(via David MacCaslin, CalTech University)
I’d like to make my first call for submissions, as Editor-in-Chief, for the Journal of Access Services, also known as JAS. Paul Sharpe has done a great job guiding the journal, as Editor in the previous 4 years, and I hope to continue that progress and build upon it.
As a peer-reviewer for the journal for the past 5 years, I’ve seen firsthand the great things we are doing in our field and hope to encourage more of that sharing through the journal. We have so many avenues to share our research, thoughts, and concerns and I hope JAS can be one of those opportunities for sharing just like the Access Services Conference and the Back in Circulation Again Conference. Travel funds in library budgets are not as they once were, so I hope looking at publishing in the journal will be a worthwhile alternative to conference presentations.
Finally, I’d like to mention that a goal of mine is to stretch our limits on what we consider “access services” and express that in the content for JAS. Many of you who work in an unit within access services, I’m sure can attest to the work being done in non-traditional access services areas. For instance, 3D techlabs or makerspaces or digitizing for institutional repositories are areas that access services staff have been called upon to staff or participate in the development (or, both). Just something to think about when you decide if JAS is the right journal for your article.
For more information on the submission process, go here. If you have any questions or comments, please contact me, at david@library.caltech.edu.