Like any book you’d find on a library shelf, this book has familiar parts, like chapters and a preface; because of the digital PressBooks modality, it has other elements that may be less familiar.

Navigating the book can be done by using the menu in the upper left-hand corner of your screen or with the arrows and chapter titles that appear in a thin, black band at the bottom of the screen.  Within chapters, which appear as a single, scrolling digital page, there are additional kinds of content:

• There are mouse-over glossary terms that define the professional vocabulary used in this text; additionally, there are sometimes other links, either to ideas mentioned in text or to outside sources, for example;
• There are references to our sources and suggested reading lists that can provide you with starting points for learning more about the topics introduced in this book;
• There are short articles or sidebars, included as images of magazine pages and links to accessible text, which reflect some of the initial published dialogue about these topics;
• There are responses to the chapter that start the conversation that you will carry out with your colleagues in this course at the end of each chapter;
• There is special content, like interviews with experts; and
• There are samples of strong student work in the course that model professional learning and communication strategies while introducing additional perspectives and viewpoints.

We include links to videos and podcasts, as well as articles and books, because we believe that librarians need information that is shared via multiple media resources.

Please also be aware that this book can be exported as a PDF if needed, such as for accessibility reasons or access reasons (e.g., inconsistent internet connections).  We intend that the PDF formatted book will become part of the University of Iowa’s Institutional Repository Online (IRO).

This book began with four chapters, accompanied by front matter like this page and back matter like a glossary.  It has grown since then, thanks in part to many contributors who are willing to share their distinctive expertise.  We envision Librarians Learning Together as part of a professional conversation, and we invite you to participate in it.  Beyond your conversations with your colleagues, if you’d like to be in touch with us about what you are reading and learning, please email us —