Editorial

This issue is truly global and, we hope, brings you connections to some important events that have taken place. The conference report roster is rich and highlights presentations and new roles our colleagues are playing within key organizations, and the work going on and technology applications taking place in different kinds of libraries. We have a report on the rather specialized conference of Art Librarians which suggests enormous strides in digital initiatives and in dealing with images and archival themes; an extensive report on the annual Computers, Freedom and Privacy conference. More and more, we experience an increasingly strong interest in privacy related issues as concerns escalate about terrorism, improper use of information and the role of computer access.

The biannual conference of the Association of College and Research Libraries in Charlotte, North Carolina was an obvious success and reports from attendees there suggest a range of relevant issues about organizational and leadership development and applying technology in a wider range of activities. Usually, we do not include reports from specific technology user groups, however the Innovative User Group annually holds a very active worldwide meeting of its user groups. This year it is poignant to note the increase in technology applications for more public service functions that in the past and a showcase of new generation technologies that enhance the online catalog. OCLC and other sponsors hosted an eBooks Seminar and we are fortunate to have a report from that forum. We also have an extensive report from the Symposium on Electronic, Scientific,Technical and Medical Journal Publishing and its Implications held at the National Academies of Sciences where some very distinguished speakers addressed trends and potential solutions to the dilemmas facing STM publishing.

The features in this issue span a range of topics and we hope that you find each of them a satisfying read. "Gadgets" is an enlightening piece that stretches the imagination and implies how critical design and technology interweave into successful applications and tools. The experience at Cypress College in using a PDA to perform collection inventory is described by a newcomer to the profession and demonstrates how using software in a creative way with new instruments, creates new efficiencies. The SUNY Buffalo Libraries staff describes how an XML Repository was created and what it achieved. Each of these examples promotes enormous power of computing, creative ideas and overcoming challenges to achieve new results.

Alfred Bork returns in this issue with another extensive feature about reducing the barriers in education and lifelong learning by suggesting that learning via technology rather than classroom dependency gives learners at all levels additional benefits. Obviously, support for technology must be a given,and when available, the enhancements individual learning offers, self-paced with special curriculum and forms of discovery and content, the "virtual setting"becomes seductive. This essay suggests several roles which technology can play that advance "education for all", regardless of location and circumstance.

The University of Arizona at Tucson has celebrated a first-year anniversary with its Interactive Learning Commons and the Around-the-World column spotlights the lessons learned from that new center within the University Library. Falk has another column that informs us about the highly dynamic information industry,and a list of new publications, the "New & Noteworthy" column and an updated Calendar round off this issue.

We look forward to future issues with many conference reports and features that share what is really taking place technologically in libraries. The full spectrum is what interests us, from the planning to the implementation and assessment stages. If you can share an experience from your library or a particularly relevant conference you have attended, we look forward to including it.

A few months ago, we mentioned that Colby Riggs, co-editor, was a candidate for President of the Library & Information Technology Association within the American Library Association and now we can proudly report that she won that election and she looks forward to working with many people on behalf of LITA.

We hope that we will have a chance to meet many of our readers at the upcoming season of conferences.

Julia Gelfand(jgelfand@uci.edu)Colby Riggs(cmriggs@uci.edu)Co-editors