*B*

Deputy Editor of the ALT Newsletter / member of the Publications
Committee - closing date: 23/3/2007

This is a call for expressions of interest in serving on the ALT
Publications Committee as a Deputy Editor of the ALT Newsletter
for a three-year period from May 2007, to work with the existing Deputy
Editors. We are looking to appoint someone from Further, Adult, or
Work-based Learning and/or from the Commercial Sector.

The purpose of the Publications Committee is oversee our regular
publications and commission occasional publications for the Association,
and to manage editorial processes where relevant. The role of
the Deputy Editor(s) of the ALT Newsletter is to obtain, edit and submit
suitable articles for online and paper-based publication and support the
Editor in commissioning and editing.

The full Terms of Reference of the Publications Committee are
included at *B1* below, followed by the current "role description" of
the Deputy Editor at *B2*.

Like other ALT committees the Publications Committee meets three times
per year, mostly by telephone conference. For members who require it,
ALT will reimburse travel and reasonable out-of-pocket expenses.

If you are interested in filling this vacancy (for a maximum initial
term of 3 years) please send an expression of interest (as an email,
rather than as an attachment) to Rhonda Riachi, Director of ALT
(rriachi@brookes.ac.uk), by no later than 17.00 GMT on Friday 23 March
2007. All expressions of interest will be acknowledged.

When expressing an interest, please briefly respond under the following
4 headings:

1. Your current involvement in learning technology.

2. Your work or other responsibilities.

3. Why you are interested in membership of the Publications
Committee.

4. How you meet the "role specification" for the Deputy Editor of the
ALT Newsletter.


*B1*

Publications Committee - Terms of Reference

Aims:
*    To produce a varied portfolio of publications that reflects the broad interests of the membership of ALT.
*    To raise the profile of ALT (and where appropriate generate income) through wider distribution of ALT publications.
*    To increase the potential accessibility of ALT publications by
publishing in a range of print formats (where appropriate).

Objectives:
*    To produce 4 online issues of the ALT Newsletter per year.
*    To produce a shortened paper-based supplement to the online Newsletter.
*    To produce 3 issues of the ALT Journal per year.
*    To co-ordinate production of ALT-C Research Proceedings.
*    To co-ordinate production of an ALT-C book of abstracts.
*    To produce or contribute to 1-2 new "occasional publications" per year.

Activities:
The objectives of the committee are met by a team of editors each
focusing on one particular publication (or area of publication) and each
with a detailed job description and remit. This ensures that the
committee works efficiently. Whilst individual editors have specific
roles and functions, they are required to liaise with one another on a
regular basis in order to ensure coherency and consistency and to
identify useful cross-fertilisations or linkage across the publications
portfolio. The activities of the committee also include:
*    Developing and maintaining authoring and publishing partnerships with key organisations in the Learning Technology field.
*    Advertising ALT publications beyond the ALT membership (nationally and internationally).
*    Liaising with ALT Executive Team, Chairs of ALT sub-committees and ALT membership.

*B2*

Role description for the Deputy Editor of the ALT Newsletter

General

The role of the Deputy Editor(s) of ALT-N is to work with the Editor to
obtain, edit and submit suitable articles for online and paper-based
publication. This will necessitate keeping up-to-date with developments
in the field of learning technology, and:
*    contacting people for possible submissions;
*    agreeing content and deadlines;
*    chasing up late submissions;
*    receiving articles;
*    editing submissions for style and length to suit the paper and online versions;
*    uploading articles to the online repository;
*    liaising with the ALT Office.

The ALT Director will take ultimate responsibility for final editing of
the content and layout of each issue.

Specific

In addition to the general editorial responsibilities, the editor of
ALT-N is keen to give the deputy editors specific responsibilities or
roles which they can develop and make their own. The editor would
particularly welcome involvement in:
*    developing contacts with national and international bodies;
*    soliciting review articles of software and hardware;
*    case studies.

EXPECTATIONS

The role requires good organisational and communication skills such as
meeting deadlines, chasing up contributors, and working in a team.  The
majority of the work is conducted via e-mail or telephone, although
occasional face-to-face meetings may be held with the Editor and/or ALT
staff.

It is difficult to say exactly how much time the successful candidate
will need to devote to the post. Generally speaking, s/he may expect to
receive ALT-N related communications (mostly e-mail) most weeks and for
each issue s/he may need to spend:
*  2 hours soliciting and negotiating the content of articles;
*  3 hours editing and submitting articles;
*  1 to 2 hours developing the online and paper-based versions.

REWARDS

The Deputy Editor post is unremunerated. However, ALT will cover the
costs of travelling to attend essential meetings. The post also offers
opportunities to keep up to date with learning technology, make new
contacts in the field and influence future developments.

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