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6023 results in Facet Publishing

Page 151 of 302

  • Introduction

  • Edited by Steve O'Connor
  • Book:
    Library Management in Disruptive Times
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    30 September 2015, pp xiii-xvi

  • Summary

    As an accidental editor

    As the editor of this volume, I sought chapters from a wide range of knowledgeable, influential and thoughtful contributors around the globe. They were each asked to write about the impact of ‘disruptive change’ on libraries, library management and library managers as they saw it. Each author has a particular area of expertise and perspective on that impact. I believe that the resulting volume offers perspectives on many aspects of library sectors, professional associations, geographic regions and education.

    From my perspective as a journal editor, it is often absorbing to read and judge the many unsolicited articles received from fellow professionals. The journal articles are reflective of the issues that are on the minds of those who are leading the profession. Admittedly, the writers are not always in leadership roles, but they are influencing the thinking and management behaviours in the profession at all levels. Those that are published become part of the corpus of what is happening in the profession at that particular time.

    The chapters of this volume, however, have been specifically commissioned. Many of the authors have published at one time or another in Library Management and elsewhere. But here they are writing to the brief ‘What is the impact of disruption in libraries on your area of expertise?’

    Ian Smith is an international authority on change management. His writings are sought after and his advice and insights are well received. His Chapter 1, on the five themes of change, is an excellent chapter with which to begin the discussion on disruption. Ian's experience is clearly articulated and highly readable.

    Bill Fisher is a professor in the School of Library and Information Science at the San Jose State University. In Chapter 2 he discusses management fads and fashions and their impact on libraries. Bill is a highly experienced and insightful library academic working in the area of leadership and management. His starting point is that the current ‘off the shelf’ management theorem seems to provide the easy way forward. He argues that management is pure, hard work, especially in an environment where the only constant is change. He guides us to the areas we need to focus on in order to achieve good results while remaining wary that the fads and fashions may not deliver the easy, long-terms solutions that we hope for

  • Introduction and acknowledgements

    • By Michael Moss, is Professor of Archival Science at the University of Northumbria., Barbara Endicott-Popovsky, is Executive Director of the Center for Information Assurance and Cybersecurity at the University of Washington
  • Edited by Michael Moss, Barbara Endicott-Popovsky
  • Book:
    Is Digital Different?
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    30 September 2015, pp xv-xvi

  • Summary

    The purpose of this book is to introduce students, particularly but not exclusively those on information studies programmes, to the issues surrounding the transition from an analogue to a digital environment. The contributors strip away much of the e-hype that surrounds the digital environment and focus on the opportunities and challenges afforded by this new environment that is transforming the information landscape in ways that were scarcely imaginable even a decade ago. Contributors examine whether analogue practices and procedure that are largely handicraft are still valid and if they shape or distort those in the digital, which can best be characterized as industrial and requiring engineering solutions.

    By drawing on examples of the impact of other new and emerging technologies on the information sciences in the past, such as the printing press in the 15th century, the wet-copy process in the 18th century and the typewriter in the late 19th century, the book emphasizes that information systems have always been shaped by available technologies that have transformed the creation, capture, preservation and discovery of content. Whilst seeking to avoid techno-determinism, the contributions illustrate the ways in which the digital environment has the potential to transform scholarship across the disciplines at all levels, even if it has not done so yet, and to break down barriers between the academy and the wider community through social networks and crowdsourcing. There are analogies here with the way in which the reordering of libraries pioneered by Martin Schrettinger in the early 19th century helped to transform scholarly enterprise that came to be described in all disciplines as ‘scientific’.

    From the different perspectives of each chapter the contributors explore the role, as they see it, of information professionals in this rapidly changing digital landscape, which is challenging the very existence of the traditional library and archive as more and more resources become available online and as computers and supporting networks become more and more powerful. Users expect to be able to work at their screens from home, however unrealistic this may seem to many traditional curators.

  • 1 - What is the same and what is different

    • By Michael Moss, is Professor of Archival Science at the University of Northumbria.
  • Edited by Michael Moss, Barbara Endicott-Popovsky
  • Book:
    Is Digital Different?
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    30 September 2015, pp 1-18

  • Summary

    Screens have become so ubiquitous and so much part of our daily lives that it is easy to forget that they are simply rendering content that is familiar in the analogue world and which still surrounds us. When we buy goods in a store we are usually handed a receipt which is the evidence of a transaction, even if we have paid for the goods electronically with a card. When we use a word processor we render words on a screen in much the same way as we render words on a piece of paper when we use a typewriter or a pen. It is easier, as we can delete and redraft much more readily, but the process is more or less the same. We are rendering or inscribing content on another medium. However, there are things that are different, as processes are happening between the keyboard and the screen which allow the content to be rendered in the typeface and point size we have chosen. With a typewriter we were confined to the typeface and point size provided and the only choice we had was between capitals and lower case. If we wanted the content rendered in another typeface or, for example, in italics, then this had to be done by resorting to a typesetter. What word processing has done is to bring together the typewriter with the skills of the typesetter and cut out many intermediate processes. The quality of the output has improved and a great deal of frustration has been removed, but on the whole content has remained stable. We can do more with the content apart from changing the typeface and point size: we can easily change the layout and we can insert pictures, graphs and tables simply by ‘cutting and pasting’. This is a term borrowed directly from the analogue world of printing and describes precisely what we do in the digital environment. We identify something we want to insert in a text, cut it out using a cursor (not a pair of scissors) and insert it into the text.

  • 3 - The Five Rules of Engagement for librarians: aux Ranganathan's laws of library science

    • By Choy Fatt Cheong, University Librarian at Nanyang Technological University (NTU)
  • Edited by Steve O'Connor
  • Book:
    Library Management in Disruptive Times
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    30 September 2015, pp 37-50

  • Summary

    Introduction

    There is no doubt that librarians have crossed the threshold of a new era in the history of their profession since the advent of the internet. Global connectivity has brought information and people together instantly and seamlessly, which seems to suggest less need for mediation, co-ordination and facilitation by libraries. Yet, the information landscape has become more complex, which may create new demands that libraries and librarians can fulfil. Librarians are adapting to meet new needs, doing and planning work that was inconceivable in the past. As technology advances, librarians will move further away from old concerns. However, we should remain tethered to the core ideals of the library as an institution that promotes the use of information to deepen people's knowledge and understanding of the world. To do this, we need to be constantly reminded of the impact of our role in achieving this ideal, regardless of the future functions we perform. This paper proposes a practical way to do this.

    Focusing on users

    Throughout history, libraries have performed their role in a variety of ways, adapting to the needs of the people they serve and using the technology of the day. In the past, libraries focused on providing and organizing scarce information resources for use. They also took on the role of preserving the intellectual work of the past and present by building and maintaining collections. Today libraries collect, own and disseminate information resources in a less intensive way, because of changes in communication technology and publishing practices. The new, complex information environment, characterized by information abundance, ease of accessibility and disruptive interactions, has moved libraries away from collecting and towards playing a greater role in facilitating people's more effective use of information.

    Users have always been an important component of the library mission, although they have occupied different degrees of prominence in different eras. Users will be the key to our profession, as collection was before circa 1990. Our impact on users depends on our interaction with them, in faceto- face or in virtual modes. Whether or not libraries will be useful and valued by users depends on the relationship between librarians and users.

  • 9 - What is behind the meaning of disruption? Or, thinking of management strategies from the outside

  • Edited by Steve O'Connor
  • Book:
    Library Management in Disruptive Times
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    30 September 2015, pp 141-154

  • Summary

    It is important to write about the management of libraries. The literature is extensive and often reflective of the era when it was written, radiating much wisdom, individual perspective, theory, research and experience. It is also grounded in and informed by many social, informational and technological currents. Embedded within it are the best management theories, strategies and pathways, with the aim to achieve excellence in current and future planning and in the application of change. Indeed, change management has almost become a discipline in its own right and will most likely remain so for the foreseeable future, as successful change requires the most careful planning and management. The aim of this chapter is to reflect on changes that have happened in and to libraries, to understand the extent to which they have been ‘disruptive’ and to advocate for the literature on change to be more forward looking and less prescriptive.

    The chapters in this volume were commissioned to explore most aspects of what is meant by ‘library management’, but in disruptive times. The term ‘disruptive’ is used in the context in which Clayton Christenson popularized it: ‘describes a process by which a product or service takes root initially in simple applications at the bottom of a market and then relentlessly moves up-market, eventually displacing established competitors’.1 This will be explored in more detail later in this chapter.

    The central thesis of this chapter is that libraries are very vulnerable to fundamental ‘disruptive change’, but that such change is currently not being recognized as anything other than simple change. If this thesis is sound, then library managers need to look to planning for the future of libraries in a significantly different way. Many libraries are working hard on change, but their plans are often limited to the next annual budget cycle. They need to look beyond the limits of this annual cycle and plan for a radically different future. It is the present author's contention that this future can be achieved within a planning cycle of no more than three to five years. Most library planning does not allow for a future that is even marginally, let alone radically, different from what exists now. This in itself is a problem and an area of great vulnerability for libraries.

  • 7 - The role of professional associations in changing times

  • Edited by Steve O'Connor
  • Book:
    Library Management in Disruptive Times
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    30 September 2015, pp 101-118

  • Summary

    Introduction

    This book covers many of the aspects of change that are influencing the nature of the profession of librarianship. One of the key insights that emerges when these aspects are put together in this way is that, although technological developments form the basis of change in the profession in terms of processes and perceptions, it is time to focus on the people aspect if the profession is to be sustained and valued by society.

    Like many other professions, librarians have faced new ways of working as organizations and institutions have sought efficiencies and quality improvements through technological solutions. At the same time, they have experienced changes in the way the profession is valued by organizations and, more widely, as technologies enable user-initiated solutions to information needs. The declining perception of the value of librarians in education, business and the community has been the basis of decisions to close libraries and deprofessionalize workforces, despite studies that have attempted to prove value in these areas.

    Professional associations have a primary responsibility to represent the profession they were established to support. The national associations often have a responsibility to work with educators, employers, legislators, funding bodies and other professional bodies that have influence on the profession. National associations vary in how they see their respons - ibilities to the profession. Some focus on the people within the profession, while others focus on the libraries and other employing institutions. Some focus on both of these areas equally. Some embrace emerging fields and non-traditional roles more readily than others. Many invite different groups such as educators and paraprofessionals to take up association membership. These variations have altered the membership characteristics and structures of many national associations, and on an international level have contributed to inconsistency in what can be expected from a national library association.

    The changes that the profession has undergone since the mid-1980s have consequences for all library associations, and in particular for national library associations. The core roles and responsibilities that we place on the national associations have not changed, and so we can expect them to be concerned about education, research, advocacy, training and development, communication, regulation, standards and legislation.

  • 6 - Finding archived records in a digital age

    • By Tim Gollins, is currently Head of Digital Archiving at The National Records of Scotland and, as programme director, leads their Digital Preservation Programme., Emma Bayne, is Head of Systems Development and Search at The National Archives, UK.
  • Edited by Michael Moss, Barbara Endicott-Popovsky
  • Book:
    Is Digital Different?
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    30 September 2015, pp 129-148

  • Summary

    Introduction

    For an archive to be of real value, simply gathering and preserving records will never be sufficient; nor should it be. The ability for a user to find the records that answer their information needs must always accompany the task of keeping. Furthermore, presenting records in a way that allows understanding about the context of their creation is and remains essential to enabling users to interpret records and give them meaning. Preservation and findability truly go hand in hand – what real value does an archival collection have if it cannot be effectively used and interpreted?

    This, in itself, is not a new challenge; the abstract problem of finding and understanding relevant records in a collection is as old as collections of records themselves. At The (UK) National Archives in London there are examples of ‘finding aids’ going back over 500 years, including one from 1575 which offers an early form of guidance on how to use complex Chancery records.

    The National Archives’ catalogue had its genesis over 150 years ago in the annual reports that the Keeper of the Public Records provided to Parliament. These reports, beginning from the time that The National Archives (then known as the Public Record Office) was founded, quickly became the mechanism by which records could be found. Building on that legacy, generations of archivists developed a comprehensive printed catalogue with associated authority files and other finding aids.

    As early as the 1980s computers began to be used to help archivists manage and structure the catalogue of hundreds of thousands of entries and produce it in paper form. These paper lists then became the basis for an electronic catalogue system used by National Archives staff to manage the collection. In April 2001, the first iteration of this electronic catalogue was made available online, revolutionizing the way users find records in the Archives. Since its release, The National Archives’ catalogue has continued to grow and evolve as technology, the nature of the collection and users’ needs and expectations have changed. It now holds many million entries, with more and more being added every week.

  • 10 - Using knowledge of information behaviour to design information systems

  • from PART 3 - DISCOVERING AND USING KNOWLEDGE OF INFORMATION BEHAVIOUR
  • Nigel Ford
  • Book:
    Introduction to Information Behaviour
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    09 June 2018
    Print publication:
    31 August 2015, pp 217-236

  • Summary

    Introduction

    Knowledge of people's information behaviour is potentially useful for:

  • • helping people to become smarter – helping them to develop knowledge and skill in relation to finding, evaluating and using information in pursuit of fulfilling their information-related needs

  • • helping us design and develop smarter tools – tools which can incorporate and make use of knowledge of information behaviour in order to behave more intelligently and provide more effective support for the people who use them, in pursuit of fulfilling their informationrelated needs.

    • Helping people develop and improve their own information behaviour skills is the prime concern of information literacy activity. Part of this entails developing awareness of the limitations of information systems and working to compensate for these via human ability.

    THINK!

    Clearly, we can use knowledge derived from research into information behaviour to help people become smarter – to teach them to avoid strategies and habits that research suggests are ineffective, and to adopt those that research suggest are more productive.

    But can you think of ways in which we might be able to incorporate such knowledge into search tools and other information systems themselves – in order to develop smarter systems?

    The design of effective information systems entails enabling them to compensate as far as possible for the frailties of human abilities. At the simplest level, a computer-based search system is able to store, sort and retrieve volumes of information simply impossible for a human to even begin to handle. But human input is obviously necessary in terms of telling the system what to search for, and evaluating the results.

    However, in recent years information system designers have been able to leverage much more subtle knowledge of people's information behaviour in order to provide more sensitive forms of support. Such information behaviour knowledge includes awareness of the importance of allowing users to choose between different ways of exploring an information space – for example broad-based exploratory browsing or specific topic search, and of the importance of recognizing different levels of uncertainty relating to information needs at different stages of exploration.

  • 7 - Models and theories in information behaviour research

  • from PART 2 - WHAT DO WE KNOW OF INFORMATION BEHAVIOUR?
  • Nigel Ford
  • Book:
    Introduction to Information Behaviour
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    09 June 2018
    Print publication:
    31 August 2015, pp 141-168

  • Summary

    Introduction

    One of our goals as we seek to increase our understanding in an area of human knowledge is to develop models and theories. Definitions of what constitutes a model and a theory are many, and the terms may be used with varying degrees of stringency. But basically they are representations of our thinking about a phenomenon at a particular time and from a particular point of view. Different researchers and writers may define models and theories in different ways. However, the terms as used in this book are defined below.

    Understanding of a phenomenon is often represented as a ‘model’ of that phenomenon. By ‘model’, I simply mean a representation (often, but not always, in diagrammatic form) of our understanding about something.

    An ‘explanatory’ (or ‘propositional’) model seeks to explain some phenomenon by making explicit the key concepts that constitute it, and the relationships between these concepts. A ‘descriptive’ (rather than explanatory) model may simply map out the component parts of a phenomenon like a sort of ‘road map’, without going on to specify in much detail the nature of relationships between these concepts. Often there will be links between the concepts (often represented as lines or arrows between boxes in diagrammatic form) but the nature of the links is not elaborated in a lot of detail. These different terms (‘explanatory’ and ‘descriptive’) are used simply to differentiate models of different complexity, and the dividing line between the two is subject to interpretation.

    Take, for example, Wilson's well known model of information behaviour (Wilson and Walsh, 1996), shown in Figure 7.2 on p. 144. The diagram appears as a descriptive model in which concepts appear in boxes linked by unlabelled arrows which do not make clear the precise relationships between the boxes. However, when the model is viewed in conjunction with reading the text provided by Wilson in the article presenting the model, where he elaborates and explains the various elements and their inter relationships, the model becomes less descriptive and more explanatory. Note that differences between ‘descriptive’ and ‘explanatory’ relate to the intent of a model rather than the strength of evidence to support it. Thus, the explanation represented in an explanatory model may be either hypothetical or based on substantial evidence.

  • 11 - Conclusion

  • from PART 3 - DISCOVERING AND USING KNOWLEDGE OF INFORMATION BEHAVIOUR
  • Nigel Ford
  • Book:
    Introduction to Information Behaviour
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    09 June 2018
    Print publication:
    31 August 2015, pp 237-244

  • Summary

    We are increasingly awash with information. Access to vast quantities is easier than ever, especially via the web, as is the ability of anyone and everyone to publish information to large audiences on social media. The information readily and instantly available to us is representative of a myriad of different views and perspectives and displays hugely varying levels of quality. Citizen journalism, for example, offers immediacy of access to news of events which is made available with unfettered scope in terms of the angles, interpretations or spin put on it by its authors. Social media continuously spouts forth well considered critical and creative thoughts alongside inconsequential chitchat.

    However, there is a great difference between living in an information-rich world and a knowledge-rich world. We acquire knowledge by selecting and processing information. But a greater volume of information does not necessarily translate into a greater volume or depth of useful knowledge. Knowledge generated from poor-quality information is in most cases less valuable and effective than knowledge generated from high-quality information, the finding and effective processing of which is a central component of information behaviour. Just as the uncritical consumption of high volumes of junk food can lead to physical illness, so the uncritical consumption of high volumes of low-quality information can result in intellectual ill health. By intellectual ill health I mean an inability to function in an effective evidence-based way in making important decisions and solving problems in our lives. By low-quality information I mean information that is inaccurate, unreliable, biased or not relevant to the purpose for which it is being sought and used.

    In relation to all aspects of our life, the ability to know what is needed, to find potentially relevant information, and to evaluate, select and use it is important. Information literacy – the ability to adopt appropriate and effective information behaviour – is crucial if information is to be critically evaluated and integrated (or chosen not to be) as useful knowledge. The need critically to evaluate information has always been present in relation to more traditional published sources from reputable and well established publishing sources. But our current access to such a volume and range of sources, displaying such variety and variability in quality and credibility, brings with it the constant possibility of our finding or encountering seriously inaccurate and biased information. This potential problem is likely only to increase.

Page 151 of 302