Going Digital? News from the Managing Editor

In the Spring 2012 issue of Bridges, we announced the transition of the newsletter to an online-only publication. So, why am I bringing this issue back to your attention? Well, as a part of the process, we asked that you provide your e-mail address in order to receive alerts for new issues of the newsletter. You were definitely paying attention.

Reader responses were amazing, heartfelt and greatly appreciated. Obviously, this is not an issue that people ignore. Many subscribers strongly supported retaining the print version, while some did prefer online only, and a few would choose access to both the print and online formats. Looks like we all have our preferred methods of reading Bridges!

You spoke. We listened. We truly do not want to take the plunge into the digital world and leave any of our loyal readers behind. So, we’ve reached what we hope is a compromise that delivers a win-win to all of us.

Beginning with the next issue, we will continue to print and mail Bridges to subscribers for whom we do not have an e-mail address. Those with e-mail addresses will receive notification that the newsletter is live and available online. We will not accept any new subscriptions for print copies. All digital subscribers will be able to print the newsletter if they wish and save and retrieve copies easily.

There are numerous other benefits of providing your e-mail address. Increasingly, that is how we communicate. We can ensure that you receive invitations to our events, lists of resources and notifications of special projects, to name just a few. You can unsubscribe at any time (but we don’t think you’ll want to!). So, if you haven’t provided us with your e-mail address, please take a moment to do so at www.stlouisfed.org/br/subscribe.

Bridges will appear online in the same familiar format subscribers are accustomed to; so, they will be able to read through the publication on their computers or tablets in the same manner as they did with the print version. And we will continue to work to make the newsletter available on a wider range of mobile devices.

The advantages of the online version are many, including expanded coverage, easy linking to external web sites, use of supplemental material (e.g., sidebars, primary documents) and multimedia (e.g., video, audio, interactive illustrations) to bring stories to life, and being a bit more gentle on the earth.

One thing that will definitely not change is our commitment to meet the news and information needs of our readers. We hope that you will join us in this move into a digital future and share the newsletter with your friends and colleagues in community development and related fields.

We invite you to send us your comments and suggestions on how we can continue to serve you most effectively in the digital age.