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In September 2022, the sixth edition of the ISO 2789. Information and documentation. International library statistics standard was published, replacing ISO 2789:2013. This text analyzes the novelties introduced in this new version, which principally have to do with digital resources and services and with the incorporation of data on research support, as well as other aspects. The standard maintains practically the same structure as the previous edition, although the incorporation of an annex regarding the measurement of digital uses is emphasized. Numerous definitions reflecting the new reality of libraries are also added. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An analysis of the impact of Covid-19 on the use of Spanish university libraries during 2020 versus 2019 is carried out in this paper. The results have been published in a web tool that allows for deeper analysis of the individual libraries as well as the libraries as a whole. This study is not an evaluation of the libraries themselves but consists of measuring, describing, and quantifying the negative impact that the health crisis had on them during 2020. Visits, loans, user training, and catalog visits are variables that were strongly affected, with a significant positive increase being identified only in visits to library web pages. The use of digital resources according to Counter-compiled data increased considerably in some private university libraries, where possible staff cuts were also identified. The paper concludes by outlining reflections that can be further studied with the experiences of people related to libraries and with additional research, including data for the following years after collection and publication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International and Spanish scholarship on the social role of libraries for people at a social disadvantage are summarized. Current initiatives in public libraries in Spain are presented along with an analysis of some of the library services that have been developed, including an example from Zagreb City Library. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite their public image, libraries have always been based more on the services provided than on the collection, which is only a tool for the service. Therefore, library services should be the basis for libraries' development and survival. The design of those services must be based on the needs of their users, who are the reason why libraries exist. As a matter of fact, the entire library should be addressed to the users, offering services that cover the needs of the broadest possible target population. Technologies that have brought about disruptive change in the model of the library can be also helpful to this purpose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of rhetoric as the “art of persuasion” in discourse (Eco, 1974) has been the subject of reflection and study. As applied to informative communication, Gomis (1994) shows how journalism develops and operates its own rhetoric. With the arrival of the Internet and specifically with the opening of public communication to the average citizen, the use of participation as a rhetorical resource gains prominence and at the same time users add the rhetorical uses to their contributions. This article focuses on user comments in the front page of ElPaís.com, Abc.es and Lavanguardia.es with two objectives: to detect patterns of participation (in reference to the volume and to the presence of popular topics that generate a greater number of contributions) and to observe the rhetorical uses that are included in the comments of the readers to determine the predominant kind of participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Overview of the implementation of social web technologies in Spanish university libraries. The research made it possible to determine, among other issues, the reasons why these libraries use (or not) the social web, which 2.0 services are used more and less and for what purposes, obstacles faced by the libraries in carrying out a process of this type, etc. Furthermore, the study attempted to quantify the degree of adoption of these technologies with the help of new measures designed as part of the research process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Personal information management (PIM) raises some problems because the software tools that are used don't adequately respond to user behaviour and activities. The concept and personal information management problems are reviewed, along with the software tools used for this task. A qualitative assessment explores whether an approach based on software tools for conceptual maps can address the problems discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovative Interfaces Inc., III, maker of the Innopac Millennium integrated system for public libraries, has introduced new products that are primarily related to user access to opac and to library services via handheld devices (cellphone, PDA, etc.). There are also new tools to strengthen and facilitate user participation through opac and to provide more flexibility in service delivery and communication between the user community and library personnel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A user-centred public library must focus its innovation in ways that will attract and satisfy users, building user loyalty. This relates not only to technological innovation but also to the development of new services. Based on this concept, we briefly describe the experience of launching innovative services in the Biblioteca Regional de Murcia (Murcia Regional Library). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the Directive of November 19th regarding rights of hiring and lending, the European Union sought to regulate this issue in order to prevent variations in legislation from being an obstacle lo the free circulation of goods, people, services and capital (article 3 European Union Treaty). The right of authorising public lending by libraries has been regulated in very different ways within the various European countries. The origins of the public lending right were closely related to the birth of modern public libraries. The importance of private libraries, that lent books in exchange for payment, lost out to the creation of public libraries, to which one could go for free. European legislators took up the issue of the author's right for the first time in the Green Book, 1988. However, this document made no reference to the need for regulating non-commercial lending. The WIPO (The World Organisation of Intellectual Property) has not given priority to the recognition of a lending right (Reunion of experts for the possible modification of the text of the Union of Bern, 1993). On the contrary, they identify »a right of culture« by users of public libraries. The majority of European Union member countries make use of the possibility of exempting some lending institutions from the public lending right. The European Commission began infringement proceedings against six member states concerning the right of public lending and commercial hiring on January 16, 2004. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]