Quo Jolis?: The aims of the
Journal of Librarianship and Information Science

After twenty-one years, the Journal of Librarianship has undergone some far-reaching changes. Henceforth it will be the Journal of Librarianship and Information Science (JOLIS), with a new publisher, format, and design. Together with the other Library Association journals, (except of course the Library Association Record) JOLIS has been acquired by Bowker-Saur, and in future will have to live or die as a commercial venture. This is nothing new however, for the journal has always paid for itself, and over the years has built up a substantial readership both in Britain and overseas.

In addition there are some less obvious changes, such as the appointment of an editor, (David Stoker) and a reviews editor (Edward Dudley). Previously all editorial decisions were taken by the J.O.L. Editorial Board. There is also a new citation style and guidelines for authors. All links with the Library Association are not being severed however; that organisation will continue to have some influence on the editorial direction of their former publication through appointments to an editorial advisory board.

Above all, the editor and publishers hope that over the next few years JOLIS will be able to develop its area of interest, and, of course, expand the already healthy circulation figures. We would like to encourage a wider range of contributions on both traditional and newly developing topics within the worlds of library and information science. However, all concerned with the journal are determined that this will not be at the expense of sacrificing the high standards of scholarship that have been maintained to date.

The transfer of responsibilities took place in September 1990, with the winding up of the J.O.L. Editorial Board and the first meeting of its successor. The planning of the new journal then began in earnest. At this preliminary meeting Edward Dudley suggested (only half in jest) that JOLIS should refuse to publish any article which included the word "whither" in its title. This will perhaps explain (although not excuse) the title of my first editorial. Yet the first issue of the re-launched journal is the ideal place to set out the aims of the publication, and the direction in which the publishers and editorial board wish to take it. I hope Edward will therefore forgive me this one "whither" article. At the same time it would be wrong not to begin by spending some time in recognising the considerable achievements of the journal to date.

The Journal of Librarianship 1969-1990

If there is one person who should take the credit for the establishment of the Library Association's quarterly academic journal, that person is Edward Dudley, who was then the recently appointed editor of the L.A. Record. In October 1967, he presented a report to the Association's Publications Committee suggesting that there was sufficient research, and other work of an academic standard, being undertaken in the fields of library and information science to warrant publication of a quarterly journal. Mr Dudley obtained preliminary agreement to his proposal, subject to the new journal being able to pay its own way. Thus he was empowered to obtain estimates of the likely cost and proceed with the preparations.

There had been previous suggestions and discussions about such a journal in the late nineteen forties and early fifties, but these had always come to nothing. However, the nineteen sixties, saw a substantial growth and investment in libraries of all kinds in the United Kingdom. It was also during this decade that there were parallel developments in education and training in librarianship and information work, to cope with the post-war population explosion. Thus the number of library schools increased. At the same time the effects of the enormous post-war explosion in the publication of scientific and technical literature began to be apparent, and the Office for Scientific and Technical Information began to fund research projects in this area.

Thus in 1967 there were relatively few outlets for serious work in these rapidly developing fields of scholarship. Aslib's Journal of Documentation, and Program, were perhaps the most distinguished of these, but they did not address themselves to the whole area of library information work. They had each rather established a clear territory for themselves. Thus the L.A. Publications Committee took the view that the subject area was sufficiently wide for another journal to thrive without seriously encroaching on the existing titles.

Throughout 1968 Mr Dudley and the first members of the editorial board began the necessary preparations to launch their new journal in January 1969. A printer was appointed, and the design for the new journal was commissioned from the typographer Margaret Sweeney. At the same time contributions were sought from likely authors, and other items were considered which had been too long for inclusion in the L.A. Record. In February 1968, an editorial in that journal announced the new title and outlined its purpose and scope. This gave rise to some criticism of the new journal even before it the first issue was published, with some members feeling that it would undermine the earlier journal.

The first issue duly appeared with articles by (among others) Maurice Line, Douglas Foskett, and Thomas Kelly. By the end of the first year, scholarly articles on a wide range of topics had appeared, including library history, services to ethnic minorities, user studies, inter-library co-operation, library management, library automation, aspects of literacy, and learned publishing. Over the next few years papers from most of the major figures in British librarianship of the sixties and seventies were published, and also many famous names from overseas.

From the beginning, there have been a number of articles which, in retrospect, can be seen to have had a profound influence on subsequent practice or scholarship. Any choice of such articles will inevitably be invidious, but nevertheless I should like to mention a few from the early years of the Journal of Librarianship. Claire Lambert's article on library provision for ethnic minorities in Britain, from 1969, was the first serious treatments of this issue in the professional press. Julian Robert's article 'Towards a short-title catalogue of English eighteenth century books', raised a topic which had previously been discussed informally by members of the Bibliographical Society, but he floated the idea of a machine-readable catalogue. This article bore fruit as the Eighteenth Century Short-title catalogue, which has since revolutionised eighteenth century historical and literary studies. Similarly Willy Guttsman's article on subject specialisation in University libraries from 197 , is still frequently cited as being one of the first serious considerations of organisational structures and staff management in British academic libraries.

There have of course been many other articles since the early 1970s which have fallen into this category, too many to mention in this editorial. Equally, there is no doubt that in a few years time it will be possible to identify some of the more recent contributions, as having had a similar impact. (To give one recent example, Andy Large's, article on evaluating online services and CD-ROM products, from April 1989, will shortly be re-appearing in a U.S. text book.)

By the end of 1990 more than three hundred and sixty full-length papers had been published in J.O.L., and certain patterns in the coverage were readily apparent. These may be summarised as follows:-

Table 1. - Coverage by Type of Library

Academic Libraries	23.5%
Public Libraries	17.8%
National Libraries	5.2%
Special Libraries	2.9%
Private Libraries	0.3%
Library Associations	0.9%
Items unrelated to any type	49.4%

Table 2. - Coverage by Area

U.K. Library practice	51.1%
Africa	5.1%
Western Europe (excluding U.K)	3.7%
Eastern Europe	0.9%
Americas	1.7%
Comparisons between two or more countries	2.6%
International	1.4%
Items not attributable to one area	33.5%

It is not quite so easy to define the subject coverage of the journal to date. Approximately 70% of the articles published to date may however be assigned to six rather crude subject areas. The first of these is the administration of library collections (representing about 21% of all articles. This category would include both special and general collections, acquisitions, the problems of cataloguing and classification. The second main category is library and information services (including reference & information services, services to special groups, online services etc) and representing about 14.5% of coverage. Aspects of library management (including planning, financial management, personnel etc.) would likewise account for 10.2%. The three remaining categories are: Education and research in Library and Information Science (8.6%), User studies (8.1%) and Library History (7.1%). The remaining 30.5% cover such a wide range of topics that any attempt at classification would not be very meaningful.

In general, it can be seen that the Journal of Librarianship, has remained essentially a general library journal, primarily reflecting U.K. academic and public library practice, although with a potential interest to all parts of the profession. During the period of its existence, more than a dozen specialist quarterly British academic journals have been established in fields which impinge upon the area of interest of the Journal of Librarianship. There are now many more specialist outlets for good quality research work, and although this additional competition does not appear to have affected the circulation, it is noticeable that there is now a degree of competition to publish the best work.

In an age of increasing specialisation and fragmentation, the Journal of Librarianship has however remained the one forum where the specialist may reach a large and informed generalist audience. The one place where an article on a pioneer of public libraries may sit happily next to another on hypertext, or some aspect of management policy, or international and comparative librarianship. The one feature that all the contributions will have had in common is that they are of a high standard of scholarship.

The Journal of Librarianship and Information Science

The Editorial board, the editor, and the new publishers of JOLIS feel that there is, and will be, a continuing need for a good general academic journal covering virtually all aspects of librarianship and information science. We will therefore be happy to consider contributions on virtually all subjects which appear within Library and Information Science courses, or relate either directly or indirectly to the operation of libraries and information services. The two exceptions would be historical bibliography at one extreme, and highly theoretical or statistical papers on information theory or bibliometrics at the other (since there are already plenty of other good homes for such articles). The aim is to produce a journal which is of equal relevance to practitioners and academics, and to encourage contributions from these groups.

JOLIS will continue to seek to maintain the highest academic standards with all contributions having been refereed either by members of the Editorial Board, or specialists in the subjects they cover. As editor, my main disappointment has been that this first issue has gone to press containing only articles written by academics. Good quality articles cannot be plucked from thin air, however, and academics have more time and incentive to write than working librarians. Nevertheless the latter group frequently have ideas, and above all experiences, which are not shared by academics. These are worth disseminating. JOLIS is therefore particularly keen to encourage contributions from library practitioners at all stages in their careers and in all areas of the profession. I will be happy to discuss ideas or outlines of potential contributions, and the referees are encouraged wherever possible to make suggestions and constructive criticisms which may be passed on. This applies particularly to those authors who are not used to academic writing.

It is also clear from Table 1, that the main areas where the Journal of Librarianship has failed to make much impact was in "Special Librarianship", and information management. I hope therefore to encourage contributions from these areas, and the new Editorial Advisory Board contains a number of librarians and information workers with considerable experience in this field. There will however be no quota system, and well-written and well-researched articles will always find a home, whether by academics, librarians, or students.

JOLIS will continue to be a journal primarily reflecting the problems and practice in the United Kingdom (and increasingly perhaps Western Europe). However we wish to keep an international dimension to the journal, and we will continue to publish articles from all over the world, so long as they also have a relevance to information workers outside their immediate locality. We will be interested in articles dealing with library and information issues from the third world, and also from countries of the 'Eastern bloc'. Equally, we hope that some of the many librarians and researchers on the American continent will be encouraged to write for a primarily European audience, and to that end Editorial Advisors have been appointed in both the U.S.A. and Canada.

As with the Journal of Librarianship, the editors of JOLIS will from time to time commission articles, and in particular review articles. Denis Grogan's excellent article on Dictionary publishing developed from an idea for a review article. I hope there will be many others, not merely covering the literature of the subject, but we hope also to consider such things as new bibliographic and information tools, computer applications and systems, and any major developments in the field. Suggestions for suitable topics for review articles, and offers from those qualified to undertake them, would be very welcome.

Each issue will also contain an editorial dealing with some current issue affecting the profession, in forthright, and occasionally controversial, terms. As a rule this will be the responsibility of the editor or one of the Editorial Advisors, although there will on occasions also be guest editorials, and I would always be willing to suggestions for issues that would warrant an airing.

JOLIS will not merely be a journal which extolls the benefits of information technology, but we also wish to take advantage of it wherever possible in the production process. All of the articles from this issue were supplied in a machine-readable form, that from Dr Casey being received from Dublin via electronic mail. After sub-editing, and spell-checking, these files were then forwarded to the printers (Page Brothers) and used for typesetting purposes. We would like to encourage this practice wherever possible among contributors, as the availability of text in machine readable form speeds up the editorial process, and assists us in retaining consistency between contributions.

Ideally we should like to receive one copy of each contribution as an unformatted text file on either a 5.25 or 3.5 inch IBM disk, together with a fully formatted wordprocessed copy (i.e. showing bold italic etc.). We have also coped with Apple-Mackintosh 3.5 inch disks, and files left in the editor's electronic mailbox (DAS.@.UK.AC.ABER). However, the inability to supply an article in this way should not discourage potential contributors, and will not affect the decision whether or not to publish an item. Two copies of a typed (but not handwritten) manuscript will be an acceptable alternative.

The page size and layout has also been radically changed. The new design by Robert Caira of Typographics, uses a mixture of two type faces, Palatino for the text and footnotes, and Futura for the headings. One of the main advantages of the new design is that it gives a more flexible page layout, allowing for the incorporation of statistical tables, graphs, charts, or other illustrative matter. Authors are therefore encouraged to consider these options wherever appropriate. Statistical tables may either be supplied as spreadsheet files (the editor uses Microsoft Works) or alternatively as word-processed files, so long as there is one Tab between each column and a Carriage Return at the end of each row. Tables in this format may then be copied into a spreadsheet, and used as the basis for drawing graphs.

The re-launch of the Journal of Librarianship, as JOLIS has already involved considerable the efforts by many individuals other than the editors. These include the editorial advisors, who have already been called upon to review a considerable number of papers, and have made suggestions for future possible contributors, Geraldine Turpie and Val Skelton (anyone else?) at Bowkers, xxxx our copy editor. However, the standard of any journal will ultimately be determined by the range and quality of the contributions which are submitted for consideration. I am very pleased to be able to publish three papers, together with reviews in the first issue, and look to the information professions at large for assistance in maintaining this standard.

David Stoker,

Department of Information and Library Studies, University College of Wales, Aberystwyth.

November 1989