Welcome to Issue 4!
This issue of e-Volunteerism stands back and takes a long look at where volunteerism has been and where it can lead us, if only we recognize its power to shape how we treat each other on this spinning globe. Without actually planning a theme for this issue, we ended up with two. There are almost eerie parallels between what Susan Ellis quotes from Alec Dickson in her Voices From the Past feature section and Mike McCabe's brand-new article on volunteering as a pathway to social change. Steve McCurley's Along the Web column gives easy access to Web sites that demonstrate how volunteer policy and practice is conceptualized and implemented in different countries. (If you live in the US, be glad that Independence Day is past, because there's not much to celebrate here if you value volunteerism.) Then, in their Points of View commentaries, Susan and Steve take a hard look at the issues that need to be addressed to have an effective national policy on volunteerism, while Duncan Prime gives us a preview of comprehensive national research on volunteerism conducted in the UK. To round out this look at national agendas, the Global Perspectives Keyboard Roundtable panelists reflect on South Australia's Volunteer Vision 2010.
Our Keyboard Roundtable on The Profession assesses the potential of new technologies for volunteer management, guest contributor Carol Kleinmaier shares an important training design, and Melissa Eystad takes a look at service exchanges. Just when everything is getting very serious, we have a small infusion of sex and three Beatles-inspired songs that will make volunteers of all ages sing happily, even if they carry a tune about as well as our Managing Editor does (hold your
Enjoy it all.