Search

Wayne Wiegand consistently put forward the research agenda of the library in the life of the user. A focus on libraries' publics is a useful variation: What, now, is the library in the life of its public(s)? In order to undertake this analysis, some practical definition of libraries' public(s) must be clarified, and how they might have changed in recent (neoliberal) times. With this background in place, an analysis of how publics now approach libraries is possible--and clarifies library responses within our current neoliberal environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study looks at the organizational entry or onboarding experience of 20 new academic librarians through a series of interviews. The goal is to explore what new librarians in a variety of settings and career stages consider most important for them to learn during onboarding and the best approaches for sharing information with them. The study also explores how much institutions are actively learning about the signature strengths of new employees as part of the onboarding process. The authors conclude with recommendations for additional research and onboarding process improvements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article introduces a theoretical framework for conceptualizing public library membership and belonging as an ongoing action net of joint intention and collective action between individual members of the public and the library. It provides an analysis of how membership is constituted, observed, and documented by public libraries from a social-constructivist perspective. Drawing on social theory and philosophy, organizational studies, and secondary public library data sources, a high-level typology of public library member categories from the political and organizational modes of public library action is proposed. Member types are characterized using institutionalized structures of public library use, access, data, discourse, behavior, and social media applications. Implications of this framework for future research and public library innovation are suggested in conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1999 Library Quarterly published the author's article "Tunnel Vision and Blind Spots: What the Past Tells Us about the Present; Reflections on the Twentieth-Century History of American Librarianship." In it he argued that library and information studies (LIS) research and discourse suffered from a narrow perspective that limited its ability to discern a wider range of contributions and roles libraries played in their host communities. In this follow-up article, by harnessing conclusions emanating from research for his new book, "Part of Our Lives": A People's History of the American Public Library (2015) as a test case, the author argues that LIS discourse and research continue to manifest tunnel vision and blind spots that limit librarianship's ability to more deeply understand its present circumstances and more prudently prepare for its future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents an overview of the Western public library's development into its present form(s) and its shift to the prevailing social perspective. This leads to a discussion of "digital and point-oh libraries" as one of two major strands and " social space and place" as the other. Our main critique is that this development has caused an unfortunate downplay of societal perspectives in favor of a focus on social issues. Another side effect is a growing lack of attention to the potential of physical, on-site collections. By proposing a specific counterexample, we discuss library collections as a community concern and as a step toward bridging the social-societal gap. The potential of a redefined on-site collection is set against the backdrop of public libraries offering nontraditional collections, such as tool-lending libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The field of library and information science (LIS) has long struggled with issues of diversity and inclusion in the composition of information professionals, in educational content, and in connecting with many communities. Yet the field has also produced many innovative approaches to meeting unique community needs and incorporating issues of justice, rights, and equity into educational activities. Although these approaches rarely connect education and advocacy, connecting these two can both facilitate better sharing of best practices in these areas and enable the educational and professional efforts of the field to better complement one another. Building on the "virtuous circle" concept that a truly effective focus on inclusion in the field will require involvement of both educators and professionals, this article offers a series of cases from LIS education programs and information institutions focusing on intersecting issues of diversity, inclusion, rights, justice, and equity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study of the use of microblogs in libraries in India, highlighting the use of microblogging service Twitter by Indian librarians and of Indian libraries. Topics addressed include librarians' uses of Twitter for personal purposes and to promote the institutions at which they are employed, the prevalence of Twitter accounts among Indian librarians, and the IndiaLibraries blog.

The article looks at the legacy of library science scholar and outgoing "Library Quarterly" editor John Carlo Bertot. Particular focus is given to his work in the area of promoting libraries as key institutions in ensuring universal public access to the Internet and thereby helping to foster social inclusion. Topics include Bertot's "Public Libraries & the Internet" surveys, urban versus rural community needs, and library-community relations.

In 2010, the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education released, “Sustainability curriculum in higher education: A call to action,” encouraging infusion of sustainability topics into universities' teaching and research. Since then, academic programs and research related to social, economic, and environmental sustainability have enriched university curricula. An exploratory study was conducted to determine the position and engagements of academic libraries and information science schools in their contributions to scholarly sustainability activities and curricular initiatives. This article presents the results of the study which reveals a number of engagements by library professionals in the areas of sustainability, such as increasing open access to research, building sustainability-related collections and research guides, and incorporating sustainability content into information literacy. While academic libraries and information science schools are engaged in a broad spectrum of initiatives that support their institutions' sustainability research and curricular functions, this study indicates that such activities require a more targeted approach. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This Libraries and Policy essay explores the interrelationships between the public library goals of supporting democracy and remaining an apolitical institution and the expectations for dem onstration of value and economic contribution at a time in which public discourse emphasizes austerity from public institutions. Libraries' positions on democracy and neutrality are explored within the context of the tension between asserting value and demonstrating it, as well as the impacts of these positions on the ability to advocate for library value in political and policy making processes. Building upon these analyses, we examine different ways that libraries can use research to advocate and demonstrate their value by framing the terms of value and aus terity in language that acknowledges the tangible and intangible contributions of public libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the concept of service branding in the context of libraries and information organizations. We discuss community perceptions of library brand value from the librarian's perspectives in the context of public and academic libraries. Librarians’ thoughts and viewpoints in improving the community's library experience are also discussed. The findings highlight the importance of improving the library's visibility, creating appealing ambience, and developing a strategic branding plan in order to provide robust, compelling, and meaningful experiences for their community. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article examines the state of libraries in Latin America, focusing on their impact on economic and social development. Particular attention is given to an academic digital library at University Adolfo Ibáñez in Chile, which the authors explore in terms of value in the digital context. The article goes on to discuss the importance of innovative and constructive networks within a digital library context.

The article presents issues of concern for public librarianship and the concepts of community needs and public interest. Focus is given to the state of public libraries in 2013. Topics addressed include the need for political-economic advocacy on behalf of libraries, the irony of struggling libraries amidst rising rates in literacy and book consumption, and the library as a community center.

This article explores the historical relationships between libraries, policy, and politics in the United States. Far too often, policy and political discussions related to libraries have little historical context. While libraries have long viewed themselves as a pillar of democracy by supporting informed, educated, and engaged citizenry, political and policy decisions have treated libraries in a number of different ways, ranging from neglect to direct intervention. Tracing the development of the relationships between libraries, policy, and politics at local, state, and national levels over time, this article posits that these relationships have passed through four distinct phases. Understanding these phases and incorporating these understandings into library advocacy and perspectives in political and policy discourse will allow libraries to better assert the contributions of libraries to democracy, the reasons for the stances they take, and the importance of political and policy decisions that support and adequately fund libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Immer mehr Verantwortliche in Bibliotheken beschäftigen sich vor dem Hintergrund des aktuellen Paradigmenwandels mit der Frage der grundsätzlichen Ausrichtung ihrer Organisation: Wie stellen wir fest, ob wir auf dem richtigen Weg sind? Was sind passende Ziele? Was müssen wir tun, um diese Ziele zu erreichen? Strategieprozesse helfen bei der richtigen Definition der Ausgangslage, der Entwicklung von inhaltlichen „Leitplanken", konkreter Ziele und der entsprechenden Maßnahmen. Der Beitrag richtet sich insbesondere an Fachkollegen, die sich zunächst grundsätzlich über Merkmale und Bausteine von Strategieprozessen informieren möchten. Thematisiert werden unter anderem die Umwelt-, SWOT- und Stakeholder-Analyse, Vision, Mission und das Leitbild sowie die Definition von Handlungsfeldern und Zielen. Aufgrund der Vielfalt bestehender Modelle und Beratungsansätze wurde bewusst eine Auswahl getroffen, die keinen Anspruch auf Vollständigkeit erhebt. Against the background of the current paradigm shift, more and more library managers are looking into the question of the fundamental orientation of their organisation: How do we determine whether we are on the right track? What are adequate goals? What do we need to do to achieve these goals? Strategy processes help with the correct definition of the starting position, the development of content-related "guard rails", concrete goals, and the corresponding measures. This article is particularly aimed at colleagues who would first like to learn more about the characteristics and building blocks of strategy processes. The topics covered include environmental, SWOT, and stakeholder analysis, vision and mission statement as well as the definition of fields of action and goals. Due to the diversity of existing models and consulting approaches, a selection was deliberately made which does not claim to be exhaustive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After announcing the launch of a Drag Queen Storytime, the Halton Hills Public Library (HHPL) received positive feedback from the community, but also faced criticism from a small but vocal group of citizens. Complaints reached as high as the mayoral office, challenging the library's position as a trusted community institution, and testing the rigour of its training, communications, policies, and procedures. Despite the pushback, the library ran a highly successful program and afterward redoubled its commitment to fighting homophobia and promoting equality. This article details how the HHPL came to offer the program, what the response was, as well as suggestions for measuring success and processing complaints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A critical component of strategic planning is creating a shared-awareness among library staff of the potential societal, political, economic and technological changes that will influence how future users will create and consume scholarly materials, what will be expected of library services, and how facilities will be used. The ACRL Futuring scenarios were adapted at the beginning of the Ohio University Libraries strategic planning process to identify such themes and concerns. Those scenarios prompted a series of in-depth and interactive group discussions, which created a shared awareness of possible library futures and guided Ohio University's strategic thinking. Those interactive exercises led by Professor David Staley, and the subsequent discussions surrounding the scenarios, represent a best practice for other librarians and staff who are attempting to understand the external factors that shape society, higher education and the future of libraries. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The role of libraries is to collect, preserve, and disseminate the intellectual output of the society. This output includes books and serials as well as the digital versions of the same. Scientists, other scholars, and all of society are now producing, storing, and disseminating digital data that underpin the aforementioned documents in much larger volumes than the text. The survival of this data is in question since the data are not housed in long-lived institutions such as libraries. This situation threatens the underlying principles of scientific replicability since in many cases data cannot readily be collected again. Libraries are the institutions that could best manage this intellectual output. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Librarians have long recognized the importance of privacy to intellectual freedom. As digital technology and its applications advance, however, efforts to protect privacy may become increasingly difficult. With some users behaving in ways that suggest they do not care about privacy and with powerful voices claiming that privacy is dead, librarians may question whether privacy is worth protecting. This article reviews some of the extensive scholarly literature on privacy from disciplines outside the field of library science, including anthropology, law, philosophy, political science, psychology, and sociology, and it identifies fourteen reasons privacy matters to individuals, relationships, and to society. It also discusses the challenge of defining privacy and addresses the question of how the concept of privacy spans cultures. Librarians may find this broader understanding of the value of privacy useful in affirming and defending their commitment to the privacy of library users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an examination of the lack of diversity among librarians, library administrators, students enrolled in library and information science (LIS) programs and faculty teachers in LIS programs. It discusses the need for the profession to become as diverse as the population it serves. It explores the need for research to address the issue of diversity in librarianship and discusses how diversity and underrepresentation studies can help examine the problem. It also examines the role that education can play in increasing diversity in librarianship.

Information Commons have successfully served as platforms for innovations in facilities and service programs within libraries over the past 2 decades. In this article, the author makes a series of points concerning the significance and meaning of the Information Commons as a trend, including the strength of the concept as a bridge between the past and future of libraries, limitations in perceptions concerning Information Commons, and the ways that the trend may play out in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the outcome for integrated library systems (ILS). According to the author, integrated library systems are experiencing an increase in demand and expectations from its users. Topics include a brief historical overview of the author’s experience with library automation at the Virginia Tech (VT) University, the circumstances that led to the changes in the university’s library system, including an increasingly sophisticated user community, and the merits of the ILS. Why ILS must evolve, including meeting business needs, and an in-depth discussion of the architectural philosophy concerning ILS by Yale University’s System Librarian Ping Fu is presented.

This study categorizes 6959 reference desk transactions to determine how many of the queries require the attention of a librarian. Results indicate that 89% could likely be answered by non-librarians. From the results of this and other studies, the author explores the cost-effectiveness of staffing a traditional reference desk with librarians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Place reminds us to tailor our professional work to the shifting concerns, and indeed the shifting criteria, of our shifting constituencies, rather than to a placeless professional vision of what librarianship, society, and literacy should be. Every place maker must make do, make sense, and make place in an environment that is technologically heterogeneous and in which the potential for novelty as well as recurrence is a persistent feature. The siege flag of place has been raised, not only in librarianship but in many sectors, in defense of the human and the parochial, of tradition and local turf. Taking a phenomenological cue, here we attempt to prune and redirect this problematic term. We arrive at what we consider reasonable criteria of success for ourselves: to what extent is our "library," in whatever professional sense we assign that word, vitally connected to the discursive practices of the places from which it draws its mandate? We contend that vitalizing a library in this respect requires us to step outside the sphere of our habitual familiarity and to explore other places. How we go about doing this is a matter of methodology. If a prior conception of place interferes with the absorption of ethnomethods, it should be held in suspension, bracketed at least until the practitioner can grasp the place that already exists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the different sets of global public policies and private expectations to the academic exchange of digital information in libraries. It relates that the information liquidity holds a digital network of global civic exchange and commercial interests through a wide range of individual communication channels and technological choices. Likewise, electronic scholarship's liquidity requires libraries to renegotiate their economic relationships with the intellectual property owners. Moreover, some policy perspective undermines library-centric advocacy such as the ability of information technologies to enable individuals to take active role in their civic participation, social and economic choices.

The article focuses on the Electronic-Measures Project in 2003 funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England. The project attempted to establish a reliable set of electronic resource measures for inclusion in the Society of College, National, and University Libraries Annual Statistics alongside traditional library usage measures. From this project it became clear that statistical measures can make an important contribution to evaluating the impact of electronic services on the libraries.

The public library is a product of modernity that follows in the wake of industrialization, urbanization, and popular movements, while at the same time the public library itself supports the building up and development of the modern. This article will examine the arrival of modernity and the prerequisites for the rise of public libraries, as well as some crucial aspects of the relationship between the public library and modernity. Furthermore, by means of contributions from recent significant sociologists, such as Anthony Giddens, Jean-François Lyotard, and Scott Lash, we shall discuss the implications of the development of late modern or postmodern society for the present public library. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information literacy has established itself as an important subfield of librarianship. Yet although librarians justify information literacy as increasing democratic participation by all citizens, their efforts to improve ’quality control’ of information also threaten to restrict choice in systematic ways. This contradiction results in part from the genealogy of the terms ’information’ and ’literacy,’ terms that share a relationship traceable to an Enlightenment ideology, namely, that reading could transform society by informing its people. But reading's power to transform was also a contested issue for groups seeking political and cultural ascendancy, and reading genres that initially challenged conventional thought evolved into those that buttressed it. In the process, some groups came to be defined as information ’consumers’ and simultaneously excluded from the role of information ’producers.’ Strategies that can raise awareness of the assumptions underlying this legacy include critical analysis of language use and envisioning information use as a process that involves all users in both consumption and production. Adopting these can help librarians recognize that the tensions inherent in the discourse and practice of information literacy are not only unavoidable, but essential, if the basic condition of democracy—citizen participation—is to be fulfilled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the role played by libraries in promoting intellectual freedom and as bulwarks against censorship. History of censorship and intellectual and expressive freedom in United States libraries; Analysis of the utilitarian and deontological positions on intellectual freedom; American Library Association's promulgation of the 'Library's Bill of Rights' in 1939.

Discriminations against members of the lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender/queer (LGBTQ) community havebeen reported in every sphere of life, including in libraries. This paper reviewed the literature on transgender studies particularly in relation to the role of libraries. It highlights the problems faced by transgender people in accessing information in libraries and the importance of making libraries more inclusive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a report from a March 21, 2019 library conference in Leipzig, Germany with topics of presentations delivered on topics including the Dutch royal family's literacy and reading advocacy, the role of libraries in combating fake news, and libraries in public discourse.

Professional identities provide a lens through which to understand ourselves and our professional community. Individual practitioners may find that shifts in their own professional identities lead them to redefine their profession and those moving into new types of roles or engaging in new tasks may strive to alter the direction of the profession at large. This paper's first objective is to provide insights into how professional identity development occurs and how the emergence of a new or unusual take on the library and information science profession based on professional experiences working in non-traditional roles can be seen as both an opportunity and a threat to the library and information science profession, using the experience of library and information science graduates working in non-library roles as a lens. The second objective is to translate the experiences of library and information science graduates working in non-traditional roles into recommendations for promoting diversity in the definition of the profession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Bibliotheca Bipontina (BBZ) - Zweibrücken location of the Library Centre of Rhineland-Palatinate (LBZ) - hosts a genuine princely collection developed over centuries. For many years, the library has successfully organised identity-building activities to draw interest and attach the regional public to the collection. Contacts to universities in the proximity have been established to increase the visibility of old collections as resources for research projects and improve the positioning of the Bibliotheca Bipontina within the LBZ. The progress report details relevant activities the library has initiated to intensify and institutionalise interdisciplinary research on cultural properties and collections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a report from a January 31-February 1, 2019 library conference in Cologne, Germany on the Master in Library and Information Science degree program at the Technische Hochschule Köln college with presentations delivered on topics including social participation and libraries, open science, and the SciHub online science library.

The article argues for a broad concept of culture. The educational expansion in recent decades has created new class antagonisms by putting participating in society on a level with cultural participation. Given this 'culturalisation' of politics, it is important that cultural policies reinforce their sociopolitical dimension to build new alliances, particularly with regard to education and training policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amid radical demographic changes, libraries may, in the future, have difficulties to attract and retain qualified and suitable staff. This is also true for the recruitment of trainees. The following contribution is concerned with strengthening the employer brand "Library" by two relatively simple measures meeting libraries' limited resources in personnel and financial means - an (ideally) enticing entry in Wikipedia, and unorthodox job advertisements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OA is to become the future of academic library exchanges in China. With the government's support and promotion of OA, more and more Chinese academic libraries have been committed to participating in OA. The rapid development of OA not only has changed the model of traditional scholarly communication and brought a free communication environment of scholarly information, but also continues to impact on all aspects of academic libraries, including their role, collections, technology and services. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Library workers are exploring ways to provide support to their communities. In this practice-based pilot project, an academic library partnered with academic advisors on a college campus to increase the support services and supportive mechanisms for students. Academic advisors and librarians increased their skills and areas of content expertise, and passed this learning on to the students. By offering a course for reinstated students and academically at-promise students, with a focus on persistence and success through failure and trial and error, a partnership between the academic library makerspace and the Advising and Academic Success Center was created. Though more research is needed to determine which strategies are key elements for success, all library workers can benefit their communities through partnerships with support professionals, including counselors, social workers, nonprofit agencies, and academic advisors, in order to increase their role in providing support for their community members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gender mainstreaming, as an important socio-political objective within the context of diversity management, became an element of the strategic fields of action and also of the operative work of the Stadtbibliothek Bremen (Bremen city library). The library's respective conception starts from one basic premiss of gender mainstreaming which states that there is no gender-neutral reality. This is why in all social projects and decisions, the different interests and situations in life of men and women have strictly to be taken into consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study comprehensively draws a conclusion using factors of economic, social, and educational value and performed a survey on librarians and users to compare and analyze the difference in perception between the two groups. The result are as follows: First, Libraries had the social value not only on research and personal learning but also on establishment and vitalization of communities, provision of opportunities to share ideas between local residents and create something new, and provision of recreation to improve the residents' capability. Second, both groups evaluated the libraries' educational role and function relatively highly. In particular, the librarians scored very high for the items that the libraries' educational role was expanding, the libraries were a part of the educational system, and the libraries' value on reading and literacy was great, and the users thought that libraries had an value because they were a part of education and the educational system. Third, economic value part also obtained relatively lower scores than other values; the mean of the librarian group was 3.46 and the user group was 3.43. Among the economic values, the librarian group scored the highest for the area of economic value for local communities, and the greatest scores were given to manpower development by the users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]