Letter from the Editor (June 2022)


LETTER FROM THE EDITORS 
Kenneth J. Varnum and Marisha C. Kelly 

 

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND LIBRARIES | JUNE 2022  
https://doi.org/10.6017/ital.v41i2.15225 

EDITORIAL BOARD UPDATE 

I would like to open with a message of gratitude to the Editorial Board members who have helped 
shape the direction and focus of the journal over the past four years. Steve Bowers, Kevin Ford, 
Cinthya Ippoliti, Ida Joiner, Michael Sauers, and Laurie Willis have been fantastic colleagues, 
providing sage advice and thoughtful opinions through their tenures. Together, they have 
reviewed dozens of articles for the journal but, more importantly, have helped shape the policies 
and directions we hope to take. Together, we thought through and instituted our name change 
policy, a policy for revision of published articles, and ongoing efforts to identify sources of bias in 
editorial and reviewing practice. This work lays the foundation for future improvements. 

Even as we say farewell to these Editorial Board members, it is my pleasure to welcome these 
individuals to the Editorial Board on July 1: Ashlea Green, Mary A. Guillory, Dana Haugh, 
Shanna Hollich, and Cynthia Schwarz. They were selected from an impressive pool of applicants. 
We are grateful for all who applied. 

We welcome submissions related to the intersection of cultural memory institutions (libraries, 
archives, and museums) and technology. Our Call for Submissions outlines the topics and process 
for submitting an article for review. If you have questions or wish to bounce ideas off the editor 
and assistant editor, please contact either of us at the email addresses below. 

THIS ISSUE’S CONTENTS 

The June “Public Libraries Leading the Way” column is contributed by Julie Lane at the County of 
Prince Edward Public Library and Archives. Lane describes how the COVID-19 pandemic not only 
led to immediate changes to serve a geographically distributed community, but also increased the 
library’s horizons in terms of advocating for and promoting equitable access to learning materials . 
Our peer-reviewed content this month showcases topics including collection analysis, user-
learner profiles, topic modeling, copyright bots, intangible cultural heritage, contactless services, 
and explainable artificial intelligence. 

1. Rarely Analyzed: The Relationship between Digital and Physical Rare Books Collections / 
Allison McCormack and Rachel Wittmann 

2. Ontology for the User-Learner Profile Personalizes the Search Analysis of Online Learning 
Resources: The Case of Thematic Digital Universities / Marilou Kordahi 

3. Applying Topic Modeling for Automated Creation of Descriptive Metadata for Digital 
Collections / Monika Glowacka-Musial 

4. Classical Musicians v. Copyright Bots: How Libraries Can Aid in the Fight / Adam Eric 
Berkowitz 

5. Research on Knowledge Organization of Intangible Cultural Heritage Based on Metadata / 
Qing Fan, Guoxin Tan, Chuanming Sun, and Panfeng Chen 

6. Contactless Services: A Survey of the Practices of Large Public Libraries in China / Yajun 
Guo, Zinan Yang, Yiming Yuan, Huifang Ma, and Yan Quan Liu 

7. Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI): Adoption and Advocacy / Michael Ridley 

Kenneth J. Varnum, Editor Marisha C. Kelly, Assistant Editor 
varnum@umich.edu marisha.librarian@gmail.com 

https://ejournals.bc.edu/index.php/ital/name-change-policy
https://ejournals.bc.edu/index.php/ital/name-change-policy
https://ejournals.bc.edu/index.php/ital/call-for-submissions
https://ejournals.bc.edu/index.php/ital/article/view/13415
https://ejournals.bc.edu/index.php/ital/article/view/13601
https://ejournals.bc.edu/index.php/ital/article/view/13601
https://ejournals.bc.edu/index.php/ital/article/view/13799
https://ejournals.bc.edu/index.php/ital/article/view/13799
https://ejournals.bc.edu/index.php/ital/article/view/14027
https://ejournals.bc.edu/index.php/ital/article/view/14093
https://ejournals.bc.edu/index.php/ital/article/view/14141
https://ejournals.bc.edu/index.php/ital/article/view/14683
mailto:varnum@umich.edu
mailto:marisha.librarian@gmail.com

	Editorial Board Update
	This Issue’s Contents