Editorial

So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish

This is my last editorial as Editor of College & Research Libraries (C&RL). My term was from 2022-2025. It has been a privilege, pleasure, and a rigorous learning experience for me to shepherd this journal. Throughout my term, I loved reading, reviewing, sharing and encouraging other colleagues’ work, and contributing to our profession’s knowledge and conversations. I’m taking this moment to reflect on my experiences as Editor. Many of you know that the phrase “So long, and thanks for all the fish,” is from science fiction writer Douglas Adams’ Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy series. It is a goodbye letter from the dolphins as they leave planet Earth. I’m borrowing it to say thank you and reflect on my past three years as C&RL Editor.

Being an editor is rewarding in supporting colleagues in their research—asking questions, giving feedback in constructive, positive ways while keeping an eye out for the big picture regarding the journal. It always involves seeking ways to improve the work processes to facilitate scholarly conversation, dialogue and exchange to encourage and promote professional growth across the profession. Throughout my term, I often imagined (and still imagine) the journal as a living entity that needs care, feeding, and continuous attention for its well-being and improvement. It takes a team of people to keep it in motion.

Thank you to all current and prospective authors, for your submissions and contributing to C&RL. Thank you to all of the C&RL Editorial Board members for their input, diverse ranges of expertise, manuscript reviews and for those who have served on small subcommittee/task forces for crafting journal policies and guidelines. Among these projects, I want to thank C&RL Editor-Designate Michelle Demeter, Editorial Board member Adrian Ho and Book Review Editor Melissa Lockaby for taking the helm for the research, writing and sharing of the C&RL Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy, and to Editorial Board members Minglu Wang and Adrian Ho for their research, survey distribution and resource sharing for C&RL’s Data Sharing recommendations. I also wish to express gratitude to Rebecca Croxton, Michelle Demeter, Amanda Folk and Teresa Schultz for their in-progress work to improve the peer review process. Thank you to ACRL staff David Free and Dawn Mueller for their steadfast support, tireless patience, and so much time.

All these people and so many more make the journal progress and the Editor’s work is one of many components that make it tick. Meeting and learning with and from so many people in activities such as article submissions, peer reviews, collaborations, policy and guideline-making projects, and multiple other ways has made it all worth it for me. Connecting colleagues with ideas, strategies, other people and new ways of thinking and approaching work helps us all feel more interconnected and strengthens the quality and meaning of what we do in our careers. This thought was my driving motivation and continues to be so in all my professional endeavors.

Throughout this past year, Michelle Demeter, C&RL’s incoming Editor, and I met frequently for training, discussion, brainstorming, writing and for so many different conversations. The dialogue and the work that happened whenever we met, I believe has benefited me just as much if not more than Michelle. A few examples of topics in our training meetings include learning the ropes of C&RL’s Open Journal Systems (OJS), sending manuscripts to reviewers for double-anonymous peer-review, reviewing comments and manuscripts to make editorial decisions and a slew of logistical work, communication and tasks. For me, it has been a space for reflecting on the work of maintaining and making changes within the journal’s internal processes, policies, staff structure, seeing gaps in which C&RL needs more transparency in its internal processes to share with authors and readers.

Just like living beings, a journal does not stop evolving and progressing until it is no longer publishing. As Editor, everything always feels (or felt) like it is consistently in progress, never finished and that it is normal to feel behind. Often, there are no clean starts and stops in the work as the submissions are ongoing and often at various stages of revisions, review or production.

I did this work out of love for my colleagues’ scholarly writing, the advancement of ideas, progression of the profession and the endless pursuit of creative, strategic approaches to academic and research librarianship. Personally, and professionally, it was a tremendous experience for growth in which I learned, made mistakes, worked with so many people and had fun. It is always the right time to encourage dialogue and scholarship in the profession to advance all our work and build community.

~ Kristen Totleben