Keywords
Citation
Chaudhuri, J. (2008), "Journal of Web Librarianship", Online Information Review, Vol. 32 No. 2, pp. 286-287. https://doi.org/10.1108/14684520810879908
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2008, Emerald Group Publishing Limited
The Journal of Web Librarianship (JWL) is a new journal centred on all aspects of librarianship in relation to the web. As mentioned in the editorial, the journal includes case studies, tutorial and scholarly research articles. The journal is edited by Jody Condit Fagan, a digital services librarian at James Madison University and author of numerous journal articles.
The first issue of JWL consists of six articles and five book reviews, with charts, screen shots, tables, graphs and notes in every article. The journal has a “Global Connections” section for readers in the US about library‐related projects and web sites in other countries. The “Social Eyes” section focuses on different social software and library applications. The inclusion of these two sections makes a unique combination in this journal.
The first article is entitled “Web access to electronic journals and databases in ARL libraries”. In it two librarians from Auburn University Libraries indicate that ARL libraries are not uniform in how they categorise or display their electronic journals and databases. Other articles deal with the use of wikis for knowledge sharing, how to add Firefox Search Plugins, a literature review of academic library web page studies and measuring academic library web sites using banner adverts and web conversion rates.
The author of the “Social Eyes” section emphasises the importance of librarians' web presence as a means of interacting with users. The first Global Connections column focuses on the open access International Dunhuang Project', an international digital collaboration that presents a wealth of information about the Silk Road especially appropriate for students.
As its title indicates, this journal is about web librarianship, as well as librarians' use of social networking software, use of library web pages, and web‐related projects across the world. This timely journal will draw its audience from all types of libraries, but will appeal especially to academic librarians involved or interested in web librarianship and its future development. The major strength of this journal is its focus on library projects worldwide and its combination of practical and research articles on web librarianship.