The volume 42 did not start out to be three themed issues, but one of the joys of editing is that things rarely work precisely to plan. And so we find the last issue in the volume is a bit shorter than usual. We are featuring only 4 articles, all were lightning talks at the Art Libraries Conference in Florence in October 2016. This departure from full-length articles is an experiment: it reflects how conferences have changed in recent years and it gives authors, perhaps with less experience writing for publication, the opportunity to submit a shorter piece and still have it regarded as worthy of readers' interest. I think of it as a ‘poster session’ issue.
It so happens that none of our contributors to this issue is a newcomer to professional writing, having submitted to the ALJ in the past and/or to the library literature of Italy, Switzerland, North America and beyond. Each is describing a project or aspect of their day-to-day work that forms the bread and butter of our professional lives and is often not given its fair due of recognition. And yet in their reflections there is both practical decision-making and philosophical theory.
Margaret D'Ambrosio describes how the IRIS Consortium's cautious adoption of RDA mirrors library decision-making throughout Italy. Tabea Lurk describes how her Mediathek in Basel both encompasses the landscape it inhabits and reflects it through to the presentation of its resources, both physical and digital. Jonathan Franklin reveals the collecting habits of famous connoisseur and first Director of the National Gallery in London, Charles Eastlake, through cataloguing his library. And finally we return to Florence, where Carla Basagni outlines the Uffizi Prints & Drawings Library's outreach programme with some of the city's secondary school students.
In further experimentation, 2018 will see our Reviews Editor Kraig Binkowski step out from behind the reviews, to take up a new role as Associate Editor and we will be seeking another to join the editorial team. I remain editor-in-chief, with a co-ordinating and administrative role overseeing the annual publishing plan. Gustavo Grandal Montero continues as deputy, editing a themed issue and ensuring our Twitter presence remains current. We will each edit one issue per volume and, in broadening our editorial base, we hope to reflect an even wider range of professional practice in the diverse world of art librarianship and documentation.
