This essay analyses the implementation of a work-based learning policy in upper secondary schools in Italy. The policy aims to improve student orientation and enhance their soft skills. Based on two ethnographic research studies in Italy, this essay utilises Pierre Bourdieu's theoretical framework, particularly the 'field' concept, to examine how…

The article discusses how digitization in libraries, museums, and archives (LAM) can become more democratic. Digitization within LAM scholarship has been seen historically as a democratic act because it provides universal access to cultural heritage content, breaks down authoritative narratives, and enables participation from users. The article…

Applying a content warning to metadata and archival descriptions is a practice that libraries increasingly embrace, even though the American Library Association considers content labeling to be censorship under the Library Bill of Rights. The language used in a content warning, such as "offensive" or "harmful," carries…

Classrooms and museums have long provided the perfect environment for students to engage information on multiple levels. Some of the information is in the form of worksheets, textbooks, and interpretive panels others in the form of societal conceptions derived from their surroundings. Museums are supposed to be equitable spaces where facts can be…

Building a personal learning network (PLN) for intellectual freedom has long been an important role of a school librarian; however, in the steadily increasing onslaught of digital information that librarians face today, and in the future, the task has become mission-critical. Personal learning, it stands to reason, requires an appropriate dialogue…

Thirty-six ethical codes from national professional associations were studied, the aim to test whether librarians have global shared values or if political and cultural contexts have significantly influenced the codes' content. Gorman's eight core values of stewardship, service, intellectual freedom, rationalism, literacy and learning, equity of…

For more than 150 years, the United States Government Printing Office (GPO), along with its Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP), has supported an informed citizenry and democracy by ensuring access and preservation to a broad swath of federal government information. This collaborative national public information program between local…

"Road Tripping Down the Digital Preservation Highway" follows the continuing adventures of Peter Palmer, erstwhile librarian at Bellaluna University and manager of the library's and University's digital content, as he journeys down the Digital Preservation Highway. Palmer's problem this month was somewhat more philosophical. As manager of the…

Copyright law is a source of a great deal of bewilderment and frustration to academic librarians. Beyond the basics of copyright protection and fair use, most librarians struggle to grasp the complexity of the law and the roadblocks it presents to access and use. This article attempts to elucidate some of those complexities by suggesting seven…

The library and information science field is currently confronted with difficult decisions about how best to allocate acquisition expenditures among increasingly expensive journals. This article measures the return-on-investment of serial expenditures through the use of citation analysis, which is a widely used approach to ascertaining journal…

From a core values perspective, this article, following the PATOP critical thinking framework, examines the effectiveness of the Taiwan e-book Net (TEBNET). To improve alignment between core values and processes is central to the effective operation of TEBNET. Key elements in ensuring such an alignment have emerged for a new PATOP model for…

A gap exists between the degree to which African Americans embrace the cultural value of higher education attainment (Butchart, 1988; Du Bois, 1935; Mickelson & Greene, 2006; Washington, 1900; Woodson, 1919) and the reality of their unsatisfactory undergraduate degree attainment at traditional white institutions (TWIs) (Allen, 1992; Allen,…

Criticizes the Library of Congress' manner of representing the United States in international attempts to develop universal bibliographic control. Direct involvement by American libraries in international activities is urged, in order that actions taken be decided upon in a democratic fashion. (SW)

Offers one librarian's inspirational thoughts on the value of library work: community service, clash of values, intellectual freedom, public good, love of books and libraries, the beauty of small libraries, modern budgets, librarian image, the ideal library, a favorite librarian, the solace of knowledge, the value of silence, and reminders of…

Discusses how core values in the library profession present dilemmas when they come into conflict, since there is no established hierarchy of values. Notes that these values are further challenged by the Internet. Argues that the survival of libraries is critically dependent on information professionals effectively dealing with conflicts in these…