Library Practice Research Articles

Knowledge Management Practices (KMP) in University Libraries in Nigeria: Connecting and Inspiring Librarians for Professional Development

Academic libraries worldwide provide knowledge management (KM) services to support university research activities, while some librarians are slowly implementing knowledge management practices. The paper examined librarians’ perception of knowledge management in Nigerian university libraries and discovered that they perceived it positively. It also identified KM practices in Nigerian university libraries, such as brainstorming, knowledge sharing and mentoring. However, these practices were not recognized as KM practices and were not officially documented as such. Furthermore, the paper also revealed that the effects of KM on the professional development of academic librarians were positive. Therefore, the researchers proffer some recommendations to enhance KM practices in Nigerian university libraries.

Podcasting as an instrument to accomplish libraries’ humanistic mission

The total digitalization of every sphere calls for changing libraries as information and sociocultural centers, ways to fulfill their humanistic mission of harmonious development of individuals. New forms of generation, distribution and providing access to information on the Internet give boost to using podcasts as instruments of communication with library existing and potential users. Podcasting is widely used in broadcasting, journalism, business, culture and education for it enables to communicate reliable information to customers. Though this technology is new to the libraries, podcasts have become increasingly popular in library practice. There are just few case studies on these library activities. The authors examine different approaches to podcast classification; options for their use by the libraries to promote books and reading, as an educational resource, and as an instrument to advocate libraries and improve librarians image. They substantiate the need to implement podcasting technology supporting the libraries’ humanistic mission. They also point to the need to expand the studies on the details of podcasting adaptation to library practice, as well as experience systematization, development of detailed recommendations on creating, using, promoting podcasts in the library sphere.

Approaches to Negotiating Change Through Evolving Library Management Styles in Australian University Libraries

A Review of:Gunapala, M., Montague, A., Reynolds, S., & Vo-Tran, H. (2020). Managing change in university libraries in the 21st century: An Australian perspective. Journal of the Australian Library and Information Association, 69(2), 191-214. https://doi.org/10.1080/24750158.2020.1756598 Objective – Investigating current change management practices to create a conceptual management framework for the 21st century. Design – Interviews using a qualitative constructivist approach. Setting – Australian university libraries. Subjects – Chief university librarians of 18 public universities out of 37 in Australia. Methods – Chief university librarians in more than half of the public university libraries in Australia were interviewed. The interviews were completed face-to-face using a semi-structured questioning approach, based on themes and concepts derived from the literature review. Observation data were also gathered through physical visits to the libraries. The data analysis was conducted using two Microsoft Excel matrices, one grouped thematically and the other populated with relevant literature review commentary when it aligned with interviewee commentary. The conceptual framework used to guide the research is made up of six fundamentals of performance improvements to effectively manage change: resources, relevance, stakeholders, strategy, government policy, and university infrastructure. The research focused on current change management practices of chief librarians as they address these issues. Main Results – The research revealed that the influence of, or the relationship between, the factors affecting changing university library environments creates a complex administrative environment where decision making addressing one of the fundamentals can have negative unintended consequences in one or more of the other key areas. The authors note that the literature and views of the informants show a change in the objectives of the future academic library characterized by, but not limited to, initiatives that are designed to meet changing needs of a diverse group of stakeholders. These objectives must be “innovative” and “add value to the university business rather than continue to do what was traditionally done” (Gunapala et al., 2020, p. 203). Conclusion – The authors profess that the study provides theoretical insight to help library leaders address the many challenges currently in place and emerging across the Australian university library landscape. They assert that the research reveals the need to shift focus from a more traditional transactional oriented model to an engagement orientated model, due to the introduction of market forces coupled with declining public funding. They conclude by claiming to provide a theoretical framework that when practically implemented will allow library leaders to successfully navigate and negotiate emerging changes across the spectrum of higher education.

In plain sight: School librarian practices within infrastructures for learning

This study explored how school librarian practices are resources that can support teaching and learning at schools in Sweden. The empirical material was produced through 22 semi-structured interviews with ‘best practice’ awarded librarians at 14 Swedish secondary and upper-secondary schools. The theoretical framework consisted of a practice theory approach coupled with analytical concepts from information infrastructure studies. The findings highlighted how teachers and librarians collaborate closely in schools with designated best practice libraries. Members of both professions collaborated in teaching and interdisciplinary projects and were supported by management teams at the schools under study. However, the librarians expressed a disconnect between themselves and the teachers and leaders of the school. This disconnect was evidenced by a lack of planning practices and classroom teaching, impelling the librarians to advocate continuously for better awareness and visibility of their practices. The article offers insights into school librarian practices at sites that function simultaneously as both workplaces for professionals with multiple competencies and educational settings for students.

Early literacy and family engagement: A cross-country analysis of caregivers’ perceptions of the public library's role in the digital age in Taiwan, Malaysia, and Vietnam

This study aims to explore caregivers’ perceptions of the public library's role in supporting early literacy and family engagement in the digital age in Asia. Family engagement is important from birth through young adulthood, and public libraries matter for family engagement. However, this topic has been little explored in Asian countries. Structured interviews were conducted with librarians, followed by a survey approach to understand what caregivers of five- to 12-year-old children think about the scope of family engagement practices in public libraries in Taiwan, Malaysia, and Vietnam. In total, 454 valid questionnaires were collected. Findings show that caregivers value the importance of public libraries’ role in promoting family engagement in the digital age in Taiwan, Malaysia, and Vietnam. In order to reap the rewards of family engagement practices, public libraries are suggested to build relationships with families through proactively understanding families’ interests and needs, involving families in the library decision-making process, and engaging families in both print-based and digital literacy programmes.

Communities of Practice in the Academic Library: Strategies for Implementation (book review)

Communities of Practice in the Academic Library: Strategies for Implementation (book review)

Assessing the Impact of Academic Librarians upon Student Satisfaction through Reference Desk Interactions: A Preliminary Pilot Study

In the column below, the author discusses the process of developing a pilot project report as a working document to help assess the impact of academic librarians upon student satisfaction through reference desk interactions in an academic library setting. This preliminary study examines the process of developing a pilot project procedure that supports academic involvement in institutional learning. The author presents data and commentary on the procedures of designing the process, pilot testing the solution, and exploring any necessary enhancements for future success in an effort to improve library management and to impact student success. This pilot project was developed after research development stimulated by administrative encouragement to demonstrate and confirm which library practices and resources contribute to institutional priorities and impact student learning. This study includes potential considerations for library leaders and library staff as a result of changing practices and environments. The author’s conclusions discuss how academic library services, expertise and resources contribute to desired outcomes of faculty support and student success.

Modern libraries of Ukraine as an inclusive space: promotion of reading and popularisation of books

The purpose of the article is to present the libraries of Ukraine as an inclusive space for the promotion of reading and popularisation of books in contemporary conditions. The research methodology is based on the general scientific principles that cognition is systematic, and comprehensive. In order to achieve this goal, the following special methods are used: comparison, analysis, and generalization. Scientific novelty of the article focuses on the issue of an inclusive space of libraries, which is successfully solved by the librarianship of Ukraine. Legislative initiatives to ensure access of visually impaired people to adapted information resources and promotion of reading are presented. The best experience of libraries in Ukraine under contemporary conditions for servicing readers with disabilities is revealed. Conclusions. The article argues that currently scientific studies in Ukrainian librarianship as a science of the regularities of library forming, developing, and functioning should update the theoretical basis of the promotion of reading as an inclusive space under contemporary conditions, that is, in this aspect, library science falls behind the achievements of library practice. It is established that with Ukraine gaining independence, a new stage began of promoting reading, books, and popularisation of the library as an inclusive space for development, education, and socialisation at the state level. It is asserted that Ukraine's orientation towards the development of the civilized world encourages the introduction of internationally proven practices to improve library and information services for people with disabilities and visually impaired users, ie the introduction of inclusion in a library sphere is one of the trends of state cultural policy. It is determined that information and communication services for people with disabilities are focused on such vectors as social, informational, psychological, and leisure ones in order to fully meet their informational, educational, and cultural needs. Keywords: libraries of Ukraine, inclusive space, promotion of reading, popularisation of books, people with disabilities, visually impaired users.

Knihovny jako nástroj žité sociálně-pedagogické ideje mezi lety 1918–1989

Social pedagogy tends to be primarily associated with the education of people from vulnerable target groups or with leisure pedagogy. An essential part of the social pedagogical practice is also the folk education process, which was already linked to the Masaryk ideal of an educated and industrious society before the establishment of independent Czechoslovakia and which was carried out through libraries. After 1948, this ideal was transformed into the idea of the 'new socialist human', in whose formation libraries played a significant role. This study aims to use contemporary literature and archival documents to view libraries as instruments of all-people education through work with the reader. It will show that libraries throughout the period analysed (1918-1989) played the role of important social pedagogical institutions that are unfairly overlooked in disciplinary discourse. They draw on the anthropological discourse of social pedagogical practice. This paper focuses on the search for general structures in library practice, from work with workers and peasants in the form of reading in the fields, mass work with readers, the Fucik badge competition, to discussions with readers. All of this contributed in a fundamental way to the formation of anthropological models associated with socialist man. A certain discontinuity in continuity transformed the humanist ideals of the library of the First Republic.

Expanding the Range of Evidence Use in School Library Practice

The study explores the involvement of school librarians from Croatia and Hong Kong in EBLIP. The main goal of this study is to find out what types of evidence school librarians from Croatia and Hong Kong use in their library practice and how useful they find different evidence types. The research method used in this study is survey and data were collected with an online questionnaire created and delivered with SurveyMonkey. The study reveals that school librarians in Croatia and Hong Kong use a wide variety of evidence sources in support of their library practice. Most often they use evidence from observation, professional interactions and library statistics. School librarians in both regions agree that these three types of evidence are the most useful for their library practice. However, if school librarians wish to demonstrate to stakeholders how school libraries contribute to teaching and learning they need to generate some more objective evidence through formal research. LIS educators and local school library associations may be encouraged to develop educational programs that will enhance school librarians' competences in formal research and involve them in a participatory research community.

From readers’ advisory to literary advocacy – a conceptual exploration

This article departs from an observation that current practices of readers advisory (litteraturformidling) in public libraries tend to prioritize readers’ demands, taste, or contextual matters on the expense of literature itself. We ask what it means to put literature first and how research can underpin such practices. In a conceptual and exploratory study departing from Gerard Genette’s work on the paratext we draw inter alia on theory of literature, pragmatic philosophy, and the legislation on public libraries. By way of conceptual inquiries, we analyse what it would mean for the libarian to advocate works, collections, and other cultural artefacts in the library. We have developed an understanding of literary advocacy foregrounding five methodological devices: 1) listening carefully to literature; 2) talking on behalf of literature by articulating the reading experience; 3) addressing the reader as one that wishes to discover and find new ways of seeing; 4) cultivating the art of selection; and 5) attending to the democratic mandate of libraries and taking a position. Professional librarianship in terms of literary advocacy would mean to negotiate democratic values relative to the singularity of the work and relative to all the selections the advocate has to make. Our result then points towards a “tool” for professional research on the literary practices of public libraries too.

LIS and Social Work: From Current Issues to a Collaborative Future

As Melanie Huggins, past President of the U.S. Public Library Association, stated, “I cannot think of a profession more aligned with public librarianship than social work” (Blassingame, 2021, n.p.), a sentiment reflected in many recent professional and scholarly publications. Given the similarities and shared values of Social Work (SW) and LIS, there is much support to “the rationale for adopting theoretical, practical, and pedagogical approaches” from SW in LIS (Dali, 2018, p. 84), and for professional blending more generally. Benefits associated with this alignment make LIS professionals better equipped to engage communities in an impactful way; conversely, they prepare social workers for understanding the roles of libraries in community life, information literacy, and the ethical use of technology.
 To facilitate this professional cross-pollination, a concerted effort needs to continue in both higher education and professional practice. The proposed panel discussion and accompanying interactive engagements will build on interdisciplinary narratives from practitioners, researchers, and educators in both fields: social work and LIS. The panel will delve into several current salient issues and propose a way into a collaborative future. The panelists will share their experience working, researching, and teaching at the intersection of SW and LIS while also engaging the audience through a series of interactive activities in small groups. These will be concluded with a general discussion. Panelists will take the lead reflecting on different aspects of the SW/LIS collaboration, as follows:
 
 Training models and professional boundaries: Lydia Ogden will discuss a model that includes training for library workers and onsite social workers, including an exploration of such issues as role definition; gray areas between the practice of librarians trained in crisis intervention and that of social workers; and the politics of negotiating interprofessional boundaries.
 Synergies and struggles: Charles Senteio will present examples of successful partnerships and opportunities to improve collaboration between social workers and librarians. He will share synergies in his work (e.g., placing social work students in public libraries) and discuss the areas that require further development (e.g., managing disparate priorities, cultural chasms, sustainability of collaborations, and seeking grants collaboratively).
 Librarians as essential workers: Rachel Williams will speak about the critical need to support librarians as essential service providers; the logistics of partnering with SW; and the issues of scarce funding, limited-term partnerships, and resulting disservice to both staff and patrons. She will examine a path to a sustainable collaborative future for this kind of work if one is viewed as essential for public libraries.
 Practical and philosophical aspects of collaboration: Noah Lenstra will share his current work with the SW Program at the University of North Carolina Greensboro to coordinate the placement of SW students at local libraries and his research on the expansion of SW-library partnerships, in collaboration with the South Carolina Center for Rural and Primary Healthcare.
 Beyond public libraries: Until now, the focus of SW/LIS collaboration has been on public libraries, partnerships, and populations in crisis. Switching gears, Keren Dali will speak about the potential contribution of SW to the education and professional practice of academic librarians, including advocacy efforts on campus, DEIA engagements, wellness and the “whole person” philosophy, organizational efficiency, and teaching information literacy.
 
 Panel structure:
 
 Panelists’ introductions; brief overviews of the chosen topics: 30 min
 Small group interactive engagements: 40 min
 General discussion on charting a collaborative future: 20 min
 
 All panelists have worked on the intersection of LIS and SW and bring unique perspectives and insight into the topic.

A sustentabilidade ambiental em bibliotecas universitárias públicas, localizadas em Belém, PA

This article deals with environmental sustainability in university libraries (BU) of public Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), located in Belém-PA. The objective was to identify sustainable practices in university libraries, since sustainability is present in the missions of all four HEIs whose BUs researched are subordinate and in the Sustainable Logistics Plans (PLS) of three of these HEIs. It is a research with a quantitative-qualitative approach, of the exploratory type. The data collection tools used were: bibliographic survey, observation and a structured interview with the directors of each library. Data analysis allows the understanding that libraries do not develop sustainable practices in a systematic way and there are no specific projects, but specific sustainable actions, especially those that do not depend on high financial investments, but are related to the attitudes of team members. However, there are still sustainable practices with these characteristics that are not implemented in the researched information units

Transitioning an embedded capstone course to a new librarian

The subject of this study is an embedded librarian approach to a capstone course within a College of Business Administration (CoBA) at a large California public university. Discussed are how the new tenure track Business and Economics Librarian approached a long standing embedded collaboration. The implementation of feedback forms provided a method to identify instructional gaps resulting in discussions informing future semesters. Continued collaborations have benefited from use of reflective practice informing adjustments for improved pedagogy and modifications to embedded approaches. Facilitation of such an embedded approach has required partnership and collaboration with faculty to realize a shared vision for research, synthesis, and application of knowledge to make a strategic diagnosis of a business problem. This study adds to the knowledge of benefits and challenges to an embedded librarian approach and implementation in a business capstone course. Discussed are plans for assessment of student perceived value of embedded librarian practices, and approaches to collecting data leading to future improvement of embedded practices.

Problems and Prospects of Mobile Technologies in the Digital Space of Scientific Knowledge in Libraries

Mobile transformation is considered as a promising direction for the development of the scientific infosphere. The aim of the study was to determine the prospects for the use of mobile technologies in the digital space of scientific knowledge and to identify the main challenges of their implementation. The research was based on the experience of libraries as the most active participants in the formation of the scientific infosphere and intermediaries in scientific communication. The article describes the practice of libraries on development ready-made mobile platforms (social networks, messengers), creating of own information resources and services with a mobile interface. It reveals possibilities of push-technologies, augmented reality technologies and QR-coding application. The challenges of the introduction of mobile technologies are identified. They are: financial constraints, inefficiency of the IT infrastructure, violation of the privacy and leakage of personal data, lack of qualified personnel, apathy of users. On the basis of the obtained data, prospects of application of mobile technologies in the digital space of scientific knowledge in libraries are disclosed. The first steps to solve the described problems are proposed.

Leisure Activities as a Driver for the Development of Libraries in the Modern World

Social, economic, political, digital transformations in society lead to changes in Russian social and cultural space. Leisure becomes a significant part of the modern cultural process. The problem of the study of cultural and leisure activities (CLA) remains open. Leisure activities are undergoing changes. The article provides an empirical analysis of cultural and leisure activities to comprehend the current stage of the cultural development process in Russia. The authors give the examples of the dependence of the forms of library practice on changing reader needs in a historical retrospective. It is noted that various forms of CLA are commonly implemented into the work of cultural institutions. Intellectual and leisure activities becomes a significant part of CLA. It is necessary for the inclusion of an individual into modern educational, professional, cultural spaces. New digital combined forms of work and project activities are popular tools that increase efficiency of cultural and leisure activities of cultural institutions. The article provides examples of the active involvement of the State Universal Scientific Library of Krasnoyarsk region in the intellectual leisure industry. The authors come to the conclusion that the content and technological change of CLA as a systemic phenomenon occurs under the influence of the realities of modern life and contributes to the functions evolution in cultural institutions.

Exploring How Vaccine Information is Communicated in NSW Public Libraries: A Study on Perceptions and Practice

ABSTRACT With COVID-19’s global impact and the increased demand for accurate, accessible vaccine messaging, public libraries – equipped with pre-existing infrastructure and trained information professionals – are uniquely positioned to address this need. However, studies have shown that these expectations rarely align with both past and current practice. This small exploratory study examines library practices alongside librarian perceptions in New South Wales, Australia with the goal of identifying whether they align and what key factors influence the communication of vaccine information. It reports on the findings of a three-strand investigation of library catalogues, websites, and interviews with current NSW public librarians. Ultimately, findings suggested that public libraries had taken few steps towards effectively communicating vaccine information during the early stages of the pandemic. While vaccine collections existed, they were limited in size, outdated, and predominantly print-based. Additionally, cataloguing practices made it difficult to discern anti-vaccine from pro-vaccine resources, while library websites offered minimal vaccine information and lacked accessibility for low literacy or non-English speaking users. These findings largely aligned with the perspectives of the interviewed librarians, who raised concerns regarding the size and accessibility of vaccine resource collections, the importance of expanding digital resources, and improving the communication of vaccine information.

Controlled digital lending: Past emergency implementation led to future exploration

The fundamental mission of the library is to provide users with unrestricted access to library resources anytime, anywhere regardless of their physical location, disability, or other circumstances. Library Access Service departments across the nation have been an innovation engine of creativity and opportunity for many decades. The global epidemiology outbreak experience illuminates areas for potential reforming beyond traditional library services. Controlled Digital Lending (CDL) is one of the emerging modern technologies libraries have used to deliver information digitally in support of online learning and teaching, to make educational materials more affordable and more accessible during the global health crisis. CDL opens a new frontier of library services, as a mechanism for the library practice to enhance user’s experience of using libraries’ services. By exploring this tool, libraries can distribute resources in an effective and equitable way. This paper shares the journey of piloting a CDL program at a large R1 institution to ensure students have reliable, affordable access to course materials they need during the pandemic. The paper demonstrates the development of the CDL platforms, policies, and implementation plans and further discusses challenges and lessons learned and how the library community plans to sustain the program into future library services.

Examine law library practice through the lens of DIKW model—Part IA: metadata

Examine law library practice through the lens of DIKW model—Part IA: metadata

Student participation in a DEI audit as High-Impact Practice

During Spring 2021, eight students at the University of the Pacific participated in an internship where they performed a DEI audit of the library's book and music score collection. An internship is one documented type of High-Impact Practices and research studies show that High-Impact Practices lead to higher retention and graduation rates. Deep learning occurred as student interns participated in developing the methodology, evaluating book and music score collections, reading assigned articles pertaining to DEI in librarianship and publishing, and providing recommendations on closing identified collection gaps. To evaluate their learning, the interns were asked to complete three surveys at the beginning, middle, and end of the project. These surveys were evaluated by a mixed methods research approach to incorporate qualitative and quantitative data in assessing the student interns' understanding of library collections, the publishing industry, and academic DEI issues. This study contributes to the literature on High-Impact Practices in academic libraries by describing a unique and valuable way to involve students in diversifying the library collection.