Theories in Practice: Theory functions and Diffusion of Innovation

Abstract

The study of the diffusion of innovations into libraries has become a cottage industry of sorts, as libraries have always provided a fascinating test-bed of nonprofit institutions attempting improvement through the use of new policies, practices, and assorted apparatus (Malinconico, 1997). For example, Paul Sturges (1996) has focused on the evolution of public library services over the course of 70 years across England, while Verna Pungitore (1995) presented the development of standardization of library planning policies in contemporary America. For the past several decades, however, the study of diffusion in libraries has tended to focus on the implementation of information technologies (e.g., Clayton, 1997; Tran, 2005; White, 2001) and their associated competencies (e.g., Marshall, 1990; Wildemuth, 1992), the improvements in performance associated with their use (e.g., Damanpour, 1985, 1988; Damanpour & Evan, 1984), and ways to manage resistance to technological changes within the library environment (e.g., Weiner, 2003).

Citation

Van der Veer Martens, B. (2006), "Theories in Practice: Theory functions and Diffusion of Innovation", Garten, E.D., Williams, D.E. and Nyce, J.M. (Ed.) Advances in Library Administration and Organization (Advances in Library Administration and Organization, Vol. 23), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 1-57. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0732-0671(05)23001-8