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Library home pages and digital library sites have many properties and purposes in common with the Baroque wall-system libraries of seventeenth- and eighteenthcentury Europe. Like their Baroque antecedents, contemporary library Web sites exploit the moment of entrance and the experience of the threshold to create and sustain the illusion of a "three-dimensional world enclosed by a frame" (Lev Manovich). Now, as then, this other world is crafted to be an aesthetically inviting representation of the vast, complex—and potentially intimidating—abstraction that is library space. Unlike Baroque libraries, however, which were static simulations, computer-mediated interactivity allows the modern electronic library to "morph" based on user input, opening the door to new methods for matching user needs with library resources. The new visual culture of the electronic library combines the universal, panoptical view afforded by the Baroque library with synoptic views on library collections derived from real-time user-computer interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is an exploratory study investigating the use of social networking tools in academic libraries, examining the extent of their use, library staff’s perceptions of their usefulness and challenges, and factors influencing decisions to use or not to use such tools. Invitations to participate in a web-based survey were sent to 140 university libraries from Asia, North America and Europe. Responses were received from 38 libraries (response rate: 27.1%). Twenty-seven libraries (71.1%) used social networking tools, five (13.1%) were potential users and six (15.8%) did not plan to use them at all. Facebook and Twitter were the most commonly adopted tools in university libraries. Most library staff had positive perceptions on the usefulness of social networking tools, but hesitancy among library staff and limited participation of users (i.e. students) were perceived to be hindrances. This study offers insights for academic librarians to make informed decisions in applying social networking tools. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose – One of the aims of the LIBER strategic plan 2009-2012 was to stimulate the use of LibQUAL+ by European research libraries. The purpose of this study is to investigate how far this initiative has been successful. Design/methodology/approach – All 385 LIBER libraries were invited to complete an online survey, mounted on Survey Monkey. The questionnaire was meant for all libraries, whether or not they performed a user survey during the last five years and, if so, whether or not they used LibQUAL + as the survey instrument. Findings – The study shows that the use of LibQUAL+ in Europe is widespread and that there is a great potential for further growth. LibQUAL+'s strong areas are the ease of administering and opportunities for benchmarking. A weak area is the user unfriendliness: 50 per cent of the libraries having experience with LibQUAL+ find the survey difficult to complete for the participants. Carrying out a LibQUAL+ survey has great practical implications. More than 75 per cent of the respondents took measures to improve their performance on weak areas or to promote their existing services better among the user community. About one third established new services. Practical implications – The results point at the need to improve the user friendliness of LibQUAL+. Originality/value – This is the first study that covers the experience of European research libraries with LibQUAL+ on a broad scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This article discusses a conference held by the Syndicat de la librairie française in 2012 about the future of public libraries in Europe. It presents analysis of public library finance and administration in Spain, Belgium, Germany, and England. Topics discussed include library users, multimedia libraries, and libraries and the publishing industry.

The article reports on the access provided by the European Library to nineteen of the forty-five member libraries of the Conference of European National Libraries. There are several recently added collections including, Czech Republic's "Kramerius," a collection of nineteenth-century and twentieth-century periodicals and monographs, Denmark's digital facsimiles of the works of Hans Christian Anderson, and Estonia's DIGAR, a digital archive of publications from a wide range of public institutions, are among others.