A number of years have elapsed since publication of the last essay of this sort, so this one will cover three years of historical writings on American librarianship, 2003–5, instead of the usual two. We will have to see whether this new method becomes the norm or will ultimately be considered an aberration from the traditional approach. I do know that several years ago Donald G. Davis, Jr., and Michael Harris covered three years (1971–73) in their essay, and we all survived the experience.

In preparing this essay I discovered that when another year of coverage is added the volume of writings to cover also grows impressively. A conservative estimate places the number of books and articles published in the years under review at more than two hundred items. Needless to say, I will be selective and not review each and every item; otherwise, this essay would needlessly tax the patience of both the reader and the author!