490 research outputs found

    Patterns of Genre Fiction Readers: A Survey of Durham County Library Patrons

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    Readers' advisory services take two forms, direct and indirect. While much research has examined the interaction between a library staff member and a library patron, the equally important area of indirect readers' advisory has been neglected. This study describes a questionnaire survey of public library patrons in three branches of the Durham County Public Library system in North Carolina. The survey was conducted to determine if genre fiction reading interests in a local library system reflect common appeal characteristics of those genres and if adult fiction readers use the same vocabulary to describe and talk about fiction genres as do librarians

    Fiction readers' advisory services in New Zealand public libraries : an investigation into how personal reading habits and other factors affect the confidence of library staff who answer adult or young adult fiction readers' advisory queries

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    Fiction readers' advisory is the act of assisting a library borrower to find their next piece of fiction to read for leisure purposes. This is a significant part of public library work for staff members who work face-to-face with library borrowers. The confidence of library staff members who provide these services is therefore an important issue. It was hypothesised that a number of factors would influence the confidence of staff who answer fiction readers' advisory enquiries, including the amount and kind of pleasure reading undertaken, library size, years of library experience, and training. An online questionnaire was used to survey a sample of frontline public library staff members in New Zealand to gather data about readers' advisory services in public libraries in this country, as very little research has been undertaken here in this area. There was an excellent response to the survey invitation, and 130 completed questionnaires were received. Survey respondents' confidence about answering fiction readers' advisory enquiries was positively correlated with several factors, including amount and breadth of personal reading, length of public library service, kind of training received, and number of readers' advisory tools available. Negative correlations were suggested between library qualifications and confidence, and library size and confidence. Other factors which may influence confidence were also identified, such as library staff morale, having sufficient time for answering enquiries properly, and time for pleasure reading

    Fiction readers' advisory services in New Zealand public libraries : an investigation into how personal reading habits and other factors affect the confidence of library staff who answer adult or young adult fiction readers' advisory queries

    No full text
    Fiction readers' advisory is the act of assisting a library borrower to find their next piece of fiction to read for leisure purposes. This is a significant part of public library work for staff members who work face-to-face with library borrowers. The confidence of library staff members who provide these services is therefore an important issue. It was hypothesised that a number of factors would influence the confidence of staff who answer fiction readers' advisory enquiries, including the amount and kind of pleasure reading undertaken, library size, years of library experience, and training. An online questionnaire was used to survey a sample of frontline public library staff members in New Zealand to gather data about readers' advisory services in public libraries in this country, as very little research has been undertaken here in this area. There was an excellent response to the survey invitation, and 130 completed questionnaires were received. Survey respondents' confidence about answering fiction readers' advisory enquiries was positively correlated with several factors, including amount and breadth of personal reading, length of public library service, kind of training received, and number of readers' advisory tools available. Negative correlations were suggested between library qualifications and confidence, and library size and confidence. Other factors which may influence confidence were also identified, such as library staff morale, having sufficient time for answering enquiries properly, and time for pleasure reading

    The fiction problem in public libraries : a study with special reference to Cape Town City Library Service

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    Includes bibliography.The focal point of this study emanates from both personal observations formed in public library branch work and questions raised in the subject literature to the effect that tension appears to exist between the wants of the majority of users and the perception of the dominant goals of the public library by their staff, resulting in differing views as to the book selection policy of this institution. Book selection policies have been taken to reflect the attitudes of library staff towards users' wants in terms of their adherence to the tenets of Anglo-American public library objectives

    'We are here because you were there': an investigation of the reading of, and engagement with, minority ethnic fiction in UK public libraries

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    This thesis aims to investigate the reading of, and engagement with, minority ethnic English language fiction in public libraries, focusing on materials written by Black British and Asian authors. In order to achieve this, a literature review and three empirical studies were conducted, using a mixed methods approach. The literature review showed that previous research in the field of minority ethnic fiction had largely overlooked its readership, and furthermore that academic models of fiction reading had not considered this type of material. The first study was a survey of the reading habits and attitudes of library users, conducted via a quantitative questionnaire and subsequent qualitative interviews. This was cross-sectional at the individual respondent level, but a longitudinal element was also included at the library level, which enabled analysis by community type, local ethnicity and class. The second study was a qualitative exploration of perceptions of reader ‘types’ using personal construct theory and the associated repertory grid technique, in order to generate and explore a series of constructs relating to the characteristics of fiction readers. The third, quantitative study also drew from personal construct theory, adapting the repertory grid to investigate in greater depth a group of readers’ beliefs, attitudes and intentions to read certain fiction genres. A model of genre fiction reading is presented, based on the research findings. This identifies a new fiction reader profile and gives a causal ordering to the characteristics of the fiction reader which had previously not been achieved. The model is also demonstrably flexible to allow different types of factors to be included, and to further explore the interactions between these factors. Finally, the theoretical and professional contributions of the research are summarised, and recommendations are made for future research and the development within libraries and the book trade of minority ethnic fiction collections

    School library circulation records: What do they reveal about boys\u27 reading preferences?

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    The purpose of this study was to examine what if any patterns emerge in the library checkout habits of elementary school age boys in consecutive grades and to compare them to common assumptions of which books boys prefer to read. A quantitative bibliometric method was used to analyze and count the circulation records of forty-four students over a three year period. The circulations to the boys in the study were compared to the circulations to the girls. Records revealed that on average, boys in third grade borrowed more books than the girls in the study, but girls selected more books than the boys in fourth and fifth grades. Both the boys and girls in the study borrowed substantially higher percentages of “stories” than “informational” texts. Boys selected more graphic novels and fiction chapter books in a series than girls did at all three grade levels examined
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