Message from the Chair of the Editorial Board

The other evening as I was watching the weather channel on television, the meteorologist gave the global weather report. Even as I learned of a storm approaching Chicago, I saw that it was balmy in Australia, snowy in the U.S. Rocky Mountains, seasonably mild in Belgium and that the Indian Subcontinent was experiencing a dry spell. As I watched the patterns of high and low pressure systems, and saw the cloud patterns take on their characteristic circular patterns, I was reminded very vividly of our common environment and our global connections. As a steward of planet earth, each of us shares responsibility for its future.

As librarians, we share a similar bond. Together, we manage the world’s information resources. We acquire and share knowledge and skills that will help our individual communities and our global community build toward a stronger, better and peaceful world.

The publication of World Libraries at Dominican University’s Graduate School of Library and Information Science (GSLIS) advances global understanding and international cooperation and collaboration. The GSLIS is fortunate to count among its faculty and senior fellows a number of internationally known scholars and teachers and frequently hosts visitors from around the world. Our students and faculty benefit from these connections, and we look forward to additional opportunities. For the majority of library and information professionals who cannot physically travel around the world, a journal whose audience and readership is international is an important way to broaden our understanding of information problems and possible solutions.

I am pleased to serve as the Chair of the Editorial Board of World Libraries and wish to express appreciation to the authors of articles in this issue and to the editors, Tze–chung Li, William Jackson and Ted Spahn. I wish also to acknowledge the addition of three new members of the Editorial Board, Barbara Herrin, Kanti Srikantaiah and Mary Wagner. We welcome your suggestions for the journal and encourage you to make it available to friends and colleagues.

Prudence Dalrymple