EDITORIAL 

by Noreen Blake and J�anne Locke 

To everything there is a season, and with this issue an immensely gratifying three-year involvement with Education 

Libraries comes to an end. It has been an extremely rewarding experience, and we shall miss the relationships that 
have developed with the contributors, columnists, book reviewers, editorial review board members, and others in the 
SLA Education Division. 

The Education Libraries issues are products of a working team to whom we owe a debt of gratitude. Joanne 
Locke, who held the position of co-editor in 1 994, gamely stepped in again to fill the gap created by Anne Galler's 
untimely death. Her suggestions, contributions, and guidance have been i nvaluable. Noreen Blake, who asumed the 
bulk of the responsibility as co-edi tor, has ensured continued production of quality issues on a timely schedule. 
Noreen's communication and networking skills facilitated the process for all concerned. Team member Judy Piper 
DeWolf joined the Education Libraries staff three years ago to work on the desktop publishing part of the journal. 
Every issue presented its own challenges, to which Judy capably rose. She has creatively produced an improved 
layout and has provided her successor with a sound foundation for future issues. 

Contents in Education Libraries are the product of a group of people who volunteer their input. Featured here 
are two articles that offer interesting perspectives on distance education-one from Wales, the other from Canada. Dr. 
Sue Lithgow is no stranger to these pages. Her article "Library and Information Services to Disadvantaged Users" 
appeared in Vol .  20 Nos. 112 1 996. She is joined in this issue by Open Learning Unit co-authors Clare Thomas and 
Marianne Taylor in providing us with an in-depth investigation into the evaluation procedures for a distance 
undergraduate degree program at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. The second article, authored by Canadian 
distance educators Wendy Lowe and Richard Malinski, underlines the importance of implementing unified support 
systems for the growing numbers of distance learners. 

Department column New and Forthcoming at Reference continues to provide readers with a wide variety of new 

information resources while ERIC News and Selections coupled with Resources on the Net concentrate on useful 

annotated theme-related selections. 
Readers will note a burgeoning in the Book Reviews section. Several new reviewers are introduced here, notably 

new editor Scott Walter, who takes over the helm of Education Libraries with the 200 I publications. We extend to 

Scott and his editorial members our very best wishes as they take up the torch to continue to bring you innovative 

quality information on library education and research. 

Last but not least, we draw your attention to detailed guidelines on how to contribute articles or book reviews to 

Education Libraries at the end of the Book Reviews section, page 46. These procedures will be published in each 

issue. Inquiries to the Editor are most welcome. 

E DUCATION LIBRARIES VOL. 24, Nos. 2/3