Search

‘Service Quality’ and its influence in Library and Information Science discipline are spectacular when studied intensively. In this study, researchers adopted the Realist and Meta-narrative Evidence Syntheses: Evolving Standards review method and introduced a novel Initialization, Conceptualization, Actualisation) (ICA) framework for meta-narrative studies. This method would act as a boon particularly to the existing methods of conducting meta-narrative studies in social sciences in general and library sciences in particular. A total of 49 research articles were selected from Scopus and Web of Science (WoS) databases, covering a span of 5 years, that is, 2015–2019, published in the domain of library service quality. An extensive in-depth analysis of selected publications was carried out under seven categories (i.e. library, library services, quality, ServQUAL, LibQUAL+, user satisfaction and users’ expectations), which were generated using the VOS-Viewer software and ‘Review Tags’ (manually generated using OneNote). The seven categories further identify a total of 27 sub-categories. The quantitative findings revealed that all the 49 reviewed publications were published in 27 journals. All the journals have been indexed in the Scopus database, whereas 15 journals containing the remaining 22 publications are indexed in both WoS and Scopus databases. This study unfolds a transverse trend in library service quality. It would be beneficial for the library managers to sustain libraries’ service quality and set a benchmark in the said field.

The study employed bibliometrics methods to analyse the scattering of 596 journals cited in legal master’s theses and doctoral dissertations in three South African law schools from 2014 to 2018. In addition, the study included an analysis of the extent of citation of different sources and examined the effect of use of non-legal journals by law students. It was found that students used 449.2 documents on average in writing a doctoral dissertation and 110.9 references per master’s thesis. Journals received more citations than any other document formats although 16 master’s theses were completed without citing a single journal. Generally, the journals cited in legal theses and dissertations conform to Bradford’s Law but they differ in their level of conformity by law school. There was a high degree of overlaps between Zone 1 journals in the three law schools. All journals in the core lists were available in all the law schools which was attributed to the strength of collections in these schools. The results support the application of bibliometric analyses to legal master’s theses and doctoral dissertations to make collection development decisions. In making those decisions, however, law librarians would have to look beyond the Zone 1 journals of their own institution for wider access. These results also serve as a caution to law librarians to look beyond the traditional law journals in de/selecting journals, as some of the non-legal journals in this study made it to the core list of cited periodicals. Furthermore, this study points to the strength of library collections in the top law school libraries in the country.

The purpose of this article is to discuss competencies required for practicum supervision within the field of library and information science (LIS) education. In doing so, this study attempts to propose Practicum Supervision Competencies Framework for professionals working in libraries and similar information organisations. The study aims to contribute to the body of knowledge on supervision of experiential learning programmes such as practicum and internships in the field of library and information science. Constructivist Grounded Theory approach was used for collection and analysis of data. Qualitative data was collected through semi-structured interviews with 43 participants that included library and information science professionals and students. Using constant comparative method, suggested in the Constructivist Grounded Theory literature, the components of the framework were developed and then validated and strengthened through the literature on competencies for library and information science professionals. Qualitative data analysis software NVivo 12 pro was used to support coding, category development and constant comparison methods in the data analysis process. Results of this study propose a framework for library and information science practicum supervision competencies and signify its importance for the academia and industry. The proposed framework is composed of five distinct but interrelated components, that is, Interactive, Management, Pedagogical, Professional and Technology which are important for practicum supervision in the field of LIS. The study also discusses empirical insights about the significance of research on practicum supervision within the field of library and information science as a distinct area. Practical implication of research encompasses several dimensions: methodological, theoretical, managerial and academic. For example, the framework should attempt to help better understand gaps between potential and actual competencies required by practicum supervisors in the field of library and information science. Research results may lack generalisability because of the chosen research method. However, researchers in other regions of the world are encouraged to test the proposed framework further.

What is the status of adult large print collections in public libraries across the United States? This nationwide survey explored adult large print collections, methods of collection development, librarian views of adult large print users, and the services surrounding these users. Responses were collected from all 50 states, from rural to urban settings, standalone to library systems, and all sizes of adult large print collections. Overall, adult large print collections continue to be a vital collection utilized by public libraries in their services to older adults.

Since the beginning of the 1990s, libraries have been undertaking a number of activities aimed at minimizing their negative impact on the environment. Those that show such activity are called ‘green libraries’. This term appears in scientific, professional and popular science literature, but its definitions are vague and ambiguous. A preliminary analysis of the content of publications dealing with the issue of green libraries shows a modest representation of theoretical and synthetic texts. This article aims to fill this gap. It has three goals: (1) clarification of the term ‘green library’, (2) conceptualization of the term ‘green librarianship’ and (3) determination of ‘green librarianship’ areas. To achieve them, first, an analysis of the environmental discourse on green libraries and green librarianship in library science literature was performed to abstract green library indicators. Then, these indicators were verified. The selection of the sample for research was deliberate. The materials were collected using the Library, Information Science & Technology Abstract (LISTA) bibliographic and abstract database. As a result, the number of green library indicators has been extended, which has made it possible to clarify the definition of this term. The definition of ‘green librarianship’ was then formulated, and the areas of green librarianship were indicated. Conceptualization of the terms ‘green library’ and ‘green librarianship’ constitutes the value of this article. The practical implication of the study is the expansion of the number of green library indicators. These indicators can be used to develop a codebook for the content analysis of documents in the discussed area. This article may also contribute to the development of methods for the evaluation of activities and development of green libraries.

This study proposes to investigate the knowledge and perception of students in the Department of Library and Information Science at South Valley University in Upper Egypt about the state’s dealing with the outbreak of the novel coronavirus known as COVID-19 that has been detected in Egypt in February 2020. A quantitative research approach was adopted in the form of a survey. The target population of the study included students ( N = 295) of the fourth year of Department of Library and Information Science at South Valley University, of which 253 responded to the study questionnaire, representing 85.8% of the total number. The study found that there is no significant relationship between the students’ gender and other variables of the study according to the statistics used. It also showed that the most popular information sources mentioned by Department of Library and Information Science students to get information related to the coronavirus were social media and the Internet/Web. The publication/dissemination of information and its availability were badly perceived by the students. About one-third of them questioned the government’s ability to deal with the novel coronavirus. They highly believe in the role of information transparency in fighting both administrative and human corruption. The students emphasized the citizens’ right to criticize the government when it does not comply with the transparency, as well as the right to access any information owned by it in any formats at any time. They were dissatisfied with the government’s ability to retrieve information, organize, store, have legislations, and own a good database of citizens, as well as its capabilities, in terms of transparency, competence, benevolence, honesty, accuracy, efficiency/effectiveness, practicality, and confidence, in relation to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. Finally, the study indicated that barriers, such as the spread of administrative and human corruption, security restrictions, and the fragility of the freedom to disclose government information, were highly significant by the surveyed students.

Recently, many articles co-authored by librarians have been published in non-library and information science journals. This may indicate that embedded librarians are actively working as research partners in various fields. However, studies have rarely discussed the roles and experience of embedded librarians and, unlike the USA and European countries, the activities of embedded librarians in Korea are not well reported. This study collected and analysed co-authored articles from Korean faculty and librarians. In addition to identifying the role of the embedded librarian by analysing the author-contributions texts of the articles, the study examined the backgrounds of librarians and the difficulties of collaborating through interviews with librarian authors. The results of the analyses show that the number of collaborative articles by faculty and embedded librarians increased over the years and, of these, almost 70% were medical publications. The roles of the librarians outlined in the author-contributions texts were as reported in previous studies but, in many cases, their role was more significant than traditional liaison work, such as reporting the study’s methodology or approving the final draft. In the interviews, the embedded librarians expressed that they had experienced some difficulties, such as lack of time, insufficient guidelines and an inadequate curriculum in their library and information science department. For librarians to be recognized as research partners, they need to communicate well with team members and have knowledge, skills and abilities related to the research. Further, to achieve this collaboration, the curriculum of departments should be reformed. If such efforts are made, it is expected that embedded librarians will continue to excel in their role as liaison librarians, which has contributed to supporting research projects.

The purpose of this study is to measure the information and communication technology (ICT) skills of library and information science professionals considering it as a predictor of enhanced library services. The study also finds out which ICT skill is the best predictor for better library services. A questionnaire was designed to collect data from librarians at university libraries in Punjab, Pakistan. Four constructs – computer skills, information storage skills, information retrieval skills and online utility software skills – were taken as the independent variables and a construct measuring library performance was taken as the dependent variable. After checking all assumptions, a multiple regression was run to predict the dependent variable from the independent variables. Further, comparison among the independent variables was made to check the level of contribution towards library performance. The regression model shows that the explanatory power of ICT skills for enhanced library services is slightly high, which indicates that a higher level of ICT competency among librarians is important for enhanced library services. Furthermore, the beta coefficient illustrates that the contribution of information retrieval skills towards enhanced library services was relatively high compared with the three other ICT skills. The study concludes that ICT skills are a prerequisite for better library services and the professional development of librarians.

This article reviews 62 years (1957–2018) of research in library and information science in Pakistan. A comprehensive bibliometric study was conducted using the four leading databases (Web of Science, Scopus, Library and Information Science Abstracts, and Library, Information Science and Technology Abstracts). The researchers found a positive upward trend. Library research is on the rise in Pakistan. The Department of Information Management at the University of the Punjab is the major contributor to the library and information science literature. Forty percent of the total publications were published in two Pakistani journals. Older and well-established institutions like the University of the Punjab and the University of Karachi have taken the lead in publishing research. The Baluchistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces require more focus and funding.

A group of the academic library’s vast untapped clientele to whom more attention is now being paid is persons with disability. Drawing from the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions’ checklist on what constitutes disability-friendly libraries, this study sought to ascertain if academic libraries in the Upper East Region of Ghana have made provisions for persons with disability. The research adopted a qualitative approach. The data used for the analysis is drawn from interviews with respondents, the majority of whom were visually or mobility-impaired, who were purposively selected from 11 tertiary institutions. The findings reveal that academic libraries in the Upper East Region have yet to implement the stipulated regulations of the ratified Persons with Disability Act of Ghana. The majority of libraries are inaccessible to persons with disability beyond the main entrance of the libraries. The biggest challenge is the absence of diverse media information for persons with visual and hearing impairments. Also, the findings reveal that library staff lack adequate knowledge of issues relating to persons with disability and their right to access information. The study highlights the challenges which hinder persons with disability from accessing quality information from libraries. The study, therefore, recommends that relevant state institutions be empowered to implement the ratified Persons with Disability Act in Ghana and increase education among stakeholders on the need to improve access to information for persons with disability. Also, there should be increased investment and allocation of funds to libraries to provide for the information needs of persons with disability.

This exploratory study identified and compared the organization, services, challenges of and motivations for makerspaces in public, academic, and school libraries in China. Although there is a significant body of literature on makerspaces in libraries, this study is one of the first ones that provides a comparison of library makerspace organization and operation by library type. Data was collected using paper and online surveys from 158 librarians. Supporting learning was the most frequently identified motivation for establishing a makerspace by all three categories of librarians. While makerspaces in academic libraries were mostly operated by library staff, school libraries more evenly relied on teaching staff, volunteers, library staff members, and paid instructors to operate their makerspaces. Makerspaces in public and academic libraries were funded mostly from the libraries’ budget, while school libraries were funded more by other units on the campus and institutional or individual investments. The most frequently selected technologies were 3D printing and modeling technologies, and makerspaces in academic libraries were better equipped than makerspaces in the other two types of libraries. Group study rooms and learning commons centers were the most frequently occurring physical spaces in academic and public library makerspaces. School library makerspaces differentiated themselves by offering wooden crafts centers more often than other library makerspaces. While participants selecting budget limitation and inadequate equipment as barriers to implementing makerspaces was not surprising, public and academic librarians also often cited the lack of professional instructors. Based on the findings, several suggestions were offered to the practice of planning and operating a makerspace in libraries such as bringing together internal and external funding to support makerspaces, consolidating the required physical space of makerspaces and the existing space arrangement of libraries, and developing additional training programs to address the problem of a lack of professional instructors.

This research concerns determining authors’ scientific influence in library and information science research and their impact on the intellectual structure of the discipline by means of integrative indicators of the Scholarly Capital Model and co-authorship patterns. Research records comprised articles published from 1945 to 2016 in library and information science core journals and indexed in Web of Science. CiteSpace (software for visualization of scientific patterns and trends) was employed to map the intellectual structure of library and information science research based on co-authorship patterns. The results showed that the top 10 authors of library and information science research with the highest scores in terms of influence indicators (except for one person) were mostly concerned with the field of scientometrics which can be considered as the special impact of scientometric authors on the intellectual structure of library and information science research especially in recent years. Based on the results of the research, integrative use of scientometric indicators for measuring authors’ level of scholarly influence may grant a more precise perspective for decision makers in the field of library and information science.

The aim of this study was to assess the collection development practices in academic libraries in Tanzania. Specifically, the study examined the collection development practices and factors that influence these practices. The study involved four academic libraries and employed both qualitative and quantitative methods for data collection and analysis. Primary data were collected through informant interviews, observations and questionnaires methods. The study involved 44 library staff who filled in self-administered questionnaires. The study discloses that collection development practices and particularly evaluation and weeding or deselection are rarely conducted at these academic libraries. The findings further reveal that collection development practices in academic libraries in Tanzania are constrained by inadequate funding, lack of skills for hybrid collection management and lack of collection development policy catering for both print- and electronic-based information resources. On the basis of the findings, the study recommends that academic libraries should establish a comprehensive collection development policy and introduce professional development programmes to library staff for efficient management of hybrid collections.

Consortia are a form of association between organizations seeking to reach a common objective. This study aims to systematize discussion in the area of library consortia and relate it to aspects of information management. To this end, the Web of Science databases was used to identify the literature to be analysed, resorting to Bibliometrix software. The results show a tendency in the literature to discuss themes such as open access contract management. The study concludes on an evolution of themes setting out from shared resources and directs future research towards identifying questions of access to and ownership of information resources.

The Library and Information Science discipline is in constant flux, facing myriad impediments with the development of technology. Per se, the field introduced information and communications technology into its curriculum which has changed librarians’ roles in information handling. Moreover, the integration of the term ‘information’ changed the nomenclature thereby giving a new name of Information Science/Studies, embracing an enormous range of subjects. The present study investigates the previous and current skills of alumni at the Department of Library and Information Science, College of Basic Education, Kuwait. Descriptive analysis of the distributed survey revealed frequencies and percentages data on participants’ gender, marital status, age, grade point average, certificate obtained, employment sector, years of experience, and salary. Qualitative data revealed comments on employment issues, difficulties faced, and the Department of Library and Information Science curriculum. The findings suggested that the majority of the alumni have benefited from their major as their employment is relevant (84%), it is within their specialisation and most of them (56%) are employed in a library setting. The most frequently learned skill is ethics (54%), and the skills that needed improvement are library skills and English language proficiency. The research data initiated a list of skills required and organisations employing the alumni. It is recommended that LIS alumni should be equippedwith multi-tasking skills to work at the job market institutions, and that LIS schools should start offering a PhD qualification in Kuwait. This research contributes to decisions in curriculum updating from the viewpoint of alumni to meet the requirements of the job market. The research is the first study to collect data from LIS alumni in Kuwait at CBE, PAAET and realises their concerns. Departments sharing a similar curriculum can benefit as the research is an initial step that should be regularly taken to update the curricula.

This paper uses citation analysis to measure the intellectual impact of Chinese library and information science on outside disciplines. It analyses 469 journals in disciplines outside the library and information science field containing citations to 20 Chinese library and information science journals from 1996 to 2015. It shows that Chinese library and information science mainly receives citations from related disciplines, such as business and management, communication, and computer science, and that the majority of library and information science articles are rarely cited. The library and information science subjects of bibliometrics, information technology and knowledge management are most likely to be cited.

In previous studies, full-text analyses and mining techniques have not been combined to identify and trace changes in the knowledge trends of library science over the past 20 years (1997–2016). Thus, to grasp the knowledge trends of library science at a fine-grained level, this study analyzes full-text journal articles from six top-ranked library science journals by applying text-mining techniques such as co-word analysis, text summarization, and topic modeling. Visualization tools were used to map the knowledge structure of library science. The findings indicate that, during the past 20 years, library science has developed into an interdisciplinary knowledge structure that integrates librarianship topics with a range of other fields, generating major topics that include the academic library, the digital library, research methodology, library marketing, information retrieval, digital information, document citation, and so on. In the past ten years, the library science discipline has focused increasingly on research methodology and evaluation and become more concerned with digital information management.

Twitter is used by different library types to communicate and engage with their community. This case study focuses on content choices in tweets and the level of engagement generated, in the context of two different types of library. The current study attempts to examine the contents of Library Twitter account of two libraries (academic and public) with the aim of evaluating in a comparative mode, their themes and levels of user engagement. This research used a mixed method research approach. For quantitative approach, this study analyzed 100 Tweets from each library, i.e. RMIT University Library and State Library of Victoria. Also, the study analyzed a number of tweets and levels of engagement by recording numbers of likes, replies and retweets. The qualitative aspect analyzed each Tweet to determine engagement level and type of content shared by each library. The results demonstrate that the public and academic libraries publish different types of content. The varied nature, audience and mandate of each library appear to influence the focus of their tweets. Also, the results show that the level of engagement is a factor of the numbers of tweets in any theme. The limitation of this study is the data set contained only 100 tweets for each library. Moreover, the number of users and registered library accounts had probably increased since the study was conducted.

Retraction of scholarly publications ensures that unqualified knowledge is purged from the scientific community. However, there appears to be little understanding about how this is practiced among library and information science (LIS) journals. Hence, this study investigated the correction and retraction practices of LIS journals. Journals included in the Web of Science’s information science and library science subject category were selected for the study and the characteristics of the articles corrected or retracted in those journals between 1996 and 2016 were examined. Findings show that there were 517 corrections and five retractions in LIS journals during the period. Most of the corrections made to articles in LIS journals were minor while the reasons for article retraction included plagiarism, duplication, irreproducible results and methodological errors. Our findings also reveal that on average it took about 587 days for an article to be retracted while some of the retracted articles continued to be cited after retraction. The study concluded that the average number of errors per correction was lower than what had been observed in medical journals while some of the retracted articles continued to receive positive post-retraction citations. It also recommended the inclusion of a check on the validity of literature cited by authors at the review stage as part of the quality control mechanism by publishers of LIS journals.

This research assumes that administrative and infrastructural factors may explain the low use of educational support systems (ESS) for teaching by library and information science (LIS) educators in Nigerian universities. The literature has focused on the adoption of different types of educational technologies and their use by teachers and students with little consideration for the LIS educators’ actual use of ESS for teaching and the effect of institutional support on the use of these systems. Thus, the study seeks to determine the user percentage of ESS for teaching, how the educators actually use ESS for teaching, the nature of administrative and infrastructural support they receive while teaching with ESS and whether the two factors correlate with and predict the actual use of ESS for teaching. A descriptive survey design was adopted and data were collected through a questionnaire. The results indicate that many of the LIS educators did not use ESS for teaching and that their actual use of ESS for the instructional activities highlighted in the study was low and below average. Moreover, the educators were found to have received minimal administrative and infrastructural support. The two factors were also found to have significant positive correlations and a significant and positive joint influence on the actual use of ESS for teaching with a joint contribution of 14.7%. Analysis of their relative contributions to the prediction of actual use revealed that, although the two support factors contributed positively, only infrastructural support contributed significantly at 0.05 level of significance. It was therefore recommended that for administrative support to be meaningful, adequate infrastructural facilities should be provided for an appreciable and sustainable use of ESS for teaching.

The study explores how the group of school librarians from international schools in Hong Kong uses the Yahoo! Groups platform for their professional networking. In this case study quantitative and qualitative data were gathered and analyzed. Quantitative data about the groups’ use of Yahoo! Groups were extracted from the platform archive pages. An online questionnaire was sent to all group members to collect quantitative and qualitative data about their experience with social software and their views on Yahoo! Groups suitability for professional networking. The study findings show that the group members regularly use Messages, a web-based mailing list and occasionally use Files and Polls. While nearly half of the group members take part in discussions via Yahoo! Groups, only a small number posted most of the messages. Most popular discussion topics are reading, group’s administrative issues, professional development, and school library collection development. Group members mostly agree that Yahoo! Groups features which they use are user-friendly and that the platform is a convenient tool for the group. Although group members widely use various social software for leisure and for work purposes, most of them do not consider replacing Yahoo! Groups with another social networking tool.

The purpose of this study is to assess Library and Information Science (LIS) curricula in Zimbabwean universities and polytechnic colleges in the context of perceived skills gaps and from employers’ perspectives on what is required from graduate professionals in entry-level jobs. The study is qualitative in nature and is supported by a post-positivist framework. A case study research design and methods are used. All (three) curricular documents from two universities and polytechnic colleges (use a common curriculum) offering LIS education in Zimbabwe are reviewed using document review methods. Twenty-seven course outlines are analysed. Seventeen LIS employers and five deans/heads of departments have been purposively selected and interviewed using in-depth face-to-face interviews. Data are analysed using NVivo. The study identifies gaps in knowledge as well as in functional and generic employability training in LIS curricula. These are attributed to the transitory environment in which LIS departments operate, dated educational models, shortage of well-developed multi-stakeholder mutual partnerships and alliances, a lack of shared understanding and responsibility, an expanding labour environment and the absence of continuous professional development programmes. The study results suggest that Zimbabwean LIS education programmes are in urgent need of radical transformation and need to adopt innovative education models to meet the dictates of the techno-economic paradigm that serves society today.

Librarians of specialized institutions need to have solid knowledge of the scientific environment (impact of publications, use of citations and scientific references, etc.) related to the group for which they work in order to properly manage the collection of their libraries. The present research analyses the evolution of the use and types of references cited by academics in Library and Information Science and in Legal Medicine as an aid for specialist librarians in this sense. The study has a dual aspect: one is to determine how the behaviour of references, especially Web references, in relation to accessibility and use has evolved over 15 years in alternating periods (1999, 2004, 2009, 2013) in these two areas, and the other is to determine from the type of references scientists of prestige use in their publications whether they consider the Internet to be a reliable source of information for their research. Two journals with high impact factors according to Journal Citation Reports were selected from each category: Journal of the American Society for Information Science & Technology (JASIST) and Information Processing & Management (IP&M) corresponding to Information Science, and Regulatory Toxicology & Pharmacology (RT&P) and Forensic Science International (FSI) corresponding to Legal Medicine. The results showed greater accessibility and use of Web references in the Information Science community, but also considerable progress in these aspects in recent years in Legal Medicine.

Public libraries across the world are well-known for the promotion of literacy and lifelong learning. However, at the same time, they are important social and community spaces in which community members can engage with each other. With this in mind, this study looks at the ways in which public libraries in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong fulfil these roles in their respective communities. The public libraries chosen for this study were namely: Shanghai Library, Taipei Public Library and Hong Kong Central Library. A total number of 788 responses were collected from all three libraries. Results from the surveys indicated that public libraries in these communities were seen as being important for providing cost-free materials, entertainment, and, especially, contributing to the overall culture of the community at large. Results indicated that the public libraries chosen for this study have social and cultural values alongside its function as an information centre. These findings will be important in understanding the sociocultural roles of public libraries in East Asia.

Currently, data are stored in an always-on condition, and can be globally accessed at any point, by any user. Data librarianship has its origins in the social sciences. In particular, the creation of data services and data archives, in the United Kingdom (Data Archives Services) and in the United States and Canada (Data Library Services), is a key factor for the emergence of data librarianship. The focus of data librarianship nowadays is on the creation of new library services. Data librarians are concerned with the proposition of services for data management and curation in academic libraries and other research organizations. The purpose of this paper is to understand how the complexity of the data can serve as the basis for identifying the technical skills required by data librarians. This essay is systematically divided, first introducing the concepts of data and research data in data librarianship, followed by an overview of data science as a theory, method, and technology to assess data. Next, the identification of the competencies and skills required by data scientists and data librarians are discussed. Our final remarks highlight that data librarians should understand that the complexity and novelty associated with data science praxis. Data science provides new methods and practices for data librarianship. A data librarian need not become a programmer, statistician, or database manager, but should be interested in learning about the languages and programming logic of computers, databases, and information retrieval tools. We believe that numerous kinds of scientific data research provide opportunities for a data librarian to engage with data science.

This paper investigates collaborations and document sharing activities among Iranian librarians over a nation-wide email forum known as LIS Group. The emails sent in 2016 were searched for traces of interlibrary loan, document delivery and knowledge sharing that resulted in 1038 emails. The sample was transferred to Excel where other features were extracted. The emails were categorized and their contents and attachments were labelled. Results showed that the female librarians participated more than male members in both request and response emails. Slightly more than half (54.1%) of emails contained personal requests and 41.1% demanded data or documents for library users. Journal and conference papers were in high demanded and 62% of provided documents were in English. No significant statistical difference was observed between the request and response emails. It is concluded that email groups provide a platform for knowledge sharing and document exchange among librarians especially in countries with poor formal interlibrary cooperative programs such as Iran. Professional ties can grow among information and library practitioners through participation in virtual communities.

Open access is a new scholarly publishing model that aims to provide free access to scholarly information to all members of society. This study analyzes the awareness, use and attitudes of Pakistani faculty members towards scholarly open access. A structured questionnaire was designed to collect data from the respondents by using an online survey tool, Google Forms. The population of the study was the faculty members of 21 universities and higher education institutions located in Islamabad. A sample of 3000 faculty members were invited, through email, to participate in the study; of which 616 completed the survey, with a response ratio of 20.53%. Descriptive statistics and (SPSS) version 21.0 were used for data analysis. The findings of the study reveal that, although majority of the Pakistani faculty members (71.5%) were aware of the scholarly open access before this survey, their awareness level about open access-related resources and initiatives was very low. The Pakistani faculty members used open access venues more frequently to access scholarly contents rather than to publish their own research works. A lack of awareness to publish in open access venues, and publication fees of open access journals were the key challenges faced by the Pakistani faculty members. The attitudes of faculty members towards open access were very positive in all contexts. Large readership, impact factor, free access to readers and no publication fee were the key motivational factors for the faculty members to publish in open access journals.

The study explores how different occupational backgrounds of Master’s students in LIS shape their motivation to choose a career in the library profession. The research is conducted on full-time employed Master’s students from Hong Kong. The research method applied is survey, and data were collected with an online questionnaire. The study reveals that students with library jobs significantly differ from students employed elsewhere with respect to motivation to pursue a career in LIS. While library-employed students place more value on extrinsic motivating factors, students employed in other fields value intrinsic factors as well. Regarding the future developments in the LIS profession, students from both groups agree that the application of information technologies, service orientation, academic research, marketing activities and teaching are all important.

How can user surveys lead to better decision making to improve libraries? While there are more surveys published on specialised aspects of academic libraries, there are relatively few user surveys published of academic libraries in general. First and foremost this paper argues the user survey is a useful tool for library managers interested in developing their libraries in response to changing user needs, and secondly, for more published accounts of surveys and their usefulness. However, the user survey as a tool for generating evidence-based decision making in libraries fails to achieve its potential if two further important practices are not implemented. First and most importantly, the findings obtained from the survey must be used to inform decision making on managing and leading improvements to the library. This aspect of follow-through from survey findings to management decision making, may well lead to changing resource allocation and priorities, new practices, and improvements to collections and the physical environment. Second, the findings of the survey should be fed back to users as a means of raising their interest and engagement in the academic library as a hub of learning.

This is a book review by Charles Oppenheim of Richard Ovenden's book 'Burning the book: a history of knowldege under attack'. The book is the product of some detailed research (and Ovenden, in his lengthy list of acknowledgements, notes the help he received from, among others, some of his staff), extremely well-written and is a plea to national libraries, national archives and other major collectors of materials to be much more assertive about how their and others’ collections should be protected.

This study used coauthorship analysis to investigate trends in researcher–practitioner collaborations by examining articles published between 2005 and 2014 in the disciplines of library and information science, education, and sociology. The results revealed that articles coauthored by researchers were the main type of research collaboration in these three disciplines. Articles coauthored by researchers and practitioners were the third largest type of research collaboration in all three disciplines; the percentage of such articles in library and information science (14.2%) was considerably higher than that in education (6.1%) and sociology (2.7%). A slightly decreasing trend was observed in these articles in library and information science, but a slightly increasing trend was identified in education and sociology. Regarding authorship, library and information science practitioners were more active than were education and sociology practitioners. Librarians, governmental staff, and administrators were the dominant practitioner authors of this type of article in library and information science, sociology, and education, respectively.

Making decisions on academic library opening hours is complex with many pressures on managers. This research surveys senior academic library managers from the UK, using a questionnaire to reveal views on library opening hours, the decision-making process, and the pressures which influenced their decisions. A variety of factors were found, in particular satisfying undergraduate demands. The research also revealed the sources of information important in making decisions on opening hours and the influence of ‘political’ issues in the decision-making process. Some institutions remove complexity by utilising 24/7 opening, though this is not an option for many.

Children’s librarians have long recognized the value of libraries for the development of children and adolescents and have championed for appropriate funding to support programs and services targeted to children, adolescents, and families. Using data from the Institute of Museum and Library Services National Public Library Survey, this study examined the relationships between the expenditures and resources of public libraries and children’s and young adults’ use. Three groups of variables were chosen from the dataset to represent expenditures, resources, and children’s and young adults’ library use respectively. Correlation analysis results reveal that most of the expenditures and resources variables were significantly correlated with children’s and young adults’ library use in libraries of all sizes. Further, analyses of material circulation and program attendance rates reveal that children’s materials account for more than one-third of total library material circulations and 70% of public library program participants attend programs designed for children. The findings of this study provide empirical evidence to support the investment in library resources and services for children and young adults and are discussed in light of expansion of library services and programming focused on informal learning.

The development of information literacy and learning practices in everyday spaces is explored.Data for the study was collected using photo voice technique. Data analysis was conducted using photos and analysis of group transcripts. Participants describe how they tapped into social, physical and digital sites to draw information in the process of (re) forming their information landscapes, building bridges into new communities and maintaining links with family overseas. Media formats were identified according to their appropriateness as fit for purpose, suggesting that the enactment of information literacy was agile and responsive to need at the moment of practice. The results indicate that everyday spaces provide opportunities to develop information literacy practices, which support informal learning. Findings of the study conclude that information literacy is played out in a series of digital, vernacular and visual enactments, which shape the information landscape.

This research explored the implementations and perceptions of the Resource Description and Access (RDA) cataloguing standard in Europe. It refers to the development and implementation of the standard among Anglo-American libraries and draws comparisons between them. It examines the spread and application of RDA throughout Europe both by analysing the available literature and by conducting interviews with professionals at 12 European national libraries. The results highlight the issues faced by the European institutions and the unique perspectives that emerge from implementing RDA in different languages and cultures. European institutions demonstrate a higher level of involvement and interest in the development of RDA and a stronger desire to work towards RDA interoperability and alignment with the cultural heritage sector. The European implementation drives forward the internationalisation of RDA by actively seeking solutions to the issues in the new standard arising from the cultural and linguistic diversity.

There are known gender differences in book preferences in terms of both genre and author gender but their extent and causes are not well understood. It is unclear whether reader preferences for author genders occur within any or all genres and whether readers evaluate books differently based on author genders within specific genres. This article exploits a major source of informal book reviews, the Goodreads.com website, to assess the influence of reader and author genders on book evaluations within genres. It uses a quantitative analysis of 201,560 books and their reviews, focusing on the top 50 user-specified genres. The results show strong gender differences in the ratings given by reviewers to books within genres, such as female reviewers rating contemporary romance more highly, with males preferring short stories. For most common book genres, reviewers give higher ratings to books authored by their own gender, confirming that gender bias is not confined to the literary elite. The main exception is the comic book, for which male reviewers prefer female authors, despite their scarcity. A word frequency analysis suggested that authors wrote, and reviewers valued, gendered aspects of books within a genre. For example, relationships and romance were disproportionately mentioned by women in mystery and fantasy novels. These results show that, perhaps for the first time, it is possible to get large-scale evidence about the reception of books by typical readers, if they post reviews online.

The goal of this paper is to fill the gap in current research on the United States National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped program by surveying NLS librarians, using social informatics as the theoretical base. A 31-question survey was distributed to 111 library professionals. The questions addressed the Digital Talking Book Program, the Digital Talking Book Player, patrons, adaptive/assistive technologies, the impact of the 2008–2009 recession, and the Local Recordings program. NLS librarians and their patrons were satisfied with the player; however, both groups feel that it needs to be upgraded. Future research should survey NLS patrons and non-users of the NLS program.

Linking a publication with scientific research results and the use of information resources is a key component of the collection, development and assessment of an academic library. Librarians often use quantitative data, but it is not easy to come by. Directly connecting library and information services to the impact they have can be quite difficult. Focusing on the 2010–2014 period, we have linked the quality and quantity of published papers to usage statistics for the newly acquired consortia access to scholarly journals in three international publisher databases: ScienceDirect, SpringerLink and WileyOnline. We found that the share of scholarly journals from the ScienceDirect, SpringerLink and WileyOnline consortia cited by University of Primorska researchers’ in their scholarly papers has gradually increased every year, ranging from 13.5% in 2010 up to 24.8% in 2014. The share of scholarly papers published by University of Primorska researchers’ in scholarly journals with the highest impact (measured in Web of Science and Scopus) has also increased substantially, from 18.03% in 2011 to 31.55% in 2014. Study shows that better access to quality information resources for scientific researchers lead to an increase in its use and results in higher quality research shown by the gradual increase of publications of research results in higher impact scholarly journals.

This article explores the work of tool lending libraries from the perspective of staff and decision makers. It addresses what role serving community members with tools plays, and what this in turn means for the professional role of library work. The study builds on semi-structured interviews with tool lending specialists and managers from three US municipalities. Participants are found to perceive their library and their work as something of practical, local and immediate relevance. Compared to traditional library work, participants perceive their setting to require patrons and staff to be more directly and actively social. Several participants stress the importance of staff being experienced tool users themselves, leading the article to conclude with a discussion on reference competence.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse how public libraries have been conceptualized and measured in official Spanish statistics over the past 15 years. This allows us to reflect on the transformation of the very nature and aims of libraries during the first 15 years of the 21st century. We examine the main official statistical source of information on cultural participation, the Survey on Cultural Habits and Practices in Spain, and track the impact of social change and digitization on library services. By analysing the 2002–2003, 2006–2007, 2010–2011 and 2014–2015 surveys, we monitor changes in the questionnaires and in the derived indicators, and relate the findings to general trends and challenges for public libraries in contemporary societies.

Performing artists’ activities in public libraries have received scant research attention. To address this gap, this study is based on semi-directed interviews with staff in charge of performing artists programmes in 11 libraries, and an email survey of libraries in the two main French metropolises of Paris and Marseilles. Four types of goals underpin the programming strategies of the public libraries surveyed: the development of audience; the enhancement of collections; the modification of institutional image and the decompartmentalization of arts. Finally, the article examines the effects on the libraries’ governance as regards audience development, their core missions and their development partnerships.

Traces the 12-year self-archiving policy journey of the original 107 publishers listed on the SHERPA/RoMEO Publisher Policy Database in 2004, through to 2015. Maps the RoMEO colour codes (‘green’, ‘blue’, ‘yellow’ and ‘white’) and related restrictions and conditions over time. Finds that while the volume of publishers allowing some form of self-archiving (pre-print, post-print or both) has increased by 12% over the 12 years, the volume of restrictions around how, where and when self-archiving may take place has increased 119%, 190% and 1000% respectively. A significant positive correlation was found between the increase in self-archiving restrictions and the introduction of Gold paid open access options. Suggests that by conveying only the version of a paper that authors may self-archive, the RoMEO colour codes do not address all the key elements of the Bethesda Definition of Open Access. Compares the number of RoMEO ‘green’ publishers over time with those meeting the definition for ‘redefined green’ (allowing embargo-free deposit of the post-print in an institutional repository). Finds that RoMEO ‘green’ increased by 8% and ‘redefined green’ decreased by 35% over the 12 years. Concludes that the RoMEO colour codes no longer convey a commitment to green open access as originally intended. Calls for open access advocates, funders, institutions and authors to redefine what ‘green’ means to better reflect a publisher’s commitment to self-archiving.

Librarians in America and Europe find that social scientists rely heavily on journal articles, specialized data, and feedback from colleagues in directing their research. This project uses 21 ethnographic interviews with librarians, students, and faculty at “Atameken University” in post-Soviet Kazakhstan to explore how social scientists adjust such research habits to a context of distant information sources and limited access. By developing technological adaptations to the local context, expatriate scholars can surmount most barriers to access—and yet librarians are then less able to effectively support research. Increased access to information and skilled librarians remains essential for Eurasian universities seeking to support world-class research in the developing world.

The present study offers an overview of the public library system in Turkey and evaluates the libraries from various aspects in the context of the past decade. Public libraries in Turkey are governed by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. As of the end of 2013, there are 1118 public libraries in Turkey with more than one million registered users which is only 1.3% of the total population of the country. The total number of staff in the 1118 public libraries is approximately 3400, of which only 15% are graduates of librarianship programs. As regards collection size, it is observed that there has been a consistent increase in the number of books in public library collections. When considered together with the rate of increase in the total number of registered public library users, however, there has been a major decrease in the number of books per registered public library user in the past decade. The budget allocated for public libraries in Turkey has been consistently greater each year. The public libraries in Turkey offer their services in buildings that vary significantly in terms of architectural design. In general, public libraries in Turkey have been on a developing trend in recent years. On the other hand, the comparisons made in this study with other European countries suggest that there are a number of issues related to public libraries in Turkey that need to be improved.

This paper reports the first phase of a study examining Canada’s public library sector’s micro-blogging practices. Results of a national survey of public library ( n=71) Twitter practices and an analysis of Twitter followers from one library are presented. Five themes are proposed as a future research agenda: community size and population density; managing the public library’s Twitter voice; the potential for controversy; the library as the community’s daily digest; and the network effects of community building. As the first national study, a contribution is made to advancing research on micro-blogging from the public library’s distinct institutional perspective.

The purpose of the study is to investigate the knowledge backgrounds of library directors from top universities in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan to provide support for director selection and training in Chinese university libraries. The study selected 19 library directors from top universities in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. The data were collected mainly from official homepages of the selected university libraries or library organizations in combination with some supplementary information from individual departments of targeted university libraries. Most library directors from top universities in mainland China and Taiwan were educated at the universities in which they currently work and lack management experience. Such directors tend to be well-known scholars from fields other than library and information science. In contrast, library directors from top universities in Hong Kong have more diverse professional backgrounds, including significant experience working overseas in library and information science. The administrators and hiring committees of Chinese universities should focus on selecting library directors with diverse and advanced qualifications, as well as developing relevant laws and regulations to ensure that the selection of these directors remains competitive on the world stage. Although some studies of academic library directors have already been conducted, few studies have focused on Chinese library directors. This paper revealed the different models of knowledge backgrounds between directors of top universities in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

Students with disabilities require special convenient access to library services as compared to the general student population. Despite the special needs requirements, there is consensus among researchers that access to library services by students with disabilities is not yet fully available, especially in countries in the global periphery. This study utilised quantitative data collected through questionnaires directed to 92 disabled students registered for the 2013 academic year, an interview with the librarian responsible for the disabled students unit and observation using the IFLA checklist for access to libraries for disabled people to evaluate the convenience and accessibility of library services for students with disabilities at the University of Limpopo in South Africa. Even though the study established that a purpose-built library service unit for students with disabilities that complies with international best practice was in place, students with disabilities were not adequately satisfied with the library services they received as very few library materials had been transcribed into accessible formats. The situation was compounded by the fact that only one librarian was assigned to manage and run the library services for the disabled. The study recommends that the university should hire more librarians to assist students with disabilities in the audio-braille library. It is hoped that the study will stimulate policy makers to include students with disabilities in information access and collection development policies. A further study on the needs and academic progress assessment of students with one group of disabilities is recommended.

This paper investigates how academic librarians perceive the role of social networks in enhancing the professional skills of library staff, and how they can be used to promote library services. It is based on case study design in real organizational settings, which are two academic libraries in Jordan, namely the University of Jordan library and Al-Balqaa’ Applied University library. The authors used questionnaires to collect the required data in order to investigate the perceptions of library staff in relation to social networks and how they used social networks to promote library services. The results indicate high awareness and extensive use of social networks for professional development. However, it appears that social networks were not fully exploited to promote library services. It was noted that “job title” (staff position) was the only factor that affected the results, while other factors such as gender, experience, frequency of use and age had no effect on the results. It is concluded that academic libraries in Jordan should make better use of social networks to promote library services.