Guests enjoyed a wide variety of Spanish tapas, ending with a trio of delicious desserts. As the meal drew to a close and guests were sipping their after-dinner drinks, Events Chair Kelly Briggman introduced the guest speaker: Cheryl Iverson, Managing Editor of Archives Journals and Chair of the AMA Manual of Style Committee.

Cheryl began her engaging (and often humorous!) presentation by sharing a bit of history of the AMA Manual, including the evolution of her own role as the manual has been updated and expanded. Cheryl then gave some highlights of upcoming changes in 10th edition, which will be published by Oxford University Press in 2007.

Some of the many revisions that Cheryl highlighted included the addition of more information on all things electronic (including 50 examples of citations for electronic sources--an increase of 35 since the 9th version!); new information on and guidelines for group authorship; more information on legal and ethical issues; a new chapter devoted to medical indexes; and a revised section on grammar.

Guests were also excited to learn that the AMA Manual of Style may become even more accessible after the 10th edition is published, as there are plans to make an electronic version of the manual available. There are even plans to publish an AMA Manual of Style workbook! By the end of the evening, guests had not only enjoyed a wonderful dinner and great conversation, but they had also gotten an enlightening glimpse into the future of the AMA Manual of Style and the changes that might affect the way that they write and edit on a daily basis.

Cheryl gave the addresses for two websites during her presentation. For your convenience, we have included these addresses below:

Oxford University Press AMA Manual of Style survey, available now: www.us.oup.com/us/brochure/ama/?view=usa. (If you complete the survey, you’re automatically entered to win one of three great prizes!)

The National Library of Medicine’s online combination of its 1991 and 2001 documents (called Citing Medicine: The NLM Style Guide for Authors, Editors, and Publishers), available in November: www.nlm.gov/citingmedicine.

-Kelly Briggman