Current Electronic Services Available to 
AAS Members
by Peter B. Boyce and Heather Dalterio

As members of the AAS  connect to the Internet in increasing
numbers, the effectiveness of electronic communication has
increased dramatically.  Presently,  most communication between
astronomers is taking place electronically and a high percentage of
the astronomical community has access to the Internet.   
     In this milieu it becomes practical to use the network to
deliver many of the traditional services which the AAS provides its
members and to offer some new and improved ones.  In addition to
the move toward electronic production and distribution of peer
reviewed articles which is the focus of this insert, the AAS is
also using the Internet to provide several other services.  While
some of the services may, at first look, appear to be rather remote
from the topic of electronic publishing, they provide valuable
experience in specific areas of electronic communications without
endangering the health of our refereed publications. They are all
geared towards helping the scientific community to function more
effectively and that, after all, is why we exist.

Electronic Submission of Meeting Abstracts

Meeting abstracts for meeting papers are now being accepted
electronically, provided that they are submitted using the
LaTeX-based template specifically designed for this purpose.  The
first time this service was offered, over half the total meeting
abstracts were submitted this way.  The vast majority (85%) of
these abstracts were able to be processed automatically without
human intervention at a significant saving of time and a
corresponding increase in the accuracy of the meeting program.

On-Line, Searchable Database of Abstracts

Those abstracts which have been submitted electronically are now
put into an on-line database which is searchable using a WAIS
server (see accompanying article on WAIS on page 10).  The
abstracts are made available to members well in advance of the
meeting, (earlier than the final program) to help facilitate
meeting travel plans. The searchable database of abstracts will be
available for demonstration at the January 1993 AAS meeting in
Phoenix. 

Electronic Distribution of Critical News Items

Meeting announcements and important news items are now being
distributed to the two-thirds of the AAS membership for which
e-mail addresses are available at the Executive Office.  Foreign
members with long postal mail delivery times particularly benefit
from this service.   

On-Line, Searchable List of Jobs

Plans are nearing completion for moving the AAS Job Register fully
into an electronic format.  Presently, the Job Register is loaded,
after publication, into a WAIS database available over the Internet
and is also available via the PiNet service of the American
Institute of Physics. The WAIS database of job listings will be
available for demonstration at the January 1993 AAS meeting in
Phoenix. 

Electronic Registration for Meetings 

Starting with the January, 1993, meeting it will be possible to
register for AAS meetings over the Internet by using a special
electronic form and providing either a credit card or a purchase
order number.  Electronic registration lends itself to automatic
processing of forms, holding out a promise of savings in time and
effort for future meetings.   

Electronic Change of Address:

For the first time this year, special change of address forms have
been sent out electronically to the AAS membership, and have been
used to update member records.  Further automation of the record
updating process is also planned.  

Internet Connections at AAS Meetings:

For several years the AAS and NASA have been bringing an Internet
line to AAS meetings for use by all meeting attendees.  In addition
to providing the e-mail connectivity to which the astronomical
community has become accustomed, the Internet is used to
demonstrate databases, software and data reduction procedures of
particular interest to astronomers.

Updated General Information

Other useful general information is available via anonymous ftp
from the AAS computer (blackhole.aas.org) including:  information
on how to contact Congress, lists of Agency Advisory Committee
members, hints on writing proposals, lists of AAS Committee
members, the latest versions of AASTeX, plus meeting registration
and abstract submission forms.