Search

The Düsseldorf Central Library in KAP1 has been awarded the national library prize "Library of the Year 2023". The library offers not only books and media on 8,000 m², but also workspaces, coworking learning boxes, a future laboratory with VR glasses, a LibraryLab studio for podcasts, and a green rooftop terrace. The innovative Open Library concept allows users to access the library outside of opening hours. The prize "Library of the Year in small municipalities and regions 2023" was awarded to the City and School Library Lauenburg, which stands out for its technology-related and digital offerings as well as its promotion of reading. [Extracted from the article]

Ausgehend von (populär-)kulturellen Darstellungen von Bibliotheken wird das Verhältnis von physischen Räumen und Artefakten und Digitalisaten und digitaler Nutzung betrachtet. Eine Möglichkeit der Verknüpfung von Nutzenden mit der Bibliothek ist die genaue digitale Nachahmung der physischen Bibliothekssituation, eine zweite richtet die digitale Nutzung radikal auf maschinelle Nutzung aus und emanzipiert sich vom menschlichen Nutzenden. Based on (popular) cultural representations of libraries, the relationship between physical spaces and artefacts and digitised copies and digital use is considered. One way of linking users to the library is the exact digital imitation of the physical library situation; a second radically aligns digital use with machine use and emancipates itself from the human users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why not digitize library membership as well? The digital library card of the Goethe-Institut's makes plastic cards superfluous and at the same time bundles the libraries' digital offerings and services in a single application. Designed as a mobile application for Android and iOS, the digital library card is already in use at more than 50 libraries in the Goethe-Institut's worldwide network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article informs on an annual report of the IFLA National Committee Germany 2021/22 from September 2021-June 2022 including the 8th Leipzig Library Congress on May 31, 2022 on library.

The study sought to assess user expectations and acceptance of library services at the African Union Court on Human and Peoples' Rights. The study, which targeted 94 library users, employed LibQUAL and SERVQUAL protocols to collect data, which were subsequently analysed using descriptive statistics. The findings revealed that users have the lowest expectations of the physical aspects of the library, namely the library as a place and of its tangibles. By contrast, users had the highest expectations in aspects associated with people and of the library collection, namely the effect of service, information control, responsiveness and reliability. The study recommends the allocation of resources in a way that ensures that the human aspects of the library remain at high levels of service quality, while shortcomings related to information control, library space and equipment should be addressed. Further, the library should invest in electronic content that users can access remotely. The findings have implications for information practice, in that studying user expectations enables libraries to understand individual and group expectations. These, in turn, will inform decision-making processes in respect of service provision, and provide justification and accountability for the resources used during such service provision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The demographic development shows that the proportion of senior citizens in the German population is growing. Therefore, this section of the population becomes more and more significant and it is important to deal with this target group. The offers which libraries can develop for the target group of senior citizens depend on the respective local prerequisites and the resources of each library (personnel, budget, premises). Senior citizens are a heterogeneous group of several generations, characterised by different interests and levels of education, as well as different intellectual and physical conditions. The library should develop its range of offers within a concept with clear objectives to make it successful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article deals with the specific target groups for vocational training. The focus is on the satisfaction with the libraries' offers and on possible services to increase their attractiveness and thereby strengthen the role of Berlin's public libraries as educational agents for those who left school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public libraries offer easy, free access to information, education and entertainment to individuals from all sections of society. Today, their offers play an important role in promoting and supporting media competence. This article examines how well libraries enable immobile persons and inhabitants of less developed areas to take part in society, based on the results of the study 'Use monitoring for public libraries', a project of the Berlin public libraries (NuMoB study). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

More than ever, libraries today are faced with the question of how to make their services more attractive. Thus, it only seems logical to actively integrate users into the design process. The re-implementation of the KOBV Portal (http://portal.kobv.de), a regional search in the holdings of libraries in Berlin and Brandenburg, consistently follows the path of co-design. Users are regarded as development partners. The Berlin School of Library and Information Science acts as a project partner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As part of the Alliance for Lifelong Learning the state of Baden-Württemberg promotes innovative forms of training and provides, among other things, a virtual learning environment based on ILIAS (German for 'Integrated Learning, Information and Work Cooperation System'). On that basis the public library of Ludwigsburg has designed its own learning platform which is adapted to its individual needs. Since mid-July 2013, library users have been able to gain access to language, business and computer courses with a valid library card, regardless of time and location. The article describes the framework of the Ludwigsburg project and gives an insight into its latest developments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses hypotheses why women librarians are particularly resistant to and critical of new forms of culture and learning that young visitors of libraries find attractive. Based on several enquiries, the author concludes that libraries in France remain a feminine world which tends to be closed to intermixing sexual, ethnic and social barriers. She describes women's reaction to young people - qualified as 'non-readers', 'visitors', or 'tourists' - who prefer libraries with coffee shops, DVD rentals and internet services. Male teenagers legitimately find traditional libraries gloomy, and female librarians are particularly critical about their behaviour and preferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Posed are the preliminary results of library census in the Russian Federation of 2010 to 2011. Given is the characteristic of the main indicators and problems of such an accounting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The catalog code RDA will furnish some changes for the catalog of libraries, that are helpful for users. This progress will force also for the cataloguer and the formation, the design of the OPACs further development. For this purpose, the library Software must both be developed regarding cataloguing such as OPAC, what is shown by means of examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the benefits and challenges associated with ethnographic research in libraries and information settings, and provides both historical and recent examples of its application. Ethnographic research, designed to facilitate understanding the whole of different communities and groups, has long been a means of observing and documenting behaviors, customs, and cultures within social sciences such as anthropology and sociology. Information systems, information organizations and libraries happen to be environments where this type of observational and participatory research can go a long way in problem solving. Understanding users, the way they work, and the various challenges they face when trying to locate, retrieve and use information are all ways to improve service to the public, and each may be investigated through the use of ethnographic methods. This type of qualitative approach does not exclude the integration of quantitative analysis and is, in fact, strengthened by its addition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the application of a study titled "Best Practice: Studying Students – A Research Project of the River Campus Libraries in Rochester NY" that was conducted by Holder Schultka and implemented in the Branch Library of Chemistry in the University Library of Münster, Germany. Aspects of the research project that were implemented include surveying library users in order to provide appropriate services.

Young adults form a significant proportion of library users all over the world. In Sierra Leone, however, this group of users is the most easily neglected in terms of collection development and the provision of library services. As this article explores public library services to young adult readers in Sierra Leone, it notes the characteristics of young adults, provides an overview of public library services in Sierra Leone, and outlines the programs provided in meeting the needs of this user group to meet the goal of service for all without distinction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

American libraries currently face a dramatic shift in how they are perceived, both by the public and by lawmakers. In order to preserve the traditional values observed by librarians, such as patron privacy and access to information, libraries must also preserve the traditional associations that have defined them. The value of libraries has been undermined by the threat of terrorism and the subsequent political pressure to find blame for the terrorist attacks. Librarians must choose whether or not to stick to the traditional library brand, or evolve and market libraries as something else. Without public support, definitions will not change easily. The American public still views the library as a place to read and find books, and this definition must prevail for libraries to retain their relevance in American life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the topic of the usage of the internet in libraries and how libraries have increased their functions and made their collections more accessible. With the advent of web 2.0, the internet has become more of a place for collective intelligence and a more simpler, interactive user guide. The author examines how libraries can incorporate this interactive platform to let users help design the services of the library.

Norway currently has 362 academic, research and special libraries, most of which have developed websites to provide a variety of online services to users, including a growing number of part-time and distance education users. While most websites and services are provided in Norwegian only, forces of globalization are pushing institutions to provide an increasing range of services also in English. Based on an analysis of all 362 library websites, including a typical case sampling of three case studies, the article argues that an increasing amount of information will be made available in English on library websites, but that the process will stop short of full bilingual provision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the 21st century, information has become a major economic commodity and citizens need to be educated for productive information use from pre-school through postsecondary education. Libraries and librarians play an important role in the education of people for effective and efficient information use by teaching them information skills at all levels of education. Information literacy is defined and national standards for information skiffs teaching are presented. The standards and their application are discussed. Librarians' new role as instructors and partners in education in the United States is outlined in terms of preparing library users for productive information use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on several evaluations the university library has met the challenge to issue a fundamental process of reorganisation. The changes involve internal workflow as well as a new definition of the library's duties and responsibilities regarding their patrons. The article describes this ongoing process of a library on its way to an one-tier system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this report of research currently underway on libraries in the city of Pune, Maharashtra (India), the focus is on commercial, street-corner libraries. Using an ethnographic approach, this research explores the way these libraries function, and the values placed on reading by Pune's middle class library users. Commercial libraries seem to have occupied a niche not filled by the public libraries in Pune, that of providing current popular fiction and glossy magazines in convenient locations. The libraries have a variety of origins and motivations, but are typically run with only the most rudimentary of cataloging and shelving systems, and no reference functions at all. Patrons describe their reading activity as leisure, and name television viewing as the main alternative or competing activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the 101st Deutscher Bibliothekartag (German Librarians' Convention) in Hamburg, Germany, in 2012. Themes considered at the meeting included the impact of electronic publishing and digitization efforts on libraries, the increase of library users in Germany between 2000 and 2010, and design, construction, and renovation projects for library buildings.

The article reports on the situation of libraries in Germany in 2010. Included are a discussion of the increasing use of libraries by a diverse population, the negative effects of budget deficits as federal funds are reduced, and libraries as a place of lifelong learning. The writer of the article also pleads for support for libraries as places which preserve the cultural heritage of a nation.

The article describes the development of technical standards and user strategies for digital books in German libraries. Comments are given regarding automated processes of integration for meta-data, indexing techniques in digital book collections, and efforts to create standardized citations for digital books. Further note is taken of the organization of information regarding digital books and library user statistics.