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Makerspaces are still emerging service offerings and establishments within libraries and on university campuses. They provide equipment and expertise for hands-on projects and skill-building, especially around digital fabrication. This paper presents findings from a qualitative case study of a makerspace in a regional university Library at the University of Southern Queensland. It explores users' experiences of participation and value across three usage types in the Makerspace: course curriculum, extracurricular, and research. To understand users' experiences within the space a visual research method was adopted alongside semi-structured interviews. This facilitated a participant-driven dialogue and adding depth to the data collected. A reflexive thematic analysis of interview transcripts was undertaken from which five themes were developed. These were: a tentative start, practical need, skills development, community connection, and influencing outlook. The resulting themes presented a narrative of users' participation that started with tentative curiosity and hesitancy around using the Makerspace, but ultimately saw participants finding value in new perspectives and skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This narrative review pursues an understanding of the relationship of libraries to the concepts of soft power and public and cultural diplomacy. The cross-disciplinary nature of the study required that the search approach include literature from both the International Relations and Library and Information Science disciplines. The analysed literature reveals three key gaps. First, research explicitly addressing the topic of 'libraries and soft power' is scarce. Second, the little Library and Information Science literature that addresses libraries and soft power rarely considers contemporary discourse. Third, the literature often has an implicit liberal institutionalist perspective, overlooking negative or hegemonic aspects of soft power. Given that soft power is considered increasingly relevant for representing national interests, understanding libraries' roles and impact in international relations is significant and warrants further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective - This narrative literature review examines how values and a values-based practice framework are positioned as significant to evidence based practice in libraries. This includes examining the partnership between values and evidence in decision making and reflective practice. The review responds to a gap in the literature on the origins and application of valuesbased practice in evidence based library and information practice (EBLIP). Methods - Searches for this narrative review were conducted in library and information science databases, discovery tools, and individual journals. Forward and backward citation searches were also undertaken. Searches aimed to encompass both the EBLIP and library assessment literature. Research and professional publications were considered for inclusion based on their engagement with values and values-based practice in EBLIP processes and decisions. Results - The findings highlight how values reflect positionality, driving action and decision making in all stages of evidence based practice in libraries. The literature emphasizes the role of values when practitioners engage with critical reflective practice or invite user voices in evidence. An explicit values-based practice approach was evident in the library assessment literature, though not explicitly addressed in the EBLIP literature or EBLIP models. This is despite a partnership between evidence based practice and values-based practice in the health sciences literature, with literature on person-centred approaches aiming to relate evidence to individuals. Conclusions - The EBLIP literature could further examine how values reflect positionality and drive action and decision making across all stages of evidence based practice. Values-based practice offers an opportunity to critically reflect on whose voices, perspectives, and values are reflected in and contribute to the library and information science evidence base. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This purpose of this paper is to review literature from the digital humanities (DH), academic librarianship, and critical librarianship, focusing on potential roles for Australian academic librarians in the DH. After defining DH and its relationship with academic librarianship, the difference between service and collaborative models is discussed. This includes how service models characterise current perceptions of DH librarians' roles. Findings of this review indicate that there are, indeed, roles for librarians in the DH that can contribute to scholarly partnerships. These roles build on the shared values of librarianship and the humanities and are related to the critical and theoretical foundations of the DH. Critical librarianship provides a framework for roles that can contribute to knowledge production, not just to service provision. This framework can also work towards increasing representation and accessibility in DH scholarship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]