Welcome to 2013 – I hope it will be a productive and prosperous year for us all. This issue brings with it a number of initiatives which augur well for The Journal on both these counts.
This will be our first issue published by Taylor & Francis, under its Routledge imprint. Becoming part of the publisher's suite of library science journals should extend our marketing reach, attracting new readers, authors and subscribers. So far it's been a smooth transition, and readers may not notice many changes in the short term, but authors and peer reviewers (and editors and production staff) can look forward to some more streamlined online submission and reviewing processes.
As editor, I am very pleased to be able to reassure authors, ALIA members and subscribers that The Journal will retain its ties with the profession and our Association through its independent Editorial Board and peer reviewing processes. I am also pleased to report that open access is still front of mind – we will be part of the Taylor & Francis' LIS journals two-year pilot project (announced in its press release of November 2011), which allows ‘contributors to its library and information science journals to retain the copyright to their work and to post it within their institutional repository without an embargo period.’Footnote1
The second initiative which I'm very excited to announce is the launch of a new section – the ‘Librarianship-in-practice’ section, which will contain fairly short, structured articles describing case studies about projects or programmes that have been implemented in libraries. More information about the content and structure can be found at http://www.alia.org.au/publishing/alj/notes.html. I'm hoping that this problem-based-learning model will encourage practitioners to reflect on and report about their experiences, how they've solved a particular issue or problem and what they've learned, for the benefit of others who may be confronted with similar circumstances. The trailblazers for the new section are Eric Fassbinder (an academic) and Jayshree Mamtora (research librarian) from Charles Darwin University, Northern Territory, with a case study of their collaboration in improving the workflow for managing research information using technology.
I am confident that these initiatives will increase The Journal's output and enable us to reach out to a wider audience of readers, practitioners, researchers and authors.
The article which opens this issue has been co-authored by Narelle Hampe and Suzanne Lewis, entitled E-portfolios Support Continuing Professional Development for Librarians. This is a timely article, with the imminent launch of the ALIA pilot CPD scheme for health librarians (the ‘significant changes’ to ALIA's current voluntary scheme expected early in 2013 referred to in the article). Hampe and Lewis have conducted a research project which has the potential to facilitate a much wider and more meaningful engagement in what our profession sorely needs – a systematic approach to continuing professional development that will improve the quality of our professional practice, enable librarians to contribute more effectively to their organizations, and raise the status of librarianship as a profession. Read the article if you want to find out about this tool with so much potential.
The next paper by Wendy Davis and Katherine Howard focuses on the GLAM sector (Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums), reflecting on the responses of our four national collecting institutions to the Australian Government's Cultural Policy Discussion Paper (2011). This is an important stage in the debate about the issues and challenges affecting policy and practice, and how these institutions manage and promote access to our national cultural heritage.
Kirralie Houghton, Marcus Foth and Evonne Miller in a case study based in Concord Public Library, Canada Bay, NSW, consider how libraries act as ‘third places’, connecting people spatially in both the physical and online senses, with a role to play in supporting the development of broader community networks. In challenging times when public libraries are being asked again to justify themselves in terms of their relevance and their value, this area of study has enormous potential.
The next paper by Elham Sayyad Abdi, Helen Partridge and Christine Bruce, reports on the findings of their pilot study of website designers and their experience of information literacy. As the authors point out, there is relatively little research into the area of workplace literacy, and the findings from this particular study will be of interest to library and information professionals working with web designers, as the areas of work often overlap.
An obituary to Dorothy Harris who passed away recently has been contributed by Libby Coates. Dorothy was a colleague of many in the profession and contributed enormously to ALIA networks across the country.
The themed review by Doreen Sullivan entitled Recent Books on Publishing opens the doors for some interesting insights into changes occurring in the publishing industry. This concludes the articles in the main section, and segues neatly into the Reviews section, again masterfully collated by Gary Gorman.
So all in all a bumper issue that launches us into 2013, with plenty to look forward to in terms of productiveness, prosperity – and I will add a third ‘p’ – our partnership with our new publisher, in the next year.
Notes
1. Details of the policy and author rights for the pilot can be viewed here http://journalauthors.tandf.co.uk/preparation/lisrights.asp.