Editorial

You may likely be aware that ALCTS, LITA, and LLAMA have been discussing the possibility of a merger. A question that I have frequently received (and for which I myself do not have an answer) after this information was shared with members is about the future of LRTS. Although my term as editor ends in June 2020, the future of LRTS is also very important to me. It is one of our division’s flagship publications and respected within our profession.

During an ALCTS e-Forum to discuss the potential merger that included participants from all three divisions, it was clear that the division publications are important and of value to members. As professionals, it is critical for us to have access to research and information in our profession to stay current and grow professionally. LRTS also provides a means for technical services professionals to share the outcomes of their research and ideas to benefit others. It can be a first step towards publishing for some authors, a collaboration among two or more authors, or a submission from an individual who has held a long career and is regarded as an expert.

Publishing a research paper is one way that professionals can have an impact and contribute to the profession. They may be motivated by a job requirement such as promotion and/or tenure, they may be invited to submit a paper, or may enjoy writing and have ideas to share. I recently had the pleasure of co-presenting with Sandy Roe, the editor-in-chief of Cataloging and Classification Quarterly, for an ALCTS sponsored webinar on writing and publishing research results. The webinar was part 3 in the series “Research and Publications Basics.” Something that Sandy and I emphasized is the role of the editor, both during the research and writing process and also during the submission and review process. I encourage anyone who has an idea for a paper to reach out to an editor to discuss it. An editor can provide feedback on your potential idea and help guide how you may structure your research paper. I am often asked for help by my Rutgers colleagues and am happy to provide input and also review their papers prior to submission.

A published paper may continue to be cited by others long after an author moved on to other things. This is another way that publications have value for our profession by enabling research. LRTS makes archives of past issues available with the exception of the six most current issues. Those are available only to ALCTS members and subscribers. I am often asked why LRTS is not open access (OA), yet it does support green OA. ALCTS’s OA statement is available at http://www.ala.org/alcts/sites/ala.org.alcts/files/content/ianda/ALCTS_Statement_onOpenAccess.pdf. This enables authors who have had papers published in LRTS to deposit their works in their institutional repositories that are OAI-PMH-compliant. An ALCTS long-term goal is to transition LRTS to gold OA with no embargo period. Bear in mind, however, that this requires a sustainable business model that will offset production costs and offset the loss of subscription income while also not increasing membership dues or implementing article process fees. This is particularly important as the possibility of the merger is considered.

As one of ALCTS’s editors, I also serve on the ALCTS Publications Committee. One of our goals is to solicit publications and to support authors in the process. ALCTS publishes a diverse group of resources, so there are numerous opportunities for those interested. The division also handles publicity to promote its publications. This is done through press releases, promotional flyers and handouts available at the ALA booth during ALA Midwinter and Annual, Twitter and Facebook announcements, and advertisements in prominent publications.

This leads me to preview for you the contents of this issue of LRTS:

• Juleah Swanson and Philip B. White explore the possibility of using data-driven decisions to accept gifts-in-kind. Their paper “Using the WorldCat API to Develop Data-Driven Decision-Making for Gifts-in-Kind” outlines new methods to support data-driven decisions for accepting gifts, and the authors focus on the concept of rarity and scarcity using OCLC holdings, the WorldCat API, and geospatial methods.
• “Making Beautiful Music Metadata Together” recounts how the Howard B. Waltz Music Library and the University of Colorado Boulder’s Metadata Services Department revived and completed a long-dormant retrospective conversion cataloging project for music scores and vinyl records.
• In their paper “Enhancing the Discovery of Tabletop Games,” authors Diane Robson, Catherine Sassen, Jason Thomale, and Kevin Yanowski discuss how the lack of adequate metadata can be an obstacle to discovery of collections of three-dimensional materials. They outline how librarians at their institution increased access to a large collection of tabletop games.
• Books reviews courtesy of LRTS Book Review Editor Elyssa Gould for your professional reading.