Editorial

Reflecting on Six Years as Editor-in-Chief

Lorie Kloda

Editor-in-Chief

Associate University Librarian, Planning and Community Relations

Concordia University

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

2020 Kloda. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons‐Attribution‐Noncommercial‐Share Alike License 4.0 International (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly attributed, not used for commercial purposes, and, if transformed, the resulting work is redistributed under the same or similar license to this one.

DOI: 10.18438/eblip29894

This is my last editorial as Editor-in-Chief of Evidence Based Library and Information Practice (EBLIP). The month of December 2020 marks the end of my second term, after taking on the role six years ago. Ann Medaille will be taking over the position after serving as Associate Editor (Research Articles) for the last three years, and before that as a peer reviewer and member of the Evidence Summaries writing team. So much has happened during the previous six years for EBLIP, and yet in many ways it remains the same journal as when it was first launched.

Most recently, the journal welcomed new members of the Editorial Team. Kimberly MacKenzie, formerly the Editorial Intern, has stepped into the role of Communications Officer. Melissa Cober is the new Editorial Intern. And to fill the role of one of two Associate Editors (Research Articles) vacated by Ann is Erin Owens.

I have been affiliated with the journal since its inception 16 years ago. I began as a member of the Evidence Summary writing team, publishing my first summary in the first issue. Eventually, I was appointed to the role of Associate Editor for evidence summaries and then for research articles, before taking on the role of Editor-in-Chief. The journal has been an important part of my career over the last decade and half, not only as part of my professional identity but as a source of information and community. The evidence based library and information practice framework is embedded in my practice as a librarian, and EBLIP has and will continue to influence me.

During my tenure as Editor-in-Chief, the journal has made several significant achievements: Digital object identifiers (DOIs) were implemented for every paper, a data sharing policy was launched, and a new practice to acknowledge all contributor roles for original research is coming in volume 16. The journal published a special issue in 2016 compiling the EBL 101 column (https://journals.library.ualberta.ca/eblip/index.php/EBLIP/issue/view/1571), and to honour our 10^th anniversary, issue 11(1) included a series of commentaries from past and current members of the Editorial Team.

In 2019, the journal received its first influx of funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada Aid to Scholarly Journals award. This funding, which lasts for three years, allowed EBLIP to hire a part-time Editorial Assistant, Samantha Sheplawy. The funding will also allow the journal to undertake some exciting projects in the next couple of years.

This issue marks the completion of the first 15 years of EBLIP – that’s 61 issues (including the special issue) – an impressive run for any journal, and in particular for one that is grassroots, open access, and edited by volunteers. I leave the journal in the competent hands of Ann Medaille and the entire Editorial Team, the Evidence Summary writing team, the peer reviewers, and you, the readers. I am confident that this journal will continue for another 15 years and look forward to seeing it evolve.