The Code4Lib Journal exists to foster community and share information among those interested in the intersection of libraries, technology, and the future.

Communication and sharing among technologists

Libraries have seized upon advances in computer technology, using computers and the Internet to offer unprecedented access to information and library resources. Ironically, the prodigious increase in tools for accessing information has left many with difficulty managing information about these tools. Projects are announced on blogs, in IRC channels, on websites, at conferences, and many other venues. It can require a research project just to find out what a tool does. Online professional/social networks help mitigate this problem, but entering into these networks can present an unnecessary obstacle to the uninitiated.

The Code4Lib Journal (C4LJ) will provide an access point for people looking to learn more about these tools, about approaches and solutions to real-world problems, and about possibilities for building on the work of others, so that the wheel need only be invented once, and can then be cooperatively improved by all.

Communication with the larger library community

As librarians and information workers develop new standards and processes to address changing technologies, it is imperative that those developing and maintaining those technologies communicate with the standards-makers and the wider communities. Emerging standards should be developed with an eye towards the capabilities of current technologies, and technologies should be developed with an eye towards the requirements of librarians, libraries, and their users. C4LJ will support communication between these communities, such that they augment rather than inhibit each other.

By communicating both the problems and possibilities of current and future systems to the wider library community, C4LJ aims to help engender collective understanding and the necessary support for improving library technology and digital services.