Editorial: Consonant Actions

At its annual Midwinter meeting in January 1999, Journal of Academic Librarianship board members discussed the ramifications of Elsevier's recent acquisition of the title. The thesis of this resulting editorial is that academic librarians who talk to their faculties about transforming their scholarly communications by moving away from commercial publishers cannot concurrently serve on an Elsevier-controlled journal board. Only consonant discussions and actions can undergird the integrity and moral force needed to be effective in the academy. The rationale of those leaving the board involves a discussion of journal microenvironment, the journal macroenvironment, the contribution to librarianship, the balance between responsibilities to campus and the profession, and the endgame. JAL readers are encouraged to communicate their reactions to gstclair@andrew.cmu.edu. These comments will be posted on the home page at www.suffolk.edu/admin/sawlib/jal/jalhomep.htm.