208 



Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin 



Vol. 27. Art. 2 



Technical Editor. In 1948 the Section 

 of Publications was renamed the Section 

 of Publications and Public Relations. 



Until Mrs. Blanche Penrod Younjj; 

 was appointed Assistant Technical Editor 

 in September, 1948, the editorial staff had 

 consisted of the Editor and temporary or 

 part-time assistants. In 1958 Mrs. Diana 

 Root Braverman was appointed as a sec- 

 ond Assistant Technical Editor. 



For many years photographs for illus- 

 trating publications have been taken by 

 members of the technical staff. Alore 

 than 60 years ago, Forbes (1894:36) 

 mentioned in a biennial report "a dark 

 room for photography" among the rooms 

 available to the State Laboratory of Nat- 

 ural History. 



Robert E. Hesselschwerdt was the 

 first person on the staff whose title in- 

 cluded the word photographer. He was 

 appointed Assistant Technical Photogra- 

 pher in 1946 and assigned to the Section 

 of Publications. Upon his resignation in 

 1948, he was replaced by Charles L. 

 Scott, who is now picture editor of the 

 Milwaukee Journal. 



William E. Clark, the present staff 

 photographer, was appointed in April, 

 1951. 



PUBLIC RELATIONS 



Long before public relations in name 

 were added to Illinois Natural History 

 Survey activities, public relations in fact 

 were being practiced with consummate 

 skill. Forbes had a natural flair for pub- 

 lic speaking and for writing. He was 

 popular as a speaker before scientific, ag- 

 ricultural, and educational groups. His 

 articles on insects and other subjects 

 were welcomed by editors. In a biennial 

 report Forbes (1888:8) mentioned "a 

 considerable number of articles written 

 for the agricultural papers in response to 

 inquiries from their editors." 



His well-organized, stimulating, even 

 ex'citing reports of accomplishments by, 

 or plans for, the agencies he represented 

 were included as important parts of larger 

 reports by university presidents or other 

 administrators. 



In recent years public relations media 

 have included principally news releases 

 (to press, radio, and television), educa- 



tional motion pictures, photographs, and 

 magazine feature articles. Alany public 

 contacts ha\e been made each year by the 

 Chief and members of the staff in ad- 

 dressing groups of persons interested in 

 biological sciences and related subjects. 



EDITORIAL POLICY 



The scientific articles published by the 

 founding fathers of the Illinois Natural 

 History Survey and by Forbes and his 

 contemporaries set standards of excel- 

 lence that have served as a tradition and 

 a challenge to subsequent members of the 

 staff. Through the years, exactness of re- 

 search and quality of the published re- 

 ports based on research have been given 

 precedence over quantity of research and 

 speed of publication. Most of the organi- 

 zation's reports that stand as landmarks 

 in biological literature were several years 

 in the making. Extreme examples are 

 some of the reports on the extensive bird 

 studies made in 1905-1909; the last of 

 the reports on these studies was not pub- 

 lished until 1923 (Forbes 1907/;, 1908. 

 1913; Forbes c^' Gross 1921, 1922, 1923). 



Even 70 or more years ago. when print- 

 ing and engraving processes were less ef- 

 ficient than now, Forbes laid great stress 

 on adequate illustrations. His policy with 

 respect to adequate illustrations has been 

 continued, and with improvement in 

 printing and engraving processes have 

 come changes in illustration practices that 

 have added to the convenience of readers. 

 Instead of grouping illustrations at the 

 end of an article, as Forbes was sometimes 

 forced to do, recent editors have been able 

 to place each illustration close to its prin- 

 cipal text reference. 



In the writing and editing of reports 

 designed for publication is still felt the 

 influence of the founding fathers, the 

 classicists who sought to broaden the 

 base of education. Respect for words is 

 combined with respect for persons, the po- 

 tential readers. 



Editorial problems have not been so 

 simple in the past half century as when 

 Wilber (186l//:3) wrote that "the sub- 

 jects have generally been treated in a pop- 

 ular rather than a technical style." The 

 wide range of subject matter and the di- 

 versit\' of interests of the \arious reader 



