Editorial

In recent weeks many blogs and listservs have spent a good amount of time exploring issues surrounding the good and not so good about Google Print and its intentions. Many things influence all these opinions but what is certain is that the new technologies force us to rethink our the potential for new methods in doing things. That is never easy and even if the fundamental institutions of our heritage such as publishing houses, professional and scientific societies and libraries have been around for over three centuries to chronicle and contribute to the historical record of achievement, new opportunities now available to us force us to rethink models with which we are most familiar.

The big issue surrounding this controversy is not which of these institutions will succeed and which will falter but how we accept their products. The societies have a lot at risk but instead of fixating on the negatives, let's look positively at the successes of those who have already demonstrated that there are new business models to launch and new products that are birthed with an open mind. Clearly, the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM), the Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the American Mathematical Society (AMS) are each among the many excellent examples of societies that understood the benefits of electronic publishing and digital libraries that could be created and now experience thriving publishing empires that library or institutional members as well as personal members depend upon. The American Chemical Society (ACS) obviously still has a lot to learn while the open access movement is alive and thriving in many ways.

Another way to perhaps review the history of this is to consider how the Motion Picture Association of America fought the videotaping efforts of films and movies. Today, after some years of resisting change, we now have a successful, thriving enterprise of new film products hosted by the entertainment industry and the salvation of the film industry has been dependent upon new revenue streams, with an active video presence, new merchandising and streaming all due to changes in technology.

Thus, the question remains how we can best rethink the original goals of Google Print and how all parties can respond to opportunities and challenges posed by the new proposals and directions. No simple answer exists, but the new kind of partnerships that seem to be emerging reconfirm the value of the scholarship and suggest that new media will find a place for it with publishes,societies and libraries working together to solve the many questions that surround the controversies that this suggests. Stay tuned, as they say and watch technology advance us in our thinking and in ways of doing things and preserving our past.

In this issue, we have several interesting pieces that will direct one's sensitivities towards the problem and other related issues. They include Digital Preservation and this article explores that and discusses the LOCKSS potential that Stanford University has created.

Institutional Repositories remain a big activity in many academic libraries and consortia. The case study of design and implementation at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis campus is very interesting.

Talis, one of the major players in library management solutions in the UK writes about Project Bluebird, a communication software service that is currently available and explores what its different applications are. This product has many utilities for a variety of library activities.

Another new product on the horizon is the just released KONYIM, a multilingual keyboard that allows a typist to compose in several languages or dialects in different scripts concurrently by creating a keyboard that can adapt these differences. The implications for translation, typesetting and other applications is far-reaching.

Don't forget about keeping up with the publication output, knowing what is happening along the IT fronts in other new products and what is happening at meetings around the world. We look forward to bringing you more conference reports in coming issues.

Julia Gelfandjgelfand@uci.eduColby Riggscmriggs@uci.eduCo-editors