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This article explores the application of journal quality and credibility evaluation tools to library science publications. The researchers investigate quality and credibility attributes of forty-eight peer-reviewed library science journals with open access components using two evaluative tools developed and published by librarians. The results identify common positive and negative attributes of library science journals, compare the results of the two evaluation tools, and discuss their ease of use and limitations. Overall, the results show that while library science journals do not fall prey to the same concerning characteristics that librarians use to caution other researchers, there are several areas in which publishers can improve the quality and credibility of their journals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers the distinct challenges that works of art pose for those managing non-art specialist research libraries across the United Kingdom. Using analysis of survey and case-study interview data, the article demonstrates that current approaches to the management of art in non-art specialist research libraries are uneven in such key areas as collection management; cataloguing; storage and access; and librarianship and training. This article seeks to build consensus on best practices with respect to the management of art in libraries and proposes practical recommendations for libraries seeking to improve the care and use of the art in their collections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article we connect critical librarianship and its practices of information literacy (IL) with working-class experiences of higher education (HE). Although the research literature and professional body of knowledge of critical information literacy (CIL), is one of the most theoretically-developed areas of wider critical librarianship (Critlib) movement, working-class knowledge and experiences remain underrepresented. One reason for this is that the values, behaviour and assumptions of library and HE workers are shaped by a HE system which inculcates middle-class values and cultural capitals within students, and stigmatises working-class students as lacking or in deficit. Hegemonic, or noncritical, IL proselytises middle-class values and assumptions about academic practices and skills development including the notion of an ideal student with behaviour and markers of identity which reflect those most privileged by wider society. In contrast CIL, framed as the socially-just practice of IL is theoretically well-placed to support working-class library workers in destabilising this alongside middle-class accomplices. Employing Yosso's (2005) concept of community and cultural wealth (CCW), we analyse how library workers can recognise working-class cultural wealth within the context of CIL and wider working practices. As such narrative accounts are lacking in the literature, we utilise collaborative autoethnography (CAE) (Chang et al., 2013) to consider and interpret our own experiences of libraries when we were university students ourselves, and more recently as HE workers of working-class heritage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - This research article aims to find out the different types of research support services provided by the top fifty libraries listed under science and technology institutions category in the QS ranking 2022. The analysis results will provide an in-depth view of the research support services offered by these institutions and will be helpful to libraries everywhere in designing their research support service. Design/methodology/approach - The top 50 institutions listed in the 2022 QS World University Rankings in the category of science and technology were taken. Out of them, 44 libraries were selected on the basis of research support services provided by them. The available research support services were investigated using the website analysis of these institutions. The data so obtained are filtered, categorised, analysed and visualised to get results. Findings - With regard to research and data-intensive research, research support service has emerged as one of the most important services offered by academic institutions in the sciences and technologies category. Research data management (39, 88.63%), research guides (40, 90.90%), research consultation (42, 95.45%), research tools recommendation (36, 81.81%), scholarly publishing/communication (39, 88.63%), open access (37, 84.09%) and training and workshop (36, 81.81%) are the most common types of research support services. The leading three countries are the USA (29.54 per cent), the UK (11.36 per cent) and Australia (9.09 per cent). Most of the institutions under the QS top 50 ranking are from the USA. Originality/value - This report conducts a thorough study of research support services offered by academic libraries at world-class science and technology institutions. The results will aid science and technology academic libraries in enhancing their research support services, which will, in turn, aid researchers in their efforts and advance scientific discovery. Also, the article will assist other institutions in planning their research support services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been a wave of interest in UK academic libraries in developing services to support student well-being. This paper identifies three fundamental and interrelated issues that need to be addressed to make such initiatives effective and sustainable. Firstly, well-being has to be defined and the impacts of interventions must be measured in appropriate ways. Secondly, there is a need to identify the true nature of the underlying social problem around well-being. Thirdly, relevant approaches to the issue need to be located within the professional knowledge base of librarianship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article looks at the period in Shane's career when she was based in the library at the Charing Cross Hospital Medical School (1970–1984) and then the Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School (1984–1991), following the merger. The topics covered include audio‐visual materials and new technology, user education, staff training and development, word processing and automation in the library and Shane's involvement and activities in the wider profession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study investigates authorship trends and productivity among Library and Information Science (LIS) professionals who contributed journal articles in the selected 12 peer reviewed LIS journals of India, US and UK. For the purpose of the study four periodicals from each country are chosen during the period 2007 to 2017. The results analyzed proved that journal wise author distribution is highest in the published literature of UK with (3546) authors followed by India with (3162) and US (2420) authors. The obtained values of χ²= 66.331, ρ=0.05 found that there is an association between type of authorship and country. As India and UK accounted for more number of collaborative works while US has large number of solo article contributions. The data analyzed shows preference towards collaborative research in all the three countries with little variations. Lotka's law have been applied and tested using Pao's method and verified through Kolmgorov-Smirnov (KS) test. The application of Lotka's law when applied individually on author's data set of published literature of India with Dmax value=0.0238 and critical value=0.046, proves that observed authorship data holds good for Lotka's law in the authors' data. But with Dmax value=0.1362 and CV=0.04 in the author distribution of US and D max value=0.2520 and CV=0.04 of UK, does not support lotka's law. Overall the results of the K-S tests proved that author productivity distribution does not fits Lotka's law in the subject of library and information science in scholarly research output in Library and information science published journal literature of US and UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the historiography of librarianship and information work, the development of librarianship during the Belle Époque (1871-1914) has been somewhat overshadowed by the heroic and ultimately unsuccessful projects of Otlet, the Royal Society, and others to bring about bibliographic control of the world's scholarly literature. In this article, an attempt is made to determine the issues which preoccupied an emerging Anglo-American library profession during this period. It is based on evidence provided by a selection of British and American documents and events from the 1850s onwards which were influential at that time, including Britain's Public Libraries Act of 1850; the first world's fairs in the early 1850s; Edward Edward's Free town libraries of 1869; the formative events surrounding the 1876 United States Centennial Exposition; Melvil Dewey's School of Library Economy (established 1887); and James Duff Brown's Manual of library economy of 1903. Librarians' concerns at the turn of the twentieth century are discussed in relation to societal trends affecting the modernization and professionalization of librarianship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the political position of academic librarianship in the context of recent changes in English Higher Education. The neoliberalisation of academic librarianship, both as an academic discipline and profession, is considered. The emergence of the Radical Librarians Collective is examined as a potential site through which to counter these developments and foster radical alternatives.Design/methodology/approach The paper draws upon Gramsci’s concepts of hegemony and praxis, and post-structural critiques of neoliberalism, as a theoretical framework to guide data collection and analysis, and observe developments within academic librarianship vis-à-vis broader processes of neoliberalisation. Empirical data collected through interviews and participant observation are analysed using thematic and critical discourse analysis.Findings The research finds that academic librarianship as a discipline and practice is undergoing a process of neoliberalisation. An umbrella organisation of activist librarians, Radical Librarians Collective, is found to be resisting these developments and has some potential to become a space through which radical alternatives to neoliberal hegemony can be explored and fostered.Research limitations/implications The research demonstrates the utility of a Gramscian theoretical framework as a lens through which to observe developments in the field of library and information studies (LIS). Further empirical work would deepen the authors’ understanding of such developments across a range of institutions and locales.Originality/value The research makes an original contribution to critical research on the struggles around the neoliberalisation of academic librarianship in the UK. The theoretically informed analysis provides original insights into these processes, and makes a methodological contribution to LIS research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the need of library services for the homeless and economically disadvantaged in Great Britain. Topics discussed include services offered by public libraries to people experiencing homelessness or economic disadvantage; ways in which libraries provide information about, and make referrals to public assistance with, finances, relationships, childcare, housing, healthcare, employment, legal matters, education, and transportation; and increase in homelessness and economic disparity in the country.

This paper studies the role of world countries in Library and Information Science research during 1963 to 2012 using scientometric and social network analysis (SNA) approaches. A total of 58757 papers which published by 83 Information Science and Library Science journals in JCR 2013 and indexed in the Web of Science were selected as the sample of the study. In this paper, the overall structure and evolution of the collaboration network of countries were investigated using macro-level SNA metrics. Additionally, scientometric and micro-level SNA metrics were adopted to analyze the performance of countries in the network. UCINET and VOSVIEWER software were utilized for data analysis and visualization. Findings of the study show that the co-authorship network of countries in LIS research contains 151 vertices which connected together through 3121 links (co-authorships). The collaboration network of countries seems to exhibit "scale-free" and "small world" network properties and the theory of "six degrees of separation" is valid in this network. Moreover, the results of clustering analysis show that this network comprises 39 clusters. Amongst them, the eleventh and ninth clusters which contain US and UK, have the highest density. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An essay is presented on political economy of information in librarianship. It offers theoretical framework to support the growth and development of critical approach to information services. Topics include the separation of economics and political sciences, the incursion of library practices in Great Britain from corporate model, and the exclusion mechanism in public goods that exhibit rivalry in consumption.

An excerpt from the speech delivered by Sir William Osier, president of the Bibliographical Society at the opening of the Summer School of Library Service of the University of Wales, at Aberystwyth, on July 31, 1917, is presented.

Abstract: In this paper I discuss Elias Ashmole’s collections and views about John Dee. I consider Dee as an object of collection against the broader background of Ashmole’s collecting practices. I also look at the uses to which Ashmole put some of his collections relating to Dee, as well as those which he envisaged for posterity. I argue that Ashmole’s interest in Dee stemmed from his ideas about the uses of antiquity in the reconstruction and transmission of knowledge. They partly reflected Ashmole’s interpretation of Francis Bacon’s Advancement of learning as well as the influence of William Backhouse and William Oughtred’s ideas about publishing natural philosophy in English. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This article presents the findings of a small-scale study undertaken at a UK university. The purpose of the research was to investigate the perceived impact and value of the Academic Library Liaison service at the university. This was considered to be a critical issue of concern, in the light of drivers threatening the UK higher education library sector to de-professionalize-or worse, remove such services. A mixed methods approach was adopted, combining an online questionnaire disseminated to academic staff, resulting in 29 responses from three academic departments and in-depth interviews with eight members of academic staff. The results indicate that although academic staff do value the service provided by Academic Liaison Librarians (ALLs), there is scope to increase awareness of the range of services on offer. The study also demonstrates that academic staff prioritize the contribution that ALLs can make through the possession of in-depth subject knowledge, IT skills and well-developed communication skills, and the provision of advice on copyright matters and assistance with institutional repositories. This holds implications for curriculum design on the part of LIS educators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents news concerning libraries and information science professionals from various countries, including protests against plans to close about 400 libraries in Great Britain, information from the Deutsches Institut für Normung, (DIN), the German national standards organization, about transcribing the Hebrew alphabet in library documentation, and a library science course and test for people who want to work in library science being offered in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. .

The article reviews the life and work of Brian Campbell Vickery, one of the major figures of British classification and information retrieval, and a scholar of international reputation. His career as librarian, researcher, and academic is described, as is the part he played in the development of information science theory in the twentieth century. Some of his most significant publications are listed, with reference to the scale and breadth of his published work overall. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The image of the library and information professional has been a source of professional anxiety for many years. The purpose of this paper is to investigate this long-standing issue by studying the portrayal of librarianship in UK national newspapers during a period of rapid technological change. It also proposes to examine the representation of the professional role, determined by the skills and competencies depicted and the topics associated with librarianship. Design/methodology/approach - The approach takes the form of a content analysis of a sample of 264 newspaper articles taken from The Times and The Mirror between January 1, 1998, and December 31, 2008. Findings - The findings reveal a lack of representation of skills and duties performed by librarians. The usefulness and relevance of those depicted are overshadowed by the reported value of libraries. When professional duties are depicted, however, the results appear positive: librarians were seen as having an expert knowledge of content, technological competence and skills in collection development. The reporting of negative behavioural traits was infrequent and it was found that newspapers were not perpetuating negative stereotypes. Research limitations/implications - Although The Times and The Mirror are important publications in terms of circulation, their depiction of the library and information profession does not form a complete picture of the representation of librarianship in the UK press. Originality/value - The paper contributes to debates about the image of the profession, and raises awareness about the skills and competencies that practitioners and professional bodies need to promote for the library and information profession to flourish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fitness for purpose of professional education for library work has been constantly debated. Librarianship education and library practice have changed significantly as a result of technological, social and other factors affecting information provision and use. The key role of subject librarian in academic libraries has been particularly affected by both technological and pedagogical developments that have transformed the information arena, expanded their teaching activities and raised questions about the relevance and value of contemporary library-related courses for their present hybrid responsibilities. An investigation of UK course content and practitioner opinion was conducted in summer 2010 to explore whether existing programmes offered suitable preparation for current subject librarian roles. A pragmatic mixed methodology combined document analysis of course content with a mainly quantitative sector-wide survey of subject librarians (n=65) and library managers (n=48), followed by interviews with 8 librarians and 7 managers. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics and qualitative data were analysed thematically. Results showed generally positive opinions of UK library education, but revealed different priorities among the two groups and a strong desire among subject librarians for improved coverage of pedagogy. Findings confirmed that personal qualities are at least as important as specialist abilities for contemporary librarians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and objectives: The main objective of this paper is to determine the frequency of doctors’ clinical information needs using Clinical Librarians as data collectors, focusing on the UK acute sector. Additionally, the frequency of questions followed-up by Clinical Librarians was determined. The information needs of doctors have been investigated in other countries, particularly the USA, but not in the UK. Clinical Librarians have not been utilized as data collectors in any previous studies. Method: Clinical Librarians counted clinical questions posed by doctors in clinical settings. Results: The Clinical Librarians counted 286 questions from 655 doctors discussing 1210 patient cases. This represents approximately one question for every four patients. Conclusion: Clinical Librarians can collect data to identify the number of information needs doctors have, but this was more successful when the Clinical Librarian was experienced and an established part of the clinical team. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the political, economic and cultural development of the Royal Society for Asian Affairs in Great Britain. The association has received the financial support from the Heritage Lottery Fund for the online cataloging. In addition, the 2009 Sir Peter Holmes Memorial Award is established to encourage the individuals who ages from 18 to 25 years old to travel purposefully around Asia.

Purpose: To examine the experience of studying for an National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) by past and present candidates in the library and information science sector, their reasons for choosing this qualification and its impact on completion. Methodology: Following a review of the literature, a number of NVQ candidates were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. Candidates were contacted via e-mail through NVQ Centres and the LondonLinks e-mail list. There is a focus on health libraries as the flexibility and work-based nature of NVQs enable more staff to access training and education in this sector, despite the not uncommon low levels of staffing. Results: NVQ Centres have gained experience since NVQs were launched 10 years ago. More support is offered to candidates and a number of issues such as isolation, are no longer a problem. An interesting result was the high number of candidates who had gone on to higher education following the completion of an NVQ. Conclusions: The NVQ is a useful method of providing staff with an opportunity to gain a recognized qualification. A significant number of candidates reported that the NVQ was ultimately a positive experience that improved their working practices. It can be an important first step for non-professional staff, but the future remains uncertain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article looks at the Widening Participation in Learning--Developing Libraries Project. According to the article, the project demonstrated the contribution of the National Health Service (NHS) libraries in improving access to learning opportunities. The objectives of the project included heightening awareness among the library staff of the Widening Participation Agenda and making sure that library resources can support access to skills development for all staff. The article discusses Continuing Professional Development for library staff.

Objective: To establish a journal club for librarians, which aimed to develop appraisal skills and assist in the application of research to practice. Methods: Fourteen health librarians were invited to attend a journal club. Each month a librarian was responsible for preparing a scenario, choosing a research paper, and selecting a checklist. The paper was appraised by the club, and a critically appraised topic (CAT) prepared. Six months later, a questionnaire was sent to all librarians. Results: Six out of 14 librarians attended the journal club and five out of six returned the questionnaire. All five agreed that attending the journal club helped them develop appraisal skills, write a CAT and be more critical of research. Four agreed they always identified a research paper first, then formulated a question. One librarian agreed that applying results to their own practice was difficult, one disagreed and three were neutral. Conclusion: Journal clubs can be effective at developing appraisal skills and writing a CAT, as well as increasing the reading of library research. Librarians still need assistance in identifying and using questions directly from their own practice. The journal club has helped some librarians to apply evidence to practice, but others find the research is not always directly relevant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Libraries, whether medical or healthcare, in higher education (HE) institutions or the National Health Service (NHS), provide services to all types of healthcare students and professionals. Many of these are delivered through contracts, in the form of service-level agreements, between the two key organizations. The challenge to librarians is ensuring that users are provided with access to the resources they need and the skills to use those resources to the benefit of a patient-centered environment. External drivers such as developments in education, a continuously modernizing health service, and new technology have influenced the development of services. Issues regarding the access to electronic information for the different user groups still exist. Librarians have to support the differing user groups, who may have varying levels of computer and library skills, and provide skills training on a wide variety of resources from their own institution and from nationally provided content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose — The paper seeks to propose a method for selecting menu items based on an analysis of user-entered search terms. Menu pages inform users what is coming next and what questions are going to be answered by an information communication technology service. Menus need to reflect user needs. The paper aims to argue that users reveal the scope of their information needs by the words used in their search expressions and these can be analysed to inform menu titles. Design/methodology/approach — The paper presents an analysis and classification of user search expressions that are automatically collected by the server. The paper examines the search expressions of about 1,000 users of the BBC site related to search expressions on diabetes. Findings — The search expressions were classified, analysed and compared with the diabetes menu of three health sites: NI-IS Direct (www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk); BBC health (www.bbc.co.uk); and Diabetics UK (www.diabetes.org.uk). Finally, a six-point menu is derived. Practical implications — The practical implication of this paper is development of relevant web menus based on user information needs as revealed in search expressions entered by users. Originality/value — This is the first explanation of how search logs can be used to construct menu lists. Previously menus have been designed at worst to suit producers and site designers based on the information that they have available and at best on interviews with small usability or focus groups who are not necessarily users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose — The purpose of this article is to introduce the theme of this special issue which contains a selection of papers written by the staff of UCL SLAIS. Design/methodology/approach — The history of the School is briefly described and its philosophy of taking a broad and inclusive approach to professional education is reviewed. Findings — There is considerable benefit to professional education in an institution which incorporates all branches of information work, and retains a sense of the value of traditional skills in tandem with an exploitation of new technologies. The contributors to this issue reflect this both by the range of disciplines which they represent and by the range of topics, from the most traditional to the most modern, and demonstrate the synergy between them. Originality/value — The article provides an introduction to the special issue and promotes the value of an inclusive approach to professional education in the information disciplines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gypsies and Travellers have lived in Britain for over 500 years and yet the country's `original and oldest ethnic minority' (Pateman 2004, 42) remains the least tolerated by the majority This paper provides a brief cultural analysis based on the Gypsy Traveller way of life and how current policies and service provision create barriers to this culture and tradition. Library and information service requirements are identified in relation to specific needs, based on the issues that directly affect this minority group. An examination of current policies and service provision will also identify existing barriers to enabling access to information. Proposals are made for providing library and information services appropriate to this minority community in order to break down these barriers, enable access to information pertinent to their needs and tackle the issues that contribute to the social exclusion of the Gypsy Traveller community in Britain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Characterized by the pursuit of enlightenment and progress, the municipal public libraries that began to appear in Britain after 1850 were notable cultural ingredients of modern society. Yet public libraries also displayed less liberal dimensions of modernity, as places where scientific rationality was at times mobilized to counter perceived "social" diseases, broadly constituted by disorder, deviancy, poor discipline, irrational recreation, and economic and political radicalism. The public library's role as a meaningful clinic for the eradication of social diseases, to which the masses were seen to be prone, necessarily required the attraction of a mass clientele, which, ironically, generated fears of physical disease arising from the spatial mixing of users and the sharing of printed materials. Just as Foucault employed the "birth of the clinic" as a metaphor for the emergence of modern medicine and its expert discourse in the setting of the scientific hospital around the turn of the nineteenth century, so also the notion of "library as clinic" can be seen to encapsulate later discourses of control associated with public librarianship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses findings from doctoral research on the information behaviour of home-care workers and their clients. The paper focuses on the findings, which have implications for health library and information services.The qualitative research methods included participant observation in the homes of clients (n = 7), over a period of 18 months, in a city in the UK, complemented by in-depth interviews of home-care staff (n = 47).Home-care staff perceived requests for information on a variety of topics as an indivisible part of their caring role. Clients asked for more information than they had in the past, and home-care workers were expected to respond to a wide variety of enquiries about health, welfare, leisure and domestic concerns. Clients trusted their advice as much as they might have trusted members of the family. Home-care workers from an agency used a variety of resources at the agency office to help them, such as leaflets on welfare benefits, and health conditions. Few had used NHS Direct, and library use (by a third of the home-care workers) was generally associated with course work or training. Some family members and home-care staff used self-help groups, but the research found that family members were sometimes reticent to ask advice on sensitive issues in self-help groups. Home-care workers learnt from each other and shared experience.Libraries and information services need to target provision of formal information carefully, as it is advice and counsel that is required in the home-care setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the findings and analysis of research undertaken in both the United Kingdom and Australia to identify the range of knowledge and skills required by library and information professionals to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century. In the United Kingdom, the Chartered Institute for Library and Information Professionals has developed a new qualifications framework and revised the body of professional knowledge for information professionals. In Australia, the research has focused on the two complementary and intertwined strands of discipline knowledge and generic capabilities. The issues that arise from the two projects are relevant to all sectors of the library and information profession, to stimulate discussion about possible strategies for workforce planning. Career-long learning has become an imperative for information professionals, with the research findings highlighting the importance of a collaborative approach to professional development, to involve the individual, the educators, the employers and the professional associations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a broad international overview of e-books in academic libraries. The inconsistent terminology relating to e-books is noted in the first section and a brief history of e-books and some current definitions are given. The stakeholders within the e-book industry are described, with details of some of the services offered. For users and staff in library and information services, e-books can provide a variety of advantages as well as challenges, and these are outlined for those in academic libraries. Findings from various studies on e-books are presented and some of the issues involved in managing e-books in academic libraries are described. Finally an overview is presented of the e-Books Working Group in the United Kingdom. The paper is illustrated with a number of screenshots related to e-books in academic libraries in various parts of the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the challenges posed by changes in the higher education field to professional education and the practice of academic librarianship in Great Britain. The career passages that an academic librarian has to go through to gain professional recognition of librarianship as a profession are discussed. The impact of the ethical professional responsibilities on the professional education of librarians is explored. An overview of the feminization of the higher education professions and the patterns of employment is provided.

The article focuses on map collections and geographic information systems (GIS) or digital data in Great Britain. Details of the Digimap service are outlined. Outcomes of the analysis of map collections in Great Britain are presented. It discusses the lack of courses in map librarianship. The challenges posed by GIS to map collections are explored.

Of the 566 library authorities functioning in Britain and Ireland by I9I8/most seem to have published annual reports on their progress, at least at some point following their establishment. So far as they survive and can be traced, these documents, though varying greatly in length, commonly contain a narrative or textual commentary on the progress of the institutions during the report period, statistical and tabular details about the institutions such as information regarding stock, issues, and borrowers, and lists of data such as committee members, donations received and periodicals taken. Some published annual reports documenting the working of public libraries also contain data as to the progress of allied cultural institutions such as museums, art galleries, technical and adult education facilities, and parks and recreation grounds. They were often signed by the local public library committee chairman2 and addressed to a local council, although some were signed by a librarian or curator and addressed to the library or other committee. 3 In both cases they were accessible to members of the public, and it seems fair to assume that the staff of the institution concerned would commonly have had a hand in their writing. Following the acquisition by the Thomas Parry Library at the University of Wales Aberystwyth of a large collection of historic public library annual reports which the Library Association was on the verge of discarding, the AHRB (Arts and Humanities Research Board) agreed to fund a fifteen-month project between April 2000 and July 200I to examine the utility of these documents to historians of the period ca. I850-I9I9. In view of the lack of thematic historical work on public library annual reports (and indeed on annual reports as a wider genre), this two-part essay will address the genesis and character of these documents from a broad perspective, and assess their impact and significance for contemporaries and for historians in a range of disciplines. After describing the evolution of the public library annual report as a genre, this first paper will discuss the nature of their use to date, and will argue that current common historiographical assumptions as to the limited utility of these documents are flawed. The second paper will assess the value and contemporary importance of the documents in the expansion of the public library movement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Provides a chronological account of the processes employed to assess the quality of Librarianship and Information Management (LIM) education in the Wales, England and Scotland between 1994 and 2002. Explains the three methodologies implemented to assess quality. Highlights firstly, how the diversity of the UK impacts on the implementation of government policy and secondly, how the diversity of LIM education in the UK makes comparison between schools difficult. Analyses reports published by government agencies indicating that overall the quality of LIM education was judged to be of a good standard at the time of review. Comments on the extent to which there is link between teaching and research quality in the field. Notes that quality assurance is undertaken in other countries and that the UK approach is just one example. Suggests that the review process provides stakeholders with an overview of the quality of LIM education from an academic rather than a professional perspective. Concludes that the subject-based approach is unlikely to be repeated, but by focusing on institutional audit the government will ensure that the universities embed quality assurance mechanisms into organisational culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teaching library and information science students the skills to meet the challenges of the information profession in a climate of rapid development and change is a continuous task for universities. The health care sector is particularly challenging, with its complex working environment carrying specialist requirements. Given this progressive environment, it is crucial for students to graduate with an understanding of the application of the skills they have learnt in a working environment. This can be successfully achieved through an appropriate student placement. This study in the School of Business Information at Liverpool John Moores University examined the effectiveness of information student placements in the health care sector. In Great Britain, the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals requires that accredited courses expose students to current professional practice, either through a practical placement or in another appropriate way. A successful student placement relies on the effective collaboration of employer, student and university.

Lionel McColvin (1896-1976) is regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of British librarianship. In the specific context of 150 years of public librarianship in Britain, his reputation as a visionary influence public librarianship in Britain, his reputation as a visionary influence public is second only to that of the nineteenth-century pioneer Edward Edwards, while in the twentieth century his reputation is unsurpassed. McColvin was the major voice in the mid-twentieth-century movement to reconstruct and modernize public libraries. He is best known as author of The Public Library System of Great Britain: A Report on Its Present Condition with Proposals for Post-war Reorganization, published in 1942 at a moment of intense wartime efforts to assemble plans for social and economic reconstruction. The "McColvin Report," as it came to be termed, was a landmark in the struggle to de-Victorianize the public library, not least by emphasizing the institution's universalism and its function as a national, not just a civic, agency. This article briefly describes McColvin's notable contribution to twentieth-century librarianship, resulting from his work as a public librarian, as a leading figure in the Library Association, and as an influential player in the international library movement. The article's core aim is to offer a critical appraisal of McColvin's vision for public libraries by placing it in the context of the project to build a better postwar world. This project was defined by the conceptualization and development of a welfare state in Britain, the underlying values of which can be seen to correspond to McColvin's national plan for a rejuvenated public library system. McColvin drew on the spirit of the time to produce a plan for public libraries that was shot through with social idealism and commitment and with a confidence in the need for intervention by the state -- values that perhaps provide lessons for current and future library ... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

James Duff Brown was an influential and energetic librarian in Great Britain in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. His Subject Classification has characteristics that were unusual and idiosyncratic during his own time, but his work deserves recognition as one of the precursors of modern bibliographic classification systems. This article discusses a number of theories and classification practices that Brown developed. In particular, it investigates his views on the order of main classes, on the phenomenon of "concrete" subjects, and on the need for synthesized notations. It traces these ideas briefly into the future through the work of S. R. Ranganathan, the Classification Research Group, and the second edition of the Bliss Bibliographic Classification system. It concludes that Brown's work warrants further study for the light it may shed on current classification theory and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historical studies to date on the employment of women in librarianship have focused overwhelmingly on the public library sector. However, after the First World War, a different kind of library career also emerged for women in the technical libraries and scientific information bureaux of individual industrial enterprises and co-operative trade and industry research associations. Women's employment experiences in this field were shaped not by the discourses and practices of traditional librarianship, but by those of the industrial sector. Technical library and information work was the only branch of industry to which women science graduates were routinely appointed, but it also attracted a significant number of male recruits. Drawing on a range of sources including company archives, the records of Aslib and the Women's Employment Federation, and contemporary periodical and other literature, this paper explores the status and roles of women engaged in industrial library and information work between 1918 and 1960. It argues that deeply gendered workplace ideology restricted even as it permitted women's employment, but also illuminates how some women scientists were able to seize on this rare opening as a means both of negotiating responsible careers in the overwhelmingly hostile industrial environment and of making influential contributions to the development of the technical library and information field.This paper is based on research undertaken for the AHRB-funded research project 'The early information society in Britain, 1900-1975' in the School of Information Management, Leeds Metropolitan University. Thanks to Alistair Black and David Muddiman for helpful discussions on earlier drafts of this work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay suggests that even the most inventive recent works in British public library history have been surprisingly deficient in assimilating the important conclusions of recent theories and historiography of national identity. The defence that library history can have nothing useful to say in relation to national identity is refuted with reference to this recent wider literature. Theoretical models for research into national identity in British public libraries for the period 1850-1919 are explored, particular areas of library history of relevance to national identity are described, and questions which should be considered in the further research this issue merits will be iterated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since its inception in 1997, Ask a Librarian (UK) has been a model for best practice in collaborative digital reference in public libraries. Innovative development currently includes trialling the integration of virtual reference with the standard Web-form service. In addition to a description of the Ask a Librarian service, this paper provides an overview of digital reference practice, procedures, and issues, with particular emphasis on collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the late 1950s, the long-awaited postwar expansion in British public library services got under way. During the 1960s and 1970s, librarians and library planners became strongly optimistic about the public library's "modern" future. In keeping with the principles of egalitarianism and universalism underpinning the welfare state, a radically new philosophy, known as "community librarianship," emerged in the 1970s. Its aim was to encourage the public library to make an irreversible break with its "conservative" past and to become a truly popular institution. However, despite jettisoning a great deal of its Victorian image and embracing much of the modernity of the age, the public library was ultimately unable to live up to the visions of classlessness that library promoters had long cherished. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses a number of legal issues which are of relevance to library and information science in Great Britain. Legislation to extend the range of exceptions to copyright to visually impaired people under certain circumstances; Case of Reed Executive Plc vs Reed Business Information Ltd. on meta tagging; Random House's decision to abandon its legal fight against Rosetta Books.

Considers an approach to preservation assessment surveys for the management of library archives in Great Britain. Background on the survey program of the National Preservation Office; Identification of a standard method to assess preservation need; Development of a unified library and archive survey model.