Social media and public libraries : exploring information activities of library professionals and users

Social media has become a part of many people’s everyday lives. In the library field the adoption of social media has been widespread and discussions of the development of “Library 2.0” began at an early stage. The aim with this thesis is to study the interface between public libraries, social media, and users, focusing on information activities. The main research question is: How is the interface between public libraries and social media perceived and acted upon by its main stakeholders (library professionals and users)? The background of Library 2.0 is strongly associated with the development of the Web and social media, as well as with the public libraries and their user-centered and information technological development. The theoretical framework builds on the research within the area of Library and Information Science concerning information behavior, information practice, and information activities. Earlier research on social media and public libraries is also highlighted in this thesis. The methods survey and content analysis were applied to map the interface between social media and public libraries. A questionnaire was handed out to the users and another questionnaire was sent out to the library professionals. The results were statistically analyzed. In the content analysis public library Facebook pages were studied. All the empirical investigations were conducted in the area of Finland Proper. An integrated analysis of the results deepens the understanding of the key elements of the social media and public library context. These elements are interactivity, information activities, perceptions, and stakeholders. In this context seven information activities were distinguished: reading, seeking, creating, communicating, informing, mediating, and contributing. This thesis contributes to develop the research concerning information activities and draws a realistic picture of the challenges and opportunities in the social media and public library context. It also contributes with knowledge on library professionals and library users, and the existing differences in their perceptions of the interface between libraries and social media.

Human aspects of library automation : helping staff and patrons cope /

Includes bibliographical references and index.

What is user friendly? : Clinic on Library Applications of Data Processing, 1986 /

Includes bibliographies and index.

Catalog use study : director's report /

At head of title: American Library Association, Resources and Technical Services Division, Cataloging and Classification Section, Policy and Research Committee.

MARC uses and users : papers presented at the 1970 Clinic on Library Applications of Data Processing conducted by the University of Illinois Graduate School of Library Science, April 26-29, 1970 /

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Relating the spatial component and users interests to improve applications based on questions, petitions and participatory processes

Nowadays, participatory processes attending the need for real democracy and transparency in governments and collectives are more needed than ever. Immediate participation through channels like social networks enable people to give their opinion and become pro-active citizens, seeking applications to interact with each other. The application described in this dissertation is a hybrid channel of communication of questions, petitions and participatory processes based on Public Participation Geographic Information System (PPGIS), Participation Geographic Information System (PGIS) and ‘soft’ (subjective data) Geographic Information System (SoftGIS) methodologies. To achieve a new approach to an application, its entire design is focused on the spatial component related with user interests. The spatial component is treated as main feature of the system to develop all others depending on it, enabling new features never seen before in social actions (questions, petitions and participatory processes). Results prove that it is possible to develop a working application mainly using open source software, with the possibility of spatial and subject filtering, visualizing and free download of actions within application. The resulting application empowers society by releasing soft data and defines a new breaking approach, unseen so far.

Use and users of electronic journals at Catalan universities: the results of a survey

Es presenten els resultats d’una enquesta sobre l’ús de revistes electròniques realitzada al professorat de les universitats que formen el Consorci de Biblioteques Universitàries de Catalunya (CBUC). Els resultats mostren un elevat grau de coneixement de la col·lecció de revistes electròniques entre el personal docent i investigador i una creixent preferència pel format electrònic en detriment de l’imprès. L’alt grau de coneixement i d’ús dels títols electrònics, i la preferència per aquest suport, comporten una elevada valoració de la col·lecció de revistes electròniques. Al mateix temps, la major part dels usuaris preveu un increment de l’ús dels títols electrònics durant els propers anys. Els resultats també confirmen la importància de la disciplina i de l’edat com a factors explicatius de l’ús de les revistes electròniques.

State Library of Iowa Library Services and Technology Act Five-Year Plan, 2002

The Iowa Commission of Libraries, the State Library’s governing board, convened the Library Services Task Force in August 2000. This group consisted of 46 Iowans from across the state, including librarians from all types of libraries, library trustees, legislators, members of Iowa Regional Library system (now called Library Service Areas) and Area Education Agencies, and citizens. Their mission was to make recommendations to the Commission on positioning libraries to effectively and efficiently meet the future needs of Iowans. Needs and expectations of Iowa Library customers and funding authorities were identified and examined by the Task Force, and are reflected in its recommendations. The Commission received the Task Force recommendations in December 2000, carefully studied them, solicited input from the Iowa library community, and with a few changes, forwarded the recommendations to the Governor and the Iowa General Assembly. These recommendations are now known as Iowa Commission of Libraries priorities and serve as a blueprint for future development of the Iowa library system.

State Library of Iowa Library Services and Technology Act Five-Year Plan, 2002

The Iowa Commission of Libraries, the State Library’s governing board, convened the Library Services Task Force in August 2000. This group consisted of 46 Iowans from across the state, including librarians from all types of libraries, library trustees, legislators, members of Iowa Regional Library system (now called Library Service Areas) and Area Education Agencies, and citizens. Their mission was to make recommendations to the Commission on positioning libraries to effectively and efficiently meet the future needs of Iowans. Needs and expectations of Iowa Library customers and funding authorities were identified and examined by the Task Force, and are reflected in its recommendations. The Commission received the Task Force recommendations in December 2000, carefully studied them, solicited input from the Iowa library community, and with a few changes, forwarded the recommendations to the Governor and the Iowa General Assembly. These recommendations are now known as Iowa Commission of Libraries priorities and serve as a blueprint for future development of the Iowa library system.

Solvability of mental health care in the Family Health Strategy: social representation of professionals and users

Objective To aprehend the social representations about the solvability in mental health care with users of the Family Health Strategy and professionals of family health teams and of the Center for Psychosocial Care. Method A qualitative study using semi-structured interviews for data collection, and the Alceste software for analysis. This software uses the Hierarchical Descending Classification based on the examination of lexical roots, considering the words as units and providing context in the corpus. Results The representations emerge in two opposing poles: the users require satisfaction with care and the professionals realize the need for improvement of health actions. Although the matricial support in mental health and the home visits are developed, the barriers related to investment in health, continuing education and organization of care persist. Conclusion The different representations enable improvements in customer service, solvability of care and aggregate knowledge and practices in the expanded perspective of health needs in the family, social and therapeutic context.


Impact of Federal Library Services and Technology Act Funds in Iowa, May 2007.

A report that Mary Wegner gave Iowa's congressmen and senators during this year's ALA Legislative Day in Washington, DC. The report reflects the important ways the State Library uses LSTA funds to help Iowa libraries provide the best service possible to their customers. LSTA funds also pay the salaries of Library Development staff.

State Plan for Library Program under Library Services and Construction Act, as amended, 1966

This document includes the general provisions and regulations of the Iowa Sate Traveling Library under the Library Services and Construction Act. It also includes information of appropriations of funds available for expenditure, authority of local agencies to administer and state agency to supervise local administration and certification.

Analysis of Automotive Cybersecurity - Attack surfaces and users’ privacy concerns

Modern automobiles are no longer just mechanical tools. The electronics and computing services they are shipping with are making them not less than a computer. They are massive kinetic devices with sophisticated computing power. Most of the modern vehicles are made with the added connectivity in mind which may be vulnerable to outside attack. Researchers have shown that it is possible to infiltrate into a vehicle’s internal system remotely and control the physical entities such as steering and brakes. It is quite possible to experience such attacks on a moving vehicle and unable to use the controls. These massive connected computers can be life threatening as they are related to everyday lifestyle. First part of this research studied the attack surfaces in the automotive cybersecurity domain. It also illustrated the attack methods and capabilities of the damages. Online survey has been deployed as data collection tool to learn about the consumers’ usage of such vulnerable automotive services. The second part of the research portrayed the consumers’ privacy in automotive world. It has been found that almost hundred percent of modern vehicles has the capabilities to send vehicle diagnostic data as well as user generated data to their manufacturers, and almost thirty five percent automotive companies are collecting them already. Internet privacy has been studies before in many related domain but no privacy scale were matched for automotive consumers. It created the research gap and motivation for this thesis. A study has been performed to use well established consumers privacy scale – IUIPC to match with the automotive consumers’ privacy situation. Hypotheses were developed based on the IUIPC model for internet consumers’ privacy and they were studied by the finding from the data collection methods. Based on the key findings of the research, all the hypotheses were accepted and hence it is found that automotive consumers’ privacy did follow the IUIPC model under certain conditions. It is also found that a majority of automotive consumers use the services and devices that are vulnerable and prone to cyber-attacks. It is also established that there is a market for automotive cybersecurity services and consumers are willing to pay certain fees to avail that.

Collegial Self-Governance for Professional Librarians: A Look at the Advantages of the Establishment of a Library Council and its Role in the Lives of the Librarians in the Brock University Faculty Association

The ability to perform collegial governance is a cornerstone of modern universities in the United States and Canada. This idea of governance is well practiced among faculty members but is not often practiced to the same extent with librarians in those same institutions. In this chapter, I will look at a popular form of collegial governance called the Library Council. Further, I will examine how the Library Council at Brock University has enabled librarians there to perform meaningful collegial self-governance.