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1 – 10 of over 2000
Article
Publication date: 14 November 2019

John Shepherd, Larissa Petrillo and Allan Wilson

The purpose of this paper is to summarize a library use study of the central and community branches of a Canadian public library. An exit survey documented the in-branch…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to summarize a library use study of the central and community branches of a Canadian public library. An exit survey documented the in-branch activities of users as a part of a library strategic planning process. Survey results were used in combination with branch statistics, postal code circulation statistics, neighbourhood demographics and other data sources to document the in-library use of the two facilities.

Design/methodology/approach

Questionnaires were administered to library users 15 years of age or older at the exits of the central and community branches. The survey collected data on their activities and services used during their current visit. Additional sources such as branch-level statistics, furniture tally sheets, photographs, Canada Census data and circulation analysis by patron postal code and lending branch were used during the analysis stage.

Findings

Both branches are heavily used but in different ways. Branch circulation and gate count per square foot of floor space were high relative to other Canadian libraries. Patron visits to the community branch were short in duration, in line with previous public library studies. User visit duration and in-library activities within the main branch somewhat resembled those of the central branch of a larger library system but likely for different reasons.

Research limitations/implications

The study was exploratory. Data were collected during two coinciding days of library operation, a Thursday and a Saturday, and may not be representative of the underlying population. The study was limited in scope as it was a community service project for undergraduate university students.

Practical implications

Branch library use surveys, in combination with library statistics and demographics, can provide useful insights concerning in-library patron behaviour when the use of ethnographic techniques is not feasible.

Originality/value

The study explored differences and similarities in user behaviour in two types of library facilities, a central and a community branch. Few published studies make such a direct comparison. The study explored the perceived benefits received by patrons from public library use and incorporated branch statistics, circulation analysis and Census data.

Details

Library Management, vol. 41 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-5124

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 August 2018

John Shepherd, Larissa Petrillo and Allan Wilson

The purpose of this paper is to describe how recent immigrants and refugees to Canada (“newcomers”) use the facilities of a large, urban public library. As the library previously…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe how recent immigrants and refugees to Canada (“newcomers”) use the facilities of a large, urban public library. As the library previously surveyed the general user population, the responses to the two surveys can be compared.

Design/methodology/approach

Questionnaires were administered as patrons were leaving Surrey Libraries Branches to adult public library members who self-identified as newcomers who arrived in Canada within the previous ten years.

Findings

The pattern of library use by newcomers differed from that of the general population. They visited more frequently and stayed longer. Newcomers were heavier users of library services and used a wider range of services. They used the library branch as a public place. The library provided them with a place to study, read or meet other people.

Research limitations/implications

The study was exploratory. The small sample size and the data collection process do not allow extrapolation to the underlying population.

Practical implications

Recent newcomers often have similar informational, psychological and social needs. Public libraries can play a role in assisting newcomers during their adjustment process.

Originality/value

Researchers worked closely with library management to develop questions based on decision usefulness. An earlier in-house study allowed comparisons to be made between branch use by newcomers and general library users. Canadian studies into government policy, along with immigrant and refugee studies, provide context for the survey results.

Details

Library Management, vol. 39 no. 8/9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-5124

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 August 2015

John Shepherd, Kaitlyn Vardy and Allan Wilson

This paper summarizes a time-diary study of a Canadian public library that estimated the hours spent by patrons using library facilities and circulated collections during a month…

1423

Abstract

Purpose

This paper summarizes a time-diary study of a Canadian public library that estimated the hours spent by patrons using library facilities and circulated collections during a month. The purpose of this paper is to convert conventional library statistics into a metric more understandable to external stakeholder groups: time.

Design/methodology/approach

Paper-based time-diaries collected data on the patron use of circulated library materials throughout the loans cycle and exit surveys measured the duration of branch visits. This data along with gate and circulation statistics were used to estimate hours of patron residency in library branches and the time spent consuming borrowed materials.

Findings

Patrons used the services, facilities and collections of Prince George Public Library’s Bob Harkins branch for an estimated 182,000 hours during August 2013. Over 90 per cent of use occurred offsite through the consumption of circulated materials by diarists and secondary use of borrowed items by their families and friends.

Practical implications

Conventional statistics understate the utilization of public library resources as most of their use occurs outside the library branches, a different usage pattern than for other municipal services. This study suggests that all library use is potentially measurable using a single metric, hours of patron use. The value of a time metric, once methodologically sound, is its usefulness as a measure of library performance and its convertibility in dollars of direct value using contingent valuation methodology.

Originality/value

Time-diary methodology collected patron time-use data on public library circulated materials. The paper demonstrates the potential of patron time-use as a metric of library performance. Hours of patron use appear convertible into dollars of benefit using contingent valuation research.

Details

Library Management, vol. 36 no. 6/7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-5124

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 April 2001

Angela Mallett and John Naylor

The education of pupils with profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD) has gradually improved, due to a range of new initiatives and the introduction of the national…

256

Abstract

The education of pupils with profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD) has gradually improved, due to a range of new initiatives and the introduction of the national curriculum. However, it is widely recognised that some pupils have a wide range of early specific and complex needs that are not always met. This paper describes a new early curriculum for self‐development being implemented at the Shepherd School, which is unanimously supported by therapists, parents and teachers. It is suggested that, for pupils with PMLD, the new revised framework could provide a more relevant broad and balanced curriculum, fulfilling individual needs, and ultimately lead to effective access to the national curriculum.

Details

Tizard Learning Disability Review, vol. 6 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1359-5474

Article
Publication date: 1 June 1976

John J. Shepherd

Although profound differences of opinion occur in our society, one of the things that all Canadians do enjoy is the adherence to a popular mythology which embraces the following…

Abstract

Although profound differences of opinion occur in our society, one of the things that all Canadians do enjoy is the adherence to a popular mythology which embraces the following cardinal points:

Details

Planning Review, vol. 4 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0094-064X

Article
Publication date: 1 December 2000

Linda Ashcroft and Stephanie McIvor

Outlines the main themes and programmes of recent library and information science (LIS) research, giving examples of individual projects. Discusses how the direction of this…

1058

Abstract

Outlines the main themes and programmes of recent library and information science (LIS) research, giving examples of individual projects. Discusses how the direction of this research has been, and is likely to continue to be, subject to the forces of both technological change and of organisational change within the major funding bodies. Examines how the findings of such research are disseminated and discusses the role of academic journals and commercial publishers, including their likely future role. Finds the dissemination of research findings for LIS to be less than adequate in terms of meeting user needs, and suggests that Re:source establish a national LIS research register in partnership with commercial publishers.

Details

Library Review, vol. 49 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0024-2535

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 April 1901

To provide a list of non‐fictional books, as published, for the use of Librarians and Book‐buyers generally, arranged so as to serve as a continuous catalogue of new books ; an…

Abstract

To provide a list of non‐fictional books, as published, for the use of Librarians and Book‐buyers generally, arranged so as to serve as a continuous catalogue of new books ; an aid to exact classification and annotation ; and a select list of new books proposed to be purchased. Novels, school books, ordinary reprints and strictly official publications will not be included in the meantime.

Details

New Library World, vol. 3 no. 10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0307-4803

Article
Publication date: 1 January 1985

Mary Weir and Jim Hughes

Introduction Consider a hi‐fi loudspeaker manufacturing company acquired on the brink of insolvency by an American multinational. The new owners discover with growing concern that…

Abstract

Introduction Consider a hi‐fi loudspeaker manufacturing company acquired on the brink of insolvency by an American multinational. The new owners discover with growing concern that the product range is obsolete, that manufacturing facilities are totally inadequate and that there is a complete absence of any real management substance or structure. They decide on the need to relocate urgently so as to provide continuity of supply at the very high — a market about to shrink at a rate unprecedented in its history.

Details

International Journal of Manpower, vol. 6 no. 1/2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7720

Article
Publication date: 18 January 2008

Monica Berger

The purpose of this article is to give an overview of scholarly monographs on rock music from 1980 to the present. It aims to provide an overview to the literature for practical…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to give an overview of scholarly monographs on rock music from 1980 to the present. It aims to provide an overview to the literature for practical purposes of collection development as well as giving the reader insight into key issues and trends related to a interdisciplinary topic that attracts scholars from many disciplines in the humanities and social sciences.

Design/methodology/approach

This bibliographic essay, focusing on works related to American culture and of a general nature, includes an overview and historical background; a discussion of how music and ethnomusiciological scholars approach the topic; geographic approaches; literature on four key icons (Elvis, Dylan, Springsteen, and Madonna); American studies; subcultures and genres; other methodologies; and concludes by discussing notable recent works.

Findings

The scholarly literature on rock incorporates a wide variety of approaches and methodologies. Many music‐related scholars appropriate methodology from other disciplines and some non‐music‐related scholars use the formalistic analysis of music scholars. Authenticity is a major theme in the literature on rock.

Originality/value

This essay covers the widest range of monographs on the topic, providing insight into not only the key scholars but also the diversity of approaches to the topic. The historical approach to the literature gives the reader a sense of how the academic discourse on rock has evolved. This essay is of interest to librarians, scholars of rock music, and others concerned with how American scholarship in the humanities and the social sciences has grown since the advent of cultural studies.

Details

Collection Building, vol. 27 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0160-4953

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 1907

MUCH has already been said and written upon the subject of the indicator: but in view of the general trend of advanced Public Library administration a little space may with…

Abstract

MUCH has already been said and written upon the subject of the indicator: but in view of the general trend of advanced Public Library administration a little space may with advantage be devoted again to the consideration of its value as a modern library appliance. Passing over (a) the decision of that curiously constituted committee formed in 1879 to consider and report on indicators, and (b) the support which it received in 1880 from the Library Association, it may be said that for the next fourteen or fifteen years the indicator system was the popular, almost the universal, system in vogue throughout the country. Of late years professional opinion as to its value has undergone a remarkable change. The reaction which has set in was brought about chiefly by the introduction of Open Access in 1894, with the many reforms that accompanied it, though much, doubtless, was due to the prevalence of a more exact and systematic knowledge of librarianship, and to the natural evolution of ideas. It is not, however, intended in this paper to compare the indicator with the open access system, but with others suitable to the requirements of a closed library.

Details

New Library World, vol. 9 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0307-4803

1 – 10 of over 2000