Editorial

Citation

Ashcroft, L. (2005), "Editorial", New Library World, Vol. 106 No. 9/10. https://doi.org/10.1108/nlw.2005.072106iaa.001

Editorial

I am delighted to welcome Professor Rita Marcella, Dean of Aberdeen Business School, The Robert Gordon University to the Editorial Advisory Board of New Library World. I am also delighted to congratulate Michael Gorman (Editorial Advisory Board member) on his inauguration as President of the American Library Association at the recent ALA conference.

The ALA annual is an event during which various awards are presented. Mark Winston (article “Library leadership in times of crisis and change”) was named recipient of the second annual Achievement in Library Diversity Research honour. The ALA Office for Diversity designated this honour as part of its ongoing support for the dissemination of library-based diversity research. Mark Winston has published an enormous body of work dedicated to leadership, management, diversity in LIS education, and building the business argument for diversity.

Sarah Long (author of “What's new in libraries” column) was announced recipient of the Ken Haycock Award for promoting librarianship. This award honours an individual for contributing significantly to the public recognition and appreciation of librarianship through professional performance, teaching and/or writing. See editor's news strap at the start of “What's new in libraries” column.

Articles

Recently a crisis in funding has led Northern Ireland's North Eastern Education and Library Board to consult about closing 12 “under-used” libraries comprising one-third of its current network. There are many types of crisis which can hit library services. The article by Winston and Quinn addresses the coverage of issues related to crisis and societal change. Comprising a literature review and a content analysis, the issues are related to the leadership roles of librarians and libraries in addressing such issues, and the analysis of the literature seems to indicate further opportunities for leadership.

E-learning has been on the political agenda for education in the UK, indicated by the draft national e-learning strategies published in 2003. This can be seen as a priority for information professionals. It can also be seen as an opportunity to increase influence, reposition services, form new partnerships, but, most importantly, to increase flexibility for learners. Bevilaqua reports in her article on research carried out at the University of Parma, Italy, to investigate e-journals from a user viewpoint, questioning how organisation of e-journals can enable ease of access.

The International Dunhuang Project is one example of a large and successful digital image web site. It offers a one-stop multilingual internet site giving information about, and high quality images of, more than 50,000 Central Asian manuscripts, paintings and artefacts. In their article, Bieber and Schweinbenz discuss the process of the Photo Library of the German Art Institute in Florence. One aim of the project was to create a comprehensive online catalogue lined to high quality digital images. This discusses considerations, technical information, standards, tools and products.

The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) recently launched marketing campaign included product development, messages, campaign tactics, and design, together with internal communications support to help reach library staff, and an advocacy programme for central, regional and local government. In order to reach and develop various audiences, strategies must be designed to target specific market segments. Moorhead, in her article, discusses strategies for audience development at the recently refurbished Women's Library, London Metropolitan University.

One element of a training day “An introduction to the management of special collections in academic libraries” run by CPD 25 and the University of London Special Collections Committee focused on drawing a coherent collection development policy for special collections. The first and obvious step in drawing up a policy is to know and understand collections – what they consist of, why they were acquired and what is their special aspect. Whilst this may be applicable to collections as a whole, the role of a policy is vital. The need for a policy for gift books or donations is equally as important. The article by Cassell discusses the issue of gift books in libraries, providing an insight into the situation in the US with useful examples.

The latest CIPFA (Chartered Institute for Public Finance and Accountancy) statistics (for 2003/2004) show that UK public libraries have reversed the years of decline in visits, but that book loans have continued to fall. The increase in visits could reflect some change in the way that libraries offer services with internet access getting some credit for the rise in visits. Statistics such as these are just one way in which the performance of library services are evaluated. The article by Bawden et al. considers the different approaches to evaluating the performance of library services in three countries – Lithuania, Slovenia as well as the UK.

Linda Ashcroft