Editorial

Citation

Broady-Preston, J. (2012), "Editorial", Library Review, Vol. 61 No. 7. https://doi.org/10.1108/lr.2012.03561gaa.001

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: Library Review, Volume 61, Issue 7

The papers in this issue address challenging contemporary professional concerns from differing perspectives and from differing parts of the globe. The first paper contains a review of a research project which explores library liaison programmes at four USA academic libraries. The authors explore how such liaison programmes have developed since their inception in the 1990s, to more contemporary programmes integrating information literacy in the academic environment. As part of her review, Jo Henry also includes an overview of contemporary library use of Web 2.0 technologies to communicate with faculty and students. Somewhat surprisingly, as Jo herself notes “missing from all libraries was the use of social networking, blogs and instant messaging (chat) for communication with faculty”.

In a key French research study, Joachim Schopfel and Claire Leduc investigate new business models in relation to electronic journal subscriptions, and the implications of these for library acquisitions policies. They explore the impact of the “big deal” whereby publishers bundle electronic journals together and then sell subscriptions to these bundles, and how this differs from the more traditional model based on user need centred selection or quality and popularity indicators such as Garfield’s impact factor. This exploration is made with reference to Anderson’s variant of the Pareto principle, the “long tail distribution”, which offers a new niche strategy – “selling less from more”. This paper offers a systematic, rigorous investigation of both the long tail and the big deal; as such it will be of significant interest to both librarians and the publishing industry.

The remaining two papers are concerned with issues at a more national level. The first of these from a team in Pakistan is an environmental scan of the contemporary information infrastructure of the country, undertaken with a view to developing a more cohesive integrated information system to facilitate long term educational planning and provision. They conclude that whilst a reasonable infrastructure of libraries and information centres exits in the country, more work is needed to integrate these individual units into an effective national system, capable of delivering a robust and comprehensive information system to support educational development especially.

The final paper in this issue is also concerned with environmental issues, but in this instance, the impact of the knowledge industry on the physical environment. In a timely overview of the literature in this field, Sabiha Zehra and her colleagues from a research team based in India, examine the factors which need to be addressed in order to create a new eco-friendly future for the knowledge industry as a whole, including publishers and librarians. An interesting and challenging set of papers offering radical new analyses of issues of current interest and concern throughout the information and knowledge world as a whole. Food for thought indeed!

Judith Broady-Preston