技术环境变革中国外图书馆员角色转变特点初探

[目的/意义]随着图书馆技术环境变革和职能拓展,图书馆员角色和形象被赋予许多新的期望。分析图书馆员的角色转变既能了解环境变化对职业发展的要求,也能为馆员素质提升和更好应对技术变革压力提供建议。[方法/过程]利用从数据库中搜集到的关于图书馆员角色的外文期刊文献题录信息,利用标题词分析方法对已有研究中的图书馆员角色进行分类,并根据角色定位描述图书馆员的岗位职责内容。[结果/结论]已有研究对学科馆员、教学馆员、医学馆员等关注度最高,技术变革也催生了数据馆员、社交媒体馆员等新岗位,图书馆员角色呈现分类细化、专业化和交互性增强、角色重叠明显等特点,技术对图书馆员角色的影响逐渐加强。     

美国图书馆职业资格认证标准与实施制度分析

美国图书馆职业资格认证标准分为公共图书馆员、中小学图书馆员、图书馆管理者3类,其中公共图书馆员职业资格认证标准根据是否需要图书馆学硕士学位或图书馆学与信息科学硕士学位可细分为两类及其对应的不同等级;中小学图书馆员职业资格认证标准分为全国通用的和州立的两种类型,后者较为普遍,涉及教师许可证、硕士学位、图书馆媒体内容测试、其他测试和资格证书评价需满足的条件5个方面;图书馆管理者职业资格认证标准包含预算与经费、技术管理、组织与人事管理、建筑规划与管理等9个领域需达到的要求。上述3类认证的认证机构是不同的,但认证程序基本相同,且都可采用等级认证、学历认证、考试认证或交叉认证。对美国图书馆职业资格认证标准与实施制度的分析有助于为我国图书馆职业资格认证提供借鉴。     

Reference librarians' perceptions of the issues they face as academic health information professionals.

Background: Leaders in the profession encourage academic health sciences librarians to assume new roles as part of the growth process for remaining vital professionals. Have librarians embraced these new roles?Objectives: This research sought to examine from the reference librarians'' viewpoints how their roles have changed over the past ten years and what the challenges these changes present as viewed by both the librarians and library directors.Method: A series of eight focus groups was conducted with reference librarians from private and public academic health sciences libraries. Directors of these libraries were interviewed separately.Results: Reference librarians'' activities have largely confirmed the role changes anticipated by their leaders. They are teaching more, engaging in outreach through liaison initiatives, and designing Web pages, in addition to providing traditional reference duties. Librarians offer insights into unanticipated issues encountered in each of these areas and offer some creative solutions. Directors discuss the issues from their unique perspective.Conclusion: Librarians have identified areas for focusing efforts in lifelong learning. Adult learning theory, specialized databases and resources needed by researchers, ever-evolving technology, and promotion and evaluation of the library are areas needing attention. Implications for library education and continuing professional development are presented.     

Current Issues in Music Reference

Abstract

The climate of change in music reference represents a challenge to librarians. The three issues in the library literature that probably have the greatest impact on music reference service and are the subject of this paper are changes in users, sources, and modes of access to sources. These three issues are certainly related, as users need to use sources, and they need to know how to access them in order to use them. Reference librarians are called upon to mediate this process. Music library collections have their own peculiarities, however. Because they contain a wider variety of materials than many other kinds of library collections, reference librarians for music collections must be aware of the format, content, and intended uses of these materials, as well as the research patterns of their patrons. In the recent past, as cultural norms have changed with the paradigm of Western culture, users have wanted to use music libraries in new ways, and librarians are challenged to accommodate them. The musical genres used and requested by today's library patrons are different than they once were, both for listening and for academic study. Musical reference sources are being issued in electronic formats, and this represents a challenge for some users. The expanded use of interlibrary loan and electronic access to materials represents new opportunities and challenges. Music librarians are being called upon to provide services to patrons they may never see.     

Knowledge-based information management: implications for information services

The 1994 Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) standards for information management will change the way health care librarians respond to JCAHO accreditation surveys and may affect the way libraries are managed. This article will highlight the changes in the standards and the new opportunities they offer. Implications for library operations and the challenges inherent in working with the new Accreditation Manual for Hospitals (AMH) are also explored. The long-awaited 1994 Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) Accreditation Manual for Hospitals (AMH) is now on most hospital library shelves. As expected, librarians will find that the section on Professional Library Services (the PR chapter) has disappeared and that the standards previously in that section are now incorporated in part into the new Management of Information, or IM chapter. Although this method of grouping standards may be new to many health sciences librarians, the incorporation of library services into IM may actually provide many more opportunities for librarians than the previous method of addressing library services separately.     

Using Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing to Implement Change

Academic medical libraries have responded to changes in technology, evolving professional roles, reduced budgets, and declining traditional services. Libraries that have taken a proactive role to change have seen their librarians emerge as collaborators and partners with faculty and researchers, while para-professional staff is increasingly overseeing traditional services. This article addresses shifting staff and schedules at a single-service-point information desk by using time-driven activity-based costing to determine the utilization of resources available to provide traditional library services. Opening hours and schedules were changed, allowing librarians to focus on patrons’ information needs in their own environment.     

Strike While the Iron Is Hot: Change Management in the Context of a New Political Administration

In 2013, the Missouri State Library was restructured due to the election of a new Secretary of State. This article evaluates the library's restructuring using interviews and an analysis of internal and external public records. Presented as a case study, changes to the library are examined in terms of change management and bureaucratic organization. Findings emphasize the value of communication and the impact of placing libraries within politically oriented organizational structures. It is recommended that administrators allow for more autonomy when making decisions that depend on professional knowledge.     

The Origins of the Freedom to Read Foundation: Public Librarians' Campaign to Establish a Legal Defense against Library Censorship

This article examines public librarians' experiences with attempted censorship, including their dismay, anger, and disappointment with fellow librarians and their professional organizations, which those under attack found apathetic in safeguarding user rights and protecting their jobs as library professionals. Some of these librarians became the activists who campaigned for the creation of the American Library Association's (ALA) legal defense machinery, along with other primarily young progressive librarians, who pushed forward their own agenda. This study highlights these public librarians' struggles, which made the Freedom to Read Foundation (FTRF) and ALA leading professional organizations in championing intellectual freedom. The study focuses on cases that shaped ALA's policy that led to the establishment of a defense mechanism for librarians in the late 1960s and 1970s. It also examines the extent to which ALA upheld the organization's professional credo and its members' rights.     

高校图书馆以项目制推动服务创新的实践探索与思考——以东北大学图书馆服务创新立项工作为例

[目的/意义] 图书情报领域正在出现新业态、迎来发展新契机，传统的业务组织模式依赖单一馆员、单个职能部门已无法有效地完成紧急性、临时性、复杂性任务，无法更好支撑高校图书馆的新发展，无法更好应对全民阅读、"双一流"建设、文化传承、读者需求多元化等不断出现的外部新挑战，为此需要变革图书馆的组织体制，更好地发挥馆员的主观能动性与创造力。[方法/过程] 借鉴项目制的原理，结合东北大学图书馆服务创新立项工作的实践，探索高校图书馆适应新挑战、新任务的方式方法。[结果/结论] 运用项目制更有利于组织开展高校图书馆服务创新活动，有利于调动馆员的积极性和创造性，促进高校图书馆服务能力的提升。     

Mentorship programs in academic libraries

Abstract

Academic librarians new to the profession, or seasoned with mid-career changes, have questions and challenges as they progress in their professional careers. Often, librarians need answers and guidance beyond a supervisor and may seek help from their peers. These mentor-mentee relationships can happen either informally or formally, within their home library, or across the profession. Many academic libraries have mentorship programs in place, but mentorship is not a standardized practice and seldom is a one-size-fits-all program. The library and information science (LIS) literature contain articles that describe and analyze the value of these mentorship programs from a variety of interesting angles.     

Consumer Health Reference Interview: Ideas for Public Librarians

This two-stage study seeks to help public librarians become better prepared, and more confident and competent, when answering medical/health questions. At the first stage, eleven barriers that public librarians often encounter in the consumer health reference interview were identified through a comprehensive literature review, and at the second stage, input from professional consumer health librarians on how to overcome the barriers was gathered via a qualitative survey. Findings of the study provide concrete and practical strategies that will help public librarians more successfully conduct the reference interview to assist library users in their health information-seeking journey.     

美国州公共图书馆员职业认证制度比较研究

美国各州已有公共图书馆员职业认证制度,其认证制度由各个州自行决定,差别较大。通过文献调研和比较研究的方法,对美国不同州的公共图书馆员职业认证制度进行分析,发现美国公共图书馆员职业认证制度包括以下特点:重视继续教育及职业发展;加强小型公共图书馆员认证;强化公共图书馆领导认证;政府成为认证制度的推手;职业认证成为一种趋势。美国公共图书馆的馆员认证制度可为我国公共图书馆员职业认证制度的建立和发展提供借鉴。     

Public libraries embrace citizen science: Strengths and challenges

Can public libraries become hubs for citizen science? In line with the principles of citizen science, this question was answered collaboratively with librarians from the Barcelona Network of Public Libraries who performed two hands-on activities. One activity was a training course taken by 30 librarians from 24 different libraries which enabled them to envisage citizen science implementation at each library. The other activity consisted of co-creating a citizen social science project and involved 40 library users, seven librarians from three different cities, and professional scientists. The analysis considers the perspectives of both librarians and users, through participant observation, surveys, and a focus group to identify strengths and challenges. The overall results suggest that public libraries can offer leadership in the promotion of citizen science and contribute to the mission of public libraries to act as local community hubs. The main challenges identified were related to the complexity of collaboration, uncertainty regarding research co-creation, and participant retention strategies.     

物竞天择，适者生存——图书馆新消亡论论辩

针对国内外新一轮关于图书馆消亡的讨论,结合笔者的微博调查,从达尔文“适者生存”的理论,阐述图书馆,特别是研究图书馆面对的挑战与应对策略。主张以理性的思维看待图书馆的生存问题,客观地认知环境的变化,直面图书馆转型变革的挑战,积极地树立自身的忧患意识,进一步增强职业的危机感,前瞻性地洞察发展趋势,能动地增强适变能力。提出必须通过确立融入数字化战略、嵌入教学科研过程、提供移动服务、创新学科服务,重新定义图书馆的发展战略,重新确立图书馆的职业特征,将知识管理与知识服务置于图书馆的核心业务,构建真正的以用户为中心的业务模式与管理机制,重构适应数字环境的新型图书馆范式。     

Librarian as Professional

What does it mean to be a professional, and do librarians meet the academic definition of a professional? Professions are strongly related to identity, and stereotypes associated with the culture of a profession are going to have some effect on the public’s perceptions of that profession. The stereotype of the vaguely purposed but somehow controlling older person (who “shushes” patrons to maintain silence) does not contribute positively to the professional image of a librarian. Library users do not even superficially understand what librarians do, and this leads to an undervaluing of the impact and importance of librarians. In the modern environment of budget challenges, it is important to be able to articulate the value of both libraries and particularly librarians. This article explores the sociological academic literature on professions to determine if librarianship meets the requirements to be a profession, if library literature supports librarianship as a profession, and why it matters for librarians to be seen as professionals.     

Library Book Theft and Audits in University Libraries of Pakistan

Librarians are the custodians of library materials. University libraries have a large number of materials in their collections; these collections have different challenges to maintain their existence and utilization. Security and protection of these resources is a difficult task. Book theft or loss is a phenomenon naturally associated with libraries and librarians. This article is an attempt to provide an overview of existing conditions of theft and loss of library material and to describe a major initiative that has been taken to overcome the situation. This study was designed with survey methodology and circulated to library professionals at 172 university and degree awarding institutions. There were 94 responses (54.65%) received. The study revealed that librarians faced objections from auditors and sometimes paid a penalty for stolen or lost books. The theft and loss of materials are examined critically by university management, library committees, and internal and external auditors. Some library professionals are required to pay from their own pockets for stolen and lost material. However, a few librarians write off library books as per Pakistan's Higher Education Commission (HEC) rule. Research highlighted that most libraries have not used technology such as RFID, 3M, or EM Tags for the security of books. An effective technological book security system minimizes loss and provides relief for librarians from audit issues and financial penalties.     

The View from Square One:

Amid growing trends toward curriculum reform on many campuses, librarians may find an opportunity to contribute significantly to the improvement of undergraduate education. In the Bibliographic Instruction and Writing Across the Curriculum movements, recent developments suggest that librarians may work more closely with their classroom colleagues to create more effective learning situations. While curriculum reform has a most apparent impact on user education, it also touches upon collection development (and bibliographic control), reference and circulation activity, professional development and the library's public image. At Washington State University, the library is prominently represented on a campus-wide committee to develop a new core course under the auspices of the National Endowment for the Humanities. The librarians involved have expanded their professional practice in unexpected ways, causing an increased respect for the library among teaching faculty, and an added dimension to their careers as academics. Their experience is offered as a model for those whose institutions are similarly undergoing reforms in general education.     

The book collections of British university libraries an American reaction

This study summarizes a survey conducted to discover the extent to which professional librarians in Nigerian university libraries have achieved academic/faculty status. The survey revealed that: (1) almost all professional librarians (16 or 80%) in Nigerian universities have full faculty status, coupled with mandatory research and publication for promotion, in 17 (85%) of the libraries; (2) publications in subject-fields and in library/information science carry equal ratings; and (3) academic librarians in Nigeria are entitled to the same rights, privileges and responsibilities as their teaching counterparts. This paper urges the Nigerian Library Association and the Committee of University Librarians to set standards for the attainment of faculty/academic status for professional librarians in Nigerian universities and colleges.     

Are we represented as who we are? An assessment of library faculty online profiles within the City University of New York

Academic librarians have been wrestling with faculty status and rank for many decades and their dual identities as professionals and faculty made their identity representations in the online profile environment designed by colleges and universities even more complicated. Misrepresentation or insufficient representation of academic librarians' identities could lead to jeopardy of their public images within colleges and universities, or even trigger suspicion that academic librarians bring an impediment to academic standards by achieving less or none. Therefore, this study surveyed library faculty's online profiles within the libraries of the City University of New York and tried to assess whether library faculty are represented as who they are. The results revealed three categories of profiles: Business-Card Profiles, Quasi-Faculty Profiles, and Full-Level Faculty Profiles, which brought out the discussion about business identification, the creative Me, and the collective We, as well as their relations to institutional culture.     

我国图书馆法律制度体系现状、作用与问题分析

基于文献调查与内容分析,解析由图书馆法规、图书馆相关法、图书馆行业标准与规范3部分组成的我国图书馆法律制度体系及其组成部分在图书馆发展中的作用与存在的问题。从整体来看,我国图书馆法律制度体系没有建立专门的图书馆法,不同类型图书馆法规、标准与规范没有得到同步发展,一些关键问题如职业资格认证、职业准入条件没有被写入相关图书馆法律条款中,现有图书馆法规已趋老化,行业标准与规范仍不健全。