Letter from the Editor (September 2020)


LETTER FROM THE EDITOR 

September 2020 
Kenneth J. Varnum 

 

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND LIBRARIES | SEPTEMBER 2020  
https://doi.org/10.6017/ital.v39i3.12xxx 

With “unprecedented” rising to first place on my personal list of words I would prefer never to 
need to use again, let alone hear used, I find it eminently satisfying that some activities and events 
from before COVID continue in their usual, predictable ways. For me, the quarterly rhythm of 
publication of Information Technology and Libraries is one of those activities. It is helping keep me 
grounded. While it is certainly not much in the scope of what is happening all around me, it is at 
least something.  

One thing that is changing is that this journal, along with Library Resources and Technical Services 
and Library Leadership & Management are now publications of ALA’s newest division: Core: 
Leadership, Infrastructure, Futures. You’ll notice a new logo at the top of our site, reflecting the 
new organizational structure. I am excited about the possibilities of richer cross-Core cooperation 
and collaboration as we explore our new structure. 

This issue includes the first—and last—LITA President’s Message from incoming and outgoing 
LITA President Evviva Weinraub Lajoie. Evviva assumed the LITA presidency this summer, just 
before the merger of LITA, LLAMA, and ALCTS into the new Core division took place on 
September 1. Members of those three merged divisions should watch for information about 
elections for the new Core president in October. 

I am pleased that this issue includes the 2020 LITA/Ex Libris Student Writing Award winning 
article, Evaluating the Impact of the Long-S upon 18th-Century Encyclopedia Britannica Automatic 
Subject Metadata Generation Results, by Sam Grabus of Drexel University. Julia Bauder, the Chair 
of this year’s selection committee (I was also a member, as ITAL editor) said, “This valuable work 
of original research helps to quantify the scope of a problem that is of interest not only in the field 
of library and information science, but that also, as Grabus notes in her conclusion, could affect 
research in fields from the digital humanities to the sciences.”  

Before closing, I would like to express my appreciation to Breanne Kirsch, who ably served on the 
editorial board from 2018-2020.  

Sincerely, 

Kenneth J. Varnum, Editor 
varnum@umich.edu 
September 2020 

https://doi.org/10.6017/ital.v39i3.12235
https://doi.org/10.6017/ital.v39i3.12235
mailto:varnum@umich.edu