Top of the Year

by Ilse Genovese

As I sit here gathering my thoughts to write the last editorial for 2007, my mind goes through headlines ubiquitous this time of the year—”The Year in Science,” “The Most Popular Man and Woman of the Year,” “Scientist of the Year,” “100 Top Science Stories of 2007,” “The Six Most Important Experiments in the World,” “What’s Cool and What’s not” ....well, you get the drift. I’m sorely tempted to put, in big bold letters, on the cover of this last 2007 issue of the ACSM Bulletin, “Geospatial Professional of the Year,” but since we haven’t conducted any polls to get your views on the matter, this may not be such a good idea.
However! we can declare “Top Contribution to the Bulletin.” You have made this possible with your visits to the webmazine, the online Bulletin. Thank you. The statistics generated give a pretty good picture of what you like reading in our magazine, and whose writings have helped expand the Bulletin audience. Unofficial as the webmazine has so far been—only members and prolific contributors have been told of its existence as a “beta version”—, from January to December 13th, 2007, a total of 70,000 visitors came to the webmazine. Not a great statistic, but not to be scoffed at either, considering that we have not published the site for access to crawlers.
Before I launch into an analysis of the webmazine site statistics, forgive an indulgence. I do think we have two candidates for the “Geospatial Professional of the Year,” especially if we consider their lifelong contributions to their member organizations. Rita Lumos is my “Surveyor of the Year,” and I vote for Aileen Buckley as the “Cartographer of the Year.” The fact that they are women, and I am too, has nothing to do with this vote; both Rita and Aileen have for years selflessly worked on behalf of their professional organizations, and both have contributed enormously as presidents in guiding these organizations in 2007. And lest you think that I’m prejudiced, consider this; by reading their Bulletin articles on the webmazine, you placed their contributions among the top 11 Association News items.
Among the member organizations of ACSM, the American Association for Geodetic Surveying has been the most prolific in contributions to the ACSM Bulletin by members and affiliated organizations. Ten by-lined articles on work of interest to AAGS members were contributed to Bulletins 219 through to 228 (February 2006 to August 2007). The most popular among them was “Coastal Hazards: Tools for Warning and Mitigation,” by A. Allen et al., and it was published in the 226th issue of the ACSM Bulletin.
The next top MO contributor was the National Society of Professional Surveyors. The association dominated the Association News category with the “Famous Surveyors—John Fenn” (Bulletin 227 and “The National Museum of Surveying” (Bulletin 226) articles. Dave Holland’s by-lined article “Sen. Resolution 361,” which appeared in the 221st issue of the ACSM Bulletin (June 2006), was a runner up in hits to Gunther Greulich’s “The Sky is the Limit—GPS and its Roots” (Bulletin 223, October 2006). Gary Kent’s “ALTA Corner” is the second most read column, after “Ask Dr. Map!”
With 4,400 hits and counting, Doug Vandegraft’s article “Using Google Earth for Fun and Functionality” (Bulletin 227, June 2007) was the most read by-lined article in webmazine history. “Ask Dr. Map!, with 1,250 hits, was the most read column. Both place the Cartography and Geographic Information Society in the lead of providing content relevant to the work of geospatial professionals.
Joshua Greenfeld’s article “The State of GIS Activities in State Societies” (Bulletin 226, April 227) was the third most read by-lined article on the webmazine, and sole contribution by a GLIS member.
A complete listing of top contributions by category is on p. 47 for your enjoyment and thought. Happy New Year!

Ilse Genovese
The Editor