SIGMOD Record 30(4): Chair's Message

Events outside of our control generally change our lives greatly. The tragic events of September 11 have no doubt affected each of us individually. They also affected us institutionally. A broadened Executive Committee meeting that was scheduled for middle of October was cancelled. This was supposed to be our "get organized" meeting; we hope to reschedule it sometime in February. ACM Headquarters was closed for a while and staff took some time to get back to their normal routine, which contributed to the delay in producing the current release of SIGMOD Digital Library, which will consist of Volume 5 of the Anthology, the DVD Silver Edition, and the 2001 DiSC. We are now (hopefully) back to normal and these should be produced by the end of the year.

In parallel with the production of the current edition of the Digital Library, we have started to make preparations for the upcoming releases. We are preparing a list of publications that should be added to the Anthology. I can now announce that the VLDB Endowment and Springer-Verlag have relaxed the requirements for the inclusion of the VLDB Journal in DiSC so that we can now include each year's volume without delay (previously we could include the volumes with one year delay). We are working with other institutions and publishers to expand the scope and coverage of SIGMOD Digital Library.

After years of hard work, some SIGMOD volunteers have expressed a desire to "retire". DiSC founding editor Isabel Cruz is one of those; after the incredible amount of effort and energy that she spent starting DiSC and producing three volumes, she certainly needs a rest. We are fortunate that Aidong Zhang (University at Buffalo, SUNY) has agreed to take over DiSC editorship. She is highly qualified for this job. Isabel will stay on the Editorial Board for at least one year to smooth the transition. Aidong is now working to establish the new DiSC Editorial Board; we are also working on transferring the required infrastructure to Aidong's laboratory. The Advisory Board is also renewed and the new members are listed in this issue. There will be other changes in coming months. If you can volunteer for any SIGMOD position or activity, please let me know.