Academic libraries, apart from their main function, which is to provide information services to academic communities, may also perform a number of social roles in the broad meaning of the term. Accordingly, they now tend to serve as the third place offering inclusion and animation activities to academic as well as local communities (including…

Purpose: Public libraries play a pivotal role in supporting education and literacy. They provide numerous services, activities, collections and resources for education and leisure. Bibliotheca Alexandrina (BA) is an international renowned public library that provides numerous services for different users worldwide. E-learning is an emergent and…

According to Stearns (2009), culture shapes childhood. The way a society defines culture shapes: (a) how childhood is constructed; (b) the production of literary products and services for young people; and (c) training for library professionals. In 21st century America, children are viewed as a vulnerable population in need of protection, as…

Introduction: Our paper describes three examples of how public libraries in at-risk-neighbourhoods have worked with social innovations in order to develop and strengthen their services for minority groups. The libraries were chosen because they are frontrunners in the field of cultural diversity and social inclusion in Denmark. Method: The…

The paper reports on a study of 12 Danish high school students' perceptions of public libraries' role in learning, user education, information literacy, and librarians' information competencies. The study is undertaken by use of literature review and interviews with a purposive select sample of public library users in Denmark. The study…

This paper reports on a questionnaire survey of 16 national libraries designed to clarify how national libraries attempt to justify their web archiving activities. Results indicate they envisage that a) the benefits brought about by their initiatives are greater than the overall costs, b) the costs imposed on libraries are greater than the costs…

These Guidelines constitute the third edition of the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) "Multicultural Communities: "Guidelines for Library Services." This revision follows the IFLA Section of Library Services to Multicultural Populations' "2006-2010 Strategic Plans": to review and revise the…

A new Danish act regarding library service has initiated several projects in order to promote libraries and to provide library staff experience in using the Internet to communicate with end users. Most public Danish information is found on official World Wide Web sites, and there is a tendency to publish online versions instead of printed…

This paper discusses new strategies and potential roles for libraries for the blind, based on the author's experiences at the Danish National Library for the Blind (DBB). The first section is an introduction that provides background on DBB. The second section considers characteristics of the information community. The third section describes the…

This set of nine papers on special library concerns includes papers presented by participants from Canada, Denmark, East Germany, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Papers are entitled: "The Needs of the Special Librarian and the Library Association," by Miriam H. Tees; "Position and Development of Special Libraries within…

The 16 reports in this collection were presented at an open forum on research libraries and meetings of three more specialized sections: (1) "Nature and Purpose of the Division of General Research Libraries" (Ernst Kohl); (2) "Objectives and Goals of the Section of Parliamentary Libraries" (Ernst Kohl); (3) "The IFLA…

This report describes Copenhagen (Denmark) Business School Library's (CBSL) use of performance measurement to manage the quality of library services and facilities. The CBSL quality management program consists of: a statement of strategic goals of development and operation, including a focus on users, good service, efficient internal functions,…