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This work examines the country house libraries of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Hitherto this is an area largely overlooked both in terms of librarianship and social history. The first part of the thesis examines the historical development of book collections within country houses. In addition to pure historical bibliography it also examines the two essentials behind their development, the people and the houses. The work goes on to focus on the current situation within the United Kingdom. By means of a near comprehensive survey of extant collections, the current picture is identified in terms of the types of material, the collectors, the condition of material, the methods of preservation and, significantly, the willingness of owners to concede access. All of these issues are fundamental components in the study and have been investigated further in order to enable the attainment of the final objective, the creation of a national heritage policy for these collections. This final element focuses particularly on methods of preservation, the potential for funding and the question of access to collections. The policy relies on evidence acquired at the earlier stages of the research as well as that acquired during a second survey dealing predominantly with preservation, access and funding. This is coupled with the identification of current best practice within the library preservation field. Extensive use has been made of contact with owners and administrators of collections by means of the surveys, interviews, observational visits and correspondence. In addition, heritage organisations and structures within the United Kingdom have been analysed, with emphasis on those with direct impact on the country house. This research is fundamentally about two things: the historical development of collections and the approaches likely to ensure their survival.

In late-eighteenth-century Dublin, options were limited for an expanding reading public who wished to consult quality printed works. During this period of the Anglican Ascendancy, membership to institutional libraries or participation in associational activities was largely limited to elites and those from the Established Church. The Dublin Library Society provided a public reference library service without restrictions of confession, connection, elections, or status—with admission based only on ability to pay the initial two-guinea charge (and one thereafter). Using hitherto neglected primary sources, particularly contemporary newspapers, this thesis will examine the origins of the Dublin Library, public reaction towards it, and its position promoting cultural patriotism and inclusivity in public library service provision in late-eighteenth-century Dublin. Also, a detailed prosopographical analysis of the library’s founding subscribers, specifically for their occupational backgrounds and associational activities, will show that the library represented a cross-section of Dublin’s reading public and help identify the social and cultural milieu in the capital. Through a combination of historical and prosopographical research on the library and its members, this study aims to contribute to both library history and the wider fields of social, cultural, and urban history of Dublin. The library was founded amidst a backdrop of Irish patriotism evidenced by the achievement of legislative independence from Britain. Dubliners expressed their patriotism through participation in clubs and societies that promoted Irish cultural, commercial, political, and social improvement and self-sufficiency. Further Enlightenment ideals of toleration and intellectual cultivation were embodied in these associations. By the end of this examination, the Dublin Library Society will be regarded not only as significant in the expansion of Dublin’s literary public sphere, but also a noteworthy location of the Irish Enlightenment in the capital.

This study aimed to identify the influences on the development and sustainability of education for librarianship and information management. It analysed the factors that contribute to the development of education for librarianship and information management, drawing on theories of change management and the transfer of innovation, and the contextual factors suggested by theories of comparative librarianship. The investigation of these factors focused on a case study of developments in Iraq up to 2003. It examined education for librarianship and information management against the background of the creation of the country’s library and information services, and the broader context of its national, economic, and social development. It also considered trends in international perspectives on library development, and the advice and assistance offered to Iraq. To provide a benchmark for developments in Iraq, it contrasted developments there with brief summaries of parallel developments in other Arab countries and in the cognate field of education for archives and records management in Iraq. It drew evidence from the published literature, previously unexplored archival material, and discussions with some of the participants. From an evaluation of the evidence, the study developed models of the value chain in developing education in the field, illustrating the complex interactions that need to be considered. These represent the generic factors that appear critical to the sustainable development of education for librarianship and information management not only in developing countries but also in countries that are seeking to strengthen the foundations of education in this field. The conclusions also pointed to a number of specific issues that fostered or hindered development in Iraq, including trends in international assistance. The study calls for further work including investigating the impact of traditional and cultural attitudes on the development of education in the field, and understanding of how future generations of LIS professionals in Iraq could develop as change agents.

This research examines the presence of and reasons for local studies resources in the libraries and learning centres of further and higher education institutions in the United Kingdom. The study’s aims were to investigate the content and scope of local collections in academic libraries, to examine the impact these collections have on teaching, learning and research within the institutions, and to compile an inventory of local resources in college and university libraries. Using an approach combining basic- and applied research, the study represents the most comprehensive investigation of local resources in academic libraries so far. Both quantitative and qualitative data was collected by way of two survey questionnaires, plus observational visits to a small number of libraries, learning centres and Special Collections departments. In addition, interviews were conducted with local studies’ experts, collection managers, educators, and students. Secondary literature focusing principally on both local studies and academic libraries was also consulted. The study found that, while the literature, as well as ‘tradition’ tends to equate local studies and its resources with the public library, local material could be found in a majority of respondents’ collections. It is suggested that the relative neglect afforded local collections outside of the public sector is unwarranted, particularly when considering the potential for wider access to material that a more inclusive approach to local resources might allow for. The research also noted that the term ‘local’, as defined by the geographical scope of the material held in different collections, is open to significantly diverse interpretations, ranging from the college or university campus itself to one or more constituent countries (for instance, England and Wales). While some authors have addressed the complexity of defining ‘local’, the issue remains largely underexamined in the literature, where the term can frequently be based on little more than a tacit understanding of what ‘local’ means in any given context.

The massive expansion of electronic resources has been identified as one of the major drivers behind the ‘explosion’ in the popularity of family history, which bring ease, convenience and accessibility to some parts of the research process. Amongst this expanse of easily-accessible raw materials, online local studies materials (recording both historical and contemporary aspects of a community) can add real context and value to researchers’ findings and experience; turning a genealogy into a family history. However, the vast majority of these do not appear visible to online family history researchers. Through three central foci (users, e-family history resources, and Local Studies Collections), this research investigates these resources and collections from the perspective of users, to establish how to make the added value of the local studies collections more visible and encourage increased engagement for those who cannot visit collections in person. Specific evaluative criteria for e-family history resources are presented, contributing to practitioners’ awareness and understanding of their nature; in turn helping maintain their service quality to researchers. Using a hybrid (primarily ethnographic) research approach, the study also examines the online research behaviour of family historians, identifying a taxonomy of actions (seeking of genealogical facts, local or social history; communicating with other researchers or resources; locating resources or instructive information; managing own information), strategies (search modifications and incorporation of background knowledge) and outcomes (outcome; direction (projected and actual)). From these categories, a model of Family Historians’ online information seeking has been developed. Researchers have both informational and affective needs, and are highly emotionally attached to the research process. Users universally used Ancestry, FamilySearch, ScotlandsPeople, and Genes Reunited far more than other sites, seeking out quality informational content and unique records, which must be successful for researchers. Google was a major method of access to these. Very few participants were preaware of ‘e-local studies’ websites, and were surprised by the variations in quality, inconsistencies in terminology and navigation, and invisibility of quality content. Despite a lack of ease of use, the content present on e-local studies sites and their usefulness and value had been demonstrated to researchers. This suggests significant demand for local information of this kind online where it is available and made known.

This thesis develops a model of Web information seeking behaviour of postgraduate students with a specific focus on Web search engines' use. It extends Marchionini's eight stage model of information seeking, geared towards electronic environments, to holistically encompass the physical, cognitive, affective and social dimensions of Web users' behaviour. The study recognises the uniqueness of the Web environment as a vehicle for information dissemination and retrieval, drawing on the distinction between information searching and information seeking and emphasises the importance of following user-centred holistic approaches to study information seeking behaviour. It reviews the research in the field and demonstrates that there is no comprehensive model that explains the behaviour of Web users when employing search engines for information retrieval. The methods followed to develop the study are explained with a detailed analysis of the four dimensions of information seeking (physical, cognitive affective, social). Emphasis is placed on the significance of combined methods (qualitative and quantitative) and the ways in which they can enrich the examination of human behaviour. This is concluded with a discussion of methodological issues. The study is supported by an empirical investigation, which examines the relationship between interactive information retrieval using Web search engines and human information seeking processes. This investigates the influence of cognitive elements (such as learning and problem style, and creative ability) and affective characteristics (e. g. confidence, loyalty, familiarity, ease of use), as well as the role that system experience, domain knowledge and demographics play in information seeking behaviour and in user overall satisfaction with the retrieval result. The influence of these factors is analysed by identifying users' patterns of behaviour and tactics, adopted to solve specific problems. The findings of the empirical study are incorporated into an enriched information-seeking model, encompassing use of search engines, which reveals a complex interplay between physical, cognitive, affective and social elements and that none of these characteristics can be seen in isolation when attempting to explain the complex phenomenon of information seeking behaviour. Although the model is presented in a linear fashion the dynamic, reiterative and circular character of the information seeking process is explained through an emphasis on transition patterns between the different stages. The research concludes with a discussion of problems encountered by Web information seekers which provides detailed analysis of the reasons why users express satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the results of Web searching, areas in which Web search engines can be improved and issues related to the need for students to be given additional training and support are identified. These include planning and organising information, recognising different dimensions of information intents and needs, emphasising the importance of variety in Web information seeking, promoting effective formulation of queries and ranking, reducing overload of information and assisting effective selection of Web sites and critical examination of results.

This research provides an insight into the motivations and agenda of women correspondents to Aberdeen local newspapers during the period 1900-18. This was achieved by undertaking a content analysis of all printed letters to the editor identified as being by women correspondents to the Aberdeen Daily Journal and Aberdeen Free Press. Women correspondents were identified by their signatures, feminine noms de plume or the content of their letters. Whilst it is accepted that this method must of necessity have excluded some women correspondents who did not wish to reveal their gender, this research focused exclusively on correspondents who were willing to be identified as female in their correspondence to the newspapers. In this way, it was hoped to identify the issues which impelled women out of their domestic and private sphere and into the more public sphere of newspaper debate. The two Aberdeen newspapers were also well suited for this research because of their lack of editorial gatekeeping, with little censorship of letters discerned, even in wartime. However, a lack of editorial censorship did not mean that women correspondents faced no barriers to the publication of their opinions in the newspapers. Women correspondents had to overcome social conventions, including possibly the disapproval of friends and family, in order to enter the world of public debate. The research identified particular issues about which it was acceptable for women to correspond to the newspapers and particular women who were allowed to debate these issues. Middle-class women engaged in philanthropic and charitable work, especially that related to women and children or, during the First World War, the war effort, felt justified in writing to the newspapers in order to publicise such activities. Women also justified correspondence to the newspapers on certain matters by claiming that they came under woman's jurisdiction in the domestic sphere. Many women further justified their correspondence on such matters by using pen names which emphasised their domestic and maternal role, such as `Mother' or `Wife'. Such correspondence tended to be proactive rather than reactive to other material in the newspapers, which is in direct contrast to the findings of previous researchers into the motivation of newspaper correspondents. Interestingly, the research discovered that women correspondents' use of noms de plume increased from 1900 until the outbreak of the First World War. While some women used pen names to emphasise their familial role, others used them in a much more straightforward way - in order to protect their identity while writing on contentious subjects. Such subjects included controversial issues such as woman suffrage and the sexual double standards of early 2e century Britain. However, even the most militant suffragette justified her demand for a vote by emphasising woman's difference from man. Such correspondents preferred to enlarge the woman's sphere to include social commentary and electoral privilege rather than step outside it altogether. The research also investigated differences between the two newspapers and between pre-war and wartime correspondence. It is suggested that the Daily Journal attracted more letters from `domestic' women on issues related to a more narrowly defined `woman's sphere' while the Free Press's correspondents included more New Women. In addition, the Journal received more letters from women based in England or further afield, for example the colonies, while the Free Press tended to receive letters from women within Scotland. Women's wartime correspondence was dominated by the war effort, which swept most other topics of correspondence off the letters pages, although the later years of the war saw an increase in letters of complaint, usually aimed at increasing bureaucracy and again making use of familial pen names. Such findings contribute to the broader history of the media and women's studies in the northeast of Scotland, and indicate a broadening and nationalising of interest throughout the early 20th century, and the beginning of an accompanying weakening of local, regional links.