From the Editor
Barry Trott, Editor, RUSQ
Some Belated "Thank Yous"
Correspondence for Reference & User Services Quarterly should be addressed to Editor Barry Trott, Williamsburg Regional Library, 7770 Croaker Rd., Williamsburg, VA, 23188; email: btrott@wrl.org.
One of the things that always strikes me about the library profession is the willingness with which librarians share ideas, time, and resources with each other and with the broader library profession. Unlike some other professions, there is very little territoriality seen in the library world. Rather, librarians seek ways to share their thoughts and practice so that others may build on those pieces to improve the services that we offer to users. This is particularly true of RUSQ, which would not be the journal that it is without the contributions of a wide range of people. I think that it is important to take some time here to express gratitude for the assistance that I receive from my colleagues as I put the journal together.
First, I would like to thank the members of the RUSQ editorial board. In addition to consulting on issues and ideas for keeping RUSQ relevant to readers and to the library profession, the editorial board members are also the first set of peer-reviewers. Board members read and comment on manuscript submissions, make suggestions and edits to improve articles, and recommend a publication decision to the editor. The quality of articles in the journal is a reflection of their careful work. RUSQ Board members are Jenny S. Bossaller, PhD, Assistant Professor of Library and Information Science, University of Missouri; Heidi L. M. Jacobs, Information Literacy Librarian, University of Windsor; Kate Kosturski, Institutional Participation Coordinator, United Kingdom and Northern Europe, JSTOR/Portico; Scott Seaman, Dean of Libraries, Ohio University; Carol Singer, Professor, Library Teaching and Learning Department, Bowling Green State University; Nicolette Sosulski, Business Librarian, Portage District Library; Laurel Tarulli, Blogger and Part-time Faculty, School of Information Management, Dalhousie University; David A. Tyckoson, Associate Dean, Henry Madden Library, California State University, Fresno; Chiang A. Wang, Adult Service Manager, Queens Library at Flushing; and Neal Wyatt, PhD.
In addition to the RUSQ board, I rely on additional reviewers to fill in when needed, helping review articles with a particular focus or specialization. The following individuals generously have given of their time to assist with the peer review process: Karen Antell, Chris Avery, Bobray Bordelon, Susan Burke, Julie Elliott, Loida Garcia-Febo, Jennifer Gilley, Roma Harris, Daniel Hickey, Ben Keele, Bob Kieft, Elizabeth Kline, Bonnie Osif, Mary Popp, Carolyn Radcliff, Deborah Ryszka, Melissa Scanlan, Ruth Smith, Karen Sobel, Christina Thompson, Tammy Voelker, Beth Woodard, and Diane Zabel.
I would also like to thank our column and review editors, who continually seek out interesting, useful, and challenging pieces to publish in RUSQ. The columns are a constant source of positive comments about the journal, and their efforts to recruit authors, edit columns, and keep things on schedule are essential to the success of the journal. Our column editors are Aimee Graham, Eric Phetteplace, Kelly Myer Polacek, Marianne Ryan, and Laurel Tarulli. Review editors are Karen Antell and Tammy Eschedor Voelker.
Speaking of columns, I wanted to take a moment to say a sort of farewell to Karen Antell and Molly Strothmann who have edited the "Taking Issues" column for the past two and a half volumes of RUSQ. Karen and Molly have brought thoughtful pieces to our readers, and I was sorry that other responsibilities necessitated their giving up this column. While the column will be missed, I am happy to report that Karen will be staying on as review editor, and that Molly will be working with me to develop a new review column for electronic sources to debut later this year. I am also delight to welcome two new columnists to the RUSQ team, Nicole Eva and Erin Shea. Nicole and Erin will be co-editing a new column on marketing reference and user services in both academic and public libraries. Nicole is a librarian at the University of Lethbridge in Lethbridge, Alberta where she is subject liaison with the Faculty of Management and Department of Economics. Erin is branch supervisor for two branches of the Ferguson Library System in Stamford, Connecticut. I am excited about adding a column on marketing, as it is an essential piece in the continued relevance of reference and user services. Their introductory piece in this issue outlines their ideas for this new column.
Putting out RUSQ would not be possible without the behind the scenes work of folks at the RUSA office and at ALA Publishing. Their hard work in producing the journal, ensuring ongoing funding, and publicizing it to RUSA members, keep RUSQ afloat. So, thanks to Tim Clifford at ALA Publishing, Susan Hornung, RUSA executive director, and Marianne Braverman, Andrea Hill, Leighann Wood in the RUSA office for all of their work on RUSQ.
It is also important to remember and to thank all those people who have submitted articles to RUSQ: while we cannot publish every one, we do read all submissions carefully and appreciate the thought and effort that writers have put into their articles. This willingness to share ideas and information is a core value of librarianship, and one that keeps RUSQ valuable to our readers.
By the time this piece appears it will be almost 2015. I hope that the new year brings our readers and the library profession good tidings, and that all of you will continue to find something in RUSQ to inspire your work, challenge your thinking, and offer solutions to perplexing problems. I would be delighted to hear from you regarding any thoughts that you have about the journal and ways that it could be made more valuable to RUSA members and the library profession.