Editorial

Citation

Gorman, G.E. and Calvert, P. (1998), "Editorial", Asian Libraries, Vol. 7 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/al.1998.17307aaa.001

Editorial

Asian Libraries has been on the scene since 1992. In this, its seventh volume, we mark a number of evolutionary changes under the expanding banner of MCB University Press. Most immediately there is a new editorial team, which will be introducing a number of changes and improvements in forthcoming issues. But much of this must be in response to input from our readers, so we invite your comment at any time and by any means ­ e-mail, fax, letter, telephone. Feel free to contact the Editors or members of the Editorial Advisory Board with suggestions for future issues, reactions to content, offers of papers or other ideas.

The Editors

While the journal is published from the UK, the editorial team is firmly based in the Asia-Pacific region, with about a dozen countries represented among the editors and editorial advisors. The new Editor, Dr G.E. Gorman, is based at Charles Sturt University in Australia. He began his career as a librarian in the UK, serving in that capacity at Christian Aid (London) and then the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex. In Australia he has taught at the University of Ballarat and, since the late 1980s, at Charles Sturt University, where, in addition to teaching, he has been extensively involved in overseas programmes, publishing and research.

His journal experience began in the late 1970s as book review editor of the African Book Publishing Record, and since then he has been an editor/reviews editor of several professional journals, including Australian Library Journal, Australian Library Review, Library Acquisitions: Practice and Theory and Orana. He is a member of the Editorial Board of Australian Academic and Research Libraries, the Journal of Religious and Theological Information and Current Research in Library and Information Science. He also has been associated for many years with publishers in Britain and the USA as a series editor. Dr Gorman's own publications, including more than 100 articles, have appeared in professional and scholarly journals in many countries, and his more recent books have dealt with such diverse topics as Fiji, collection management, and qualitative research.

The new Associate Editor is Philip Calvert, who teaches library and information science at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. He is formerly the Editor of New Zealand Libraries, a position he held between 1992 and 1996. Mr Calvert has worked in public, academic and special libraries in the United Kingdom, Fiji and Papua New Guinea. His other work experience has been in computer programming and in marketing library management systems. More recently he has been a teacher of library and information studies in New Zealand (from 1990 to 1996, and again from 1998) and then for one year (1997) in the Division of Information Studies of the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. His current research interests are in service quality, especially in academic libraries, and in the impact of misinformation on scholarly communication.

Editorial Advisory Board

As the editorship has changed, so too has membership of the Editorial Advisory Board. Although it is still growing and should stabilise at about 18 members from perhaps a dozen countries in Asia and the Pacific, plus members from the UK and USA, we already have the benefit of a widely dispersed team of editorial colleagues for the 1998-1999 biennium. They come from professional practice, education and consulting, representing both the traditional and the newer areas of library and information management ­ and all share a commitment to the continuing development of Asian Libraries as the pre-eminent library and information management journal for Asia and the Pacific.

Editorial Objectives

Asian Libraries publishes original articles of interest to library and information management professionals around the world, but with particular reference to Asia and the Pacific. Such contributions will take many forms, including research-based studies, descriptive reports, country/region updates, case studies, reports on current developments in an aspect of professional practice, literature reviews, and commentaries. While the focus is on applied aspects of information work, theoretical and philosophical presentations are also welcome. Areas of special interest include:

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  Human resources management

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  Collection management, collection development

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  Preservation

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  Information and user services

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  Technical services

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  Information technology

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  The Internet and World Wide Web

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  Publishing and communication

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  Information management

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  Information policy, control, censorship

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  Networking and resource sharing

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  Marketing and outreach

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  Architecture and design

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  Professional development

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  Education and training

In addition to substantive, refereed papers in any of these areas, we wish Asian Libraries to serve a broad professional function as a source of news, views and information. To this end we will be experimenting with a number of more-or-less regular features in each issue, including Professional Articles, Reviews (subdivided into Books and Journals, and Multimedia and Electronic Resources), a Guide to the Professional Literature, Notes and News, Services and Products, People.

Refereed Papers are meant to be in-depth studies or analyses of a topic written to high scholarly standards and incorporating original research or new perspectives. Much electronic publishing suffers from a lack of effective quality control, but it is our intention that Refereed Papers in Asian Libraries be assessed as rigorously as in any print-based professional or scholarly library science journal. More on the philosophy of MCB University Press with regard to quality and the refereeing process may be found at http://www.mcb.co.uk.

Professional Articles, as distinct from Refereed Papers, are intended to be more informational presentations on such topics as the work of international divisions of library associations, profiles of book trade and library service companies in the Asia-Pacific region, reports of newly constructed or refurbished libraries, descriptive articles on professional or continuing education programmes, and so on. Because such contributions are intended to be primarily descriptive, they will not be refereed but will be published at the invitation or discretion of the Editors. We will welcome such contributions from any source.

The Reviews section consists of two parts. In Books and Journals we will review recent print publications from the region, or from elsewhere that might be of interest to readers in Asia and the Pacific. We are particularly keen to include publications from countries in Asia and the Pacific and invite publishers to send their materials to the Editor for review. For further information see the Reviews Policy statement elsewhere in this issue. The Multimedia and Electronic Resources sub-section is devoted to CD-ROM, Internet sites, online databases, and audio-visual materials. The focus again is on works of professional value, rather than on general interest materials. This section will be handled by the Associate Editor and publishers of appropriate electronic and audio-visual media are asked to send materials directly to him.

The Guide to the Professional Literature is intended to complement the Reviews section by abstracting selected articles from journals (both print and electronic) published in the region and internationally. Only items which in our view warrant reading by busy professionals will be listed; that is, this section is in no way meant to be comprehensive, but rather a highly selective, even eclectic, presentation of what we regard as 'the best' current serial literature for information professionals in Asia and the Pacific. If you or your organisation produce a serial which should be included in this section, please let us know.

Notes and News carries information on forthcoming conferences and meetings of interest to information professionals in Asia and the Pacific. Such gatherings may be anywhere in the world but should have particular value to professional needs in this region. We hope to focus especially on meetings held in Asia and the Pacific, of course, so would welcome appropriate announcements from conference organisers. In addition to news of forthcoming events, this section also carries brief news reports from professional organisations and groups ­ the current issue, for instance, presents a summary of recent International Council on Archives activities.

Services and Products is meant to be a listing of new services provided by publishers and suppliers, or new products from manufacturers targeted at libraries and information agencies, especially in Asia and the Pacific. It may include services from regional companies tailored specifically to customers in the region, or more general services from international enterprises but with an obvious application in the region. Also included will be software or other IT products with particular library applications. The intention here is to function as a filter and alerting device rather than offering a seal of approval.

Finally, the People section should be seen as a place to find information on significant events in the lives of information professionals in the Asia-Pacific region. New appointments or promotions, new research projects or publications, obituaries ­ all will be welcome for inclusion. For the most part the Editors will not be soliciting material for inclusion in this section, which can be only as informative as readers of Asian Libraries wish to make it.

This proposed arrangement should be seen as flexible and responsive to your needs. Therefore, we would value your reactions and suggestions for future issues.

G.E. Gorman

Philip Calvert