Editor’s Comments Bob Gerrity 
 

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND LIBRARIES | MARCH 2012 4 
 

 

Welcome to the first issue of Information Technology and Libraries (ITAL) as an open-access, e-
only publication. As announced to LITA members in early January, this change in publishing model 
will help ensure the long-term viability of ITAL by making it more accessible, more current, more 
relevant, and more environmentally friendly. ITAL will continue to feature high-quality articles 
that have undergone a rigorous peer-review process, but it will also begin expanding content to 
include more case studies, commentary, and information about topics and trends of interest to the 
LITA community and beyond. Look for a new scope statement for ITAL shortly.   

We’re pleased to include in this issue the winning paper from the 2011 LITA/Ex Libris Student 
Writing Award contest, Abigail McDermott’s overview on copyright law. We also have two 
lengthier-than-usual studies on library discovery services. The first, Jason Vaughan’s overview of 
his library’s investigations into web-scale discovery options, was accepted for publication more 
than a year ago, but due to its length did not make it into “print” until now, since we no longer face 
the constraints associated with the production of a print journal. The second study, by Jody Condit 
Fagan and colleagues at James Madison University, focuses on discovery-tool usability. Jimmy 
Ghaphery and Erin White provide a timely overview of the results of their surveys on the use and 
management of web-based research guides. Tomasz Neugebauer and Bin Han offer a strategy and 
workflow for batch importing electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) into an EPrints 
repository.  

With the first open-access, e-only issue launched, our attention will be turned to updating and 
improving the ITAL website and expanding the back content available. Our goal is to have all of the 
back issues of both ITAL and its predecessor, Journal of Library Automation (JOLA), openly 
available from the ITAL site. We’ll also be exploring ways to better integrate the ITALica blog and 
the ITAL preprints site with the main site. Suggestions and feedback are welcome, at the e-mail 
address below. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bob Gerrity (robert.gerrity@bc.edu) is Associate University Librarian for Information Technology, 
Boston College Libraries, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.