This review analyzes the quandaries facing libraries from African countries, especially from the sub-Saharan region, regarding the free dissemination and access to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, ...Transgender, and Queer/Questioning (LGBTQ+) content. It examines the challenges the libraries face and finally highlights the role they should play in disseminating LGBTQ+ content.
The use of mobile phones has increased in various areas during the COVID-19 pandemic, including the adoption of mobile libraries. This research aims to understand users' intentions to continue using ...USULib Mobile after the pandemic. Using a quantitative descriptive approach, the study focused on the entire population of USU Library users who utilize USULib Mobile, with a research sample of 250 respondents. Data collection involved questionnaires, observations, and documentation studies covering eight UTAUT2 indicators, twenty-six variables, and forty-six questions. Descriptive methods were used for data analysis, and data validity was assessed using a rating scale. The results showed a generally strong inclination among users to persist in using USULib Mobile after the COVID-19 pandemic. The most influential factor was habit, particularly linked to the experience variable, indicating that the use of USULib Mobile had become a deeply ingrained habit during the pandemic. On the contrary, the least influential factor was hedonic motivation, specifically the variable related to fun or pleasure, which requires further investigation.
While some predominantly white institutions can offer unique and laudable educational experiences to Black college students, they can also lack resources that provide these same students with a ...culturally affirming milieu. Black faculty and staff can organize their time, energy and resources to offer culturally enriching experiences for Black students. However, this additional labor is not systematically seen, cataloged or recognized as a core or essential duty. The author describes some effective forms of outreach from her personal experience and simultaneously asks whose job it is to meet the cultural needs of this population.
This study explores library users' perceptions and preferences of virtual reference services (VRS) in an academic library in Hong Kong and examines the impact of VRS on students' learning for the ...future improvement of the library's services. A qualitative semi-structured interview was conducted with ten students from different faculties of a comprehensive university in Hong Kong. Proceedings of the interviews were recorded using Zoom, transcribed, and analyzed into theme tables according to the 5E learning model. Results indicate that WhatsApp is the most preferred VRS due to its convenience, response immediacy, textual record, and minimal learning efforts. Phone, email, and Zoom are less preferred due to users' perceived embarrassment, formality, and time constraints. The findings demonstrate that VRS is vital in students' different learning stages. It arouses students' interest in learning and information search, allows the exploration of new learning resources, provides a good platform to solve learning problems, and offers efficient and instant help for learning. Unlike previous studies, this study identifies users' perceived impact of VRS on their learning process based on the 5E learning model. It provides important implications and suggestions to improve VRS and staff training to enhance the library's overall reference services.
Discovery is central to academic activities at all levels and is a major focus for libraries and museums. Of all the parts of modern library provision, discovery services are the most clearly ...affected by developments in IT, from databases to search engines to linked data to machine learning. It is crucial to the relationship between libraries and their communities. This book will help its readers learn how to adapt in a fast changing area to continue to provide a high level of service. Resource Discovery for the Twenty-First Century Library contains a range of contributions analysing the ways in which libraries are tackling the challenges facing them in discovery in the (post)-Google era. Chapters are written by experts, both global and local – describing specific areas of discovery and local implementations and ideas. The book will help with enhancing discovery both inbound – making locally held resources globally discoverable, and outbound – making global resources locally discoverable, in ways which are relevant to your user community. Content covered includes: · a survey of what resource discovery is today · case studies from around the world of interesting approaches to discovery · analysis of how users approach discovery · how to understand and make the best use of Internet search engines · using limited resources to help users find collections · linked open data and discovery · the future of discovery. This book will be useful for subject librarians and others who give direct support to library users, digital library technicians, managers, staff with responsibility for managing electronic resources, metadata and discovery specialists, trainers and user education specialists. It will also be of use to curators and others who give direct support to researchers, managers of digitisation and cataloguing products, IT staff, trainers and user education specialists.
Objetivo: O objetivo deste texto se relaciona com a investigação, a partir das narrativas do usuário, da relevância em desenvolver competência em informação na sociedade contemporânea. Metodologia: A ...pesquisa se baseia na revisão de literatura sobre competência em informação e na pesquisa narrativa para compreendermos as singularidades do usuário da biblioteca escolar, que perpassa conhecer a sua experiência de vida, a partir da prospecção de mundo em que vive. Resultados: Consideramos importante o desenvonvimento de ações pedagógicas para determinar processos de buscas de informações confiáveis na internet para os usuários da biblioteca. Há necessidade dos usuários dos cursos técnicos de Eletrotécnica e Mecânica desenvolverem as competências em informação no ambiente da biblioteca escolar. É a integração dos sujeitos em um sistema educativo de qualidade que promove um aprendizado consistente. Conclusões: A tarefa central dos profissionais da biblioteca escolar e, portanto, do bibliotecário será, no futuro, lidar com o paradoxo da informação prática para seus usuários.
Purpose
The study aims to investigate the characteristics of the current situation of library programs and explore the possible reasons behind the low participation in Hong Kong. It focuses on the ...development of library programs in the era of digital technology, which can lead to discussion and reflections on the further development of library programs with innovative technology services.
Design/methodology/approach
This study applied a mixed-method research approach to investigate the current situation of library programming and the reasons for low participation in Hong Kong. The first part analyzes the characteristics of library programs offered by the Hong Kong Public Libraries (HKPL) through data collection from the HKPL website. The second part of this study investigated the reasons behind the low participation in library programs through quantitative research through an online survey.
Findings
The findings show that current library programs were dominated by reading activities and children's programs to a great extent, which both users and non-users are not very interested in. Further, most respondents expressed more interest in cultural and leisure events and hands-on activities (especially new technologies related) than traditional library programming. Many lapsed and non-users chose not to attend the library programs for boredom and uselessness. As a result, there is a need for HKPL to adjust its services to stay relevant to the needs and interests of local communities.
Originality/value
Scant studies explored the reasons behind non-users of public library programs, especially in Asia. This research contributes to the literature by analyzing and proposing the characteristics of the current situation of library programs and exploring the possible reasons behind the low participation in Hong Kong.
PurposeWayfinding efficiency is an extremely influential factor to improve users' library interior experience. However, few research has studied the different functions of various wayfinding signages ...for university library users through mobile visual experiment. To fill this gap, the purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between university library signage system design and patrons' wayfinding behavior features.Design/methodology/approachIn this article, an eye movement tracking method was introduced to record eye movement data during the wayfinding process of participants in the library interior, targeting the cognition and psychology of library users in the wayfinding signage system. The visual guiding usability of landmarks, informational signages and directional signages were quantitatively tested, and the fixation on the signage system between orientation strategy users and route strategy users was compared. This study also investigated the effects of library users' spatial anxiety and environmental familiarity on their fixation on the area of interest of the wayfinding signage system using the differential test and regression.FindingsThis paper observed that informational signage had the best visual navigating competence. The difference of fixation duration and searching duration between patrons used various wayfinding strategies was significant. The informational signage was most attended by the route strategy users, and the orientation strategy users rarely focused on the directional signage. And participants with high anxiety tended to ignore the visually auxiliary function of the landmarks but paid attention to the directional signage. The participants with low anxiety could capture the landmarks that could not be easily found by the route strategy users. And participants less familiar with the environment were more sensitive to the landmarks. Furthermore, this paper offers optimization measures for university library wayfinding signage system, from the perspectives of informational signage understandability improvement, directional signage physical specification design and wayfinding assistant system with automatic landmark technology.Originality/valueThis article adds to the relatively sparse literature on university library user wayfinding experimental study in China. The experimental findings of this paper also have important practical implications for academic libraries' wayfinding system evaluation. The whole process could be seen as a repeatable and standard framework and methodology to inspect university library's wayfinding signage system usability and user wayfinding behavior performance.
Zusammenfassung
Die Pandemie hat Kultureinrichtungen in besonderem Maß gefordert: Das in vielen Institutionen in unterschiedlichen Ausprägungen vorhandene digitale Angebot wurde mit der behördlich ...verordneten Schließung der musealen Einrichtungen und Bibliotheken zu einem „must have“, um einerseits nicht den Kontakt zu den Besucher:innen zu verlieren und andererseits nicht als Verlierer in der modernen Museums- u. Bibliothekslandschaft abgestempelt zu werden. Schnell hatten sich – meist kostenlose – Online-Führungen durch Dauer- oder Sonderausstellungen sowie Webinare zur Bibliotheksnutzung als obligatorisches Angebot etabliert. Mit der Rückkehr zum regulären Betrieb steht diese Form der digitalen Kulturvermittlung nun am Prüfstand: Ist sie gekommen, um zu bleiben oder ist/war sie nur Ersatz für ein Erlebnis, das online in dieser Form nie vermittelbar ist?
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