Getting research into policy and practice: A review of the work of bob Usherwood

Professor Bob Usherwood is a leading scholar in the field of public librarianship who spent three decades of his working life at the University of Sheffield, where he founded the Centre for the Public Library and Information in Society to pursue the mission of "Getting Research Into Policy and Practice." His career took him from librarian and chief officer to faculty member and a personal chair and included important roles in professional organizations, such as president of The Library Association. Usherwood's published output of books, research reports, journal articles, and other material is selectively reviewed, concentrating on publications related to his personal research and funded projects. His research interests are in three interrelated areas: library and information service management, public policy decisions and their effects on libraries, and the impact of libraries on individuals and communities. A distinctive feature is his use of different publication venues to reach diverse audiences and the promotion of qualitative methodologies to demonstrate the value and impact of libraries. Major concerns identified in his work include library values, public service, professional engagement, intellectual standards, and literary excellence, which are issues of continuing relevance for researchers, practitioners, and managers of library services today. © 2013 The Board of Trustees, University of Illinois

How the public library contributes to community building: a case study

The purpose of this study was to investigate how one local New Jersey public library contributed to the revitalization efforts of its community by building social networks that benefitted all members of the community. Because the nature of the study dealt with conditions that were social, the qualitative method of research was chosen. A personal interview was used to collect information on how the library built social networks within the community it served by identifying and connecting the library\u27s assets to the community\u27s. The data were compared to a model developed from a previous study, The Engaged Library: Chicago Stories of Community Building (2005), conducted by John Kretzmann and Susan Rans from the Asset-Based Community Development Institute at the Northwestern University in Evanston Illinois. The study concluded that a small public library can contribute to the development efforts of a community if the library takes a holistic, comprehensive approach to its out reach and library service efforts

La biblioteca pública como agente democratizador: Representación social en la ciudad de Bogotá

[ES] Una sociedad que vive con dentro de una forma de organización social democrática e incluyente, en donde los ciudadanos participan en sus decisiones y en la definición de sus propios espacios de gobierno y desarrollo, debe estar apropiada de sus instituciones democráticas, como las bibliotecas públicas; espacio público por excelencia con claros objetivos de apoyo a la consolidación de la democracia. La biblioteca pública desde la presente investigación orientada a identificar la representación social que tienen los ciudadanos bogotanos sobre la institución biblioteca pública, se sustenta en un enfoque epistemológico hermenéutico interpretativo, con un enfoque metodológico cualitativo, utilizando como método de investigación los grupos de discusión. La investigación contemplo como unidad de análisis el ciudadano de la ciudad de Bogotá. Las categorías definidas de manera deductiva son la participación ciudadana, la democratización, el capital social y el desarrollo humano. Los resultados finales definen la construcción de una representación social sobre la biblioteca pública en Bogotá, distante de la apreciación de los bibliotecarios profesionales y que difiere sustancialmente de los postulados teóricos sobre la BP como entidad democratizadora por excelencia

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

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

Usages des bibliothèques

Qu\u27est-ce qu\u27une bibliothèque ? Qui sont ces publics, sur place et à distance ? Comment s\u27approprient-ils l\u27espace, les équipements, les documents et les informations qui leur sont utiles ? Quelles sont leurs relations avec les professionnels des bibliothèques ? La question des publics peine encore à devenir une question centrale et cette publication veut contribuer à faire connaître les usagers et non-usagers dans leur variété. Il s\u27agit d\u27identifier leurs caractérisques sociales mais aussi leurs habitudes, leurs manières de se représenter le monde, leur environnement ou leurs attentes. On décompose la réflexion sur les usagers autour de trois thèmes. La fréquentation : combien sont les usagers ? Qui sont-ils ? Comment le deviennent-ils ? En quoi se distinguent-ils des non-usagers ? Les usages : Quels sont-ils ? Comment les repérer ? Comment les comprendre ? Les logiques d\u27usage, notion qui nous semble plus éclairante que celle de besoin d\u27information. Écrit à quatre mains, cet ouvrage conjugue les approches des publics au fil des chapitres alternant apports théoriques et méthodologiques. Chaque chapitre développe ainsi deux points de vue complémentaires, l\u27énoncé des concepts et des enjeux d\u27une part, la présentation des méthodes et des techniques d\u27autre part. Comment mesurer la fréquentation des publics ? Relever et analyser des paroles d\u27usagers ? Administrer, traiter et interpréter des questionnaires d\u27usages et de satisfaction ? Cet ouvrage, illustré par des exercices d\u27application avec corrigés et enrichi d\u27un glossaire, s\u27adresse aux responsables de services documentaires, de bibliothèques mais aussi aux élèves et étudiants ayant reçu comme mission d\u27étudier une question se rattachant à cette thématique, bref à tous ceux qui souhaitent mieux connaître les publics et les non-publics. Claude Poissenot est maître de conférences en sociologie à l\u27IUT Information-Communication de l\u27université de Nancy 2. Sophie Ranjard est directrice associée du cabinet KYNOS (Paris), spécialisé dans les études auprès des publics de bibliothèques, services documentaires, archives et musées