IFLA Journal

The treasures volume, showcasing rare, beautiful, or significant items, is proliferating in 21^st century Britain. This is despite the alternative of the World Wide Web to provide a cheaper, quicker, easier way for libraries to publicize their choicest holdings. But what is the treasures volume really doing, and how indicative are its contents of our most valuable items? This article is based upon the author’s experience of selecting 60 items for the 2012 treasures volume, Senate House Library, University of London. It describes the rationale behind the choices and contextualizes within the genre in the United Kingdom more widely, looking at other treasures volumes and at web displays, to generalize about libraries’ presentations of themselves. It notes emphasis on unique, distinctive, and relevant items and on institutional identity, and interprets the modern treasures volume as a political document to justify libraries’ existence by highlighting their distinguishing features.

How library and information science (LIS) academic administrators perceive e-learning (EL) in LIS schools is examined, particularly what LIS academic administrators see as the merits and demerits of using EL, what types of constraints they face in using EL to provide LIS education, and how they overcome the constraints of EL systems in LIS schools. An exploratory online email interview was conducted, using a link to a questionnaire, with 85 LIS academic administrators around the world in order to gather perceptions and experiences regarding EL usage in LIS schools. The respondents reported some major merits, demerits, and some constraints, which they face in using EL systems in their schools. They also proposed the design of a long-range plan for EL growth, the implementation of interactive and online office hours, and the establishment of consortia across universities to overcome constraints on EL usage in LIS education. The respondents had neither highly-positive nor highly-negative opinions about EL usage in LIS schools.

There are numerous quantitative studies about job satisfaction, career choice, and perceptions of academic librarianship in professional Library and Information Science literature; however, not much qualitative work has been done to understand the lived experience of librarianship in any setting. A phenomenological study was conducted to understand the experiences of Korean academic librarians working in South Korea. Themes covering several aspects of academic librarianship emerged, linking career choice, LIS education and career readiness, relationships with faculty and students, and the development of professional librarianship and academic libraries in South Korea. In addition to adding personal context to quantitative studies about these issues, the phenomenological method used in this study enhances comparative librarianship literature by highlighting the universality and nuances of academic librarianship practice on a global scale.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the current situation and the future of information literacy programs in Zanzibar universities by looking at information literacy awareness, the extent of information literacy provision and the role of university libraries in promoting it. The survey was conducted in three universities of Zanzibar, where university library staff, deans and directors of schools/ faculties, heads of departments and undergraduate students were involved in the study. A total of 200 respondents participated in the study and the results were analyzed quantitatively. The findings show that a certain degree of information literacy awareness exists among library and academic staff, though promotion and provision of its skills are still in the infancy stages. Inadequate numbers of qualified information literacy specialists, lack of background in teaching information literacy and lack of cooperation between librarians and faculty members were identified as the sources of the problems. Based on the findings, the researchers made a number of recommendations to address the shortcomings, which include: organize information literacy seminars and workshops, create awareness programs, design and implement information literacy curriculum and course content.

The western Pacific region of Micronesia has a unique library and archival history. Composed of largely US-affiliated islands, the libraries of Micronesia have emerged through successive waves of colonization and assertions of modern island identities. Primarily focused on peer-reviewed journal articles, this literature review synthesizes the limited previous professional literature concerning Micronesian libraries into a concise resource. Though rapidly modernizing, libraries in this region face distinct challenges in terms of library training, adequate funding, limited access to current information resources, and low Internet access rates. Upon analysis of this body of literature, the author identifies three major needs: 1) Expanded LIS education in Micronesia (particularly at the graduate level), 2) Increased awareness and inclusion of island modes of communication in library and archival services, 3) Expanded opportunities for academic publication and research through the establishment of an Open Access journal of Micronesian Library and Information Science.

The purpose of this study is to give an overview of the development of Chinese libraries and library and information science (LIS) in China during 1840 to 2009. The discussion is divided into four historical periods: 1840–1897, 1898–1948, 1949–1977, and 1978–2009. In each of these periods, the author discusses three themes that have had a major influence in the development of libraries and LIS: the social, economic, scientific and political climate in China that influenced the development of libraries and information institutions, and LIS education, which supported the growing profession. In sum, this study reviews the accomplishment of library and information science in China from 1840 to 2009, and the significant efforts of people from different classes, and across several generations, combining the historical background, including the change of regimes, crisis from foreign invasion, and social progress.

This paper explores, on the basis of their cognitive states, the likely inclinations of a group of young people in England with regard to evaluating Web-based information. The work draws on data submitted via an online questionnaire by 82 16–18 year-olds. Frequency counts were generated and each participant received a ‘trust disposition’ score according to their questionnaire responses. The results present a mixed picture in terms of the probable tendencies of young people to evaluate information. The participants’ data in relation to some of the issues addressed in the questionnaire suggest that they may be inclined to accept much of what they see without challenging it, although few of their overall trust disposition scores are significantly high.

While Web 2.0 tools are increasingly being adopted by academic libraries to connect with patrons, they are not actively used to facilitate knowledge management (KM). This study investigates the awareness and comfort of librarians, their perceived usefulness of KM using Web 2.0, organizational readiness, and the ways in which these affect the library adoption of KM using Web 2.0. The survey questionnaire was completed by 101 librarians from 35 countries in 6 continents. Most respondents had heard of KM, were comfortable with Web 2.0, perceived KM using Web 2.0 to be highly useful, but were not entirely sure if their libraries were ready to adopt KM. Comfort with Web 2.0 was found to impact perceived usefulness, which in turn, strongly affected the likelihood of adoption of KM using Web 2.0. This is the first study that combines KM using Web 2.0 from the perspective of academic librarians globally, and has important implications for theory and practice.