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Welcome to the December 2008 issue of C&RL 
News. The current era of electronic publishing 
impacts academic and research libraries in a 
myriad of ways. Scholarly research has moved 
from searching multiple volumes of paper in­
dexes and dusty bound periodicals to aggre­
gated online databases and full­text article ac­
cess. Keeping faculty and students up to date 
on journal literature has also moved from print 
title lists and reading rooms to the online world. 
Derik A. Badman and Lianne Hartman describe 
how Temple University and Gwynedd­Mercy 
College are using new technologies, such as 
RSS and Yahoo! Pipes, as tools in “Developing 
current awareness services.” 

Negotiating licensing agreements to provide 
access to electronic resources can be a daunting 
task. In this month’s Scholarly Communication 
column, “Breaking the bottleneck,” Clinton K. 
Chamberlain provides an overview of SERU, a 
new initiative to streamline the licensing process 
for both librarians and publishers. Of course the 

old ways of researching can still have value as an 
instructional tool, as Mary Murray and John Mum­
ford describe in their article “Periodical indexes on 
the edge of time.” 

The December issue of the News historically 
provides a look back at the past year through the 
ACRL Annual Report. This year is no exception. 
Beginning on page 703, the 2007­2008 Annual 
Report highlights your accomplishments as an as­
sociation over the fiscal year. We also look ahead 
to the future with a preliminary listing of ACRL 
meetings and events at the 2009 ALA Midwinter 
Meeting in Denver, January 23–28. 

Make sure to take a look at all of the other great 
articles and columns, including ideas for “greening” 
your library, Internet Resources on “African Ameri­
can cultural collections and museums,” and ways to 
extend your natural and cultural experience during 
your visit to the ACRL 14th National Conference in 
Seattle. Thanks for reading the News! 

—David Free, editor-in-chief 
dfree@ala.org 

December 2008 665 C&RL News 

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