Open Letter to Haworth Press

Dear Haworth,


I am embarrassed for you. I am embarrassed on behalf of everyone who has ever published in Journal of Access Services and anyone who has ever had an article rejected by you. To publish an entire issue written by the Annoyed Librarian - an anonymous, acidic persona whose main intent is not to improve library and information science but to take glee in its struggles - is a slap in the face to those of us in the profession and those we serve. I will not be linking to the issue nor to the AL's blog. I will not reward you, though you might appreciate the publicity of this post. You have just admitted that you are not a scholarly journal to be taken seriously. And as someone moving back over to Access after a long stint away, I'll be certain to send my work to the Journal of Library Administration, the Journal of Academic Librarianship, or hell, even to that cute little kid 'zine Highlights before I let my professional work be associated with you. Nice stunt, hope it serves you well.


No Love,


Colleen S. Harris, The Guardienne

Comments

Anna said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
8:03 PM
Allison said…
Highlights is a quality publication!
11:17 AM
Joe said…
Colleen,

Thanks for putting that so eloquently. It is bad enough for AL to be paid by Library Journal to spew hateful words towards its target audience, but for Haworth Press to allow this blasphemy to fill a (once) scholarly journal shows their own open contempt for our profession. I suppose they will be raising the price next year as an apology.
3:13 PM
J said…
I think the editors of the journal need to be removed. It has ceased to be a scholarly journal when the author of the articles included can't be verified, authenticated, or identified. Ridiculous!!! I don't care if you want to have an anonymous blog, but the fact that respected journals and other publications are giving credence to this character makes all of us in the profession look like a bunch of loons.
2:14 PM
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