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Bulletin, October/November 2010


Bulletin Editor, Irene TravisEditor's Desktop

Irene L. Travis, Editor

Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science and Technology

Bulletin@asis.org

Monitoring Bulletin online usage statistics is one of my intermittent activities as editor of the Bulletin. Over the years, I have noted the continuing popularity of the February 1996 issue on information brokers (http://www.asis.org/Bulletin/Feb-95/index.html). So with the assistance of executive director Richard Hill we were able to get a new and updated special section on this topic, which is to say, on independent information professionals (IIPs), as our self-employed colleagues now prefer to be known. Many IIPs belong to the Association of Independent Information Professionals, whose members have supplied the articles in this issue and some that will appear in February/March 2011. Crystal Sharp, our AIIP guest editor, has done an outstanding job planning and producing the section. 

The articles fall into three parts, two of which appear here. As Crystal explains in more detail in her introduction, they cover the type and value of research that IIPs perform for clients and the other services, such as consulting, that many IIPs offer. The final part, to be published in February/March 2011, discusses “Making It Work as an IIP.” However, all the articles are strongly focused on how IIPs add value for clients and run their businesses, and much of their advice is applicable to anyone freelancing in the information business, whether we come from a background of reference librarianship, as many IIPs do, or are information architects, business consultants or knowledge management specialists or engaged in other aspects of the information professions. I hope many readers will find these shared experiences timely and helpful.

In other things of note in the issue Thom Haller, our associate editor for information architecture, uses his column to discuss the difference between wanting or needing an architecture and wanting or needing a product. Outgoing president Gary Marchionini, in his last President’s Page for the Bulletin, reviews the accomplishments of the Society this year and the areas that are still challenging. Also, we carry news on ASIS&T participation in Europe. Emil Levine and Tefko Saracevic provide an overview in text and photos of the LIDA (Libraries in the Digital Age) conferences, which have been held yearly in Croatia since 2000, have close ties to ASIS&T and have honored many ASIS&T members. If you participate in other ASIS&T activities outside the United States, we welcome your reports.