Library & Information Science Research最新文献

Environmental changes such as the evolving needs of society, advancements in technologies, and shifting learning paradigms have impacted the way academic libraries operate. Academic libraries must respond to environmental changes by acquiring new capabilities. Using the strategic management concept of dynamic capabilities, this study investigates the relationship between the dynamic capabilities of an academic library and its overall performance. This study uses the structural equation modelling (SEM) technique and develops a new model, the DCAL model, for academic libraries to build these new capabilities. The analysis of the DCAL model indicates a positive and significant relationship between the three core capabilities, searching, seizing, and transforming, and the overall performance of the academic library. This study also identifies activities, scouting for new technologies that can be adapted by academic libraries, piloting projects, analysing large amounts of data, balancing routine work with innovative work, and the need for academic librarians to build capabilities to perform those activities to succeed in their future roles.

The advancement of librarianship requires close communication and collaboration between research and practice communities. A long-standing divide between the two communities in China exists and has been exacerbated in recent years. The role of the Library Society of China (LSC) in mediating the gap and encouraging collaboration was explored. A case study approach was adopted, with a total of twelve library researchers and practitioners interviewed using semi-structured interview scripts. A thematic analysis of the interview data pointed to eleven critical factors clustered into three main themes: identity creation, relationship building, and group practice. Conceptualization of the findings indicated that practical strategies can be formulated for three prioritized critical factors: identity acceptance, mutual engagement, and continuous dialogue. Although the case setting was the LSC, the findings may provide useful indications and insights for library societies in other countries.

STEM liaison librarians' roles have broadened with new policies, data, and services stemming from the increase of data-driven research across sciences. The problem this study addresses is the lack of understanding of what tasks STEM liaison librarians do and how often. STEM liaison librarians from a sampling frame of 135 at 16 similarly Association of Research Libraries were surveyed with demographic and job analysis questions. A total of 41 participants completed the entirety of the survey. Findings indicate the majority of respondents serve 4 or more departments and continue to spend a majority of their time on traditional liaison tasks, but data-related duties are in greater demand. In these continually uncertain times with dwindling resources in academic libraries, a clearer picture of STEM liaison librarian tasks and the duration expended on each helps inform staffing of services. A better understanding of these duties and their frequency will add value to more accurate job descriptions, relevant curriculum, and training, as well as advance the understanding of what these information professionals do with their work time as well as tell us what they no longer do as much.

Information culture is a cultural phenomenon manifested in the organization's values, norms and practices that influence information management and use in the organization. Few studies have explored the relationship between information culture and the application of genres of online government information. This study offers a comparative case study of two provincial governments in China. The findings showed that the genres of the online COVID-19 information disclosed by the two local governments reflect different types of information cultures. In governance-oriented culture, information is regarded as an important tool to actualize good governance and the genres most appropriate for online information dissemination would be adopted to meet citizens' information needs. This kind of information culture is likely to enhance citizens' trust in government and be beneficial for government crisis management and good governance. While, in government-oriented culture, information is regarded as a tool to actualize governmental interest. This kind of information culture poses a risk for government in achieving the goal of building trust between the public and government. The value of this study lies in filling the research gap in the relationship between genre and information culture and providing pragmatic insights for local governments to enhance information disclosure by adopting appropriate genres and cultivating governance-oriented culture.

Curiosity and interest may drive engagement in digital literacy programs and contribute to overcoming digital inequalities. Curiosity triggers and features influenced digital literacy training of vulnerable groups of older adults, children from low-income families, and individuals with hearing impairments in Lithuania. A theoretical framework combining psychological and social perspectives helped to observe the phases of interest development and explore factors influencing the transformation of situational curiosity into sustained interest. Qualitative content analysis of data from graphic questionnaires, focus groups, and interviews with participants and trainers revealed that curiosity triggers, including novelty and surprise, fostered engagement, while physical and epistemic curiosity modes played key roles. The study highlights the value of perceived utility in sustaining interest. The results inform instructional design, emphasizing the importance of appealing objects, resources, and social support in promoting digital inclusion and fostering long-term interest in digital technologies for vulnerable populations.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, libraries had little opportunity to gather data on what resources were needed or valued by families during this unprecedented crisis. To understand how caregivers perceived the value of learning resources provided by public libraries, interviews with 26 caregivers were conducted. To analyze the interviews, Sørensen's (2021) framework was adopted and three recurring types of value were examined: provision of resources, role of libraries in communities, and promotion of social capital. Findings indicated that caregivers valued the provision of resources such as book bundles and online programming. Further, caregivers had new appreciation for the community aspect of libraries and for libraries as providers of social resources. In addition, caregivers valued the sense of trust they felt towards libraries and librarians. Findings have potential to inform future decision-making processes concerning learning resource provision, particularly during times of crisis.

Mainstream taxonomy schemas in public libraries are not suitable for children's book organization or children's book search behavior. In this study, the researchers developed a picture book organization schema from preschool children's perspective through an online crowdsourcing and reading advocacy program. According to 691 valid descriptions from 67 children, a total of 1064 open codes, 30 selective codes, and 3 dimensions were generated. Preschool children frequently used search elements including animal, title, item, person, plot/theme, place, and front cover. Children's title use behavior is discussed. This study partially reinforces previous findings about preschool children's search strategies for known picture books. The findings could advance knowledge of preschool children's information behavior and be used in preschool-children-oriented picture book information organization.

The number of school librarians has been shrinking in the past few years in part due to the lack of evidence linking them to student achievement. Building on a foundation of correlational studies linking school librarians with student achievement, this study uses a quasi-experimental design that mimics random assignment to treatment and comparison groups through application of a matching technique. Restricted data from North Carolina and propensity score matching was used to compare students who attended school with a full-time certified school librarian to similar students who did not attend schools with a full-time certified school librarian. In addition, this relationship for both reading and math over a four-year time span was examined. Findings include that students who attend schools with a full-time certified librarian score significantly higher on math and reading tests than do matched students who attend schools without a full-time school librarian.

In recent years, people's reading habits have undergone a digital transformation, and library funds are insufficient to meet this growing digital demand. A good way of optimizing resource allocation is the regular evaluation of suppliers to select resources. E-book resources were used as the starting point to examine the method of supplier evaluation within the concept of “smart library” using an analytic hierarchical process to integrate and weight perspectives from e-vendors, academics, and professional librarians. Findings demonstrate that both traditional and “smart” factors impact the final evaluation of e-book suppliers. In addition, the influence of smart service factors on the efficacy of library innovation can be evaluated by the linear regression method. Two systematic methods in the assessment of e-book suppliers were outlined and the concept of “smart factors” based on traditional indicators for application in constructing digital book resources was introduced.