I am excited to serve as the next editor of CLIR News. I thank my immediate predecessor, Kathlin Smith, who for more than two decades has worked for the newsletter’s growth and development.

The Council on Library and Information Resources first published CLIR Issues, as it was originally known, in the winter of 1998 to explain the organization’s work and to spark reasoned discussions on important topics in the GLAM professions. I was a sophomore at Johns Hopkins University back then, learning in a scholarly environment that was shifting from print and electronic. Online databases, electronic journals, and web-based catalogs were rapidly changing how students and faculty accessed information. Old buildings on campuses were being adapted, and new library spaces were accommodating technological change. Introductory courses on the Internet covered the World Wide Web, Netiquette and email services, and the rise of e-commerce.  

Some campus libraries had websites, but there wasn’t much to them. Yahoo was all the rage, with Java applets and Flash games. “Hampster Dance” emerged as the first animated GIF.  MapQuest, not Google Maps, was the go-to spot for turn-by-turn driving directions.  And students could order from Pizza Hut via PizzaNet, a simple, grayscale online hub.

In those early editions of the newsletter, I see as I click through them, fundamental questions about technology and cultural preservation were front of mind.  

Is technological change an opportunity, a threat, or both? How will digital technology transform contemporary life, scholarship, and course instruction? How will libraries and archives continue to serve the research needs of scholars and students? What methods should be used to convert archival materials to digital formats? Will digitization change the fundamental character of preservation?  How should librarians assert their proper role as guides to information and new learning experiences in the electronic environment?

Leading experts shared ideas, techniques, and their practical experience in digital conversion.  Partnerships were forged. Among the topics of conversation were public policy, financial investment, and equitable and open access to information, copyright, and intellectual property.  The newsletter published reports on preservation projects supported by CLIR, essays, and readers’ views.

By 2001, I had earned a PhD in US history and was working as an enterprise reporter for The Chronicle of Higher Education, in Washington. My reporting focused on graduate education, the adjunct crisis, race and diversity issues, scholarly research, and the rise of the digital humanities.  

At the same time, new questions emerged on the pages of CLIR News and from within the broader academic community: How do we acquire platforms for digital archives? Is the traditional dissertation going to die out and be replaced by new publication models? Should libraries continue to buy traditional books while shifting to e-books and paying for other kinds of electronic subscriptions? Is knowledge for the public good, or private gain?

As a journalist, I have long been captivated by important debates like those. As a historian, I appreciate the value of material evidence of historical and artistic significance: written texts, film and audio recordings, historic landmarks, living heritage, natural sites, and intimate aspects of culture (folklore, traditions, language).

As a college professor who teaches digital storytelling, I am driven by the urgency of documenting unheard voices and receding experiences amid global challenges, whether climate crisis or Covid-19 or war and displacement or gentrification or political turmoil. The urgency is all the greater in a rising tide of anti-intellectualism, declining literacy, divestment in higher education, and attacks on truth tellers.

It is against this backdrop that I am motivated to take CLIR News to new heights. We will continue to publish the best content and provide a forum to amplify the global work of CLIR. As editor, I will spare no effort to bring in new voices and ideas while working to embrace the values of diversity and inclusion.  

In the coming months, we will publish more perspectives on special topics from scholars and GLAM professionals. We will continue to provide readers with the most updated information on recent advances in the field.

The March/April issue will feature a new layout with more sections, visual flair, and digital stories that will provide readers with a more immersive reading experience.I am happy to hear from you concerning articles, perspectives, highlights, and reports. And I thank the readers and contributors for your invaluable support. I can be reached at spatton@clir.org.