A Welcome Note from the Editor

I am delighted and proud to welcome you to the second issue of Volume 2. Each article receivedand accepted is an important contribution to the already existing knowledge in the field of BiomedicalSciences. All the editorial team is excited about the progress of PBMJ as an international journal. Aseditor, I would like to express my heartiest congratulation to the team and welcome to the authors andreaders. I am also grateful to the advisory board and managing editors. I hope that PBMJ can promote theacademic and applicable research and improve the research activities and collaborations.I am aware of the bumps along the way, but we are determined to keep pursuing the research goalsto meet the high quality standards and move forward with great courage. If you have any suggestions toimprove, you may write to us as a reader. In the age of technology, I can actively conversate with thereaders and get their feedback to improve the quality with their valuable input.PBMJ will continue to serve the Biomedical Sciences as an outlet for high-quality research. This isan exciting time for the journal and we look forward to working with authors, the Editorial board and theteam to make PBMJ as a leading source for work in the space.Dr. Ayisha ShabbirEditorPakistan BioMedical Journal


See CHANGES, p. 3 By Michelle Anderson
There have been a few changes to the Policies and Procedure SIG this fiscal year.I, for one, welcome these changes.Change opens the door to new and exciting challenges for everyone.With new challenges come new knowledge and a chance to grow both professionally and personally.
As the new editor of STEPS & SPECS, it is my hope that this newsletter will also serve as a forum for the active exchange of ideas and learning from others' experiences.The SIGs members are some of the most respected in our industry.I encourage each of you to share your knowledge and experience with everyone in the form of short articles to be published in the newsletter or by work- This quarterly newsletter is a team effort.Susan Sereno, is responsible for the newletter's layout and production, provides consulting in the areas of technical writing/editing and Web site production and management.Luette Arrowsmith, coedits and coordinates the acquisition of articles for the newsletter.She is a technical trainer/editor and consultant for Deloitte Consulting, specializing in project management, reengineering and change management.As a team, we are committed to providing quality information to all of our members.

WELCOME Continued from p. 1
This commitment includes entering STEPS & SPECS in the SIG newsletter competition at the society's 1999 annual conference in Cincinnati.We invite you to be part of the team effort through your article contributions.
If you have an idea for an article, please e-mail the editor, or submit articles to the address shown in the box on page 2. We look forward to a successful and informative year!

SIG LISTSERV Encourages Exchange of P&P Ideas
See LISTSERV, p. 6

By Audrey Cielinski Kessler
While it has been in full operation for only a few months, the SIG's LISTSERV has caught members' attention and generated a modest amount of electronic discussion.Topics have ranged from generating a policy on Web-site development and the standardizing of procedural documentation to soliciting volunteers for SIG leadership positions and recruiting presentation participants for the society's 1999 annual conference.
Discussion topic possibilities are virtually endless.The only restriction is that they be pertinent to some aspect of policies and procedures.If you have an idea, question or comment that's important to you, share it with your fellow P&P professionals by posting it on the SIG's LISTSERV.
To post a message to the list, address your e-mail to stcppsig-l@stc.org.Specify a subject, and type your message in the body.

Book Review:
By Tom Tomasovic

Liaison
• Goals for this relatively new team are still being formulated and will be announced in the next newsletter.

LISTSERV
• Subscribe and unsubscribe list participants as needed.• Ensure that postings remain pertinent to the SIG and the P&P discipline.
If you would like to help with any of these activitieseven if in just a small waythe contribution will be appreciated.For more information on how you can become an active member of your SIG, contact the appropriate team leader or your SIG manager (for phone numbers, e-mail addresses and postal addresses, see page 2).Get involved.Your contributions can make a difference.
Audrey Cielinski Kessler is the owner of The Write Hand, a writing, editing and desktop publishing company in Kent, Ohio, a senior member of the Northeast Ohio chapter of STC and manager of the P&P SIG.
limited number of words.I found myself thinking that many paragraphs were "intense" and that I wanted considerable time to reread, think about, ask questions and seek out other sources of information to which they pointed.
placed on establishing a strict format for the creation of documents, a system which turns procedure writing into a "fill in the blanks" exercise.The book, however, is not intended to trivialize the task.The intention is to make it more efficient, both for the writer, the reader and for those subject matter experts who may be expected to provide raw information.
Two other areas of the book came as a pleasant surprise: forms management and implementation and training.Page clearly sees these as within the purview of a policies and procedures function.The perspective of a professional gatherer and distributor of information can uniquely serve these areas, and organizations should consider the wisdom of this approach.Procedure analysts and their advocates should bring these additional possibilities to the attention of potential employers and managers.covered, but some of these could have been more extensive.While the writing style can seem at times terse or even didactic, I came to realize that this was not an attempt to "beat anyone into submission" but rather a personal choice to present opinions clearly and succinctly.
There is much to recommend in this book, and I add my voice to its supporters.I only wish I had seen its predecessor years ago.
Page covers the process of creating policies and procedures from conception to completion, beginning with the most basic (and frequently misunderstood) distinction between a policy and a procedure.He provides valuable insight into the composition of a policies and procedures team (and the qualities needed for its members), its place within an organization and its relationship with other parts of the organization.
The book covers the mechanics of creating, revising and distributing (including the approval process) policies and procedures documentation, in both hard copy and online formats.Particular emphasis is