These online services provide accessible and useful information on sociologists, sociology departments, and the discipline. The Association's goal is to provide a home for a virtual community for sociologists. In conjunction with the 2000 Annual Meeting, web-based threaded discussion groups will be launched based on selected key topics from the meeting program. Depending on the participation and input from members, we hope that this platform will serve as a useful means to encourage intellectual exchange among sociologists and that the community spirit will extend beyond the face to face interaction at the Annual Meetings.

We invite you to visit the Member Area (http://www.asanet.org/memarea) and to peruse the new features. To log onto the member secure area, please use your ASA member ID (without the leading zeroes) as your "User Name" and your last name as "Password." Your member ID is printed on your member ID card (included in your 2000 Membership Benefit packet). If you encounter any problems, please e-mail us at asanet@asanet.org. Finally, we welcome your input and suggestions to make the "virtual community for sociologists" a reality.