This article describes for the first time the composition and structure of the personal networks of novice librarian researchers. We used social network analysis to observe if participating in the Institute for Research Design in Librarianship (IRDL) affected the development of the librarians' personal networks and how the networks changed over…

This article explores the literature that focuses on the various roles librarians and libraries play in distance education settings. Learners visit libraries either in person or via networked computing technology to ask for help with their online courses. Questions range from how to upload a document with a learning management system, to how to…

Introduction: Self-guided learning has had a major impact on adult education, where information seeking and use are key aspects of learning. With their lack of experience in study contexts, the students are nevertheless assumed to develop information literacy. Method: The paper aims to create an understanding of how information literacy can be…

The relatively high use rates and program attendance highlight the public value provided by local libraries at a time of dramatic economic, technology, and demographic change. The Public Libraries in the United States Survey is one important way of examining when, where and how library services are changing to meet those needs. The data, supplied…

Prison libraries have traditionally fulfilled many purposes for their incarcerated patrons, and these libraries often carry a diverse collection to serve varied patron needs. However, during the trial of Steven Hayes for the Petit family murders, the prosecution questioned the collection development policies of the institutions where Hayes had…

The study looked into the 307 Koha libraries listed in Breeding's Library Technology Guides. Since all the tag clouds in Koha are user-contributed, their adoption and usage can shed light on the extent to which libraries are supporting user tagging. The research also revealed that public library users are more actively involved in tagging than…

As virtual worlds continue to proliferate globally, libraries are faced with the question of whether to provide information services to virtual patrons. This study, utilizing a mixed-method approach of interviews, focus groups, and surveys, represents one of the largest studies of virtual libraries attempted to date. Taking a holistic perspective,…

Respondents to "Library Journal's" ("LJ") annual book buying survey of public libraries nationwide reported that adult book budgets were down eight percent overall, the largest plunge recorded since the survey began in 1998. What's more, for the first time ever, cuts were reported for every region of the country and every size of population…

In 2008, we started by pulling a sample of 483 public libraries from across the country, using 2007 public library annual report data. Because small libraries have different needs and resources than larger libraries, we stratified the sample to make comparisons by size, according to the following population groups: fewer than 10,000 served;…

This article explores the questions to what extent educational research addresses library use in education and how the library can contribute to intercultural education. The focus is primarily on elementary education in Europe. Analysis of research publications was based on searches for peer-reviewed journals in international databases, literary…

This article presents a reading of the user interface in one public library system. Its aim is to find out the frames and competences required and used in the communication between the computer and the patron. The authors see the computer as a text that is to be read by the user who wants to search for information from the library. The transition…

On May 31st 2012 the ACTive ALIA Group and Australian Government Libraries Information network (AGLIN) ran a national symposium on the topic of "Value of Libraries". Approximately 80 attended this event which was designed to challenge librarians with conversations that focused on economic and other means of demonstrating our value--value…

The main purpose of this paper is to discuss the political and strategic skills needed by library leaders in today's library environment. The discussion is based on a small scale research project focused on opinions of skills needed by library leaders. The survey involved a questionnaire of librarianship students and library practitioners as well…

In recent years public libraries have experimented with user-generated or community-contributed content through the interactive tools of Web 2.0. For some commentators this not just establishes a new relationship between libraries and their publics, but signals the end of information hegemony and an "expert paradigm". Such claims need to…

Although the quality, performance and future of public library services in the UK is a matter of debate, there is little doubt that in recent years, despite claims relating to the emergence of a cyber-society, interest in library buildings and the library as "place" has been intense, almost matching that seen during the Carnegie era of…