Globalisation, culture and social capital: library professionals on the move

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to connect the stories and experiences of library professionals who have chosen to take up positions in other countries. The library professionals were asked to reflect on their experiences. This paper tends to connect and conceptualize the different experiences.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is purely theoretical and it introduces and links concepts of social capital, thrust, and national culture and characteristics to the experiences of the library professionals. The theoretical framework is used loosely to interpret and discuss the experiences.

Findings

The paper is not empirical in a traditional sense. This implies that there are no findings based on data. The paper introduces and discusses concepts and apply these to material based on experiences and it is indicated that the theoretical frameworks presented are useful in relation to contextualising the diverse experiences. It is also indicated that the concepts of social capital are closely related to concepts concerning national or regional cultural characteristics.

Practical implications

The practical implications are rather simple but difficult to achieve. It is a question about respect and it is a question about learning other patterns of communication, norms and values which are indispensable in cross cultural relationships.

Originality/value

With reference to the author's previous research it is indicated that phenomena in library and information science and practice take different forms according to the cultural settings. This is an important result in an ever increasing international world.

Citation

Ole Pors, N. (2007), "Globalisation, culture and social capital: library professionals on the move", Library Management, Vol. 28 No. 4/5, pp. 181-190. https://doi.org/10.1108/01435120710744128