SDT publications – a personal account
SDT, past president Nick Edwards with Andrew Wilbey
It was a great and pleasant surprise to be awarded the Society of Dairy Technology‘s Gold Medal, based largely on my contribution to the society’s publications. Success has many parents and this is certainly the case here, where the achievement is that of the many people who have contributed in building the number and quality of the publications. The following account is very much from a personal perspective but hopefully gives an idea of what has been achieved.
The Journal of the Society of Dairy Technology was first published in 1947 with the primary objective of recording proceedings of the society’s meetings. The content was managed by the scientific editor, who was supported by an editorial board. The society was the publisher and bore the production, printing and postage costs for this quarterly publication plus those for any other technical publications that were produced from time to time. I was invited to join the editorial board in 1987.
In the 1990s, the changes in content were reflected by changing the title to the International Journal of Dairy Technology was adopted and around the same time negotiations were concluded with Blackwell Publishing to take on the commercial production of the journal and market it professionally. The members’ newsletter then became a separate inclusion in the quarterly journal mailing to members.
Richard Robinson succeeded Donald Muir as editor in 1998, building the journal’s reputation for refereed papers. Two regional editors were appointed and an independent editorial board listed.
A link with Dairy Industries International also provided further exposure for the Society by giving news of activities plus summaries of the quarterly IJDT issues from 2013 to 2024 by myself, before handing over to Liz Whitley.
The hardware and software developments in computing have been an essential contributor to the success of the Society’s publications but only in enabling the contributions from committee and other members. With the shift from reading print on paper to on-screen then social media are playing an increasing role, particularly with the younger members who will be the society’s future. AI will provide the next big authentication and accuracy challenges.
Success had many parents and I give my best wishes to my successor, Dr Liz Whitley, the publications committee and the editors in continuing the successful development of the Society’s publications.
The full story will be featured in the April issue of Dairy Industries International. Subscribe to the magazine here
