by Christine Henry

Welcome to the Fall 2014 edition of the VAN.  In this issue you will find some new types of articles for the newsletter that I hope you will both find useful and interesting.  VAF President Chris Wilson has written a thought-provoking piece on generational change and the future of VAF.  Because we are now publishing digitally, this piece is open for comment in an online forum, and we hope that you take advantage and join the dialogue.  If you are interested in a longer response piece to be published in an upcoming issue of the newsletter, please contact me at vaneditor@vafweb.org.

We also have a forum section in the members only part of the web site that has replaced the listserve.  This is where you will find time-sensitive announcements like job openings, calls for papers, as well as general discussion and question threads.  I hope you will have some time to browse the topics, or add one of your own.

One of the things that I have both heard from other VAF members and experienced myself is the value that we place on the friendliness and welcoming atmosphere at VAF conferences.  As a way to carry the fellowship of VAF members into the digital realm, the Fall 2014 newsletter introduces a short feature article called a member profile, where we can learn a bit about a member’s interests and background.  This issue highlights our new treasurer Lisa Pfueller Davidson, one of our newest board members.  In coming issues, I would love to profile more members and share the diversity of VAF, so if you have any suggestions for people to highlight, including yourself, please feel free to e-mail me.

And finally, there is a section I am informally calling the digital corner that looks at how members can take advantage of the new resources that we have at our fingertips.  In this issue, one of our bibliographers, Zach Violette has provided a great overview of how the Zotero bibliography works, and hints on how you can use it in your own work.  And David Bergstone, the chair of the Communications Committee has written a recap of all of the wonderful functions that the new web platform provides.

Thanks to everyone for your contributions to this issue.  I am looking forward to hearing from more members over the coming months with contributions for future newsletters, thoughts shared on the forums, and general suggestions and thoughts.

Happy Autumn,

Christine

vaneditor@vafweb.org