Broadband for public libraries: Importance,issues, and research needs

U.S. public libraries provide free public internet services to the communities that they serve, but require robust, high-speed broadband internet connections to continue meeting public demands. The 2008–2009 Public Library Funding & Technology Access Study (PLFTAS) illustrates challenges that public libraries encounter in achieving broadband connectivity and equipment upgrades, and maintaining acceptable levels of services as they meet continually increasing internet-enabled service demands. This article: 1) analyzes the ability of public libraries to serve as a community-based public internet access point in the context of limited funding and access to telecommunications services and equipment; 2) discusses key policy issues that affect the provision of public library internet-enabled services through broadband; 3) provides recommendations for policy makers to include libraries as part of a larger national-level telecommunications policy; and 4) identifies a number of topics and issues that need further investigation and research in this shifting policy environment.     

Multicultural Libraries' services and social integration: The case of public libraries in Montreal Canada

Montreal is a multicultural city, with a high percentage of immigrants where great value is given to culture. The city has a network of public libraries, which are located in the different districts. The provincial government has just opened the new Bibliothèque Nationale du Québec, which combines a national library service with those of a public library. The Bibliothèque Nationale du Québec and the public libraries in Montreal have set a goal to facilitate the integration of immigrants into Montreal society. In this context, the objective of this research is to find out to what extent the public libraries in Montreal are facilitating the integration of immigrants into society and to discover what important role the libraries actually play in this process.     

论西部少数民族地区基层公共图书馆的信息化建设

从少数民族地区经济、文化角度论述公共图书馆信息化建设与服务,指出一些经济欠发达地区的图书馆,对图书馆信息化建设与服务缺乏理性认识和思考;认为当前西部民族地区基层图书馆事业发展应以建设数字化图书馆为方向,并应特别侧重图书馆特色数据库资源建设。     

Optimizing samples for surveys of public libraries: Alternatives and compromises

A recent national survey polled the viewpoints of public library directors and local government officials concerning the value of public library services and outlook for local tax support of public libraries over the next five years. The survey had multiple objectives: (1) to compare subgroups of smaller and larger libraries on key survey variables; (2) to obtain estimates within the library subgroups with adequate statistical precision; and (3) to make survey estimates for the total public library population. To determine how to best satisfy these competing requirements, the 1993 Federal-State Cooperative System (FSCS) universe listing was used to model the effect on survey accuracy of alternative sample designs. A compromise was chosen for the survey to insure that the sampling error for each type of estimate would be held within tolerable bounds. FSCS library-universe data are then used to model and compare the efficiency of six alternative sample designs for a national survey of 1,000 public libraries.     

Reading by Russian-speaking immigrants in Toronto: use of public libraries, bookstores, and home book collections

This article reports the results of a survey of the reading habits and interests of immigrants in Toronto who speak Russian as their first language, including their use of Canadian public libraries, ethnic and English-language bookstores, and their attitudes toward collecting books at home. The survey results show that Russian Canadians use the public library system extensively and for diverse purposes. They also make use of ethnic and English-language bookstores, purchasing materials in both Russian and English for leisure reading, educational and professional development, and expansion of their highly valued home collections. The peculiarities of the demands and behavior of first generation Russian-speaking immigrants are also discussed, especially with regard to changes in reading interests and attitudes associated with immigration, as well as the problems experienced by public libraries in meeting the needs of this clientele. Finally, recommendations for the improvement of public library services and collections for this linguistic group are provided.     

The co-evolution of e-government and public libraries: Technologies,access, education,and partnerships

While many studies have discussed the impacts of electronic government (e-government) on public libraries, little research has considered the extent to which the current federal government's implementation of e-government relies on the public technology access, training, and support provided by public libraries. A range of data and policy materials are drawn upon in order to illuminate the co-evolution of public libraries and e-government. Beginning with a discussion of the development of e-government and its impacts in public libraries, the access, goals, and challenges of e-government are detailed as they relate to libraries, and the areas in which current implementations of e-government would not be possible without public libraries. Based on the explorations of the co-evolution of e-government and public libraries, key policy issues are offered that require reconceptualization in order to better support the interrelationship between e-government and public libraries.     

基层公共图书馆开展农村青少年阅读推广的实践与思考

文章分析了安徽省农村青少年阅读推广的现状、存在问题及原因,从阵地服务、流动服务、站屋服务、联合服务、人员培训、长效机制等方面,探讨了基层公共图书馆在农村青少年阅读推广中应发挥的作用。     

The circular continuum of agencies,public libraries,and users: A model of e-government in practice

When e-government first became a viable solution to the dissemination of government information, experts believed that the rise of direct government-to-citizen (G2C) services would improve government transparency, foster civic engagement, and offer new and innovative service possibilities. It soon became clear, however, that not all users received the type of information, instruction, or services that they needed through this arrangement, giving rise to the need for an intermediary in this continuum of interaction. Increasingly, public libraries fulfill this role. Instead of direct government-to-user interaction, government information and services flow through channels from agency to public librarian to user, from user back up to agency, and from agency to user to public librarian. Based upon research conducted in collaboration with public libraries, government agencies, state library agencies, and a national library association in the United States, this paper expands on the idea of these multiple pathways of information and services, offering a practical model of e-government.     

Factors responsible for the acquisition of Canadian fiction by U.S. public and academic libraries

A survey of U.S. libraries owning fiction from Canadian publishers revealed important differences in how Canadian fiction is acquired by U.S. public and academic libraries. Public libraries demonstrated remarkable uniformity in how they acquire Canadian fiction, academic libraries great diversity. The importance of reviews—especially in public libraries and especially reviews in a small core of journals—was confirmed. Other factors contributing to the acquisition of Canadian fiction especially by U.S. academic libraries are described and their impact analyzed. The paper ends with a warning that one must not conclude from these findings that public libraries in general depend uniformly or primarily on reviews for the bulk of their fiction selection. A subsequent study of Ontario public libraries showed this not to be the case.     

Exploring the psychological foundations of democratic group deliberation: Personality factors,Confirming interaction,and democratic decision making

This report investigated relationships among group members’ personalities, confirming interaction, and democratic decision making. Using the Big Five personality measure and a self‐report measure of confirming interaction, it was hypothesized that confirming interaction would be reported more often in groups whose members are relatively extraverted, agreeable, conscientious, non‐neurotic, and open to experience. Of these personality factors, one had a clear association: Groups with higher mean levels of agreeableness reported higher levels of confirming interaction. In addition, perceived confirming interaction was hypothesized to be positively correlated with members’ perceptions of democratic decision making. This hypothesis was also supported.     

Describing the economic impacts and benefits of Florida public libraries: Findings and methodological applications for future work

This article describes the economic impacts and benefits received from public libraries in Florida, indicating that, overall, public libraries make a significant contribution to the economic development of the state. Public libraries receive funding from taxpayers and can be one of the first institutions to experience budget cuts when they occur. Identifying the economic role that libraries play in communities is crucial to the continued funding, support, and existence of libraries. In addition, this article discusses some of the other efforts that have been undertaken to determine the economic impacts and benefits received from taxpayer investment. Drawing on these earlier efforts, the authors present a framework for further study into the economic impacts and benefits received from public libraries, and present some goals and objectives for future studies.     

Seamless aggregation and integration of diverse datastreams: Essential strategies for building practical digital libraries and electronic information systems

In the current information environment, libraries need to leverage on the latest digital technologies as well as the traditional paper technologies towards building practical digital libraries and electronic information systems. Digital libraries built exclusively out of nascent electronic publications such as e-journals, e-books, e-reference works (Web-based training programs, computer-based training programs, etc.), digital scholarly works (monographs, etc. in the public domain) and digitized documents conforming to standard digital formats are proving to be an uphill and unfinished task. Perhaps this could be the major reason why the start-success-finish ratio of most of the digital library initiatives, particularly initiated by isolated/individual libraries, is still left at alarmingly low numbers. We find the motivational and emotional bonding among the stakeholders melting down eventually as the digital library development process gets fired up. There are a host of problems the enthusiastic library fraternity face in their digital library development endeavours starting from copyright issues, technology complexities, infrastructure threats, diverse publication types, multiplicity of digital object formats and above all the publishers’ stringent policies and monopolies. It is therefore essential that the libraries adopt necessary strategies towards developing digital libraries from the lessons learnt. The monolithic and all-in-one-container approach is no longer feasible and no more advocated. It is imperative on the part of the information professional to have a componentized and a multi-system approach to knowledge technologies and information management. Seamless aggregation and meticulous integration of diverse datastreams, embracing the print as well as the electronic information, is the most appropriate strategy to be adopted and applied. This paper shares Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode's experience in creating a state-of-art digital library information system by seamlessly integrating and aggregating the print as well as the diverse and distributed digital content penetrating into its knowledge domain. The paper highlights significant features of IIMK's digital information system—the content aggregation and the content integration strategies we adopted for designing a scholarship Web portal and developing a digital library using the ‘Greenstone’ open source digital library software. The paper also highlights the role of libraries in promoting open access by setting up scholarly institutional repositories (IR). In summary, today's digital library information system is to be seen from a much wider and more holistic perspective, and provided with a much broadened meaning to hold and put together all the print, digital and electronic information available and accessible to the library.     

Planning for the integration of the digital library, clinical decision support, and evidence at the point of care

Integrating knowledge-based resources at the point of care is an important opportunity for hospital library involvement. In the progression of an IAIMS planning grant, the digital library is recognized as pivotal to the success of information domain integration throughout the institution. The planning process, data collection, and evolution of the planning project are discussed.     

The gap between theory and practice: A study of the prevalence and strength of patron confidentiality policies in public and academic libraries

Vermont library directors estimated they received at least 1228 requests for patron information in the last year. In spite of these requests and heightened awareness about threats to confidentiality posed by the USA PATRIOT Act, fewer than half of the state’s public and academic libraries have written patron confidentiality policies. The policies that do exist were recently updated and most prohibit release of information without a binding legal document. However, only half require an attorney’s review of such documents. Libraries with larger numbers of personnel and with directors holding MLS degrees are more likely to have policies. The absence of policies does not appear to indicate a lack of belief in the importance of confidentiality; a vast majority of library directors support strengthening the state law.     

Health sciences libraries in Kuwait: a study of their resources, facilities, and services

The purpose of this study was to examine the current status of health sciences libraries in Kuwait in terms of their staff, collections, facilities, use of information technology, information services, and cooperation. Seventeen libraries participated in the study. Results show that the majority of health sciences libraries were established during the 1980s. Their collections are relatively small. The majority of their staff is nonprofessional. The majority of libraries provide only basic information services. Cooperation among libraries is limited. Survey results also indicate that a significant number of health sciences libraries are not automated. Some recommendations for the improvement of existing resources, facilities, and services are made.     

加强县(市、区)公共图书馆基础设施建设加快公共图书馆事业的发展--在江苏省第七届县(市、区)图书馆馆长理论研讨会上的讲话

省图书馆学会每年举行一次县(市、区)图书馆馆长理论研讨会,今年第七届了,已形成了一个例会制度.县(市、区)图书馆馆长在基层图书馆工作,工作任务重,外出参加会议的机会不多,省图书馆学会召开的馆长理论研讨会为馆长们提供了一个交流、学习和探讨机会.馆长理论研讨会的形式,很受馆长们的欢迎,这次会议有近50位县(市、区)图书馆馆长参加,金陵图书馆和镇江、苏州、无锡、盐城五个市图书馆馆长参加了会议,说明理论研讨会有很强的吸引力.     

Leadership competencies and the importance of research methods and statistical analysis in decision making and research and publication: A study of citation patterns

The roles of academic librarians and administrators include the use of statistical analysis and general analytical abilities in their decision-making processes, as well as in their roles as researchers, in developing research collections, and in providing instruction and reference assistance for students and other researchers. The research presented in this article addresses the original research published in frequently cited library and information science (LIS) journals to consider the extent to which academic librarians and administrators conduct and publish original research and to evaluate the range of research methodologies used and the level of collaboration among academic librarians, LIS faculty members, and others. The research results extend the prior self-report research in this area and indicate that academic librarians, administrators, and LIS faculty are authors of most of the published research in highly ranked journals. The level of collaboration among those in different types of roles is limited, however. In addition, most of the research articles have been authored or coauthored by those in research university libraries.