Letter from the Editor Kenneth J. Varnum 
 

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND LIBRARIES | MARCH 2018 1 
https://doi.org/10.6017/ital.v37i1.10388 

 

This issue marks 50 years of Information Technology and Libraries. The scope and ever-
accelerating pace of technological change over the five decades since Journal of Library 
Automation was launched in 1968 mirrors what the world at large has experienced. From 
“automating” existing services and functions a half century ago, libraries are now using technology 
to rethink, recreate, and reinvent services — often in areas that simply were in the realm of 
science fiction.  

In an attempt to put today’s technology landscape in context, ITAL will publish a series of essays 
this year, each focusing on the highlights of a decade. In this issue, editorial board member Mark 
Cyzyk talks about selected articles from the first two volumes of the journal. In the remaining 
issues this year, we’ll tackle the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. The journal itself, now as ever 
before, focuses on the present and the near future, so we will hold off recapitulating the current 
decade until our centennial celebration in 2068. 

As we look back over the journal’s history, the editorial board is also looking to the future. We 
want to make sure that we know for whom we are publishing these articles, and to make sure that 
the journal is as relevant to today’s (and tomorrow’s) readership as it has been for those who have 
brought us to the present. To that end, we invite anyone who is reading this issue to take this brief 
survey — tell us a little about how you came to ITAL today, how you’re connected with library 
technology, and what you’d like to see in the journal. It won’t take much of you r time (no more 
than 5 minutes) and will help us understand the context in which we are working. 

There’s another opportunity for you to help shape the future of the journal. Due to a number of 
terms being up at the end of June 2018, we have at least five openings on the editorial board to fill. 
If you are passionate about libraries and technology, enjoy working with authors to shape their 
articles, and want to help set out today’s scholarly record for tomorrow’s technologists, submit a 
statement of interest at https://goo.gl/forms/5GbqOuuSeOlXrFx52. We seek to have an editorial 
board that represents the diversity of library technology practitioners, and particularly invite 
individuals from non-academic libraries and underrepresented demographic groups to apply. 

Sincerely, 

Kenneth J. Varnum 
Editor 
March 2018 

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