In a dynamic and information-rich world information retrieval (IR) research and developments are the order of the day, as can be seen from numerous books and articles that are appearing. Scholars and practitioners may note some of these in passing. Serious scholars and researchers may take a closer look. When one is overwhelmed with information and other responsibilities it is, however, often difficult to note the finer nuances and shifts in a field – apart from carrying out systematic literature reviews. It is also difficult to find time to reflect and to notice gaps in research and practice in the field.

Innovations in Information Retrieval: perspectives for theory and practice is thus a very timely reminder of the importance of the field and the impact of IR research and theory on information users and their productivity, creativity, innovation, learning and communication. It also serves as an alert to both scholars and practitioners on the issues that might easily slip by without being noticed. The contributing authors bring many issues of importance for theory and practice to the fore. My thoughts when reading the chapter manuscripts were: I need to read this a few more times to make sure I pick up all the interesting ideas for further research; I wonder what my postgraduate students doing a course on IR, information seeking and information organization would note; and I really hope that decision-makers in libraries and information services will carefully study the text to spot challenges for practice. Before elaborating on these, a few words on some of the more obvious contributions of Innovations in Information Retrieval: