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Information is a consumer-driven commodity: the very existence of libraries and information centers is based on the patrons' need for specific information or material.This book outlines the reasons for developing and implementing a formal customer service program and provides specific techniques for establishing such programs in libraries and information centers. Topics covered include the library user as a customer, defining the library's roles, user surveys and survey analysis, and more.
The authors present a multi-level theory of "Information Worlds" to investigate the ways in which information creates the social worlds of people. Building upon the foundational works of Library and Information Studies (LIS) scholar and theorist Elfreda Chatman and philosopher Jurgen Habermas, as well as from theory and research from a wide range of other fields, the theory of information worlds can serve as a theoretical driver both in LIS studies and across other disciplines that study information issues, enriching and expanding our understanding of the multi-layered role of information in society. Testing their theory through application to a variety of real-world issues, Burnett and Jaeger tackle the topics of libraries and information provision, the value assigned to information by differing social groups, information access and exchange, international information policies, the role of information in democracy, and technological change. Information Worlds provides a framework for empirical investigations into the fascinating and very real social dimensions of information.
"With librarians at all levels in mind, noted reference librarian and researcher Marta Lee offers her ideas for an experience with establishing a formal mentoring process at the library"--Page 4 of cover.
The Challenges to Library Learning: Solutions for Librarians is an insightful volume that offers a practical philosophy of engagement that can be used to meet the growing challenges facing librarians, including staffing shortages, depleted or eliminated training budgets, longer hours, greater workloads, and rapidly-changing technology, hindering the ability—and willingness—of employees to continue job education in library sciences. With three decades of experience as a library administrator, author Bruce E. Massis details an effective plan for inspiring initiative in the learner to pursue a goal-oriented and individualized approach to learning – helping the library to become more effic...
Provide top-flight services in this highly specialized field!This groundbreaking book provides state-of-the-art information on one of the most useful library specialties. Engineering Libraries: Building Collections and Delivering Services is designed for information professionals at all levels of expertise, from new practitioners to specialists in science and engineering. It shows how you can provide top-notch service by designing programs around the genuine needs of the users.Previous books in this field have generally covered only the engineering literature and databases. However, Engineering Libraries focuses on the practical aspects of providing user-friendly information services in an e...
Frankly, it’s not something we like to talk about. There is an unfortunate stigma to acknowledging workplace dysfunction, let alone trying to grapple with the problem. But negative behaviors such as incivility, toxicity, deviant behavior, workplace politics, and team and leadership dysfunction not only make the library a stressful workplace, they also run counter to the core values of librarianship. An important tool for library leaders and managers as well as library staff, this book examines these negative relationship-based issues and suggests practical, research-based solutions by discussing the importance of understanding oneself as related to the library workplace;identifying attribu...
Museum Informatics explores the sociotechnical issues that arise when people, information, and technology interact in museums. It is designed specifically to address the many challenges faced by museums, museum professionals, and museum visitors in the information society. It examines not only applications of new technologies in museums, but how advances in information science and technology have changed the very nature of museums, both what it is to work in one, and what it is to visit one. To explore these issues, Museum Informatics offers a selection of contributed chapters, written by leading museum researchers and practitioners, each covering significant themes or concepts fundamental to the study of museum informatics and providing practical examples and detailed case studies useful for museum researchers and professionals. In this way, Museum Informatics offers a fresh perspective on the sociotechnical interactions that occur between people, information, and technology in museums, presented in a format accessible to multiple audiences, including researchers, students, museum professionals, and museum visitors.
This book presents an insider’s perspective on information in a wide range of disciplines, from quantum physics to library science. It reflects the diversity of understanding of information within these disciplines, but also brings clarity and coherence to the different perspectives through promoting information as a unifying concept.
John Copeland Nagle shows how our reliance on environmental law affects the natural environment through an examination of five diverse places in the American landscape: Alaska's Adak Island; the Susquehanna River; Colton in California's Inland Empire; Theodore Roosevelt National Park in the badlands of North Dakota; and Alamogordo in New Mexico. Nagle asks why some places are preserved by the law while others are not, and he finds that environmental laws often have unexpected results while other laws have surprising effects on the environment. Nagle argues that sound environmental policy requires better coordination among the many laws, regulations, and social norms that determine the values and uses of our scarce lands and waters.
The term ‘systems theory’ is used to characterize a set of disparate yet related approaches to fields as varied as information theory, cybernetics, biology, sociology, history, literature, and philosophy. What unites each of these traditions of systems theory is a shared focus on general features of systems and their fundamental importance for diverse areas of life. Yet there are considerable differences among these traditions, and each tradition has developed its own methodologies, journals, and forms of anaylsis. This book explores this terrain and provides an overview of and guide to the traditions of systems theory in their considerable variety. The book draws attention to the traditions of systems theory in their historical development, especially as related to the humanities and social sciences, and shows how from these traditions various contemporary developments have ensued. It provides a guide for strains of thought that are key to understanding 20th century intellectual life in many areas.