Introduction from the Coordinating Editor
This is In a critical time for libraries. The constantly changing social and technological environment around libraries has changed such that , libraries have a critical need to transform as welladapt to fulfill their missions and satisfy their users. This pressure is specifically a critical time for acutely felt by those working with library technology. Digital igital services, content and tools have become a part of nearly every aspect of library operations. The “digital library” "digital library" is already here, and most of us work in one. But these digital libraries of today need to be transformed into the digital libraries of tomorrow to meet radically new needs while carrying forward libraries’ principles of quality provision of information, and bringing libraries’ tradition of collaboration to bear on new challenges. The This mission of this journal is to cover "the intersection of libraries, technology, and the future,." providing We plan to provide practical information to help the library community envision and achieve our technological future, one step at a timeto bring libraries' tradition of collaboration to bear on new challenges. We want the digital libraries of today need to be transformed into the digital libraries of tomorrow, providing quality information while meeting new and changing needs.
We are at an exciting juncture, with new opportunities to face these challenges. The same network and information technology that is responsible for foundational shifts in our environment makes possible tools to face this new environment that would have seemed a futuristic fantasy a decade ago, while the internet provides an ability to collaborate with each other over a distance on solutions, accomplishing through cooperation what limited resources make infeasible individually. Libraries are increasingly realizing that while there are risks to undertaking a transformation of our technology and our organizations, there are even greater risks to maintaining the status quo. In order to take full advantage of these possibilities, libraries are increasingly realizing they need to step up to a leading role in technological innovation towards our users’ needs, alongside our vendors.