by Eric Hanson

After an interruption in our quarterly production schedule, the Code4Lib Journal has returned for its 50th issue. Sadly, the pandemic has been going on long enough that a phrase like “unprecedented times” feels almost trite and clichéd as we enter the one-year anniversary of the period in which much of the world entered lockdown. Even though it feels overused, it is hard to find a better descriptor for something that has disrupted and destroyed the lives of so many across the world.

As pervasive as COVID-19 has been in all of our lives, it should come as no surprise that its influence is felt in many of the article submissions. Six of the nine articles in this issue mention COVID-19 and several focus directly on initiatives taken in response to the pandemic. While it is hard to find any silver lining in the pandemic’s devastation, it has been encouraging to see people find creative solutions to pandemic-related challenges and begin to share those solutions with the wider community.

Despite skipping our fall issue, the editorial committee was not entirely idle during the production gap. We sent out a call for editors, reviewed the applications, and selected three new editors to join the committee from a pool of many qualified candidates. This is the first issue for three new editors: Gustavo Candela from University of Alicante, Kirstien Kroeger, and Angela J.A. Kent. The editorial committee also unfortunately lost a member with Rebecca Hirsch stepping down. We are grateful for her service on the committee since Issue 37.

The Articles of Issue 50

Managing an institutional repository workflow with GitLab and a folder-based deposit system by Whitney R. Johnson-Freeman, Mark E. Phillips, and Kristy K. Phillips details the transition at the University of North Texas Libraries to a new GitLab-based workflow that was paired with an existing folder-based deposit workflow.

Customizing Alma and Primo for Home & Locker Delivery by Christina L. Hennessey discusses the implementation of new services in response to California State University, Northridge’s physical locations becoming inaccessible to patrons.

GaNCH: Using Linked Open Data for Georgia’s Natural, Cultural and Historic Organizations’ Disaster Response by Cliff Landis Christine Wiseman, Allyson F. Smith, Matthew Stephens describes the efforts at the Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library to create and maintain a directory of natural, cultural, and historic organizations to aid emergency planners.

Archive This Moment D.C.: A Case Study of Participatory Collecting During COVID-19 by Julie Burns, Laura Farley, Siobhan C. Hagan, Paul Kelly, and Lisa Warwick details the effort to create a local archival collection as historical events unfolded for The People’s Archive at the DC Public Library.

Advancing ARKs in the Historical Ontology Space by Mat Kelly, Christopher B. Rauch, Jane Greenberg, Sam Grabus, Joan Boone, John Kunze and Peter M. Logan lays out the process and lessons learned in applying ARKs to a historical ontology at the Nineteenth-Century Knowledge Project.

Considered Content: a Design System for Equity, Accessibility, and Sustainability by Erinn Aspinall, Amy Drayer, Gabe Ormsby, and Jen Neveau describes the transition at University of Minnesota Libraries to a more intentional and ethically-guided method of system design.

Robustifying Links To Combat Reference Rot by Shawn Jones, Martin Klein, and Herbert Van de Sompel explains the concepts and practices underlying the Robust Links approach.

Machine Learning Based Chat Analysis by Christopher Brousseau, Justin Johnson, Curtis Thacker details the implementation of a machine learning tool to analyze chat interactions between patrons and staff at Brigham Young University’s Harold B. Lee Library.

Always Be Migrating by Elizabeth McAulay presents a different way of thinking about migration based on her experiences at University of California, Los Angeles.