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ITAL Releases 2021 Annual Report

ITAL Releases 2021 Annual Report

This report reflects activities around Information Technology and Libraries (ITAL) during the calendar year 2021. The ITAL Editorial Board spent a significant amount of time this past calendar year reflecting on the journal’s and the Board’s role in fostering a more diverse and inclusive environment for our authors and our readers. We approached all planning and strategic activities with this lens in mind.

In thinking about expanding the reviewer pool, creating a diverse pool of reviewers (by institution, geography, and role in the home institution) was essential. As we explored revisions to our journal’s scope and mission statements, we kept a diverse audience of readers and authors in mind. And as we progressed through the selection process for the Assistant Editor, we kept in mind that the person filling this role would play a key role in communicating with potential authors, selecting content for publication, and working with authors through the editorial process.

The core activity of the Editor and the Editorial Board is soliciting, reviewing and publishing articles. During the past calendar year, ITAL received 134 articles, of which 38 have been accepted after review and 13 have so far been published. That results in a 22% acceptance rate over the past calendar year, and 27% for the past six calendar years.

Top-read Articles Published in 2021
These are the top ten most-read articles published in volume 40 (2021). Note that no articles
published in December (the most recent issue of the year) appear in this list.

  1. The Impact of COVID-19 on the Use of Academic Library Resources, by Ruth Sara
    Connell, Lisa Wallis, and David Comeaux (2027 downloads). Published in Vol 40 No 2
    (2021).
  1. The Fourth Industrial Revolution, by Brady Lund (1254 downloads). Published in Vol 40
    No 1 (2021).
  1. Beyond VIAF, by Carlo Bianchini, Stefano Bargioni, and Camillo Carlo Pellizzari di San
    Girolamo (898 downloads). Published in Vol 40 No 2 (2021).
  1. Emergency Remote Library Instruction and Tech Tools, by Kathia Ibacache, Amanda
    Rybin Koob, and Eric Vance (781 downloads). Published in Vol 40 No 2 (2021).
  1. Web Content Strategy in Practice within Academic Libraries, by Courtney McDonald and
    Heidi Burkhardt (744 downloads). Published in Vol 40 No 1 (2021).
  1. Algorithmic Literacy and the Role for Libraries, by Michael Ridley and Danica
    Pawlick-Potts (1494 downloads). Published in Vol 40 No 2 (2021).
  1. Mitigating Bias in Metadata, by Juliet Hardesty and Allison Nolan (585 downloads).
    Published in Vol 40 No 3 (2021).
  1. Solving SEO Issues in DSpace-based Digital Repositories, by Matus Formanek (578
    downloads). Published in Vol 40 No 1 (2021).
  1. Utilizing Technology to Support and Extend Access to Students and Job Seekers during
    the Pandemic    , by Daniel Berra (524 downloads). Published in Vol 40 No 1 (2021).
  1. Expanding and Improving Our Library’s Virtual Chat Service, by Parker Fruehan and
    Diana Hellyar (482 downloads). Published Vol 40 No 3 (2021).

Top-read Articles Overall
These are the ten most-read articles in 2021, regardless of publication date. Only one of this year’s top ten was in last year’s list.

  1. The Impact of COVID-19 on the Use of Academic Library Resources, by Ruth Sara
    Connell, Lisa Wallis, and David Comeaux (2027 downloads). Published in Vol 40 No 2
    (2021).
  1. Public Libraries Respond to the COVID-19 Pandemic, Creating a New Service Model, by Jon Goddard (1795 downloads). Published in Vol. 39, No. 4 (2020). Last year’s rank: Not ranked.
  1. Challenges and Strategies for Educational Virtual Reality, by Matt Cook, Zack Lischer-Katz, Nathan Hall, Juliet Hardesty, Jennifer Johnson, Robert McDonald, and Tara Carlisle (1751 downloads). Published in Vol. 38, No. 4 (2018). Last year’s rank: Not ranked.
  1. Management Planning for Library Systems Development, by Fred L. Bellomy (1551 downloads). Published in Vol 2, No. 4 of the Journal of Library Automation (1969). Last year’s rank: Not ranked.
  1. Near-field Communication (NFC), by Neeraj Kumar Singh (1386 downloads). Published in Vol. 39, No. 2 (2020). Last year’s rank: Not ranked.
  1. The Fourth Industrial Revolution, by Brady Lund (1254 downloads). Published in Vol. 40, No. 1 (2021). Last year’s rank: Not ranked.
  1. An Evidence-Based Review of Academic Web Search Engines, 2014-2016: Implications for Librarians’ Practice and Research Agenda, by Jody Condit Fagan (1120 downloads). Published in Vol 36, No. 2 (2016). Last year’s rank: Not ranked.
  1. Alexa, Are You Listening?, by Miriam Sweeney and Emma Davis (1114 downloads). Published in Vol 39, No. 4 (2020). Last year’s rank: Not ranked.
  1. Virtual Reality: A Survey of Use at an Academic Library, by Megan Frost, Michael C. Goates, Sarah Cheng, and Jed Johnston (1085 downloads). Published in Vol. 39, No. 1 (2020). Last year’s rank: Not ranked.
  1. Rural Public Libraries and Digital Inclusion: Issues and Challenges, by Brian Real, John Carlo Bertot, and Paul T. Jaeger (1055 downloads). Published in Vol. 33, No. 1 (2013). Last year’s rank: 1.

Submitted by ITAL Editor Ken Varnum on January 31, 2022.