Introduction: The Many Facets of Clifford Lynch

lifford Lynch (Cliff) has been a pioneer in the library and information technology worlds.His keen skills of observation and prescient ability to identify emerging technology issues affecting higher education are legendary.His impact has been profound through his work on high performance networking and the MELVYL online catalog in the University of California system and as executive director of the Coalition for Networked Information (CNI), a joint program of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) and EDUCAUSE.Cliff's thought leadership, encyclopedic knowledge, and integrative outlook have made him a sought-after conference speaker.While he can delve into the most technical issues in great detail, he also can communicate those complex issues to a broad audience in terms they can understand.He is particularly well-known among professional colleagues for his talks at the end of conferences, eloquently and cogently summarizing the salient issues that emerged from days of meetings.