A new medium for Kukila
[reproduced from the Editorial to Volume 15]
This is the first online issue of Kukila, and its publication marks yet
another stage in the somewhat eclectic history of the journal. Kukila
began its life in 1975 as an essentially avicultural journal, published
under the auspices of the Indonesian Ornithological Society (IOS).
Although Volume 1 comprised three issues, many years passed before the
journal was resurrected in 1985, by which time Volume 1 was out of
print. The next three volumes (Vols. 2-5, each comprising two to four
issues) were printed as supplements to Voice of Nature, a nature
conservation magazine published monthly by Yayasan Indonesia Hijau
(Green Indonesia Foundation). Under the strong co-editorship of Derek
Holmes and Prof Somadikarta, Kukila quickly established itself as the
first regional ornithological journal in Southeast Asia, with an
international reputation as the leading source of up-to-date information
on Indonesian birds. The IOS took full control of the journal again in
1992, and Volume 6 saw the inclusion of three assistant editors (Paul
Andrew, Bas van Balen and David Bishop), as well as an Advisory Board
and two Production editors.
Kukila was published annually up to and including 2000 (Vol. 11), the
year in which Derek Holmes tragically died. Having lost its senior
editor, and a major contributor, the journal went into "limbo" as if
mourning the loss of one of Indonesia's most productive ornithologists
and a formidable champion of conservation. Kukila was about to enter its
next stage of development, involving a major change in appearance and
format. Yet it took fully three years to prepare Volume 12 (2003). In
2004 ownership of the journal was officially transferred by Dr Made Sri
Prana (Chairman, IOS) to the newly-fledged Indonesian Ornithologists
Union (IdOU), but sadly, the next two volumes (13 and 14) were just as
slow at fledging (2006 and 2009, respectively) as the previous volume,
largely due to the excessive work commitments of the current editors.
This irregularity in production undoubtedly reduced confidence in Kukila
among readers and potential contributors.
Through the last decade, a major problem with publishing Kukila has been
the costs of publication and distribution. During the editorial reign of
Derek Holmes, non-government institutions had borne these costs, chief
among them BirdLife International, to which Kukila owes a debt of
gratitude. Publication of volumes 12 and 13 was made possible through
the generous financial support of the Gibbon Foundation and Mr Joost
Brouwer. The current editors are also very grateful to the Oriental Bird
Club for donating the proceeds of UK sales of Kukila, which contributed
significantly to the publication of Volume 14.
Given that Kukila had become a financial burden on the limited resources
of its sponsors and IdOU, it was decided early in 2011 that Volume 15
should be published online, thereby avoiding printing costs. Although
doubtless some will bemoan the loss of a printed journal, the editors
believe that online publication will make the journal more accessible to
more ornithologists both within and outside Indonesia. Moreover we are
committed to making Kukila an annual bulletin again - just as it was in
its heyday, with Derek at the helm. This may entail a decrease in the
number of pages in future issues, but we believe that annual publication
will increase confidence in the journal and hopefully the rate of
manuscript submission.
Kukila is currently written in English, with only summaries (ringkasan)
in Bahasa Indonesia. This linguistic restriction has effectively
discouraged Indonesian ornithologists and birdwatchers from submitting
manuscripts, despite the wealth of university theses written in Bahasa
Indonesia that would make useful contributions to Kukila. Consequently,
the overwhelming majority of articles published to date have come from
English-speaking ornithologists and birdwatchers and, despite the
explicit policy of the Kukila editorial board and IdOU of encouraging
Indonesian ornithologists to contribute manuscripts for publication (see
my editorial, volume 13), relatively few papers written by Indonesian
ornithologists have been received to date. One solution is to make
Kukila bilingual, and with a growing list of volunteer translators, it
is hoped that future issues of Kukila will have both English and
Indonesian versions.
Richard Noske
Chief Editor, Kukila, June 2011
===============================
To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
send the message:
unsubscribe
(in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
to:
http://birding-aus.org
===============================
|
