As this is my first posting as President of ACRL-WA, it seems as though I should be writing to you of new beginnings. But with the coming of the rain and shorter days of autumn, I find my thoughts turning more towards the harvest, and reflecting on the year that has passed.

In looking back the way we’ve come, there is always the wistfulness of wondering how another path might have been different. To quote Robert Frost:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood…
…Then took the other, just as fair…

Presented with different possible models for what the library is and will become, we have had to make choices: print and/or electronic resources; library as place versus anytime anyplace access; how to spend our dwindling resources. To proceed down our chosen path, we have had to forsake others.

Some of our choices resulted in permanent change. The last of the old wooden card catalogs from UW’s Suzzallo Library were sold this year as surplus; many of our journals now are available electronic only; computers have become as ubiquitous to our desktops as a pencil once was; models of publishing and dissemination of information are changing almost daily.

The path we have chosen has led to challenges we may not have anticipated, in information literacy, assessment, technology, diversity, and in open access and scholarly communication.

The recent ACRL-NW conference in Menucha focused on open access and scholarly communication, and highlighted cooperative endeavors such as D-Space institutional repositories and ACRL’s support of the NIH Open Access Initiative. Keynote speaker Betsy Wilson addressed scholarly publishing, giving us an historical overview, and discussed emerging trends and recent developments. The membership explored the challenges facing all of us, and shared innovative solutions.

Although we may be wistful about the past, wonder about the path we did not travel and where it might have taken us, we probably now would not want to go back in order to find out.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back…

The direction in which libraries are going is interesting and inspires us to produce our most creative thinking. Our task, then, is to participate fully in choosing the way in which our profession will go, and to celebrate the road we will travel as a result.

[We] shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and [we]--
[We] took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

So enjoy the shorter days, the fall colors and the coming of Thanksgiving, and try not to wonder about that other lovely path we left behind in the woods…because, to quote Robert Frost again, “these dark days of autumn rain are beautiful as days can be…”

If you would like to help shape the way we are going as a professional group by participating as a board member of ACRL-WA, we are currently seeking members to run for the positions of Member-at-Large and Vice President/President-Elect. Our immediate Past President Linda Pierce is chairing the nominating committee. Please contact her if you’re interested in running for either office at pierce@its.gonzaga.edu.

Also, I will be appointing a new Newsletter Editor after the publication of the spring 2005 issue. If you are interested in taking over from Brenda Philip, please contact me at nolan@u.washington.edu with a statement of interest and qualifications. A description of the position can be found on the ACRL-WA website.

In closing, I would like to thank the Oregon Chapter for a wonderful fall conference and extend congratulations to our scholarship winners Kristen Shuyler, a second-year student at the UW I-School, and Rachel Bridgewater, a new librarian at WSU-Vancouver. We hope the conference proved to be a positive professional experience for you both. I’d also like to extend a special thank you to our incomparable Newsletter Editor, Brenda Philip. The Newsletter Editor position is a three-year term, and Brenda has set a new standard of excellence during her tenure.

See you at Pack Forest in 2005!

Maureen Nolan, University of Washington

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