel to face-to-face Board meetings. The Journal Board and president made several attempts to convince NACAA to continue this level of support because of the importance of representation on the Board. Shortly thereafter, NEAFCS also discontinued supporting its Board member's travel to face-to-face meetings. The Journal Board has been unable to reinstate this level of support from these two associations. The support of NAE4-HA and ESP continues to be strong and ongoing. Board Responsibilities The Journal Board of Directors was formed in 1962 as a non-profit corporation to assume responsibility for and to direct publication of the Journal. At that time, the Board served in an advisory capacity to the editor who was a faculty member at one of the land-grant institutions. In addition, over time, a paid Assistant Editor and secretarial staff at the University of Wisconsin primarily did the work of the Journal. Given this arrangement, the Board served in an advisory capacity from its inception until 1994. With the shift to electronic publication in 1994, the paid Assistant Editor and secretarial support positions were eliminated. Because of this, it became necessary for the Board to assume many of the functions previously conducted by the paid Assistant Editor and secretarial staff. In addition, the Board felt the need to give more attention to promoting the electronic version of the Journal because readers were so accustomed to the print version. The working Board meets face-to-face twice a year and holds teleconferences as needed. According to its By-Laws, the Board shall consist of no less than 16 or no more than 21 members from the following:
Periodically, the Board sends out updates to all Directors/Administrators. Representatives make reports to their respective organizations on a periodic basis. The ECOP Board member makes a report at least once each year to ECOP. In addition, Board members have developed a poster display and have used it at several national meetings (see Appendix A: Journal of Extension Milestones). Future Actions As the above chronicle suggests, the Journal has come a long way in its first five years of electronic publication (and indeed, in the first 35 years since its inception in 1963). Using this as a basis for discussion, at the June 1998 Board of Directors meeting in San Antonio, Texas, and again at the December 1998 Board meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada, the Board devoted time to review the first five years of electronic Journal publication and to determine future actions it should take to enhance its mission of strengthening the knowledge base of Extension professionals and others to improve their effectiveness as educators . Upon reflection, the Board believes that the move to an electronic format for the Journal was appropriate and that the decisions made in the first five years of electronic publication have been practical and judicious. Given this, the following future actions were generated on which the Board will be working over the next several years. Publish the Journal on the World Wide Web. Given the general movement towards web-based information storage and access, the preponderance of access of the Journal via the web, and the capacity to incorporate more design opportunities for the Journal, as of December 1998, the Journal is accessible only as a web-based publication. To alert users of the most recent issue, an email announcement will continue to be sent to all subscribers. Users who do not have access to the web can continue to request and receive articles via email after receiving the Journal announcement. More innovative design features, such as images and multimedia, will continue to be investigated and incorporated into the Journal web-based format. In addition, innovative web-based methods for the editorial process (e.g., a web-based manuscript review process for the editorial committee members) will be investigated, piloted, and adopted. Enhance the quality of the Journal. Enhancing the quality of the Journal should promote increased usage. In addition to pursuing more innovative design capabilities noted above, other quality enhancements will include the regular listing of articles by program area, incorporation of a more sophisticated subject matter search capacity, and pictures of authors with articles. Other electronic Journals will be monitored to determine best practices that might be incorporated into the Journal electronic format. Continue to document use and impact of the Journal. Since its inception as an electronic publication, the documentation of use and impact of the Journal has been an issue that has been called for by many Directors and Administrators. To date, two readership surveys have been completed and usage statistics have been generated and shared. Both have shown positive results regarding use and impact of the Journal. The Board strongly supports the continued documentation of use and impact of the Journal. In addition to continuing the readership survey on a periodic basis (at least every two years) and the generation of usage statistics, ongoing efforts will be made to document use of the Journal and its impact on Extension work. Strengthen the role of institutional representatives. The Journal Board views the role of the institutional representative as vitally important to promoting readership and encouraging submission of manuscripts to the Journal. To increase their effectiveness, the past president of the Board has been assigned to serve as a liaison to the institutional representatives. Effort will be made to regularly communicate with institutional representatives, via email and information posted on the Journal website, regarding their role and responsibilities in promoting use of the Journal. Increase marketing efforts to promote the Journal. Since its inception as an electronic publication, the Board has acknowledged that marketing the Journal is critically important and has worked on efforts to publicize the Journal and promote manuscript submissions. This has included poster displays and presentations at national Extension association and other relevant meetings. The Board will increase its efforts to market the Journal through the possible development of a short videotape about the Journal, expanding the number of Journal displays at Extension related meetings and conferences, and getting the institutional representatives more involved in marketing the Journal in their systems. Some of the ideas that will be put forth in these efforts are to highlight the Journal as an innovative and progressive publication, the only publication that cuts across all Extension program areas, a publication that is cost effective, and both a scholarly refereed publication and a communication mechanism for the Extension System. References Lambur, M. (1997). The Journal of extension goes electronic: Results of a subscriber evaluation survey. Journal of Extension 35 (6). Available online: http://www.joe.org/joe/1997december/a6.txt. Lambur, M., & Herr-Hoyman, D. (1995). Final report: Production and distribution of the Journal of extension. Blacksburg, VA: Virginia Cooperative Extension. Pigg, K.E., Summers, J.C., Sacks, T.C., Daniels, C., & Carrier, J. (1994). The Journal of extension goes on line. Columbia, MO: Extension Journal, Inc. Schuh, C. (1992). The Journal is born. Madison, WI: Extension Journal, Inc. Appendix A: Journal of Extension Milestones January 1956 The National 4-H Evaluation Development Committee recommended in their report to ECOP that a Journal of Extension Research be developed for dissemination of Extension research. ECOP appointed a subcommittee to determine the need for such a Journal and if a need was found, to propose a plan for creating such a Journal. April 1960 A dummy copy of the proposed Journal, helping to define its scope and content, was presented to ECOP. ECOP recommended development of a Cooperative Extension Quarterly. June 1961 The University of Wisconsin agreed to serve as the initial site institution for the Journal. June 1962 A nonprofit corporation, with a Board of Directors, was formed to assume responsibility for and direct publication of the Journal of Cooperative Extension. July 1962 The first meeting of the Board of Directors of the Journal of Cooperative Extension convened in Madison, Wisconsin. Spring 1963 The first issue of the Journal of Cooperative Extension was published. C. M. Ferguson, of the University of Wisconsin, was the editor. The price of the Journal was $5.00. November 1969 Policy was adopted to change the editorship every two years. The editor was to be selected from landgrant institutions willing to support a 40% FTE release time for Journal activities. The Board of Directors voted to change the name of the Journal from Journal of Cooperative Extension to Journal of Extension. February 1973 ECOP approved a recommendation from the ECOP Executive Committee to support and encourage Extension Services to provide direct payment for the annual subscription for their staffs for the Journal. 1974 The Board of Directors' representatives from the three agent associations and Epsilon Sigma Phi became more actively involved in Journal promotion-tying it in with professional involvement. June 1982 Two committees were appointed: 1) the Long Range Task Force-to study where the Journal is and where it is going, and 2) the Special Association Dues Study Committee-to explore the possibility of including the Journal in association dues. November 1984 The Board reaffirmed its support that the Journal continue to deliberately move in content from a research Journal to a practical applied Journal. October 1991 Based upon a concept presented to the Western Directors to create a computer-based professional Journal to provide an outlet for articles about Extension educational efforts, delivery methods, and applied research, ECOP supported the initiation of a pilot electronic Journal in conjunction with the Journal of Extension. June 1991 Assistant Editor, Colleen Schuh, would investigate producing the Journal electronically within the next 18-24 months. November 1991 The Board proposed to support a full examination of the publishing of the Journal of Extension in full or in part electronically. They appointed an Electronic Publication Pilot Study Committee to report back to the Board at the June 1992 Board meeting. July/September 1992 Presentations were made to Extension Directors at regional meetings regarding pilot test of electronic Journal of Extension. Most were supportive of the effort, but also asked the Journal to reconsider page charges and financial support from associations. Readership was also a big issue. "How do we get people to read the Journal and use what they read" was a major question voiced by some directors. October 1992 ES/USDA provided funding ($34,996) for the pilot study. January 1993 Pilot study began involving 14 landgrant institutions (University of Arizona, University of Arkansas, Cornell University, University of Hawaii, University of Kentucky, New Mexico State University, North Carolina A & T, North Carolina State University, North Dakota State University, Ohio State University, Oregon State University, Purdue University, Rutgers State University, South Carolina State University). August 1993 The Board approved a recommendation to have a host institution publish the Journal electronically for two years with a zero-based budget. October 1993 The Board proposed a plan to financially support the transition from hard to electronic copy of the Journal. This transition included voluntary institutional sustaining subscriber fees based on FTEs, ES/USDA support ($25,000), and in-kind contributions from the host institution. November 1993 The Board approved Virginia Tech as the first editorial and technical host institution for the electronic Journal of Extension. January 1994 The Journal began publication operations in electronic format only. February 1994 ECOP approved the following funding arrangement to support the electronic Journal of Extension: voluntary institutional sustaining subscriber fees based on FTEs and one-time ES/USDA support ($25,000). June 1994 First issue of the electronic Journal published. The Journal would be published six times per year in electronic form (it was published four times per year in hard copy). Access to the Journal was through Almanac and Gopher. An announcement of the issue was sent to a subscriber list via email. Comprehensive marketing plan for the Journal proposed by the Marketing Committee. July 1994 Four telephone conference calls were held for state institutional and technical representatives on how to effectively subscribe and use Internet to access the Journal. September 1994 First letters mailed to all Directors and Administrators requesting that each institution become an institutional sustaining subscriber at the following assessments: less than 100 FTEs = $500, 100-300 FTEs = $750, more than 300 FTEs = $1,000. Each institution was billed for two years. November 1994 Experimental version of the Journal was posted on the WEB. The Journal acquired the joe.org domain name. July 1995 The Journal hosted a poster display at the Agriculture Communicators in Extension/National Extension Technology Conference, Burlington, Vermont. December 1995 NACAA decided to discontinue funds to support a NACAA representative to the Board. January 1996 Editorial operations moved to Oregon State University. Jan/March 1996 Telephone survey of technical representatives conducted to determine distribution and access of the Journal. March 1996 The Journal received "The Best of The Planet Award" in the Cyber-Gadgets Agriculture category from 2ask on the WEB. The Journal hosted a poster display at the NACAA Conference Nashville, Tennessee. September 1996 The first Journal subscriber evaluation survey was conducted. The Journal hosted a poster display at the NEAFCS Conference in Providence, Rhode Island. NEAFCS decided to discontinue funds to support a NEAFCS representative to the Board. December 1996 Discussion initiated on moving the Journal to a totally web-based publication. April 1997 Telephone survey of institutional representatives was conducted to determine access and use of the Journal. July 1997 The Journal participated in a luncheon presentation at the NACAA Conference in Burlington, Vermont. October 1997 The Journal hosted a poster display and workshop presentation on "You too can write for the Journal of Extension" at the first Galaxy Conference in Cincinnati, Ohio. December 1997 The Board voted to eliminate the Journal technical representative position. February 1998 Technical operations and the Journal server moved to The Ohio State University. June 1998 The Board voted to move to a World Wide Web format only for the Journal, effective December, 1998. December 1998 The Journal began exclusive publication on the World Wide Web.
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