When I was a youngster, I often heard the phrase, �The World is getting smaller.� It was a long time before I understood that I shouldn�t take it literally. At that time, it was the advent of easy and frequent international airline flights that made our World seem smaller.
Today, however, it is technology and the World Wide Web that have made our World smaller. We have the capability to have almost instantaneous communication with friends and colleagues anywhere in the World through the Internet. We can �reach out and touch someone� pretty quickly. Indeed, throughout my international travels and meetings where I�ve met with colleagues to discuss issues and trends in librarianship, I�ve come away with how much we have in common. We certainly have much more in common than differences, and we�ve stayed in touch through the Internet.
That�s why we�re making new and exciting changes, while keeping the best of the old, to World Libraries. Now, more than ever, we need to be in touch through articles from colleagues around the globe, to recognize those individuals who have pioneered international librarianship, to report on events taking place internationally, and to review professional books that are of international interest. With this issue, we have committed to publishing World Libraries online so that we can reach you quicker with more timely articles and information. We also will be making back issues available on CDs for ease in tracking important past contributions.
None of these changes would be possible without the advice and guidance of our Advisory Board, Editorial Board, Editor, Managing Editor, faculty, and students in the Internet Publishing classes here at Dominican University. We thank all of these people for their vision and leadership in making our journal even better.
We are in the midst of change, which we consider a process, so we welcome your comments and suggestions along the way. We thank all of you, as well, our faithful readers and our new readers, for your continued support.
Susan Roman is the Chair of the World Libraries Editorial Board and the Dean of the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at Dominican University in River Forest, IL, USA.
E–mail: sroman [at] dom [dot] edu
© 2005 Susan Roman