Letter from the Editor Kenneth J. Varnum 

 

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND LIBRARIES | DECEMBER 2017 1 
https://doi.org/10.6017/ital.v36i4.10237 

 

 

I am excited to have been appointed Editor of Information Technology and Libraries as the journal 
enters its 50th year. Originally published as the Journal of Library Automation, ITAL has a long 
history of tracking the rapid-fire changes in technology as it relates to libraries. Much as it has 
over the past 50 years, technology will continue to change not just the way libraries offer services 
to their communities, but the way we conceptualize what it is we do. If past is prologue, I have no 
doubt the next decades will continue to amaze, probably in ways even the most adventurous 
trend-forecaster won’t get quite right. 

In the context of the rapid change in how we do our work, what we do will remain the same: 
collecting, preserving, and providing access to the information and artefacts of our culture, 
whatever that may be. I would like ITAL to grow and expand, while keeping its core essence the 
same. That core is high-quality, relevant, and informative articles, reviewed by our peers, and 
made available to the world. But I think there is more we can do for LITA and the library 
technology profession by expanding the scope and impact of the journal through seeking and 
soliciting articles from a wider range of librarians, adding more case studies to the research 
articles that are at the journal’s core, and being more rapidly responsive to the evolving 
technology landscape in front of us.  

To that end, I invite you to think broadly about researching, documenting, and describing the 
technology-related work you do so that others can learn about it. I welcome questions about how 
your project might fit into ITAL, and look forward to working with you.  

I’d like to close by extending my thanks to Bob Gerrity, who served as ITAL’s editor for the past 6 
years and stewarded the journal’s transition to an open access publication. I am grateful for his 
service to ITAL, LITA, and the profession. 

Sincerely, 

Kenneth J. Varnum 
Editor 
varnum@umich.edu 

mailto:varnum@umich.edu