A Defining Moment in the History of Borders

Abstract

Welcome to the inaugural issue of the SFU Educational Review, a peer-reviewed online journal of Simon Fraser University's Faculty of Education. Dedicated specifically to exploring the possibilities that arise when disciplinary boundaries are removed, this annual publication is a proud showcase of a diverse body of work emerging from the Education With/Out Borders Symposium, the Education Graduate Student Association (EGSA) annual conference held at Sasamat, British Columbia.It is not often that an editor has the honour of inaugurating a new journal, online or otherwise. At the beginning, our editorial team sensed there was a slight hint of destiny about it, but as the tasks became more detailed and we focused on deadlines and complexities, the feeling took on other dimensions. And yet, it was here at the end, when the galleys suddenly leapt onto the screen, the templates having coaxed texts into a uniform and official appearance, that the final published reality returned us more forcefully to the sense of making history.This "history" of course has a history. The published work that you are now viewing was an outgrowth of an idea that arose two years ago when it was suggested to the Faculty of Education that we start an e-press, or electronic press. Mark Weiler spoke to Johanne Provençal about drawing up a proposal that would be presented to our Dean, Dr. Paul Shaker. After much discussion, Dr. Tom O'Shea, Director of Graduate Programs, fine-tuned the proposal's parameters, and along with the Assistant to the Director, Karen Kirkland's support, the e-press was then tied to the annual EGSA-organized graduate student conference with funding secured for three years by the Dean's office. With help from the SFU library in setting up a journal through OJS, the Open Journal System, we were ready to survey the conference presenters at Sasamat to find out who would be interested in having their papers peer-reviewed, peer-edited and published. After the conference itself, Calls for Art, Reviewers and Submissions were made. As the calendar clicked over to 2007, the peer review began and continued until the manuscripts became journal articles. It cannot be emphasized enough how much this new journal has been a collaborative effort.As Editor, I am deeply indebted to our Project Manager, Johanne Provençal, for her exceptional effort at keeping watch over the whole process and ensuring its success. With her extensive experience in publishing, she has navigated the major hurdles that arise in starting a journal from scratch and has crossed numerous borders of her own job description in order to maintain the journal's mandate. I would also like to thank Carl Forde, our Web Designer, for bringing his expertise to bear on "the look" of our pages, not only in displaying our beautiful works of art to their greatest aesthetic advantage, but also for ensuring our online presence was compatible with the OJS system as well as the Internet community. For the initial set up and technical advice, our gratitude goes to Kevin Stranack, Brian ...