E-Reference in Public Libraries

The Mission of "Little Star":Juana Manrique de Lara's Contributions to Mexican Librarianship Phillip Jones (bio) In the wake of the Mexican Revolution and after a year studying library science in the United States, Juana Manrique de Lara returned to Mexico City to begin work as library inspector for the Federal District. The story of her life and career in public and children's library service and library education is an historical narrative of both her emerging profession and her nation. This study focuses on Manrique de Lara's formative years (1899–1925) as she acquired an education and began her life's work in the midst of Mexico's prolonged civil war and subsequent reconstruction. Foremost, this study is a tribute, intended to share what too few librarians, even in Mexico, know: Juana Manrique de Lara helped establish librarianship in Mexico and passed her enthusiasm for the profession to a generation of librarians. Every society of the West today needs a certain number of doctors, magistrates, soldiers, and librarians—to cure their citizens when sick, to administer justice to them, to defend them, and to make them read. —José Ortega y Gasset, "Misión del bibliotecario" You have no idea of the enthusiasm I had, the love I felt for my profession. Indeed, it was my life, and they paid me. —Estela Morales Campos, "Entrevista: Juana Manrique de Lara" In the summer of 1924 and in the wake of the Mexican Revolution, twenty-seven-year-old Juana Manrique de Lara returned to Mexico City fresh from a year of study at the Library School of the New York Public Library to begin work as inspectora de bibliotecas (library inspector) for the Federal District. Manrique de Lara's mission, so well articulated over the course of her nearly forty-year career, was to recognize and respond to the needs of Mexicans of all ages for reading and for public libraries. In the midst of civil war she acquired an education, forged a career, and [End Page 469] Click for larger view View full resolution Figure 1. Juana Manrique de Lara, first professional librarian of the Departamento de Bibliotecas. In Estela Morales Campos, Educación bibliotecológica en México, 1915–1954 (Mexico City: UNAM, 1988), 97. made lasting contributions to librarianship in her homeland. The depth and reach of Manrique de Lara's work are reflected in her professional passions, which first encompassed children's library service, expanded to public library management, and then found tandem expression in teaching library education and as a government-appointed library consultant. Remarkably, as a young professional she succeeded by both conforming to and defying bureaucratic practice to bring children's library service, public libraries, and library education to the federal government's attention in the midst of and following the Mexican Revolution. There is very little scholarship that mentions Manrique de Lara and even less that examines her life and work in any depth. Accordingly, piecing together Manrique de Lara's early life and career is a challenging task. To do so, one must draw from a limited number of articles or sections of monographs, a single interview, contemporaneous government sources, and Manrique de Lara's own writings, almost all of which are Spanish-language materials published in Mexico and found in few public, university, or research libraries across North America. The foremost scholarship on Manrique de Lara is the work of Mexican library historian Martha Alicia Añorve Guillén, whose master's thesis led to two published articles on Manrique de Lara's contributions to the federal [End Page 470] government's library programs and to children's library services during the 1920s. Her conclusion, based on close comparisons of Manrique de Lara's early articles and Secretaría de Educación Pública (SEP) documents, is that although no official attribution was ever made, we can infer that the SEP heard and incorporated Manrique de Lara's suggestions into its now-landmark library planning between 1920 and 1924.1 Ample, yet not abundant in number, Manrique de Lara's own writings comprise the most compelling testament to her life, work, and ideas. With the exception of children's stories...

The study examined the impact of economic recession in library and information services amongst public libraries in Lagos State. Data were collected with a self-designed questionnaire administered to forty-one (41) employees in the public libraries within Lagos State. The data were analysed with descriptive statistics such as frequency counts, percentages, mean and standard deviation while the hypotheses were analysed with Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) tested at 5% level of significance. Findings revealed a positive and significant relationship between economic recession and library services. There is a positive significant at 0.582 at 5% (p=0.00<0.05 but negative relationship at 1.72-0.523, p<0.05 for economic recession and provision of library services; this implies that economic recession has a direct and an inverse influence on the provision of library and information services. The study recommends for adequate funding, library advocacy amongst the youth in the society, sustainability of public-private partnership embarked upon by the Lagos State Government.Keywords: Economic Recession, Lagos State, Public Libraries, library Services

The paper discussed the re-equipping of public library systems and services in Nigeria thus providing 21st services to clients. 21st century library and information services are characterized by advancement in the use of electronic means in the accessibility, retrieval and dissemination of information. This paper was introduced by a description of the nature and purpose of the public library. The meaning of information age which is a key feature of the 21istcentury and its implications for library services were also discussed. The key features and requirements of automation and computerization of library services and how the public libraries can join their counterparts in advanced countries and other Nigerian academic libraries were looked at. Such features as acquisition and installation of computers, software selection, acquisition and installation requirements. Two surveys carried out in Nigerian public libraries were reviewed as related empirical studies used to show what the picture has been like with regards to automation and adapting to the requirements of the information era. Problems of the Nigerian public libraries in this era and the way forward for the libraries and librarians to join the trend in the new information environment with other advanced countries were discussed. Key words: Nigeria, public library, information services, problems, opportunities.

Aging populations challenge public libraries to adapt their materials, services and programming to maximize the wellbeing and functional capacity of older adults and enhance their social participation and security. For older adult patrons using public library spaces and services, the capacity to which the public library has been able to deliver on these qualities remains unclear. In the past, libraries and library staff have been critiqued for narrowly interpreting the needs of older adults, concentrating on aging as a loss or deficit. To understand the current state of Canadian urban public library services for older adults, publically accessible texts, documents and reports made available on five public library systems' websites were analyzed. This analysis uncovered certain gaps in adherence to key guidelines in the Canadian Library Association's Guidelines on Library and Information Services for Older Adults and revealed a lack of integration of older adults' own ideas and feedback for their programs and events. The incorporation of a critical gerontology approach throughout the analysis begins to elucidate this study's findings and calls for the questioning of current conceptualizations of older adults and the library services created for them. Public libraries are uniquely poised to engage with older adults and the addition of a critical gerontology lens in library practice and research will aid in the refocusing of resources and policies to more responsively support older adults' evolving needs.

This study aimed to evaluate the marketing strategies used to promote library and information services in public libraries in Eswatini. Specifically, the study sought to: (1) identify the information products and services offered by these libraries, (2) establish the marketing strategies employed to promote information products and services, and (3) assess the effectiveness of these strategies in enhancing user engagement. The study adopted a positivist paradigm and employed a quantitative research approach, using questionnaires containing closed-ended questions as the primary data collection instrument. A total of sixteen questionnaires were completed by librarians from the Mbabane Public Library, while nine questionnaires were completed by librarians from the Manzini Public Library. The collected data were analysed using Microsoft Excel, with findings presented through tables and figures. The study revealed that public libraries in Eswatini offer a range of information services, including lending, reservation, translation, reference, referral, and children’s library services. The information products provided include printed books, newspapers, magazines, and government gazettes. Regarding marketing strategies, the study found that Eswatini public libraries employ several approaches to promote their information products and services. These strategies include organising trainings, seminars, and workshops to educate librarians on marketing practices; creating and maintaining library web pages; providing electronic access to information; enhancing interpersonal relationships between staff and users; conducting one-on-one discussions with users; having representatives participate in institutional functions; advertising through print and electronic media; promoting staff friendliness towards users; providing suggestion boxes; and ensuring that librarians are appropriately attired. The study recommended a need to have a library website and maintain it. A well-designed website serves as a crucial marketing tool, providing users with easy access to information about library services.

Public libraries submit the number of holdings and circulation of items in their collections to their state libraries annually, which in turn report these statistics to the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Public Library Survey (PLS). The reported numbers qualify public libraries for federal and state funding. Additionally, the quantity of holdings (traditionally monographs, serials and physical popular media) is often compared to the circulation (number of check-outs) of those items to calculate a cost-per-circulation number. This calculation becomes complicated when a library’s “holdings” become ephemeral due to the nature of digital media and digital licensing models. This article describes several existing metrics for assessing the holdings and circulation of digital assets within both public and academic libraries and argues for the adoption of post-custodial holding metrics used by archives to better represent items available to library patrons, especially those in traditionally underserved demographics.

Public libraries face a plethora of challenges in the information age. However, in spite of that, they are expected to deliver library services and to maintain their relationship with both current and potential users. The purpose of this study was to investigate the implementation of market orientation (MO) in library services provision in public libraries in the Northern Region of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), South Africa. Using both quantitative and qualitative approaches, questionnaires and interview guides were used to collect data from the managers and librarians in the public libraries of the Northern Region of KZN. The collected data was tabulated in headings and sub-headings, and presented using themes, tables and frequencies. The study established that MO is still a developing concept for non-profit making organisations, such as public libraries. The managers and librarians as professionals in different levels have limited understanding of the concepts and its implications. This calls into question the implementation of this strategy in the provision of library services tailor-made for users. Although there are policies which guide MO and the provision of library services, it is doubtful that they are consulted and implemented. There are challenges which hinder the public libraries in this region from fully implementing MO for the benefit of the users. There is a need to create awareness of MO and its benefits to public libraries. Training librarians, and allocating funding for resources and infrastructure that will improve the implementation of all the strategies for improved library services, are some of the recommendations of the study.

The application of social media tools is a new strategy for marketing public library resources and services in the present digital environment. Several social media tools are available in the digital world to promote public library resources and services. The present study aims to examine users’ perceptions of the application of social media or new tools for marketing public library resources, services, and the Karnataka Digital Public Library platform in Mysore City. The main objectives of the study are to identify the use of public library collections, the awareness of services among public library users, methods or modes to learn about the Karnataka Digital Public Library, library-user relationships, the role of social media or new media tools in marketing library products and services, and the social media platforms used to receive and reciprocate information. The study findings reveal that the majority of respondents belong to the age group below 25 years, representing 482 (58.07%). Most respondents spend more than 6 hours in the public library, accounting for 272 (32.8%). ‘Works or materials (general knowledge, competitive exams, or career guidance)’ and ‘local, regional, and national newspapers’ are the most preferred types of library collections, with a mean score of 3.42 each. The majority of respondents (mean = 3.90) are aware of the ‘Reference Service’ available in the public library. It was found that the majority of respondents (96.6%) learned about the “Karnataka Digital Public Library” platform through ‘notice boards/bulletin boards.’ Additionally, respondents indicated that ‘WhatsApp groups’ and ‘Telegram groups’ are important social media tools that help public libraries market their products and services, representing 96.1% and 90.1%, respectively. The majority of respondents use both ‘WhatsApp groups’ and ‘Telegram groups’ social media platforms to receive and reciprocate information, with a mean value of 3.94 each. The study concluded that social media tools play a significant role in helping public libraries market their products and services.

The plan to develop Evergreen, the open-source consortial library software, was announced in June 2004 by Lamar Veatch, state librarian and head of the Georgia Public Library Service (GPLS). Evergreen went live in 2006. That two-year period was filled with activity. It was a major decision by GPLS to develop new software of a scope never before attempted, but it was undertaken only after it had exhausted all other alternatives to run PINES, the resource-sharing public library consortium in Georgia. Evergreen was to be designed from the ground up as a new thing: a consortial library system, that is, an integrated library system for a large, geographically dispersed, resource-sharing consortium. Why did GPLS take this path and how did it go about doing it? The decision came about after a long chain of events made over many years in Georgia as it, like all states, wrestled with how best to provide public library services to its citizens. Policy decisions over many years followed a consistent direction. Local library organizational patterns commonly follow a model of treating each library separately resulting in what today are commonly called information silos, resulting in largely separate collections with weak communications among them. Resource sharing among the libraries in most state systems is through an interlibrary loan (ILL) process. Georgia, on the other hand, has consistently chosen another direction: joining the many small public libraries into larger resource-sharing regional libraries. Other states have worked on the idea, abandoned it, taken it up again and so on. It was an idea that the library community liked in theory, but before recent developments in computer technology, Georgia's path was unusual. The fundamental problem that all states must wrestle with in providing public library service - indeed for all entities providing any library service - is the great disparity of size, wealth and resources of the many libraries that exist. There are a few very rich libraries; however, most have only modest resources. Consider these figures from the latest national-level data we have for U.S. public libraries (FY 2005). Table 1 shows that the top quartile of these libraries by their total expenditures - that is, the 25% of public libraries that spent the most - spent $7.9 billion that year while the bottom three quartiles (the 75% that spent the least) spent $1 billion in total. Indeed, to press the point, the top 10% spent $6.5 billion. Think about that: Ten percent of the public libraries in the United States spent about 6.5 times as much money as the smallest 75% of the libraries. The big libraries are very big, and the small libraries are very small, and the disparities in expenditures that these figures demonstrate are consistent across other variables such as collections, resources and staff. Moreover, they are consistent with the pattern for other types of libraries. However, our story is centered on public libraries in the United States because of decisions made by GPLS. It is useful to note that the two largest open source library systems running in the United States, Evergreen and Koha, were developed for small public library settings. If you look at the expenditure figures above, it is not hard to imagine why - the large proprietary vendors prefer to concentrate their efforts where the money is. Within the open source framework, however, Evergreen and Koha have different approaches, with Evergreen being consortial for reasons that are discussed here. The disparities in resources outlined by the data present a profound information policy question for a consensual democracy: In a system of government that relies on an informed citizenry, are such disparities acceptable? Is it acceptable for the “haves” to have access to so much more information than the “have nots”? If not, how do we ameliorate the results of this disparity? Public library service as it is configured in the United States today developed before Google and other modern software developments that have relentlessly broken down information silos in other fields. Their configuration cannot adequately provide the vast pools of information and materials that are now available to the citizenry. One step in the right direction is consortial resource sharing, and another is to use these consortia to pool money to buy access to enhanced content for all the libraries in the consortium - especially those that could not otherwise have afforded this content - the “everything everywhere” library consortium. In its history (at least by the 1940s), Georgia decided to follow its subsequently consistent policy - with the normal stops and starts involved with politics - to bind the small public libraries in the state into larger, regional entities for resource sharing. That strategy was Georgia's way to get library resources to the “have nots.” The state provided both funding and direction toward that end. Although Georgia's largest libraries are typically independent, the smaller ones today are mostly in regional systems. In 1998, David Singleton, then at GPLS and now at Charlotte-Mecklenburg Public Library in Charlotte, North Carolina, suggested a universal borrower card for Georgia's public library users. Such a card would allow all citizens of Georgia to borrow an item from any library. Given both the amount of state funding and state strategic practices to group libraries into regions, such an idea was possible. Of course, the idea was not new to Georgia, but it fell on receptive Georgia soil since the infrastructure and the general acceptance of the idea of sharing resources were in place. Because of years of preparation, state guidance and vision, the idea would work. Y2K - the computer problem that existed because of the way computers handled dates - in the end was what led to the creation of PINES (the Georgia public library resource sharing network - the network of Georgia's regional library systems). Y2K money was allocated by the state, and an RFP for a statewide system was issued. One vendor's product stood out, and PINES was born in 1999 with Phase 1 linking 26 library systems with 90 outlets (central libraries, branches and bookmobiles). PINES was an immediate success. PINES users liked being able to borrow books from a larger set of libraries with a richer set of collections than one local library. They liked access to the longer tail, and PINES added more libraries and more users. Library users altered their behavior, and many bypassed their local libraries to have access to the larger, virtual collection. PINES grew until it started having problems with the underlying software that, famously, resulted in the system's production servers having to be rebooted during the middle of the day in order to be able to handle control of the transactions load. The software had reached a previously unknown limit. Given that the software that ran PINES is running other systems that have higher circulations and larger bibliographic databases than PINES, what limit had been reached? There were several, but the central one was the system could not keep up with the update load. The software was not designed for a consortium spread over a large area with updates such as checkouts, check-ins and cataloging changes to the central database coming from so many different places. In such a system, there are many people logged into the system changing the database at any one time, and the database, to be useful, has to be current. It should reflect what is checked in or out (transactions) and what the system owns (inventory) so that users searching will know if an item is available and librarians will know the state of items in the system. These functions are basic to a modern inventory control system. In PINES, there are thousands of terminals across the state logged into the database making changes, and each change has to be reflected in the database by “reindexing” it. While rebooting in this old system allowed the system to catch up with the changes, it could not be done frequently enough. The limit reached was a hard one, and there was no solution using that software. Meanwhile, more libraries wanted to join PINES. All the while, the circulation load was large and increasing. Any large piece of software has a design architecture: how it organizes its elements, what tools it uses, that is, how it does what it does. The design architecture, in turn, is a function of various factors, the two most important being system architecture and computer costs. Many old versions of old software still litter the ILS ecosystem. The software then running PINES began development in the era when mainframes ruled the earth. This legacy software has been adapted and changed and added to over the years. Elements had been bolted on and kludged, but, it is a fact that updating deployed software has proven to be an almost impossible task almost every time it has been tried. There are a thousand problems, and what most vendors of library software have done is start over using the more modern updated practices of the time. When the original PINES software was developed, computers were immensely expensive and software comparatively primitive. Better practices and more capable small computers existed when Evergreen was envisioned, and the developers used more modern software development processes to run on more capable computers that no longer cost a million dollars each to buy. An examination of alternatives in the market found none that had the capabilities necessary to run PINES then or in the future. What was Georgia to do? Limit PINES? Give up and abandon a policy direction it had followed so consistently and that had produced such benefits? Over software? After much discussion, GPLS embarked on a revolutionary path - an open source, consortial library system to run PINES. Work began on Evergreen mid-2004. The later a software system is developed, the more modern practices can be used in that development. Evergreen, for instance, was web-aware and used Unicode for text storage and representation from the beginning. To implement these capabilities, Evergreen did not require the costly and difficult rewrites to the foundational code necessary for ILSs that had their basic code written before Unicode had been developed. Unicode is important because it allows a system to handle non-Roman scripts, including characters in Chinese and Arabic. Evergreen's development began with practices then in place in the business world. These practices today result in software that is modular, scalable and relatively easy to update - at least compared to legacy software that is even as little as five years old. Evergreen uses a service-oriented architecture (SOA) with representational state transfer (REST) and “n-tier” architectural design concepts. Let us explore these concepts a bit. The development philosophy behind these elements is that software is based on distributed services that communicate and collaborate through a set of standards, that is, it should be “service oriented.” In Evergreen, the open scalable request framework (OpenSRF, pronounced “open surf”) is such an SOA framework. OpenSRF is, in many ways, the key to Evergreen because it does so many things. OpenSRF provides load balancing and is robust and scalable. It also allows the development of software without requiring a detailed knowledge of Evergreen's structure. In effect, the Evergreen layer consists of a number of applications each of which rides on top of OpenSRF. The result is that the developer need only know the APIs and what information the program elements require and what they will reply to write new capabilities into Evergreen. OpenSRF handles the details of implementing a stateful, decentralized service architecture while the Evergreen code supplies the interface and business logic. OpenSRF is now a separate open source project. Networking follows a design philosophy that is often introduced to students with the OSI Reference Model. The model describes seven layers that pass information among each other to provide network services in a manner similar to what one finds with SOA. “N-tier” application architecture is a related idea where the tiers communicate and collaborate with each other by established standards. We see these operations in our daily lives. If, for example, a new version of Firefox comes out, we can change the old version for the new one without changing the operating system or reformatting our hard drives. We usually do not even have to reboot. Why? Because of the underlying architecture where each program communicates with the other parts of the network software by established rules - application programming interfaces (APIs) - that specify how the various elements involved exchange needed information. So, to change a part or one tier does not require a massive rewrite of the entire code, just what needs to be adjusted. As mentioned, the Evergreen middle layer rides on top of OpenSRF, and the user interfaces (the OPAC and staff client) ride on top of Evergreen. In short, REST is a set of principles that establishes an architectural style for large, scalable applications. Evergreen also uses other open source projects - there are no proprietary pieces in Evergreen - to supply needed functionality. One advantage of open source applications is that a developer working on one project can use what is already tested and proven by other projects. PostgreSQL (“Postgres”) is an enterprise-grade relational database system with over 15 years of development. It was chosen for Evergreen because it was virtually the only open source database system that had the capabilities to support a system with the database structure and the transactions load the size of PINES. Another key application is XUL (pronounced “zool”) which stands for XML user interface language. Developed by the Mozilla project, XUL allows fully featured cross-platform web applications. Perhaps the best known XUL-driven application is the Firefox web browser. There are, as you see, a number of pieces to the Evergreen puzzle. These modules work together, and each can be changed when necessary without affecting the others as long as the changes do not affect the communications among them. Using these practices, coupled with the open source framework, provided a flexible method for very rapid development of Evergreen in the early days and continues to this day. Focus groups were formed to ask library staff and patrons what features they would like to see and how they would like the OPAC to perform. How well they did that job is indicated by the increased usage that followed the introduction of Evergreen. For instance, year-over-year, holds increased by 30% - same libraries, same network, but a new interface that users found easier to use, and they did. The general process for development was “release early, release often,” a process followed to this day. Small, iterative changes were made and released for comment and testing - not rare mega updates. If there were a problem, the software could be fixed relatively quickly. In addition, the software was open source so that it was developed in the open, not secretly by a small group. Many eyes looking at software makes better code. Another aspect of Evergreen's development is “scratching an itch.” That is, development tends to focus on the problems that people want fixed, not necessarily theoretical problems or capabilities dreamt up by product managers in response to real or imagined competitive pressures. Any kind of software development will have its strengths and weaknesses. Scratching an itch will solve problems people really have, but the community does need a mechanism to guide development strategically to make sure that while solving this or that problem the software stays a coherent whole. As a result of what was learned about the first iteration of PINES, there were several key results expected from Evergreen. The original charge was to build something “scalable, robust and fault-tolerant.” And, of course, open source. What do those three new terms mean? Scalable means that the software can be deployed in different-sized libraries and that adding capacity is relatively easy. At the point where the decision was being made to move from the proprietary system that ran PINES, the server upgrade for the old system would have cost $1.5 million for a large server. Evergreen development cost the GPLS much less than that. Learning that lesson, Evergreen can be upgraded by adding “commodity” servers - that is, servers from any manufacturer or any do-it-yourself builder, and they can be added as needed. OpenSRF, clearly, allows Evergreen to scale easily. Because Evergreen is easy to use - remember the focus groups - as a library's users learn the software, they use it more, and growth can be done by adding relatively cheap, redundant servers, not million dollar boxes running proprietary software. Add a server or two, load OpenSRF, and you have upgraded. Evergreen runs on laptops, is currently running on a home library, and runs PINES with 16 million circulation transactions. Robust. Evergreen was designed to be able to keep functioning in dire circumstances. When a backhoe severed the PINES network, the Evergreen staff clients allowed libraries that were disconnected from the central databases to continue checking out books. When the network was restored, the database was updated by an established procedure. There was no need to write down transactions on paper. Consider: PINES has had a number of days recently with 100,000 circulations. If half the network were down for a half a day, that could be 25,000 sheets of paper to be managed. Not with Evergreen. Fault-tolerant. Servers can fail, and the system will keep on functioning. The use of redundant servers allows one to fail and the others to keep on functioning. Evergreen was designed as much as possible to never go down. Reflecting its history, Evergreen does not have acquisitions nor serials modules. Work on these two services is ongoing with releases expected by Spring 2009. It is a development project, but one coming from the library world to solve library problems. As was observed above, it has been quite difficult in the past to update software to reflect new demands on it. It did prove relatively easy to add web awareness to most existing library software but rather more difficult to add Web 2.0 capabilities and Unicode. Consortial capabilities have proved daunting. And as a result of Evergreen such capabilities are now touted by software in the market that may soon have those capabilities, too. How does Evergreen avoid these kinds of pitfalls of obsolescence? Maybe it doesn't but Evergreen's practices reflect the current best guess about how to engineer software so updating it is never as painful as it has been in the past with code bases even a few years old. Welcome to the future, version 1.

ABSTRACTPurpose: Providing services to library users with special needs makes libraries for the blind and partially sighted different from other types of libraries. In spite of the Slovenian Library Act which defines them as special libraries providing public library service, they have not become a part of the public library system yet. The national program for culture issued by the Ministry of Culture in 2008 stated that the solution should be proposed by the year 2011.Methodology/approach: The Centre for library system development at the National and University library made an analysis of the current state and identified the weaknesses of the Slovenian library system and services for the blind. The solutions and best practices from abroad, national legislation and professional guidelines for libraries serving the blind were also explored. The concept of providing library services to the blind as public services was elaborated.Results: The Centre for library system development suggested an integrated system with the central library providing library services i.e. reproduction of library materials in alternative techniques, and directing other libraries in providing services and developing new activities for the blind. Public libraries, already providing services to users with special needs should be encouraged to seek their own solutions.Originality/practical implications: The suggested concept of the national library for the blind is harmonized with the Slovenian library system and it could be realized with the cooperation of all the stakeholders involved.

Information Service Delivery and Utilisation in Selected Public Libraries in Rural Niger Delta Communities in Nigeria

Introduction. This research is entitled Information Seeker Behavior of Blind Users in Braille Corner Services at the Jambi City Archives and Libraries Service, the purpose of this study is to determine the behavior of the blind in seeking information at the Jambi City Archives and Library Service. Information seeking behavior arises because of the need for information, so the higher the need for information, the higher the number of activities seeking information. Information behavior by users has its own pattern. Because each user will find the information they need differently, therefore the need for information is very important. From this difference, the writer is interested in studying "The Behavior of Information Seekers for the Braille Corner Service for Blind Users at the Jambi City Archives and Library Service".
 Data Collection Method. This study uses a qualitative descriptive method in the form of case study research. Informants in researching 3 people, informants were selected based on purposive sampling. Data collection techniques in this study were observation, in-depth interviews and documentation, the subjects in this study were blind users who visited the Braille Corner service. 
 Data Analysis. Data analysis techniques in this study used data reduction, data presentation and drawing conclusions. 
 Result and Discusions. The results obtained from the search for information on Braille Corner services for blind users at the Jambi City Archives and Library Service are strongly influenced by Braille Corner service officers. The type of information that is often accessed by blind users at the Jambi City Archives and Library Service is the printed collection of Braille. Information obtained by blind users is used for their respective interests and is used for different purposes.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to conduct a big data analysis of public library operations and services of two cities in two countries by using the Chernoff face method.Design/methodology/approachThe study is designed to evaluate library services by analyzing the Chernoff face. Big data on public libraries in London and Seoul were collected, respectively, from Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy and the Korean government’s website for drawing a Chernoff face. The association of variables and human facial features was decided by survey. Although limited in its capacity to handle a large number of variables (eight were analyzed in this study) the Chernoff face method does readily allow for the comparison of a large number of instances of analysis. A total of 58 Chernoff faces were drawn from the formatted data by using the R programming language.FindingsThe study reveals that most of the local governments in London perform better than those of Seoul. This consequence is due to the fact that local governments in London operate more libraries, invest more budgets, allocate more staff and hold more collections than local governments in Seoul. This administration resulted in more use of libraries in London than Seoul. The study validates the benefit of using the Chernoff face method for big data analysis of library services.Practical implicationsThe Chernoff face method for big data analysis offers a new evaluation technique for library services and provides insights that may not be as readily apparent and discernible using more traditional analytical methods.Originality/valueThis study is the first to use the Chernoff face method for big data analysis of library services in library and information research.

<p><b>Research problem – The average age of video game players is above 30 in many parts of the world, but the literature surrounding video games in public libraries often focuses on engaging children and teenagers. This suggests that there may be an underserved population of video game players in public libraries.</b></p> <p>In addition to this, successful video game ventures require organisers familiar with and knowledgeable about video games. It is unknown whether public library staff in general possess these qualities, or if they are engaged with video game services.</p> <p>This report aimed to investigate how public library staff in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) engage with video games and video game services.</p> <p>Methodology – Invitations to participate in an online questionnaire were sent to 20 public library systems and the NZ-Libs email list. Five organisations agreed to distribute the questionnaire to their staff. A sample size of 183 respondents was achieved. Questions were asked about video game experiences, perceptions, and library services.</p> <p>Results – NZ public library staff appear to engage with video games in a similar way to the general NZ population. In addition, there appears to be an overall positive perception of their place in public libraries (87% of respondents supported video games in public libraries).</p> <p>Video game players appear to think more positively about video games and be more aware of their impact on individuals compared to non-players. They also appear to be more confident in delivering related services and more likely to be running related events.</p> <p>Video game services in NZ public libraries seem to largely target younger age groups, mirroring the perceived main target audience for video games indicated by respondents. This revealed a potentially underserved population (video game players aged 46 – 84) for NZ public libraries that offer video game services.</p> <p>Implications – It appears that encouraging engagement with video games may improve staff confidence in delivering video game services, although further research is required to confirm this.</p> <p>In addition, there is a potentially underserved population of video game players aged 46 – 84, who account for nearly half of the 46 – 84 year old population. Evaluation of this potentially underserved population is an interesting topic for future research.</p>

BackgroundIn Nigeria every year different communities engage in one form of feud or another. This barbaric behaviour has resulted in great losses of property and human lives.PurposeThis study was carried...