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This study compares cultural policy, public libraries, and the public sphere in Norway, the United States, and Japan. Results of the comparison indicate that Norway emphasizes physical meeting spaces and the public sphere. In Japan, there is more emphasis on the literary public sphere. Norway and Japan have strong centralized governance structures, which influence how public libraries function in the public sphere. In the US, cultural policy administration is more diffuse and local. There is not an explicit national cultural policy related to public libraries. In the US, legitimation of public libraries in the public sphere is strong and occurs locally. Public libraries in the US are used less as public sphere infrastructure and more for educational and recreation purposes. The results of this comparison are significant for understanding public libraries and the public sphere from an international cultural policy perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Japanese government has initiated lifelong learning policies to promote lifelong learning to a super-aging society. It is said that lifelong learning contributes to a richer and more fulfilling life. It is within this context that public libraries have been identified as ideal facilities for promoting lifelong learning. To support lifelong learning successfully, libraries must accurately grasp citizens' needs, all while working within limited budgets. To understand citizens' learning needs, this study uses public library circulation data. This study is significant because such data use is often unavailable in Japan. This data was used to clarify citizens' learning interests. Circulation data was compared from two libraries in Japan: Koto District Library in Tokyo and Tahara City Library in Aichi Prefecture. The data was used to identify general learning needs while also accounting for regional differences. The methodology and results of this research are significant for the development of lifelong learning policy and programming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper seeks to clarify the research trend of library and information science (US) in Japan from 1970 to 2009. Methods: Of all the articles published from 1970 to 2009 in Library and Information Science and Journal of Japan Society of Library and Information Science, 826 research articles were examined. For each article, (1) authors, (2) topics, (3) research methods, and (4) the use of theories were analyzed. For (1), the number of authors of each article and the first author's affiliation and occupation were examined. Topics were classified into 14 US topics and these topics were further classified into "library science" and "information science". Empirical research methods were further divided into "data collection method" and "data analysis method". The number of research articles and the transition of the number of pages were also investigated. Results: Our findings indicate that in the US field over the last 40 years in Japan, (1) the number of authors whose affiliation is "university" has increased, (2) the number of "information science" articles has gradually decreased, and the majority of articles are now about "library science", and (3) the proportion of empirical research methods has increased. There were no major changes or distinctive trends in the topics discussed by articles. Due to the adoption of a strict peer-review system in both journals, the number of research articles decreased from the 1990s to 2000s; however, the number of articles has increased in recent years due to the increase in the number of graduate students and the enhancement of research grants in the US field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper illustrates quantitatively the different methods of selecting books and the results between librarians and faculty of universities. The three main research issues are: 1) the impact of book selection on the level of book circulation and the quality of the library collection, 2) the characteristics of book selections, and 3) the possibility of applying collection evaluation methods to research issues in studies on book selection. Methods: The quality and characteristics of economic books held in Keio University Library were quantitatively measured by two collection evaluation methods based on book circulation statistics and list-checking, and the differences between books selected by librarians and faculty were analyzed. Book circulation statistics were examined from seven perspectives: 1) total number of Japanese and foreign language books, 2) collection turnover rate, 3) percentage of non-loaned books, 4) percentage of books loaned more than five times per year, 5) percentage of loaned books by user type, 6) collection turnover rate by user type, and 7) obsolescence. For list-checking, this study used four check-lists: 1) other library catalogs, 2) economics book reviews, 3) selective bibliography (Senteitosho-Soumokuroku) and 4) books cited in masters' and doctoral theses. Results: According to book circulation statistics, librarians tend to select more Japanese books than those writ- ten in foreign languages, and conversely, faculty prefer to select foreign language books. Most of the Japanese books selected by librarians were loaned, but most of the books selected by faculty were not loaned. Books selected by librarians were frequently loaned by every user, and became obsolete more slowly that those selected by faculty. List-checking showed that books selected by librarians largely overlapped the check-lists. As these results show, the collection evaluation method is a useful tool for book selection studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]