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The purpose of this paper is to serve as a reminder to all managers that they must understand their customers, from the customers' perspective, and not make assumptions about customer needs.

Customer value discovery workshops are held with undergraduate on‐campus students and academic staff at Nottingham Trent University to identify customer values and irritations. Library staff participate in the workshops and vote as they expect their customers to vote. The gaps identified between staff assumptions of customer perceptions of service importance and performance serve as a catalyst for staff engagement in the change process that is necessary to deliver on the value propositions and reduce customer irritations.

Library staff assumptions of customer perceptions are not always accurate. The gaps identified help to engage staff in the change process that is necessary to improve perceptions of value and to reduce irritations. By explicitly addressing the value propositions with the aims of adding value and reducing irritation, student satisfaction with library services, as measured by two independent satisfaction surveys, improves considerably.

The research is based on two customer segments of one university library. The research should be repeated after a gap of three‐four years to check if the value propositions and irritations have changed in that time. If so, the goals of the library's operational plan would have to change to reflect the new value propositions.

A comparison of the Customer Value Discovery methodology with LibQUAL+™, which is used internationally, and the Rodski Research Group's method, used in Australia and New Zealand, is given.

The Customer Value Discovery methodology is most often used in the commercial sector. This paper explores its potential in the not‐for‐profit sector in the context of a university library service.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

This paper endeavours to provide answers to the following questions: Is there a correlation between what library customers value and the questions asked in benchmarking satisfaction surveys? Is there a core set of academic library customer values? Are there differences between what academic library customers value in Australia when compared to their counterparts in England? Do library customer values change over time?

The results of two similar university libraries' customer value discovery research are compared with each other, and also with the question set in the LibQUAL+™ survey. As the customer value discovery research was undertaken six years apart, the results are compared to see if there has been change over time.

Academic library customers identified a core set of values, and these values mapped reasonably well to the LibQUAL+™ instrument. However, there were unique value factors identified by the various customer segments that did not map. Some questions in LibQUAL+™ were more detailed in their exploration of library staff attributes than customers identified in their value proposition. Customers identify their values +without reference to library jargon.

The paper shows that customer value discovery and LibQUAL+™ are both valuable management tools that identify services and resources of importance to library customers.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide library managers with information about what to expect if they are considering a post in another country. It challenges a suggestion that a senior manager's major value is their local network. Rather, the skills, experience, culture and attitude, as well as networks, can contribute to a successful career in another country. Design/methodology/approach – The paper provides an example of an Australian expatriate senior library manager who took up a post in the United Kingdom. It draws upon literature on cultural differences and knowledge transfer across international borders. Findings – The paper provides an example of a successful transfer of management knowledge to a new country, highlighting actions taken to form a new management team. Also provides practical advice on personal and social matters that have to be addressed for the relocation to be successful. Practical implications – Leadership, good management, and an awareness of, and sensitivity to, cultural differences are required for a successful transfer of management knowledge. At a senior level, it is not so much about expertise in librarianship, but management and leadership that are important. Originality/value – The paper provides a positive example of an expatriate senior library manager moving to a new country. It will be of interest to anyone contemplating an international professional relocation.

This paper examines the general value to users of a range of electronic journal functions and their usefulness in the specific context of the SuperJournal Project. For the evaluation of each of the functions three types of data were analysed in relation to each other and in light of other contextual data: logged data of usage, survey data on user satisfaction, and survey data on the perceived importance of the function. The analysis shows that basic browsing, printing and search make up the core functions of electronic journals; other functions, such as saving of bibliographic data, alerting, customising, links with external resources and communication, serve as peripheral functions. The usefulness of both the core functions and the peripheral functions in a specific service is influenced by various implementation factors. However, it is the realised usefulness of the core functions which determines the use of a service.

Contends the Internet is a medium for commerce, marketing, advertising and distribution, as well as invention, entertainment and discussion. Reckons that on the Internet there is only on certainty – when creative destruction reigns it is business as usual. Concludes that succeeding in the global Internet economy is very difficult, and survival is far from assured.

The purpose of the paper is two-fold. The first is to inform the readers of the racist origins of libraries in America. Readers will learn about historic instances of systemic racism in libraries and those that persist today. The second purpose is to give readers examples of antiracist actions they can take on an individual level, in concert with library administration, and on the institutional level.

This paper gives an overview of systemic racism in librarianship. Part I outlines the history of libraries and their institutional oppression origins in America. Part II reviews some of the current racial issues in Libraries and Information Science (LIS). Part III gives the author's viewpoint on how to incorporate antiracist action within libraries and how to decenter whiteness at the national level.

The authors found that libraries were established on institutional oppression and systemic racism, which continue to this day to center whiteness and disadvantage BIPOC. Having said that, now is the time to make changes, decenter whiteness and remove systemic barriers through antiracist actions. These actions will help increase the number of BIPOC working in libraries and improve the retention and promotion of those BIPOC too. If the American Library Association (ALA) heeds this call to action, Critical Race Theory (CRT) will become part of the Master's of Library and Information Science (MLIS), BIPOC will be better funded and supported, and the credentialing stigma will be removed.

This article highlights concrete action that should be taken beyond individual bias awareness and into systemic changes. It advocates for more critical awareness and daily antiracist action within the LIS field.

Smallholder families in Papua New Guinea (PNG) feed the nation and produce income-generating cash crops such as coffee and cocoa. However, agricultural extension has not yet effectively reached many farming families in the country, and many families still work with semi-subsistence practices. As a result, the majority of farming families have insecure livelihoods, with many living below the poverty line. This chapter explores a collaborative research for development project that sought to address this issue.

Using data from two highlands sites in the Western Highlands and Jiwaka provinces, we outline the empowerment processes we developed in both our research and our learning activities. We illustrate how the experiential learning processes enabled women, especially those with low education, to confidently engage in this form of agricultural extension. Our work surfaced the knowledge of both women and men and supported families to determine how to work together in effective and equitable planned farming.