A History Sampler of INANE1981 - 2004
History of INANE |
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How did INANE begin?
Over the years, as nurse editors or editors of nursing journals met as colleagues to discuss and debate the various aspects of the state of the art in publishing, someone would voice the concern that we were not recording our history, and that it would be lost. Editors who participated in the beginning of this "organization without a structure" agree on the facts of how we all came together and stayed together over the years. There is a small point of difference about the locations in which early conversations occurred.
Nurse editors had attended regular meetings of the National Federation of Nursing Specialty Organizations (precursor of NOLF) and the American Nurses Association, but were excluded from the executive session. Peg Carnine, who was editor of Occupational Health Nursing, was not excluded because of her association connection, the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses. As other editors sat outside the room where the "inner meeting" was occuring, we complained about this exclusion, and suggested to ourselves that communication would be vastly improved if we had an organization which would allow us to place our President and Chief Officer at the table with the other associations. We could provide continuity that the other associations lacked, with their turnover of personnel every two years.
Additional such meetings that I recall occurred at the annual Colorado Nurses' Association Chatauqua summer conferences held at Vail, Colorado. Some of us were workshop presenters there. But we alos met informally as editors at the fountain in the town square and re-iterated the statements made at the ANA meetings. Peg Carnine, from Slack Incorporated, and Claire Fagin were some of those participating in these dialogues. Alice Clarke, editor and publisher of Perspectives in Psychiatric Care and Nursing Forum, also advocated for an organization for editors or nursing publications
The time period was the late 1970s. Thelma Schorr, Editor of the American Journal of Nursing, recalls that in January 1980, at an ANA meeting, editors met over lunch and decided to form their own group. Along with Thelma, there were Ellie Shrader, Mary Larkin, Leah Curtin and Gail Piscarik (no Lenehan). Thelma Schorr then organized the first meeting of the International Academy of Nursing Editors and the first meeting was held in the summer of 1981 at the Park Sheraton in New York City. The name was chosen to show that we intended to have fun, as well as be serious. The work "nursing" was used instead of "nurses" because some of the editors were not nurses. Lucie Kelly make note of these beginnings in her book, Dimensions of Professional Nursing. She served as Editor of Nursing Outlook (1982-1991) and also attended early meetings.
This first meeting had no corporate support. The program consisted largely of discussions among the editors of their chief concerns, what they hoped their colleagues could offer and ow to plan for continuity. There was one plenary session for the entire time. Each of us paid some amount under one hundred dollars to rent the space and have coffee. We paid our own travel and lodging expenses. After the meeting, we were asked to handle the deficit by making an additional contribution. Letters and notices were posted the old fashioned way, by snail mail. The telephone was also used extensively.
At the next New York meeting, in 1983, Thelma arranged for a special speaker, William Zinsser, who had just published the second edition of On Writing Well. Subsequent dialogue with him about writing and editing (similarities and differences) served as an energizer for the editors. Among his many pithy comments: "Some editors can also write; some can't. Know who you are".
Some of the editors met in 1982 in Tel Aviv, Israel, where the International Council of Nurses was meeting. There has been some disagreement about whether or not this was a "regular" meeting, because the notices were not sent systematically to all who had attended the first meeting. Further, even at the first meeting, there was concern expressed about how to reach all editors of nursing journals who might be interested in attending and sharing their experiences and problems.
What's our mission?
Bringing continuity and stability to the joint meetings of the ANA and specialty organizations was voiced as the first reason of our organization. Quickly a consensus emerged that we would serve as sounding boards for each other, providing a forum for editors to share practice concerns and knowledge about impending changes in publishing. We also saw ourselves as providing support for editors who were isolated from their peers. Bear in mind that these thoughts were expressed before email and the web had entered our lives.
During the 1980s, most of the editors attending INANE meetings were senior staff. Since we did not have a systematic way to keep track of our members or attendees at conferences, it is difficult to know when the participants changed. Gradually, senior editors were joined by junior editors, and the mission evolved into an additional dimension of providing continuing education or mentoring sessions for novices. This new direction was never written or voted on as such, but emerged as a change in how the program was constructed each year.
Thelma Schorr wrote a one-page history of INANE in preparation for the Tenth Annual Conference, which was held in London, England, August 15-16 1991, hosted by the United Kingdom's Nursing Standard and held in Cowdray Hall fo the Royal College of Nursing. This was part of the program to celebrate the tenth anniversary of INANE.
In later years (late 1990s) there was discussion in the business meeting that perhaps we should describe ourselves as an "academy recognizing leadership". The debate that followed included several participants making the point that we really couldn't vote on a mission statement, because we had no way of determining who our "members" were or who could vote.
There was a somewhat organized effort in 1997-98, as the planning for the meeting in Chicago was underway, to collect the memories of the editors who had attended the yearly meetings from the beginning. The group called itself the OWL Commission (for oral and written legacy). One of the planning emails can be found on page 30. Unfortunately, no document resulted, although plans to present the findings had been made for the 1998 meeting in Chicago, Illinois.
Who are members of INANE?
This is a tricky question. The most pragmatic answer is: anyone who shows up at a yearly meeting.
The beginning ideology of INANE, repeatedly voiced at meetings, was this: We are not a membership organization. In fact, we are not an organization. We are simply a group of editors who want to share colleagueship at an annual meeting.
There was no organized list of who had attended the annual meeting. In the early years, a set of folders would be passed on to the next convenor, but many items were lost in this process. Two years ago, at the San Diego meeting, Shake Ketefian graciously offered to construct a list serve, using her academic base, the School of Nursing at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan. When she started the list, there were about 90 names, Now there are 107 "members" on the list.
How are the annual meetings planned?
At the "business meeting" each year, proposals are made for the next place to hold the meeting. In the very beginning, there was an effort to hold every other meeting at an international location, mostly London, England. Early London meetings were held in 1984 and 1986. A consensus arose that this was too costly for many of the US editors and also for the publishers who provided sponsorship. Another London meeting did not occur until 1991, followed by those in 1995 and 2001. Other international meetings have been held in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (1993), Cairns, Australia (1999) and South Africa (2003).
The site is determined by a vote of the members present at the meeting. Occasionally there is an expressed sentiment that the decision about the site should involve more editors than those present at the meeting, especially when the meeting is not in the United States. For instance, at the 2002 meeting in San Diego, a vote as taken to have the 2003 meeting in South Africa, which was poorly attended.
How are the annual meetings financed
Publishers serve as sponsors for meetings. Occasionally more than one publisher has agreed to sponsor a meeting, and then decisions are made about joint sponsorship, or having one sponsor wait for the next year. When the sponsor is a professional nursing association, the journal or newsletter is also considered the sponsor. One publishing house might own several journals, and all are listed as sponsors. Academic institutions have shared costs (e.g., The University of North Carolina School of Nursing in 1990, with the Saunders Company, publisher of the Journal of Professional Nursing, and The University of Hawaii in 1996, with the Saunders Company). Although one publishing house or several are the main sponsors, other companies contribute to defray the cost of meals, breaks, receptions and program books.
The editor(s) of the journals/newsletters owned by the publishing house organized a program committee and plans the next meeting. At the conclusion of the meeting, the list of participants is passed to the next sponsor's company. Profits made or money lost in sponsoring a meeting is considered proprietary information.
What is the future of INANE
This meeting, August 5-7, 2004 at the Atlantis Resort, Paradise Island, the Bahamas, sponsored by Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, should be an event of considerable interest and significance. For the first time, issues about how or if to organize, who a member should be, how lists should be maintained and how decisions should be made will be debated in an open forum as part of the regular meeting.