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The paper presents an interview with poet, prose writer, university teacher and head of the Department of Mediamatics and Cultural Heritage at the University of Žilina, Marián Grupač. The interview explores the development of his writing, the message of particular works and how the author connects with readers and other writers. It also considers differences between Slovak and foreign literature and the specific publishing landscape in Slovakia, while aiming to provide readers with a deeper understanding of the work, views and personal experiences of author who has written several collections of poetry including Cudná noc v Paríži (1998), Dráždenie dažďa (1999), Noblesa (2005), Luxus (2009), V tomto storočí sú noví blázni (2015), as well as prose works like Na život a na smrť (2004), Slová klamú! (2008), Poltvin (2012) and Iný (2019). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Slovak National Library (SNL) is one of the most important educational and cultural institutions in Slovakia with a national as well as international outreach. Therefore, the effectiveness of its digital services is crucial in terms of its relevance and credibility for users. As a result, the SNL management proceeded to reevaluation of the current state of its website which does not meet the requirements for its usability. The aim of the paper is to describe the process of user research to prevent problems that users encounter when interacting with the website. In addition to presenting the preparatory phases and research methodology, the author summarizes the most important findings and recommendations which she proposes to apply and then verify their effectiveness via continuous research. That is to say, constant review of the website's usability cannot be carried out in isolation and without contact with real users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents the interview with Professor Jela Steinerova, who has been working at the Department of Library and Information Sciences of Comenius University in Bratislava since 1992. Her research and publication activities include a number of contributions to the field of information science, with a focus on theory and methodology, information behaviour, information ecology and ethical aspects of digital technologies. She participates in the creation of curriculum at the department and in the coordination of international cooperation within research projects. Her membership on editorial boards of foreign as well as Slovak academic journals, including Information Research, Open Information Science, Mousaion, Proinflow and ITlib proves her exceptional international standing. In general, she can be regarded as one of the most influential personalities in the field of information science on international level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fourth industrial revolution is reflected in the way we work and communicate today, as well as in the demands that society places on us. Constant development of digital technologies and the general digitalization of society point to the growing need for the development of digital competencies in order to fully participate in what is happening around us. The paper introduces the event Bibliospheres 2023, which offered approaches to dealing with the aforementioned changes in the library environment. The organizers and participants of the event point to the fact that not only schools, but also libraries are gradually innovating their spaces to enable the general public to educate themselves via creative workshops and smartlabs. With the support of the Slovak Centre of Scientific and Technical Information, libraries expand their equipment and portfolio of their services. It is a matter of linking libraries with practice via activities that are attractive as well as necessary for development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This contribution concerns a survey of the reading skill levels and social background of nine and ten-year old children with regard to positive motivation affecting their reading habits. Acquired data reflect the positions of children expressed within semi-structured interviews and the positions of parents based on completed questionnaires. The results showed a positive position towards reading, namely at the level of internal and external motivation and the influence of the immediate environment of the child. The author states that certain differences became apparent particularly due to reasons of the involvement of children in the research where the teacher played a key role in certain cases. Therefore, she considers creating a favourable social background to be indispensable for forming a positive relationship to reading. However, the internal motivation and personality traits of the child, which help to maintain this relationship even in adulthood, also play their role from the long-term perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the expansion of the user-oriented approach, the attention to the exclusive orientation on the functionality of the system itself has no longer been paid. Users with specific information needs and user requirements, to which system developers were forced to respond, became more and more important. In addition, the diffusion of information and communication technologies into the individual's daily life has led to the consideration of diverse user groups, including children, whose limited information and digital competences oft en prevent the effective use of information systems aimed primarily at the adult user. Therefore, the concept of user experience and participatory design, based on the real needs and requirements of potential users, comes to the fore among experts dealing with the usability of web interfaces of Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC) systems. The paper deals with previous findings in the field of the information behaviour of children while interacting with online library catalogues and with the consideration degree of the resulting criteria in designing OPAC systems used in Slovakia. It also maps previous efforts to apply participatory design linking the requirements and expectations of child users with the design and functioning of library information systems, while evaluating the potential of participatory design in relation to the issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study devoted to the issue of propositions and creation of search tools for child users. It reveals child recipients' behavior and their approach to the Internet content. It clarifies how well are children able to use possibilities of electronic background efficiently. Authors point out that not all Internet content is appropriate for child recipients. They emphasize that it is necessary to put special search tools into global Internet background and libraries, as well as to create specific websites and digital libraries for children, which will meet their requirements and protect them from the inappropriate Internet content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]