 magazine is a magazine. You get it in the mail, read it (skipping the ads which fill more than half of the pages), and then throw it away.
It's somewhat different with an on-line publication. You only see it when you want to; when you don't, it disappears behind the screen of your computer without taking up space in your home. If you've looked at it once but had no time to read it, you can find it later in Cyberspace with a click of the mouse without having to search through your closets and drawers. No disposal problems either—unless you've decided to print out an article or two, a Web site once closed leaves no trace in the environment.
In the case of the Translation Journal, you can now find seven years' worth of valuable information at the same URL, information that would require several fat volumes of printed matter in book or magazine form. And this information is available at all times and is easily found from the Index page. Even if you've forgotten the URL of the Translation Journal, a Google search will give you over 5,600 pages, most of which will at least contain a link to TJ. Even entering the word "translation," the Journal appears among the first 20 hits among a total of over 16 million!
After seven years of regular, on-time publication, the Translation Journal has become a resource increasingly used by translation professionals and translation users alike. Its front page alone is receiving close to 10,000 hits every month by readers from all over the world. I know of at least two U.S. universities (Rice University in Houston, TX and James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA) that use TJ as a regular aid in their translation courses. In this issue's Bottom Line you'll find a letter from a translator whose professional career has benefited from the advice given to her by Fire Ant and Worker Bee. I've been told by several contributors of TJ how having an article published in the Journal has enhanced their visibility and professional prestige. Friendships and business relationships have been established, advice asked for and given, and experiences shared on the basis of articles published here. This publication has become a resource which has benefited givers and receivers alike.
You, readers and contributors of the Translation Journal, have made all this possible by spreading the word and sharing your knowledge with your colleagues in this publication. You deserve the deepest gratitude of the translation community and of this editor, whose only role is providing a medium for this worldwide exchange.
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