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The purpose of this paper is to discuss Hong Kong Baptist University Library's MyLibrary Calendar Project to streamline library‐patron communication and to strengthen the Library's publicity for its services, facilities and outreach activities.

The paper examines the application of an in‐house developed iCalendar Data Conversion Program and Innovative Millennium Patron API Form in this Project. The iCalendar Data Conversion Program extracts and converts data from library announcements, interlibrary loan and circulation records, library e‐mails and notices, and records of library facilities reservation to iCalendar format for dissemination to patrons. The Innovative Millennium Patron API Form, on the other hand, authenticates patrons' subscription to the services.

The project employs Web 2.0 technologies and social networking software such as iCalendar format, calendar applications, API and Google Calendar SMS notification option to publish, syndicate, and aggregate dynamic web content in a Library 2.0 model. It enables patrons to use their own personal calendar computer applications that support the open and standard iCalendar format as a one‐stop‐shop platform to automatically collect and manage library calendar events, library e‐mails and notices, and their own records of circulation, interlibrary loan and room reservation in an efficient and centralized channel.

MyLibrary Calendar is a unique Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 compliant tool. It enables patrons to collect and manage library events and their own library records systematically in their own calendar applications. This tool also facilitates the Library to proactively publicize its services and facilities effectively and to bring about a shift in power and new library‐patron relationship smoothly.

The purpose of this paper is to learn how many libraries take specific measures to protect patron confidentiality other than having a written policy, to measure library directors' confidence in their own ability, and that of their workers, to follow confidentiality policies, and to learn what types of support directors need to better protect confidentiality.

A paper survey was mailed to all 213 directors of public and academic libraries in Vermont; 71 per cent responded. Data were primarily quantitative.

Few libraries reveal patron information by sending unsealed postcards, but many reveal patron information to third parties over the telephone. Library directors have a high level of confidence in their own ability to follow confidentiality policy and a slightly lower level of confidence in the ability of library workers to do so. Library directors need help in writing policy, getting access to legal counsel, and addressing the confidentiality of patrons who are minors.

Vermont library directors may be different from directors elsewhere. The study asked about two library practices that put patron confidentiality at risk; other practices should be studied, as well.

Library directors can do more to ensure that library practices do not jeopardize patron confidentiality. Library directors need help and support in dealing with practical issues that emerge as they try to follow the ALA code of ethics.

The study begins to fill a gap in the literature by measuring library directors' own assessments of their organizations' ability to cope with enquiries about patrons.

The purpose of this paper is to examine and demonstrate the extent to which university libraries in Africa are bridging the information gap through the use of web 2.0 systems, including challenges and prospects.

The review adopted a combination of various data collection methods and approaches, including current academic literature, document analysis, desk review guides and reports on university libraries.

Review results indicate that few university libraries in Africa have embraced the use and application of web 2.0 systems. It is regrettable that web 2.0 is not new in libraries, although many African university libraries have not adopted the concept. Web 2.0 systems, including blog, delicious, YouTube and Facebook among others, are no longer a preserve of commercial organizations.

The review involved university libraries in Africa because of their perceived role in creation, management, preservation, transmission or diffusion and utilization of information and knowledge. University libraries provide information services to support research, teaching, learning, and community activities of respective universities.

University libraries in African countries face various challenges in implementation of web 2.0 systems. Web 2.0 systems have proved to be useful in addressing issues and challenges of open, distance and e‐learning programmes. Information professionals should support implementation and use of relevant web 2.0 systems.

Across the globe, university libraries are increasingly using web 2.0 systems to support, promote and extend information services to their patrons. In the modern information world 2.0, it is important for university libraries to identify relevant web 2.0 systems and integrate them into mainstream library and information services.

The review provides useful insights regarding the use and application of web 2.0 systems in university libraries in Africa.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the possibilities of implementing the customer relationship management (CRM) concept and smart technologies in public libraries in developing countries. The goal was to explore the level of librarians’ awareness about CRM concept and their willingness to accept the CRM concept in libraries. Also, patrons’ satisfaction with the quality of services and relationships in public libraries is explored.

The authors obtained data for this research through two online surveys. The first survey measures librarians’ level of awareness about CRM concept and their perception about CRM and smart technologies concept in public libraries in three developing countries: Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The second survey measures patrons’ satisfaction with services and relationship in public libraries in these three countries.

The research results revealed that most surveyed librarians are familiar with the CRM concept. However, libraries in these three developing countries barely use CRM or smart technologies to improve the relationship with stakeholders. Also, most patrons are satisfied with relationships and services. The analysis of data indicates no significant difference in the satisfaction level among patrons between these three developing countries.

Not all libraries participated in this research. Therefore, the sample is not distributed evenly across different types of libraries or user groups. Future research should include different types of libraries.

The results can be used by public libraries in developing countries to improve the relationship with stakeholders harnessing CRM concept and smart technologies.

The use of CRM in combination with the smart technologies can help leverage the quality of the relationship between public libraries and stakeholders which in turn would secure their support and loyalty in the future.

The integration of CRM concept as a component of library business automation process is an idea that has not been discussed widely in the library community and could initiate a positive trend in public libraries in developing countries.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the prevalence of patron aggressive behaviour toward library staff at the Main Library of the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, and also to determine the causes of this kind of behaviour. The paper also aims to suggest solutions for tackling this problem.

A survey was conducted among those staff members who regularly interface with the library's clientele. A total of 40 questionnaires was sent to various categories of staff at the Main Library at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona Campus. A total of 35 staff members responded.

Verbal abuse was the most prevalent form of aggressive behaviour towards library staff. Over 50 per cent of the respondents were concerned about the aggressive behaviour of library patrons. A common reason given for aggressive behaviour included: general frustration with the library; not being able to locate needed material; and being unable to borrow material from the library. The majority of the respondents had not received any kind of training in dealing with aggressive library patrons and indicated the need for this kind of training. Over 90 per cent were unaware of the existence of a library policy regarding patron aggressive behaviour.

It is suggested that further research be conducted to determine some of the causes of aggressive behaviour from the perspective of library patrons.

Libraries need to have clear policies regarding patron aggression. A breakdown in library procedures and systems can be a potential source of frustration and conflict.

This paper is a valuable contribution to this small body of scholarship. It examines some of the issues intrinsic to the academic life of the student as well as some of the factors inherent in the library operations that can cause some of the conflict that is often experienced in the academic library.

Public libraries can help immigrants adjust to life in the USA, including maintaining health and well-being. The purpose of this study was to understand how immigrants use public libraries and how library staff provide health-related information and services for immigrant audiences.

This study used semistructured interviews with library staff (n = 9) and immigrant library patrons (n = 10), representing multiple first languages and countries of origin from two different library locations within a large public library system in a US mid-Atlantic city.

Staff reported offering many health-related programs and services, but only one of the 10 patron respondents had used them. Patrons more commonly used the library in ways indirectly related to health (e.g. learning English) than direct health-related services. Staff reported comfort interacting with immigrant patrons, but lacked consensus on navigating language barriers and determining community needs.

This qualitative study provides insights from a specific geographic and cultural setting. It focused on immigrants using the library and may have excluded vulnerable populations of immigrants who encounter barriers to using the library. Future research and practice should focus on how public libraries can better meet the health information needs of immigrant populations, including navigating controversial social and political topics, as well as emerging health-related information during a pandemic.

Public health practitioners often overlook public libraries as community collaborators. This research identifies that while there is important and essential work happening in public libraries to improve immigrant health, more can be done, especially in collaboration with public health professionals.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate tool lending library patrons’ perception of their tool borrowing, in order to explore the role of a public lending service in the context of their lives. It addresses the research question, why do patrons borrow tools from the library?

A case study was conducted, consisting of semi-structured interviews with patrons of a tool lending library. Led by a phenomenographic approach, the interviews focused on participants’ recounted experiences. Transcripts were structured into major categories and underlying themes. Findings were discussed from a perspective taking departure in Wiegand’s notion of “the library in the life of the user,” and summarized with regards to sustainable community development.

Participants are found to talk about their tool borrowing from two main viewpoints. First, reasons for making the decision. This involves weighing practical considerations, e.g., cost, storage, access, and frequency of use. It also includes ideological motivations, and sympathy with the concept. Second, effects of their borrowing, interpreted as how it enables them. This enablement includes inspiration, learning, support to self-employment, and strengthening of community. Patrons focus on local aspects of social and economic development, rather than global or environmental motivations.

A single and in part unique setting was studied. The findings provide foundation for a developed discussion on the societal role of public libraries providing “non-traditional” materials such as tools, with particular regards to community settings and sustainability.

Addresses knowledge gaps on borrowing and tool lending libraries.

The purpose of this paper is to measure, characterize and correlate relationships between spaces within an academic library and the amount of use they receive from patrons.

Login data gathered from computers were analyzed spatially using AutoCAD and ArcGIS to characterize the relative popularity of each computer. The login data were correlated to each computer's proximity to the entrance, a picture window, its printer, quantity of neighboring computers, and service points.

Descriptive statistics reveal high usage of computers close to the entrance and close to service points. The strongest relationship of all was with a combination of attractors rather than any one attractor. Other measures were less closely correlated with usage, with proximity to window having little to no correlation. These hypotheses merit further study.

Understanding the use of technology in library spaces is important to inform future facility planning to meet patron needs.

Ranganathan’s Laws of Library Science and continued refinements place identification of patron’s needs and connection of those needs to library services of primary importance in libraries. Identifying and developing personas or user group descriptions helps to identify the unique nature of library patrons. Personas help librarians identify or create specific services for each patron persona. Understanding each library persona allows the library faculty and staff to prepare and to plan service delivery. The purpose of this paper is to develop personas for undergraduate students followed by the identification and development of personas for graduate students and faculty.

The identification and development of undergraduate patron personas engaged communications students, as part of their course work, to use a review of previous studies to develop theories of library patron personas. Each of the three groups within the communications class verified their initial persona theories using surveys, focus groups, interviews, observations and ethnographic methods. All personas from each group was further developed and refined into a final list and description of ten library personas. A principal components analysis helped to provide interconnections between the personas and estimate the percent of patrons each persona comprised.

The study identified ten personas (user groups) who use a wide variety of library services. Descriptions of personas enabled library faculty and staff to identify personas accessing their services, to further develop and refine current services and to create new services to meet the needs of patrons. A principle components analysis further facilitated the understanding of interrelations between the personas based on persona use of library services. Personas that had common needs or use patterns were grouped together to further understanding of patrons use patterns and needs. While an attempt was made to determine the percent of total patrons each persona was, evidence was found that indicated the fluid nature of personas in regards to library services. That is, as the patron needs shifted, so did their persona. Patrons moved from one persona to another to meet their shifting needs as the academic semester proceeded.

Personas have several practical implications for librarians. First, they enable librarians to reflect on provided services in terms of personas. This reflection enables library services to be refined to meet patron needs. Second, the interconnection between personas enables librarians to market other services. As a patron uses one service, librarians can point out related services that may be of interest or help. This is particularly important for new student orientation tours. Finally, matching the personas with other library trends and patterns assists librarians with the development of the library as a space suited to meet the needs of its patrons.

While the use of personas is common in communications, marketing and business, their development and use in academic libraries is quite unique. They become quite useful in associating library services to the patrons that use them. Strategic planning also uses personas as services are upgraded and improved or new services are created to meet more persona needs.

The goal of this study is to gather information from library patrons to answer the questions of whether real‐time reference services (instant messaging, IM) are beneficial to patrons and how valuable they are to fulfilling their task needs. The study was designed to elicit information about how patrons were dealing with the rapidly changing technological environment, and how helpful they felt IM reference services were to them.

The investigation uses the technology acceptance model (TAM) as the basic framework and extends it by the variable of perceived relevance (PR) which intends to extend understanding of the adoption of IM services. The sample consisted of three university libraries' patrons on the basis of convenience, and 323 usable responses were obtained.

This research found general support for TAM. Specifically, the findings show that perceived ease of use of IM services is the key factor for the patrons' attitudes about the IM service. Overall, the model explained 58 percent of the variance in behaviour intention. Thus, the results show that the proposed model does satisfactorily explain the adoption of the IM service.

The findings of this research provide some useful insights into a patron's behavioural intention toward adoption of an IM service which will stimulate thought about real‐time reference services that could be offered by other libraries. And it will be valuable for better understanding of factors affecting the determinants of IM acceptance, which allows libraries to devise more effective approaches to improving the patrons' perceptions of a target system and thereby boost subsequent acceptance of the system.