First published in 1992, the purpose of this book is to identify and describe the most important factors that must be considered in making decisions about the optimal ways to provide access to information - in short the best way to use the humans, the machines, and the intangible resources known as information, particularly at the organizational level. In recent years executives have begun to outsource computing and telecommunications functions primarily to control costs. Traditional libraries and information centres have been disbanded in favour of service contracts or outright leasing of staff. Both the private and public sector are examining their information service operations from the point of view of cost effectiveness. Decisions about owning versus leasing of information are being made daily. Decision makers are finding that they must deal differently with funding and budgeting of information systems and libraries than they have in the past. New paradigms for these service functions already exist. Not only have corporations and governments begun to contract out entire information service operations, but libraries themselves have begun to consider the costs, effectiveness, and implications of outsourcing some of their operations and services. This book provides a framework for decision-makers to view and review information services within their organizations. Entire units, components of libraries and information centres are defined and untangled so that the widest variety of organizations can analyse their own environments. Although there is a minimal use of library and computing jargon, a short glossary at the end explains terms for which there is no simple English language substitute. Each chapter is accompanied by comments from a broad range of experts in the information field.

Sustainable development can only be achieved when no one is left behind. An enduring lesson from the COVID-19 crisis is how important the availability of digital infrastructure and skills for individuals and communities is for teaching, learning, employability or just being able to participate fully in society. Digital literacy has become critical for millions all over the world and the need has been keenly felt in Africa, where so many have had to quickly adapt and use online platforms for various purposes. The African library sector has been a key advocate for digital literacy across the continent. But what has been achieved and how? How has digital literacy assisted user communities? What remains to be done? This important book features contributions from libraries across Africa outlining how they have approached the shift towards a better and more widespread digital literacy. Coverage includes: how in Kenya, in line with the country’s national vision, libraries have been teaching their user communities, including deaf children, to ably operate in online spaces the role of digital literacy in increasing employability in Tunisia the efforts of the Ghana Library Authority, the National Library of Nigeria and the City of Johannesburg Library, South Africa in driving digital literacy through eLearning initiatives and other digital services insights into the level of digital skills of students in Uganda and how tertiary institutions in Botswana have been moving to teaching and learning on digital platforms. This book seeks to explain how the global pandemic has exacerbated the already existing digital gap in Africa. It shows why laying emphasis on digital literacy, where there is inadequate digital infrastructure in the continent, may constitute a great setback in the goal that ‘no one is left behind’ in the drive for all to be digitally literate and to fully participate in the 21st century society.

There is considerable agreement that more successful learners are active, engaged, and self-regulating learners who understand and are motivated to apply learning strategies under appropriate conditions. One important strategic activity is seeking help when necessary, rather than giving up or engaging in fruitless persistence.
Research on strategic help seeking has matured significantly in recent years. This volume captures the current state of knowledge, research, and theory on help seeking as a strategic learning resource. It is international in scope, with contributors from the U.S., the Netherlands, Japan, and Israel.
As a whole, the book suggests that strategic (adaptive) help seeking is a critical school readiness skill that is facilitated by mastery-oriented classroom achievement and social goals, by teachers who invite questions rather than those who ask them, and by cultural characteristics that support student inquiry. A conceptual overview is followed by three chapters that examine help seeking from complementary theoretical perspectives and make important distinctions between forms of help seeking; two chapters that focus on how learners' achievement and social goals affect classroom help seeking; one chapter specifically devoted to cross-cultural comparisons of help seeking in Western cultures and in Japan; two chapters that examine the most frequent manifestation of help seeking--that of question asking; and one chapter that explores help-seeking in the information age (the library reference process, information technology, and computer-mediated communication). All chapters include attention to the implications of research and theory for help seeking in instructional settings.
"Strategic Help Seeking" is an excellent resource for educational researchers and practitioners including teachers, school administrators, instructional designers, reference librarians.

Middle East Sources provides an invaluable resource for the busy librarian, student or scholar with Middle Eastern interests. It aims to guide readers to the major collections of books and other materials on the subject in the UK and Ireland, as well as to some lesser known but nonetheless interesting collections in smaller libraries. Entries are fully up to date and include information on addresses (including telephone, fax and e-mail details), brief descriptions of collections held, along with references to relevant catalogue material and other directories.
The guide also highlights the extent of collections and gives help in accessing. The MELCOM Area Specialisation Scheme (MASS) designation of the collections is also included where relevant.

Libraries are experiencing a technological revolution that goes well beyond anything that has existed since the invention of printing. Not surprisingly, the digital library, with all that it portends for the future of the book and the periodical, but also with all that it implies for the kinds of information that will be collected and disseminated, will necessarily preoccupy those responsible for libraries in the new century. Everything from copyright, access, and cost to the nature of the reading public itself is now up for re-examination.'Books, Bricks, and Bytes' brings together an extraordinary array of authors at the cutting edge of these concerns, not only within the United States, but experts drawn from Germany, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, Brazil, and India. James H. Billington discusses the Library of Congress in the information age; Ann S. Okerson outlines two models for securing scholarly information; Donald S. Lamm discusses the shaky partnership of publishers and librarians hi this new environment; Klaus-Dieter Lehmann provides a framework for maintaining the intellectual heritage of the past in a digitized future. Each contributor shows hi concrete detail and vivid illustration that the library as a world of holdings is increasingly valued as an incomparable place to access information. In his preface to the book, Stephen Graubard reminds us that whether or not one believes in the reality of the information revolution that is said to be overtaking the world, it is obvious that the libraries being built today do not resemble those marble sanctuaries constructed hi the Victorian age or in the early twentieth entury. This is a work that shows how libraries have been transformed from "refuges" from the external world, to places that reflect the social and intellectual values of specific societies. The idea that the library is a public trust and public resource is at the center of this unusually fine collection at the cutting edge of professional and public life.

Young Adult Resources Today: Connecting Teens with Books, Music, Games, Movies, and More is the first comprehensive young adult library services textbook specifically written for today's multidimensional information landscape. The authors integrate a research-focused information behavior approach with a literature-focused resources approach, and bring together in one volume key issues related to research, theory, and practice in the provision of information services to young adults. Currently, no single book addresses both YA information behaviors and information resources in any detail; instead, books tend to focus on one and give only cursory attention to the other. Key features of this revolutionary book include its success in: *Integrating theory, research, and practice *Integrating implications for practice throughout the book *Integrating knowledge of resources with professional practice as informed by research *Integrating both print and electronic formats throughout-within the resource chapters (including websites and social media) Latham and Gross accomplish all this while, paying particular attention to the socially constructed nature of young adulthood, diversity, YA development, and multiple literacies. Their coverage of information landscapes covers literature (with detailed coverage of both genres and subgrenres), movies, magazines, web sites, social media, and gaming. The final chapter cover navigating information landscapes, focusing on real and virtual YA spaces, readers' advisory, programming, and collaboration. Special attention is paid to program planning and evaluation.

This work discusses the choice of information to be included, the style in which it is presented and the way in which the completed guide is distributed and publicized. It looks at presentation variables, from print to computer format, and focuses on objective-oriented preparation.

This bibliography is the first to provide systematic coverage of the numerous guides, directories, calendars, inventories, and registers on archives and manuscript collections in the United States. It also covers guides to foreign archives holding materials crucial to an understanding of U.S. history and extends beyond the continential United States to include archives in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and other Trust Territories. Cutting across disciplines, this bibliography cites more than 2,000 titles from the humanities and the social and physical sciences. It also includes guides to the voluminous holdings of the federal government. The entries are arranged in both topical and geographical headings. Annotations are designed to clarify a guide's title and to help researchers to ascertain the guide's usefulness to them. The index will help researchers to locate quickly guides to the holdings that will be most useful to them. This volume will be a valuable tool for scholars and researchers using unpublished sources as well as for librarians.

In From Grain to Pixel, Giovanna Fossati analyzes the transition from analog to digital film and its profound effects on filmmaking and film archiving. Reflecting on the theoretical conceptualization of the medium itself, Fossati poses significant questions about the status of physical film and the practice of its archival preservation, restoration, and presentation. From Grain to Pixel attempts to bridge the fields of film archiving and academic research by addressing the discourse on film's ontology and analyzing how different interpretations of what film is affect the role and practices of film archives. By proposing a novel theorization of film archival practice, Fossati aims to stimulate a renewed dialogue between film scholars and film archivists. Almost a decade after its first publication, this revised edition covers the latest developments in the field. Besides a new general introduction, a new conclusion, and extensive updates to each chapter, a novel theoretical framework and an additional case study have been included.

Examines the essential elements of planning a move, and offers practical guidance to ensure minimum disruption to service.
Topics covered include: planning; resources, equipment and furniture, staff, security, safety and insurance. Examines the opportunities for service review and development.

Become better informed about Greek academic librarianship at a time of great potential for changes and advances in academic libraries in Greece Rapid changes are occurring in these libraries as more professionally and technically trained Greek librarians are available, contact with American, British, and European librarians is increased, and new technology becomes readily available. Academic Libraries in Greece provides complete information on such varied subjects as automation, collection development, departmental libraries, education for librarianship, interlibrary loan, and library management, pointing out past experiences, current activities, and future prospects. There is an historical overview of Greek academic libraries and some libraries are described in some detail. The contributors, who include Greek, American and British librarians or education specialists who have had an opportunity to work in or closely observe Greek academic libraries, provide a historical overview of the development of Greek academic libraries and detailed descriptions of some specific libraries.Academic Libraries in Greece address important issues in Greek academic librarianship such as: How did the modern Greek library develop and how does it operate? What are its specific automation needs and how can they be met? What is the current status of automation and what are the prospects for the future? How can new needs be met under the present system and what are the prospects for change? The history and current efforts of library training, and the value of foreign exchange programs and provides examples An in-depth analysis of a departmental library in GreeceLibrarians, education specialists, and students interested in international librarianship and education, and especially those who have an interest in the situation in Greece, will find invaluable first hand accounts of the views and understanding of professionals who have recently been on the scene. Library science faculty teaching library history, international librarianship, or how library theory and practice is applied in a foreign setting will be greatly interested in this insightful text.

Learn a practical new approach to some long-standing and significant problems that librarians are continually called upon to address, such as: Is the library reaching its target audience? What do shifts in use patterns reflect? How often can users be expected to visit the library on the average? Can users be identified by category by the way they use the library?Author Charles D. Emery takes a close look at some methods which can be used to answer these questions accurately. Using the analogy of repeat buying, which has been shown to follow consistent and regular patterns across a wide range of consumers, brands, products, time periods, and other conditions, Mr. Emery applies the same concepts of research to the investigation and analysis of library use. There are remarkable similarities between library borrowing and consumer purchasing patterns. Thus, not only does the consumer purchasing model provide us with a means of investigating and predicting library user behavior, but it furnishes an appropriate mechanism for the more sophisticated analysis of that behavior through the application of marketing concepts such as product mix and brand switching.By drawing the comparison between library borrowing and consumer purchasing, Mr. Emery has identified what library administrators have hitherto lacked: a readily accessible corpus of theory and practical example upon which to base a coherent and cumulative body of research into the behavior of library users. The results will be useful as input to planning and distribution of resources in matters of budgets, services hours, personnel, and programming.

Here, one of America's foremost experts in public library services to children cover the basics of library services for children. Jeanette Larson highlights best practices and "toolkits" that provide tools and resources to quickly implement programs and services. She includes model programs, checklists and forms, and ready-to-use examples of programs, with an emphasis on programs that are inexpensive to implement and simple to replicate. From start to finish, learn how to plan, implement, and manage public library programs and services for children, ages birth to twelve years old. Children's services are a critical part of today's library services and staff need basic background information, practical advice, and specific examples of how to perform the fundamental duties required of them. Special features of the book include: *Basic information on how to implement the fundamental services and programs of library services to children *Background and rationale for the provision of these services and programs *Enhancements for children's programs and services that support literacy and learning *Templates for successful programs *Examples of inexpensive and ready-to-use programs ranging from simple to on-going and more elaborate programs Children's Services Today: A Practical Guide for Librarians offers basic background, practical experience, and best practices necessary for the successful provision of children's services in today's public library. Whether you are a part-time children's librarian in a small, rural library, a generalist assigned to provide children's programming in a medium-sized library, or a paraprofessional working in the children's department in a large urban library, this practical guide will help you implement dynamic programs and services that meet the needs of today's children and families

Public libraries have strangely never been the subject of an extensive design history. Consequently, this important and comprehensive book represents a ground-breaking socio-architectural study of pre-1939 public library buildings. A surprisingly high proportion of these urban civic buildings remain intact and present an increasingly difficult architectural problem for many communities. The book thus includes a study of what is happening to these historic libraries now and proposes that knowledge of their origins and early development can help build an understanding of how best to handle their future.

Reading groups have grown rapidly in popularity and continue to be a significant cultural phenomenon. Reading groups in public libraries, linked to the learning and social inclusion agenda, have expanded to include a wide range of groups within society, including people with visual impairments (VIPs). This under-researched area is the focus of this book. Library-based VIP reading groups are interesting on many levels. Given that these groups predominantly use audio versions of the text (rather than print), this links to debates about the changing nature of reading in a multi-modal age. This book discusses whether contemporary society still defines reading as a visual activity or whether technological developments have led to a broadening of the definition of reading. The author goes on to discuss how policy is translated into practice within the library context and whether the wide range of reading groups linked to libraries suggests that libraries understand and are taking the social inclusion agenda seriously. She also explores how effectively libraries are using reading groups as a tool for delivering on the agenda for learning and how this sits within wider priorities for post-compulsory education and lifelong learning. Finally the book suggests ideas for future development for these groups, outlining ways in which their potential could be maximised for the benefit of both the library and the reading group members. The book will be of great interest to professional librarians as well as students and scholars of librarianship. It will also be of interest to those working on the emerging field of reading groups in literary studies. Those interested in the role of reading in education, as well as disability scholars, will also find the book useful.

This title was first published in 2003. The UK branch of the International Association of Music Libraries was founded in 1953. This volume of specially commissioned essays celebrates the golden jubilee of branch's foundation and surveys the achievements of the last 50 years. With an emphasis on practical music librarianship, the essays examine the challenges that have faced the profession in recent years, as well as current developments in the field and the impact of modern advances in information technology.

In 1950 Robert L. Gitler went to Japan to found the first college-level school of library science in that country. His mission, an improbable success, was documented in an assisted autobiography as Robert Gitler and the Japan Library School (Scarecrow Press, 1999). Subsequent research into initiatives to improve library services during the Allied occupation has revealed surprising discoveries and human interest of the lives of very diverse individuals. A central role was played by a librarian, Philip Keeney, who later became well-known as an alleged communist spy. A national plan, designed for Japan's libraries, was based directly on the county library system developed by progressive thinkers in California, itself a dramatic story. The School of Librarianship at the University of California and its founding director, Sydney Mitchell, was found to have deeply influenced key figures. The story also requires an appreciation of the deployment of American libraries abroad as tools of foreign policy, as cultural diplomacy. Meanwhile, library services in Japan were seriously underdeveloped, despite Japan's extraordinarily high literacy rate, very well-developed publishing and book retail industries, and librarians who were far from backward. The difference in library development lay in the huge divergence between the ethos of the American public library (dominated by support for individual self-development and Western liberal democracy) and the evolving political ideology of Japanese governments after the Meiji Restoration (1868). After absorbing authoritarian French and German administrative practices Japan became a militarist dictatorship from the 1920s onwards until surrender in 1945. The literature on the Allied Occupation of Japan is vast, but library services have received very little attention beyond the creation of the National Diet Library in 1948. The story of initiatives to improve library services in occupied Japan, the role of libraries as cultural diplomacy, the dramatic development of free public library services in California have remained unknown or little known - until now.

This book is a must for librarians with international interest in access to knowledge. It includes a collection of 15 chapters written by authors from all over the world and covers different approaches to the vital role of libraries driving access to knowledge. There are chapters that offer solutions and ideas to enable libraries to become the knowledge engine in society. Other chapters discuss the conceptual part of the subject and related services. The book was compiled as part of the presidential theme of Ellen Tise, IFLA President 2009-2011, with the aim of offering the reader a good portrait of the opportunities and challenges that libraries have in driving access to knowledge.

Required reading for any librarian who has been asked to identify standards and specifications, this unique new book highlights the importance of standards in many sci-tech libraries. Collections of standards in sci-tech libraries encompass a great variety--from the most narrow subject fields, to those covering many, and from collections of American standards only, to those with an international array. Role of Standards in Sci-Tech Libraries addresses the need for standards in libraries and provides crucial guidelines for developing standards collections. The first chapter describes the operation and collections of the ideal service that could be established to serve those needing stadards and to promote the use and collection of standards. A helpful list of foreign and domestic organizations that issue standards is included. Successive chapters explore the role of standards in different types of libraries--a public library's science and technology department, a corporate library, an academic library, and the library of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The final chapter addresses the role of Information Handling Services (IHS), a commercial source of all types of standards, discusses the range of standards services, and explains how information is acquired.

This book discusses the principles of learning theory and instructional design, and provides the reader with the theoretical framework needed for design decision-making. It is helpful for the academic librarian who has responsibility for teaching students library skills.

This introductory textbook aims to provide undergraduate students in information science and related disciplines with an applied grounding in information behavior. The book's primary focus is to provide explicit links between information behavior and the careers that students will pursue within the information professions. With a deeper understanding of information behavior, students will be better equipped to address the many types of barriers that frequently prevent people from effectively and efficiently accessing, understanding, managing, and/or using the information they need in the "real world." The first six chapters of the book provide students with the fundamental building blocks of information behavior, introduce them to important related concepts, and provide a deep dive into information literacy, digital literacy, the digital divide and digital inclusion. Chapters 7 through 12 introduce students to the scholarly communication system, providing guidance on how to find, read, and critically evaluate information behavior studies. Also explored in these chapters are the various methods used to investigate and understand people's information behaviors. Topics covered include research design, research methods, research ethics, user needs assessment, and human-computer interaction and associated design methods. This part of the book also covers some of the major information behavior models and theories that have been developed to describe, predict, and/or explain people's information behaviors. In chapters 13 through 16, the authors provide an in-depth look into their own information behavior research areas, including consumer health information behavior and health justice; youth information behavior; legal information behavior and access to justice; and information behavior in libraries. In the final chapter, students are first introduced to a wide range of careers within the information professions and then taken along on a deep dive into 10 specific jobs, with a special focus on the thread of information behavior that pervades the roles and responsibilities commonly associated with these positions. Each chapter begins with one or more scenarios illustrating concepts covered in the chapter and ends with discussion questions.

To compete today, librarians need to not only provide old services in new ways but also to provide new services. Repositioning Reference: New Methods and New Services for a New Age re-imagines reference services in libraries and information organizations and the role of reference librarians, taking into account rapid developments in technology and information-specific services in non-library sectors. It traces the history of technology adoption for reference services, describes competitive pressures facing reference services, identifies untapped opportunities for reference services and librarians, details innovative and creative solutions for energizing the profession and engaging library user communities, and prescribes means to evaluating technologies for reference services. This book: * Includes current and unique examples of innovative reference services to serve as inspiration and launching points for readers. * Offers contemporary management theory and practice from outside of the field of LIS to offer readers a guide for initiating, leading, and managing change in their organizations. * Outlines the processes of environmental scanning and SWOT analysis, which are important practices for keeping abreast of changes in the field and positioning an organization to make the most of their opportunities and to minimize threats. Repositioning Reference may be used as a textbook by LIS educators whose courses and learning experiences prepare aspiring librarians to lead the reference revolution and by practicing librarians in diverse settings who want to be change agents.

Coming of Age in Reference Services: A Case History of the Washington State University Libraries focuses on the triumphs, trials, ideas, and difficulties of the Holland Library and how these experiences can help other professionals enhance services for patrons. The articles, written by reference librarians at the library, discuss topics such as departmental history and culture, training reference professionals, and user education programs to give you insight into how other librarians solve problems or implement changes. From Coming of Age in Reference Services, you'll receive advice from experienced professionals that can help you create change in your library and help you adapt to the many technological advances related to librarianship.Coming of Age in Reference Services allows you to gain first-hand experience that will guide you through problems or issues that may occur in your library. Addressing the uses and intricacies of electronic information, this book offers you information that will help you with a variety of other topics, including: training and retraining in reference skills and subject knowledge, interpersonal abilities, and thinking skills in order to improve services for the 21st century defining "Generation X," being a member of this generation, and their growing need for information and learning opportunities exploring how long reorganization plans take to be implemented and how the library environment can enhance services for users by discussing the history of Holland Library Public Services focusing on freshman taking English 101 to better teach them how to find information through cultivating better relationships with academic departments, creating web modules to reach more students, and understanding departmental cultures integrating techniques for finding books and using encyclopedias into the University's World Civilization course to encourage critical thinking discussing the impression of American Academic Libraries through the experiences of a Library Fellow from Lithuania Coming of Age in Reference Services leads you through the transformation of the Holland Library, allowing you to learn about the decisions, planning, and ingenuity involved in establishing a modern and more efficient information center. Containing appendices and a chronological timetable documenting the library's history, Coming of Age in References Services offers you knowledge from experience concerning library reorganization and the ever-changing world of a successful reference librarian.

Since the publication of the 2nd edition additional countries especially in Asia have become more prominent in industry. This completely revised edition takes account of the changing information scene e.g. in new chapters like BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India, and China), Asia and regional patent systems or Sources for legal status searching. This is an essential reference tool for academic librarians and information specialists as well as anyone needing to know where and how patent information can be found.

This book focuses on searching and hands-on experience, which makes the text suitable for those who wish to learn searching for their own use as well. It is intended for those who will act as search intermediaries, accepting questions from clients and performing the searches.