February 23, 1939

Executive Committee of the American Institute of Physics

Minutes of Meeting

I. The Executive Committee met at the call of the Chairman at 8:00 p.m., Thursday, February 23, 1939 at the Hotel Pennsylvania, New York, N. Y.

Present: Chairman Tate, Messts. Peek, Pegram, Richtmyer and Director Barton, and by invitation Miss Mitchell and Mr. Hutchisson.

Absent: Messrs. Hardy and Waterfall.

II. Minutes of Meeting of December 28, 1938:

The Minutes of the meeting of December 28, 1938 were approved as manifolded and distributed.

III. Budget for 1939:

On motion it was voted:

to amend the budget, as adopted at the meeting of December 28, 1938 (with supplementary mail ballot) in the following items:

IV. Cost Accounting:

The Treasurer reported that before the auditor was notified of the desire of the Executive Committee as expressed in the Minutes of the meeting of December 28, 1938 to have the portion of the cost of manufacturing and distributing the journals that could properly be allocated to advertising charged to the Advertising Department for 1938 it was too late to make the change without undue expense. The proper allocation will be set up on the 1939 books.

V. Report on Questionnaires on Journals:

Mr. Barton reported for the Committee consisting of Messrs. Barton, Kelly and Pegram which was appointed to devise and send out questionnaires to obtain information as to what the subscribers for the Review of Scientific Instruments and the Journal of Applied Physics would think of certain changes in these journals that have been suggested. Mr. Barton stated that four separate questionnaires to separate groups of subscribers had been sent out to four hundred persons selected at random in each group. He submitted also copies of the questionnaires together with an analysis of the questionnaires. A full discussion of the significance of these returns ensued. It was the sense of the Executive Committee that the sub-committee of Barton, Kelly and Pegram together with the Chairman should study the questionnaire returns further and report to the Governing Board or to a meeting of the Executive Committee to be called on the evening of March 9th if desirable.

On motion it was voted:

that the Institute should spend not more than one hundred dollars on further questionnaires if the sub-committee deems it wise.

VI. Mr. Richtmyer spoke of the possibility of a grant from the Association of Scientific Apparatus Makers to finance a series of survey articles in the Review of Scientific Instruments on particular classes of instruments and their developments.

VII. Committee on Advertising:

For the preliminary information of the Executive Committee Mr. Pegram for the Committee on Advertising of the Governing Board, which was appointed in May 1938 consisting of Messrs. Palmer, Chairman, Dodge, Hardy and Pegram, submitted the report which is to be made to the Governing Board at its meeting on March 10th. Some time was given to a discussion of the report.

(Mr. Richtmyer left the meeting at 9:15 p.m.)

VIII. On motion it was voted:

that the R.S.I. for 1938 be supplied to Hangchow Christian College, Shanghai, China which has paid for a 1939 subscription.

On motion it was voted:

that the Institute would hold journals for Chiao-Tung University, Shanghai, China at the regular subscription rate, not at the back number rate, this institution not being able at the present time to meet current subscription expenses.

IX. Journal of Applied Physics:

Mr. Hutchisson, as Editor of the Journal of Applied Physics, stated to the Committee that he has in hand now enough general material to fill two issues of the J.A.P., that he has also 80 pages of research articles in type and 30 pages ready to print. There was discussion as to what could be done by the J.A.P. to meet this plethora of material. No action was taken.

X. The Executive Committee adjourned about 10:30 p.m.