Why publish a monograph of papers that have already appeared in journal format? There are two answers to that question: the first is that the previous publication, which constituted a special issue of the Journal of Information Science, was so well received that it was thought to be both useful and permissible to broadcast the contents to a wider readership; and second, but less importantly, those libraries that already subscribe to the Journal may find it convenient to be able to shelve the monograph separately.

The special issue was first published in 2008 to commemorate the founding of the UK Institute of Information Scientists fifty years previously. Its aim was to review a wide range of topics under the broad banner of information science, showing how the core concepts had evolved to the point where, as Jack Meadows says in his paper, ‘…information science activities developed over the past 50 years have triumphed, but information science as a separate activity may be on the wane. If so, its final epitaph might well be that of Sir Christopher Wren in St Paul's Cathedral: “If you want a monument, look around you”’. In fact, as traditional information science increasingly merges with information technology, the word ‘informatics’ is coming back into fashion and ‘information sciences’ are referred to in the plural. Institutions come and go, but even as the web-dominated information world evolves there is still much to be learnt from the past.

Information Science in Transition is an exact reproduction of the original papers, and there is only one minor correction to be made. The Editorial stated that Jason Farradane, co-founder of the Institute, was a Polish immigrant. In fact, it was his father who emigrated to England, and Jason was born in Hampstead.

I should like to record my thanks to Facet Publishing and Helen Carley for producing this publication.