Institute of Professional Editors Limited

April–May 2010<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

At its two most recent meetings—all meetings are being held by teleconference during 2010—the IPEd Council has been planning for a busy year ahead. There are several substantial projects in the pipeline, in all of which the council will be seeking the active engagement of the members.

An IPEd Occasional Papers series has been launched. Details of this have been or will be published in all the society newsletters and are also posted on the IPEd website. This series aims to encourage editors and those working in editing-related fields to share their ideas, views and reflections on editing as theory, as practice and as a profession. It is a high-level professional endeavour that the council proposes to link to a special presentation at each biennial national conference. Get your writing caps on.

The council’s Communications Committee has sought tenders from four design firms for work to redevelop the IPEd website and a decision on which one will be awarded the contract is imminent. We are seeking a major redesign of the site to improve its functionality and information, and present images that align with the principles, standards and aspirations of our profession. As mentioned in the March IPEd Notes, the SA society is lending IPEd $5,000 under very generous terms to support the website work, the final cost of which will be over $10,000.

The current website has served IPEd well over the past few years and we acknowledge the enormous contributions made by Mike Purdy of the Canberra society in building it and keeping it up and running.

The Accreditation Board is focusing on requirements for re-accreditation and will soon be seeking assistance from editors accredited in 2008 to provide feedback on its proposals. The board is also hard at work in reviewing the exam development model and continues to investigate the possibility of delivering the exam onscreen, a major undertaking that may require some specialist outside assistance.

Also in gestation is a national register of professional development opportunities. This activity is focusing first on the training activities of the societies, enlisting the assistance of their training officers. The net will then be cast wider, to other agencies and the tertiary education sector. As regards the societies, a major aim is to identify training events that, with IPEd support, might be transportable, so that members right across the country can gain access to the, often formidable, skills and experience held by particular individuals and societies.

The March IPEd Notes mentioned that judging for the 2009 Barbara Ramsden Award for excellence in editing had been completed. The winner, announced at the National Literary Awards ceremony on 19 March, was Grand obsessions: the life and work of Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin, written by Alisdair McGregor, edited by Nicola Young and published by Penguin Lantern. The judges, Stephanie Holt (Victoria) and Virginia Wilton (Canberra) also highly commended<?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Darwin's  armada by Iain McCalman, edited by Meredith Rose (Penguin Viking), and Smoke in the room by Emily Maguire, edited by Emma Rafferty (Picador). IPEd looks forward to continuing its sponsorship of this award.

Another important national award in the profession is the Beatrice Davis Editorial Fellowship managed for the Literature Board of the Australia Council by the Australian Publishers Association. The fellowship is named after the distinguished Australian literary editor and honours her contribution to Australian letters. It offers the recipient an attachment to the editorial department of a US publishing house or houses, and a literary agency, for up to 12 weeks. The winner of the 2009 fellowship was Alexandra Nahlous, an editor with Allen & Unwin. The NSW and Queensland societies, which have been among the financial sponsors of the award for some years, have agreed that it would be appropriate for IPEd, as the national body, to take over this role on behalf of all the members.

At their 11 April meeting, councillors considered IPEd’s budget for 2010–11. They noted that the institute will end the current fiscal year in a sound financial position. In light of rising operational costs and the aforementioned project activities, however, they agreed that it would be prudent to increase the member levy for 2010–11 from $20 to $25 per society member. This will be the first increase since October 2006, when the seed fund that supported the work leading to the incorporation of IPEd on 22 January 2008 was established.

Ed Highley

Secretary