Ann Jensen
ajensen@library.berkeley.edu

Several PAM members play important roles as liaisons to physics, astronomy and mathematics publishers. Some are officially PAM-appointed liaisons; others are contributing members of publisher advisory boards and committees. The full list is at http://www.sla.org/division/dpam/manual/staff.liaisons.html.

The publisher liaison experience is varied and depends to some degree what publishers are creating and changing, and what issues arise from the PAM membership. Some publishers actively invite the liaison's input and provide useful information in return. Other liaisons have had little contact one year, perhaps more the next. Either way, the vendor liaisons make a visible statement about the importance of continued communication between PAM members and the vendors.

PAM liaisons were developed in the early days of electronic publication, when publishers were developing their early pricing models and soliciting information from librarians about what was important to them in the then new arena. In our rapidly changing world of technology, that seems like many years ago! Concurrent with the development of these liaison relationships, PAMnet has grown into an efficient and widely used mechanism for sharing concerns between publishers and other PAM members. When each of us posts a publisher concern to PAMnet, we, too, are liaisons for change and information. Let's all keep it up!