Search results
1 – 10 of over 9000The purpose of this paper is to build on limited understandings of how readers engage with non-fiction. Drawing from prior research and three recent case studies involving non…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to build on limited understandings of how readers engage with non-fiction. Drawing from prior research and three recent case studies involving non-fiction reading, this paper considers heterogeneity in modes of reading and the central role of libraries in fostering non-fiction reading cultures.
Design/methodology/approach
Findings from three recent case studies of non-fiction reading about relationship advice; developmental disorders; and financial planning, based on qualitative interviews, participant observation and survey data, are used to assess and expand understandings of non-fiction reading and collections.
Findings
There is considerable heterogeneity in modes of non-fiction reading, and readers often appropriate non-fiction texts for purposes unintended by the authors. Both physical and online libraries function as sites where non-fiction reading can be used by a broad range of demographic groups to participate in individual or group-based resistance to structural and cultural sources of power and inequality.
Practical implications
This paper provides insight into the role and value of non-fiction collections.
Social implications
Findings speak to the value of robust funding for print and online non-fiction collections in communities and schools.
Originality/value
This paper offers new empirical and theoretical insight into how non-fiction collections are used by a range of demographic groups in community and school contexts. Sociological theories are introduced to highlight the role of non-fiction collections in facilitating social change at individual and group levels.
Details
Keywords
Margaret Kristin Merga and Saiyidi Mat Roni
This paper aims to provide insights into the characteristics of avid non-fiction book readers, exploring their typical demographic characteristics in relation to reading volume…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide insights into the characteristics of avid non-fiction book readers, exploring their typical demographic characteristics in relation to reading volume and frequency. It also investigates their comparative library usage in relation to avid fiction readers, as well as their motivation to read, and barriers to reading. Findings from the subset of self-identified avid non-fiction readers from the 2015 International Study of Avid Book Readers are interrogated to provide insights into this under-researched group.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors have used a single-stage mixed-methods approach, using data from both qualitative and quantitative items in an international survey.
Findings
The quantitative data analysis of this study suggests that avid non-fiction book readers were more likely to be men and older than avid fiction readers, and that they also tended to read less frequently, though avid non-fiction readers tended to read a greater volume of books. Avid fiction readers reported greater library usage, and thus unsurprisingly were found to have a greater borrowing tendency than non-fiction readers. Our qualitative findings around reading motivation identified a range of recurrent themes. The authors also found three key barriers to reading: time, book access and concentration.
Originality/value
The findings of this study provide unique insights into the characteristics, preferences and motivation of avid non-fiction readers, with the relationship between pleasure and the reading of non-fiction of particular interest.
Details
Keywords
Katariina Saarinen and Pertti Vakkari
Lending novels is the major service provided by public libraries. The efforts in developing search systems have been focused on retrieving non-fiction. There is a need for…
Abstract
Purpose
Lending novels is the major service provided by public libraries. The efforts in developing search systems have been focused on retrieving non-fiction. There is a need for designing systems to support fiction searching in libraries. The aim of this study is to analyze readers’ methods of accessing fiction in a public library for informing the design of fiction search systems. This study seeks to find out which attributes of books readers perceive as indicators of a good novel, and what kind of tactics they use for finding these good novels in the public library.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors observed 16 adult library users by semi-structured interviews eliciting information about their literary competence, what characterizes a good novel and how they accessed and identified good novels in the library.
Findings
Based on the data this paper developed a tentative reader typology, which differentiated the attributes of good novels and major tactics for accessing them.
Practical implications
The typology was used for inferring user models and design ideas for systems supporting fiction searching.
Originality/value
This is the first empirical study to inform how readers’ literary competence is associated with the tactics used and indicators recognized in books for finding and selecting good novels to borrow.
Details
Keywords
The management of children′s literature is a search for value andsuitability. Effective policies in library and educational work arebased firmly on knowledge of materials, and on…
Abstract
The management of children′s literature is a search for value and suitability. Effective policies in library and educational work are based firmly on knowledge of materials, and on the bibliographical and critical frame within which the materials appear and might best be selected. Boundaries, like those between quality and popular books, and between children′s and adult materials, present important challenges for selection, and implicit in this process are professional acumen and judgement. Yet also there are attitudes and systems of values, which can powerfully influence selection on grounds of morality and good taste. To guard against undue subjectivity, the knowledge frame should acknowledge the relevance of social and experiential context for all reading materials, how readers think as well as how they read, and what explicit and implicit agendas the authors have. The good professional takes all these factors on board.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to contribute to research on information sharing by drawing on the reader-response theory developed by Louise Rosenblatt. To this end, information…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to contribute to research on information sharing by drawing on the reader-response theory developed by Louise Rosenblatt. To this end, information sharing is approached by examining how bloggers communicate their reading experiences of fiction and non-fiction books.
Design/methodology/approach
The conceptual framework is based on the differentiation between efferent and aesthetic reading stances specified by Rosenblatt. The efferent stance directs attention to what is to be extracted from reading for instrumental purposes such as task performance. The aesthetic stance focuses on what is being lived through during the reading event. Rosenblatt’s framework was elaborated by specifying eight categories of efferent reading and six categories of aesthetic reading. The ways in which bloggers communicate their responses to such readings were examined by scrutinising a sample of 300 posts from two book blogs.
Findings
The bloggers mainly articulated responses to efferent reading by sharing information about the content of the reviewed books, as well as their strengths and weaknesses. Responses to aesthetic reading were mainly articulated by describing how the bloggers experienced the narrative, what kind immersive experiences they had and what kind of emotions were felt during the reading process.
Research limitations/implications
As the study is explorative in nature and focusses on a sample of blog posts, the findings cannot be generalised to depict how people share their responses to efferent and aesthetic reading in social media forums.
Originality/value
The paper pioneers by examining the potential of Rosenblatt’s theory in the study of sharing information about reading experiences in book blogs. The findings demonstrate that the categories of efferent and aesthetic reading can be elaborated further for the needs of information behaviour research.
Details
Keywords
Daniela Petrelli and Hazel Wright
The purpose of this paper is to describe a study set up to investigate and map the landscape of digital writing today. A holistic perspective has been adopted involving writers…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe a study set up to investigate and map the landscape of digital writing today. A holistic perspective has been adopted involving writers, readers and publishers alike.
Design/methodology/approach
The research uses a qualitative approach and combines interviews and direct observations. In in‐depth interviews 13 participants (four writers, four publishers, three readers and two on‐line readers) were questioned for their opinions on issues related to writing, publishing and reading digital fiction. The three readers were also observed while interacting, for the first time, with three digital stories.
Findings
Results show that the area is still unsettled though much excitement surrounds experimentations and freedom of publishing online. Readers seem uneasy with the role of co‐creators that writers want to assign them and prefer linear stories to more deconstructed ones. Writers like to experiment and combine multiple media and readers like to interact with multimedia stories; this seems to open interesting perspectives over interactive narrative. Publishers are not yet involved in digital writing and this is seen simultaneously as a blessing (unfiltering of innovative ideas) and a curse (lack of economical support, lack of quality selection). Despite disagreement and ambiguity all interviewees agree that digital fiction will come, likely prompted by new reading technology.
Originality/value
This paper is the first attempt to understand the phenomena of digital writing taking into consideration the perspectives of writers, readers and publishers simultaneously and comparing their different views.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to present findings of a study investigating the reading of, and engagement with minority ethnic fiction in UK public libraries, with a particular…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present findings of a study investigating the reading of, and engagement with minority ethnic fiction in UK public libraries, with a particular focus on Black British fiction and Asian fiction in English.
Design/methodology/approach
A quantitative study of the reading behaviour of a large population of public library users (n=1,047) from the East Midlands region. A survey was distributed at issue points in 16 libraries in nine participating local authorities, to investigate respondents' reading choices, and factors that may affect these choices.
Findings
Findings have emerged regarding the readers and non‐readers of Black British and Asian fiction in English. Social identity theory and reader response theory, whilst initially appearing contradictory, are helpful in understanding patterns of reading behaviour.
Research limitations/implications
The paper provides a valuable starting point for future research in materials portraying, and originating from, minority ethnic communities.
Practical implications
The paper identifies areas in which public libraries, publishing houses and minority ethnic community groups can improve the provision and promotion of minority ethnic fiction.
Social implications
It is hoped that longer‐term effects will be to increase the involvement of members of all communities in the selection and promotion of culturally appropriate materials.
Originality/value
The paper addresses a gap in previous research and practice, whereby the provision of multicultural resources was always considered only in linguistic, rather than in broader cultural terms, the latter felt to be more appropriate to contemporary society.
Details
Keywords
Paramjeet Kaur Walia and Nitu Sinha
The purpose of this study was to attempt to answer some plausible questions like what do teenagers prefer to read at leisure, how do they read and why do they read? With the rapid…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to attempt to answer some plausible questions like what do teenagers prefer to read at leisure, how do they read and why do they read? With the rapid changes in information technology, there is tremendous change in means of communication. Today, much more information is available from electronic and digital media as compared to traditional books. A paradigm shift in information delivery from just information to infotainment has also affected the preferences of the information seekers. Teenagers are a demographic group under transition and they are not untouched by these rapid changes in technology and their impact on their reading preferences.
Design/methodology/approach
For this purpose, a survey among 223 school-going (public/convent and government-/aided) teenagers aged between 12 and 18 years was done using a semi-structured questionnaire.
Findings
The findings revealed a decline in sports and outdoor recreational activities during leisure, and only 20.6 per cent teenagers preferred reading during leisure. However, self-perception as an avid reader was expressed by majority (53.8 per cent). Fictions were liked by > 75 per cent teenagers; however, non-fictions were also liked by majority (61.8 per cent). The reading preferences of the children were found to be affected by their age, their gender and the type of schools they attended. A significant inverse relationship of television watching and movie-going was observed with reading time.
Research limitations/implications
The biggest limitation was inability to directly interact with the students and inability to gather data from more schools.
Practical implications
By knowing the current reading trends, leisure time habits and exposure to different means of information technology, the choice of medium for knowledge dispersal could be done. The study would help in providing a basis for a strategic change in the ratio of conventional books and other information media in the library.
Social implications
By identifying the media exposure time and popularity, proper steps may be taken in order to enrich the particular media and to ensure that quality of information available on the media can be directed for social benefit in large.
Originality/value
The impact of demographic and environmental variables on reading habits of teenagers has not been evaluated in this part of the world, especially in view of the paradigm shift in information technology and the growing influence of electronic media and social networking. An understanding of this mutual relationship would help in modifying the reading behaviour of the teenagers.
Details
Keywords
Anna Mikkonen and Pertti Vakkari
– The purpose of this paper is to investigate fiction readers’ interest criteria when selecting novels in library catalogs for various search tasks.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate fiction readers’ interest criteria when selecting novels in library catalogs for various search tasks.
Design/methodology/approach
The data of the book selection behavior from 80 genuine fiction readers were collected using recorded interviews and conversations. The data were qualitatively analyzed. Reuter’s categorization of the components of aesthetic relevance has contributed to the construction of interest dimensions.
Findings
A five-dimension categorization of interest criteria is presented based on fiction readers’ interpretations of the influential factors in fiction book selection in different search tasks. The findings revealed that readers apply the identified interest criteria in a flexible and multiphase way depending to the search task and the system used. The findings showed a context-related pattern in readers’ fiction book selections. A combination of readers’ search capacities, “behind the eyes” knowledge, affective factors and a well-functioning interaction with a system used results in a successful book selection.
Originality/value
A five-dimension categorization of adult fiction readers’ interest criteria was created based on their search behaviors in library catalogs. The results provide a systematic step toward a comprehensive understanding of readers’ fiction book selection in digital environments.
Details
Keywords
Mike Thelwall and Karen Bourrier
Despite the social, educational and therapeutic benefits of book clubs, little is known about which books participants are likely to have read. In response, the purpose of this…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite the social, educational and therapeutic benefits of book clubs, little is known about which books participants are likely to have read. In response, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the public bookshelves of those that have joined a group within the Goodreads social network site.
Design/methodology/approach
Books listed as read by members of 50 large English-language Goodreads groups – with a genre focus or other theme – were compiled by author and title.
Findings
Recent and youth-oriented fiction dominate the 50 books most read by book club members, whilst almost half are works of literature frequently taught at the secondary and postsecondary level (literary classics). Whilst J.K. Rowling is almost ubiquitous (at least 63 per cent as frequently listed as other authors in any group, including groups for other genres), most authors, including Shakespeare (15 per cent), Goulding (6 per cent) and Hemmingway (9 per cent), are little read by some groups. Nor are individual recent literary prize winners or works in languages other than English frequently read.
Research limitations/implications
Although these results are derived from a single popular website, knowing more about what book club members are likely to have read should help participants, organisers and moderators. For example, recent literary prize winners might be a good choice, given that few members may have read them.
Originality/value
This is the first large scale study of book group members’ reading patterns. Whilst typical reading is likely to vary by group theme and average age, there seems to be a mainly female canon of about 14 authors and 19 books that Goodreads book club members are likely to have read.
Details