Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
  1. Home
  2. Publications
  3. Publishing partners
  4. Facet Publishing
  5. Content Listing

Refine listing

Refine listing

Access:
Content type:
Publication date:
Apply   From and To filters
Subject: Show more
Journals Show more
Publishers: Show more
Societies Show more
Series: Show more
Collections: Show more

Actions for selected content:

Select all | Deselect all
  • View selected items
  • Export citations
  • Download PDF (zip)
  • Save to Kindle
  • Save to Dropbox
  • Save to Google Drive

Save Search

You can save your searches here and later view and run them again in "My saved searches".

Please provide a title, maximum of 40 characters.
Cancel
×

5856 results in Facet Publishing

Page 174 of 293

  • 4 - Writing your project plan

  • from PART 1 - GETTING STARTED
  • Edited by Maria J. Grant, Sen Barbara, Hannah Spring
  • Book:
    Research, Evaluation and Audit
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    31 October 2013, pp 45-64

  • Summary

    ‘How do I convince my employers to give me time to do my project?’

    ‘I can see the need for producing a plan but what do I need to put in it?’

    ‘I have a great idea for improving my service but how do I gather the evidence to show that it is needed?’

    As you start to read this chapter you are likely to be at the stage when you wish to translate your research question, aims and objectives into a fullscale project. You probably have some idea of what you would like to do, how you intend to do it and when. You may also be wondering whose support you need for it to happen.

    This chapter will demonstrate how a project plan or proposal can be just what you need to organize your project and convince prospective supporters of its value. It will show you how a plan is valuable for any research, evaluation or audit project, whether large or small, funded or not. It will describe the various purposes of a research plan and emphasize the importance of the audience to how you construct and write the plan.

    Each of the different elements of the plan will be considered in turn, from choosing a title to evaluating the project. You will see that not all elements are necessary for every project, but you will learn how to choose those that are right for yours.

    The chapter will wrap up with some further things to think about once you have completed your plan.

    A plan or a proposal?

    It could be said that the main purpose of a proposal is to persuade somebody else to support a piece of work, whilst the primary function of a plan is to guide you through the project. In practice there is a high degree of overlap between the two. In fact, they are essentially the same thing, but written for different audiences. In this chapter we will cover elements of both plans and proposals, noting the differences as they arise. We use the term ‘plan’ through out, but all of the points raised would also apply to a research proposal.

  • 12 - Thinking inside the box

  • from PART 3 - IDEAS AND FUTURES
  • Edited by Les Watson
  • Book:
    Better Library and Learning Space
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    31 October 2013, pp 159-166

  • Summary

    Introduction

    Much is said about transforming education. As architects and designers it is debatable as to whether we can influence pedagogical outcome … but we are eager to try. Through placemaking and the creation of better learning environments we can influence activity and behaviour in a creative, exciting and innovative way.

    Since Socrates sat under a plane tree in ancient Greece, Cistercian monks occupied their monastic cells in the 11th century, merchants discoursed in the coffee houses of 17th century London and pupils were fearful in foreboding Victorian school houses … learning has been serendipitous. We learn, despite the space or building.

    This chapter will illustrate how form and space provide ‘a wrap’ for learning environments – intentionally or otherwise – and how it can be improved. The architecture can work much harder to encourage the activity within the space – creating the joy of space and an exciting environment in which to learn.

    I believe that as architects we need to establish objectives, then work within defined parameters. This should be considered as a creative challenge rather than a restrictive convention. It is a fundamental multidimensional assessment of light, space and technology and how they can best be combined architecturally … it is about ‘thinking inside the box’.

    Many learning spaces now excel through designing from the inside out. We are not talking about simply interior design but true architecture where the inside of the building form and function is expressed in an intrinsic rather than superficial way – for example the Saltire Centre at Glasgow Caledonian University, where a range of learning spaces has been created, in part through orientation, circulation patterns, the permeability of the building and the environmental strategy. More recently some of the most exciting, imaginative environments have been created for technology and media-based companies such as Apple, Google, Microsoft, Pixar and Disney, embracing dynamic architectural spaces, the latest information and communication technology, smart furniture solutions, minimal storage, and bold use of colour and art to create a sense of place, which encourages inspiration and creative learning, and makes for a joyful working environment.

  • 1 - UK projects and trends

  • from PART 1 - PROJECTS AND TRENDS
  • Edited by Les Watson
  • Book:
    Better Library and Learning Space
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    31 October 2013, pp 5-20

  • Summary

    Introduction

    There is no doubt that the environment for libraries, and particularly for library development, in the UK has become really tough since the economic crash of 2008. Over the past 15 years there has been a traumatic shift from a period of boom to one of bust in the financial environment, which has affected resource availability. This period of fiscal constraint is a key factor influencing the continuation of library as place, and sits in a broader global context of major technological, informational, societal and behavioural change discussed in Part 2 of this book, and questions the need for physical library spaces. Judging from press and television reports in recent years, it seems that funding is the biggest single most important factor faced by UK libraries – particularly small local public libraries. Public libraries show around a 13% reduction in income between 2008/09 and 2011/12 (LISU, 2013). These same press and television reports also indicate that libraries have changed little over the past 50 years, which is confirmed by those protesting against library closures or service restrictions; these protestors build their primary arguments opposing these changes around the library as book repository and place of reading (Horn, 2008). It is easy to see how government and local authorities might dismiss such protests in an age when more information than ever before is available through more channels than ever before to more people than ever before. ‘Between the birth of the world and 2003, there were five exabytes of information created. We [now] create five exabytes every two days’ (King, 2013). And thanks to a mixed economy of paper and e-books, more people are reading than ever before (Sweeney, 2011). An important consequence for libraries of this massive increase in information resources on the internet is that it creates more opportunities for informal personal learning than ever before – there is an unmet need for learning facilitation and support, potentially giving libraries an important future.

    Despite the tough financial climate there have been many new library developments in the UK, particularly in the university sector, in recent years including refurbished and repurposed space as well as completely new buildings.

  • 25 - Conclusions

  • from PART 3 - IDEAS AND FUTURES
  • Edited by Les Watson
  • Book:
    Better Library and Learning Space
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    31 October 2013, pp 269-272

  • Summary

    The agenda for libraries back in the final decade of the last century was focused on technology and how it was affecting their key resource of information. The debate was concerned primarily with digitization and the format of materials – but also with the early signs of the potential disappearance of library space (Crawford and Gorman, 1995). Almost 20 years later, following significant progress with digital and virtual libraries, the emphasis has shifted from the potential disappearance of physical libraries to a real threat as technology has permeated not just the resources and materials that we use but has become essential to our lives as readers and learners. The threat now to library space is not that the digital resources will replace physical collections but that universal access from personal devices will remove the appetite and necessity of users to visit. Add to this the eagerness of politicians and educational managers to save money and the library as place is under more pressure to prove its worth than ever before. The argument in this book is that the library as a place of learning is its most fundamental attribute and if developed as such libraries as places will have an assured future.

    That libraries and their spaces have an essential role in personal, societal and community learning is illustrated by the worldwide case studies described in the first part of this book. Part 1 has examples of many learning spaces in education and elsewhere that closely fit their community's needs. That many of these case studies describe the ‘look and feel’ of the libraries and their spaces indicates that the most important aspects of an effective library learning space are intangible ‘soft’ factors, which have emotional and psychological effects defying categorization. The hope of a systematic scientific recipe for the design of successful library learning spaces is currently elusive – as I mentioned in the introduction to this book the process of space development is more art than science. But this does not mean that we cannot shift the balance to remove some of the uncertainty about the potential success of a new space. Part of this activity has to be based on the experiments of small-scale trials preceding large-scale projects where feasible, experiments with pop-up spaces and furniture, and mashups of activities that create new ideas for space.

  • 10 - Tools to facilitate your project

  • from PART 2 - DOING RESEARCH, EVALUATION AND AUDIT
    • By Maria J. Grant, Research Fellow (Information), School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work, University of Salford, UK
  • Edited by Maria J. Grant, Sen Barbara, Hannah Spring
  • Book:
    Research, Evaluation and Audit
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    31 October 2013, pp 177-188

  • Summary

    ‘I feel completely overwhelmed by the amount of “information” I've gathered. Help!’

    ‘What tools are out there to help me manage all this data?’

    ‘How can I keep track of what's going on in the wider LIS community?’

    When doing a project, whether it's research, evaluation or audit, you can often feel overwhelmed by the amount of information generated and, particularly when you are new to project work, it can be difficult to know where to turn for support. The good news is that there are lots of tools and networks available to help you.

    This chapter moves through the resources and tools available at each stage of the research, evaluation and audit process, discussing reference management software, concept mapping, alert services, RSS readers. Some of the more commonly used tools available are listed in each section. These are provided purely for illustration purposes and are not intended as recommendations.

    Reference management software and associated Applications

    For many of us, literature searching is an integral part of the service we provide as part of our day today practice. The end point for this service often manifests itself as a printed list of references or, more commonly, a file of downloaded references for the service user to manage, appraise and analyse. Like our service users, when using literature to inform our own practice we can employ tools to assist the management and manipulation of the literature. These can include reference management software packages and concept mapping tools, sometimes referred to as mind mapping.

    Reference management software

    Reference management software, also known as citation management software, enables you to upload records and keep track of the records you've found through your database searches. Each document listed in the database search results is given its own record within the software, usually with a notes field so that you can annotate the record in terms of its usefulness and relationship to the themes you've identified in the literature.

  • 7 - Qualitative approaches

  • from PART 2 - DOING RESEARCH, EVALUATION AND AUDIT
  • Edited by Maria J. Grant, Sen Barbara, Hannah Spring
  • Book:
    Research, Evaluation and Audit
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    31 October 2013, pp 97-120

  • Summary

    ‘How am I supposed to collect qualitative data? It all sounds a bit scary, I know where I am with the numbers we collect.’

    ‘I don't have time to collect lots of detailed accounts of what people do.’

    ‘Is qualitative data any use to me? I'm not sure what I would do with it even if I had it.’

    Qualitative approaches to research, evaluation and audit are concerned with the ‘why’ and the ‘how’ of what people do. This approach to research aims to explore issues or questions in a particular context and provide ‘thick description’ of both the issues or questions and the environment in which they occur. Ryle (1971) separates actions into layers – the first layer, or ‘thin description’, tells us what was done and how often it was done. The second layer, or ‘thick description’, emerges once we begin to explore the context in which it was done, how it was done and why it was done. This level of detail not only allows for deeper understanding but it also allows for transferability of the findings from one context to another if those contexts are sufficiently similar. Transferability is the qualitative equivalent of generalization. For this reason context is important in qualitative research and wherever possible the research should be carried out in the natural setting of research participants, in order to witness the framework of their own multilayered environment. This makes it an ideal approach for practitioner research, as you are already embedded in your context and you can bring understanding and insight to what goes on there. In qualitative research you, as the researcher, are central to the whole process and are able to use all of your knowledge and understanding of a situation to investigate the question and interpret the findings. (For further discussion on the nature and purpose of qualitative research see Denzin and Lincoln, 2011.)

    Designing qualitative research

    A qualitative research study starts out with a broad map of the research question or topic you want to explore, the context in which you will be exploring it and an indication of how you intend to explore it. Your research question will usually come from something that you've noticed in everyday practice or in the literature you've been reading.

  • Closing remarks

    • By Maria J. Grant, Research Fellow (Information), School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work, University of Salford, UK, Barbara Sen, Lecturer, Information School, University of Sheffield, UK, Hannah Spring, Senior Lecturer, York St John University, UK
  • Edited by Maria J. Grant, Sen Barbara, Hannah Spring
  • Book:
    Research, Evaluation and Audit
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    31 October 2013, pp 227-228

  • Summary

    When we started this project we had a vision of what this book might look like: a practical introduction to research, evaluation and audit for those new to or wishing to refresh their project management skills set. What we've achieved has more than exceeded our expectations.

    We've been fortunate enough to work with colleagues from across library and information sectors and geographic locations. The completed edited collection graphically realizes the fact that the issues we all face when getting started with projects – be they research, evaluation or audit – are universal and can be universally addressed. The book is a coherent set of discrete, yet complementary, chapters that truly lead you from initial general thoughts about a topic, through the planning process, the data collection and analysis, the writing up and dissemination activities, and beyond, ensuring that you are able to maximize the impact of your project wherever you are situated.

    We hope you have found this book as enjoyable a read as we have in compiling it. We invite you to get in touch (@ResearchEvalAudit) to let us know what you think and also what else you would have liked to have seen represented. Who knows, perhaps your feedback could prove the inspiration for our next project.

  • 1 - What are research, evaluation and audit?

  • from PART 1 - GETTING STARTED
    • By Barbara Sen, Lecturer, Information School, University of Sheffield, UK, Maria J. Grant, Research Fellow (Information), School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work, University of Salford, UK, Hannah Spring, Senior Lecturer, York St John University, UK
  • Edited by Maria J. Grant, Sen Barbara, Hannah Spring
  • Book:
    Research, Evaluation and Audit
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    31 October 2013, pp 3-14

  • Summary

    ‘I don't do research. I don't have the time. I am too busy with the day today running of the library. I do evaluations of my service to ensure that it meets the needs of my users, and that the journal providers give good value for money. But that's not research is it?’

    ‘I'm a practitioner not a researcher.’

    ‘I run a service, so have nothing to research.’

    The existence of a workable definition of research is an important one, as a common barrier for becoming involved in research is a lack of understanding or misunderstanding of what research is.

    Research is identified by French, Reynolds and Swain (2001) as the simple process of systematic enquiry and of finding out. Across the board, professional disciplines from industry, business, science and law to the arts and humanities, the definitions of research are essentially the same. For instance, in relation to business studies, Saunders et al. (2003) identify research as the undertaking of processes in a systematic way in order to find things out about business and management. Cameron and Price (2009, 4) define research as ‘any systematic attempt at collecting and interpreting data and evidence in order to inform thinking, decisions and/or actions in relation to an issue of interest to an organization and/or its stakeholders’. Elsewhere, the UK Department of Health (2005) defines research as ‘the attempt to derive generalisable new knowledge by addressing clearly defined questions with systematic and rigorous methods’.

    Why is research important?

    Research can demonstrate the relevance, value, impact and effectiveness of the day today business of library and information provision. As the above definitions imply, research provides us with the means of finding answers to questions. Supplementing your professional knowledge and experience, RycroftMalone et al. (2004) highlight ‘local’ data (gathered through audit) and customer experience and preferences (gathered through evaluation) as activities that you may use to investigate your day today practice – activities which can count as research.

    The output from research, evaluation and audit are all appropriate in the information and library sector and can be carried out by people who would consider themselves to be either practitioners or academic researchers.

  • 3 - Asking the right question

  • from PART 1 - GETTING STARTED
  • Edited by Maria J. Grant, Sen Barbara, Hannah Spring
  • Book:
    Research, Evaluation and Audit
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    31 October 2013, pp 31-44

  • Summary

    ‘Where do project ideas come from?’

    ‘What makes a good research question?’

    ‘Should I work in collaboration with other researchers?’

    Most researchers would acknowledge that knowing how to begin can be the hardest part. However, Fourie (2012) urges every library and information science (LIS) practitioner to play their part in contributing to the evidence base that so directly informs decisionmaking, while Lerdal (2006) suggests that we can positively affect the future of our profession by building up a bank of professional knowledge which can be applied to our daily practice.

    There is no defined place to begin the process of generating your research question, which can instead be viewed as an iterative and cyclical process (Beck and Manuel, 2008) or, as Blaxter, Hughes and Tight (2006) refer to the research process, a research spiral. Both approaches indicate that research is a neverending process that can be entered at almost any point, and so finding a research idea that interests you is a good first step and, as Beck and Manuel suggest, can be a key determinant in the later success of a project. This chapter provides guidance through those first essential stages of generating ideas and formulating research questions.

    What makes a good research question?

    The key to a strong piece of research is a question that is answerable, well built and focused (Lerdal, 2006). Your question will be the foundation on which the search strategy, methodology (see Chapters 7 and 8), literaturereview (see Chapter 6) and ultimately the conclusion is built upon. Research questions should be clearly defined (Bryman, 2008) and answerable. This may sound simple and obvious but compare the approach of formulating a research statement versus a research question. Your research statement might be ‘Young people's impressions of librarianship as a career’. However, changing it to pose it as a question will help ensure that it is tightly and accurately defined (Boden, Kenway and Epstein, 2005, 30), for example, ‘What impressions do young people have of librarianship as a career?’

  • 5 - European projects and trends

  • from PART 1 - PROJECTS AND TRENDS
    • By Joyce Sternheim, library consultant, who specializes in future visions and innovative projects for public libraries, Rob Bruijnzeels, Ministry of Imagination
  • Edited by Les Watson
  • Book:
    Better Library and Learning Space
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    31 October 2013, pp 61-74

  • Summary

    Introduction: the library is the message

    A remarkable amount of attention is being devoted to library design in Europe at present. Never before have libraries been designed with such dedication and quality. Although we are in the midst of an economic crisis, new, surprising and sometimes even iconic library buildings are being constructed in many places. These buildings can all be seen as attempts to redefine and redesign the library.

    This redefinition is essential, as great changes in our society demand radically different approaches to library work. One force that has affected the core functions of libraries is the exponential development of information technologies, particularly the internet, which has become the place where people form their identity, maintain contacts and deploy initiatives. It is a platform where anyone can be an information producer, a writer, an expert, a musician or a film maker. Increasingly, knowledge is exchanged in the numerous communities that are built around themes and areas of interest. People share their experiences and add their own knowledge, making use of their social networks and internet sources to do so. The resultant information overload gives rise to a need for new values, interpretation and meaning. A new phase has begun: the ‘conceptual age’, as the author Daniel Pink (2006) describes it. It is an age in which right-brain qualities such as creativity, empathy, imagination, spirituality and the ability to make exciting connections will make all the difference.

    Traditional library processes, such as collection development and cataloguing, no longer provide an adequate response to these developments. The library will increasingly have to take on a co-ordinating and inspiring role in the process of knowledge creation and exchange. In an era of cocreation, the knowledge and expertise of users will be indispensable to this role. Libraries have to adapt their processes in such a way as to facilitate participation and co-creation. The real challenge is to manifest these processes in the library building of the future. How can we create the best environment for inspiration, learning, knowledge-sharing and storytelling?

    To find answers to this question, we discuss four new libraries in the Netherlands and Germany. Each of these buildings was conceived on the basis of a specific vision regarding the function and meaning of the library; the vision was then translated into an exciting design.

  • 8 - Library space and learning

  • from PART 2 - TRENDS AND IDEAS
  • Edited by Les Watson
  • Book:
    Better Library and Learning Space
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    31 October 2013, pp 109-116

  • Summary

    Introduction

    Libraries have always been places of learning, supporting personal exploration of the information and knowledge held in their collections and also being a place for researchers to learn and for the learner as researcher. Equally instruction on how to make best use of the resources held by the library and how to access its services has always been part of the work of the library, through either documentation distributed to users or specific training courses. This role has further developed with the growth of eresources, with libraries acting as information brokers. In these ways libraries are already part of the national and international learning landscape, but can play a greater role in community, societal and individual learning support for learners and their learning by developing better library learning space.

    In the late 20th and early 21st century theories and models of information literacy have been developed – for example in the UK both the Society of College, National and University Libraries (SCONUL), supporting libraries in the higher education sector and national UK libraries, and CILIP: the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, providing support to all member librarians, developed structured models for the provision of information literacy training and education. Some of these models were informed by current learning theories, for example, the SCONUL seven pillars model (2011) (with the recent addition of a cyclical representation of the pillars) is strikingly similar to Kolb's model of learning (1984), acknowledging that for learning to occur the learner requires a phase of reflection, to then learn from the experience, and then plan and conceive the next experience. However, in practice most users of these models do not consider all of these aspects but tend to focus on information finding. Making the shift from an operational ‘consumer view’ of access to learning resources towards the process of learning is one of the challenges for models of information literacy and the library's wider involvement in learning.

    In the 21st century technology has become a key component of the skills environment required to access and handle information and develop new knowledge. Inability to use technology effectively is an insurmountable barrier to information access and use.

  • 21 - Learning landscapes, the library and the University of Lincoln: efficiency, effectiveness, expression and experimentation

  • from PART 3 - IDEAS AND FUTURES
  • Edited by Les Watson
  • Book:
    Better Library and Learning Space
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    31 October 2013, pp 231-240

  • Summary

    The library exists ab aeterno. This truth, whose immediate corollary is the future eternity of the world, cannot be placed in doubt by any reasonable mind.

    Borges (1964, 79)

    E-learning landscapes

    The concept of learning landscapes has become ubiquitous in higher education, encouraging universities to create networks of ‘discovery, and discourse between students, faculty, staff, and the wider community’, with a clear recognition that ‘campuses need to use academic space more effectively as well as efficiently’, built around ‘overlapping networks of compelling places’ (Dugdale, 2009).

    The University of Lincoln, UK, is applying the concept of learning landscapes to its built estate. Following Dugdale (2009), the focus has been on effectiveness (pedagogical activities) as well as efficiency (space utilization) and the production of compelling spaces. However, beyond Dugdale's definition, these compelling spaces are being designed to express the meaning and purpose of higher education, or ‘the idea of the university’ (Neary and Saunders, 2011). The idea of the university is much more than its functionally defined subject specificities or technocratic networked spaces; it is derived from a university's ‘intimate connection with science and truth’ (Habermas and Blazek, 1987, 3). At the University of Lincoln ‘the idea of the university’ is created through the dynamic of the research process when students collaborate with academics to produce critical practical knowledge. At Lincoln this dynamic between student and academic is defined as student as producer; in other words the ‘idea of the university’ includes ‘the idea of the student’. In order to achieve this connection between the metaphysical idea of the university with the everyday life of its academics, students and professional services, the University of Lincoln has developed its own econcept: experimentation. Experiment means rigorous empirical methodology informed by appropriate conceptual framework. In this way the University is returned to the essence of its own foundational principles, valuing the principles of academic research around which the concept of student as producer is based (Neary, 2012; Neary, Williams et al., 2010).

    Academics already contribute to the design of teaching and learning spaces as clients and customers of the project management process.

  • 24 - Furniture fit for the future – a brief exploration of library and learning furniture today and for the coming generation

  • from PART 3 - IDEAS AND FUTURES
  • Edited by Les Watson
  • Book:
    Better Library and Learning Space
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    31 October 2013, pp 259-268

  • Summary

    What is furniture for?

    In this article I endeavour to investigate the trends driving library and learning spaces forward from a furniture designer's perspective and explore how furniture may evolve to facilitate this journey.

    The advance of technology has led us all a merry dance over the last 30 years. In 1983 I rang people on my telephone – it is now 2013 and my smart phone sits on the desk beside me. On last count this clever, potent machine has replaced no fewer than 45 products and services in my life. Irrefutably, technology's rapid rate of change promises to influence the furniture used in library and learning spaces dramatically.

    Let us focus on the furniture we currently use and consider where this may lead in the coming generation. To put our investigation in context let us underpin it with three simple ideas:

  • • Furniture is for people. For the most part people need somewhere to put themselves (typically a seat) and somewhere to put things (shelves) and do things (worktops). Good furniture is about ‘people fit’.

  • • Change is certain, and great flexibility in library and learning furniture is absolutely key to future-proofing.

  • • People will always seek social context in community hubs and they will always need to learn. The future of libraries and learning facilities is assured, though their forms will continue to transform.

    • Staff versus the machine

    Recent surveys indicate that for many library users interaction with staff remains an important component of their library visit.1 Apart from offering practical assistance librarians are people helping people and providing important social context – there is no replacement for a welcoming smile. Though libraries will undergo continuing automation staff–user interaction will remain an important part of library life and furniture will continue to be needed to support this.

    Front of house minimized

    We are in the midst of a general trend to break down the barriers in search of enhanced customer experience. This has been supported by the move to customer self-service models, including issues, returns and reservations, which make the old-style circulation counter (I call them fortresses) increasingly redundant.

  • Foreword

    • By Hazel Hall, Professor of Social Informatics, Edinburgh Napier University
  • Edited by Maria J. Grant, Sen Barbara, Hannah Spring
  • Book:
    Research, Evaluation and Audit
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    31 October 2013, pp xiii-xvi

  • Summary

    I was delighted when the editors of Research, Evaluation and Audit: key steps in demonstrating your value invited me to write the foreword to this new work. This volume of contributions has been designed to meet the needs of practitioners eager to conduct research to inform their own practice and to develop the library and information science (LIS) evidence base. As such, it addresses an ongoing concern of the LIS community: the research–practice gap. In your hands is an artefact of the efforts of some key actors within the LIS research and practitioner community to close the gap by sharing their knowledge and expertise so that others can undertake their own research projects.

    Although the research–practice gap has been evident for some time, since 2009 renewed investment in the UK LIS research infrastructure, alongside a number of smaller parallel initiatives, has drawn greater attention to it. The most significant of these initiatives derived from a base of informal discussions about the state of UK LIS research in 2006. Five key stakeholders – the British Library, the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP), JISC, the Museums Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) and the Research Information Network (RIN) took action in 2009 by making a three year investment to facilitate a coordinated and strategic approach to LIS research across the UK. Known as the Library and Information Science Research Coalition, from the start this project focused on five key goals. Amongst these were two that relate directly to the content of Research, Evaluation and Audit (1) to promote LIS practitioner research and the translation of research outcomes into practice; and (2) to promote the development of research capacity in LIS.

    In the final year of its implementation in 2011–12 the Coalition's main aim was articulated as ‘supporting practising librarians and information scientists, both in how they can access and exploit available research in their work, and in their own development as practitioner researchers’.

  • 16 - Libraries in the network society: evolution, revolution, extinction?

  • from PART 3 - IDEAS AND FUTURES
  • Edited by Les Watson
  • Book:
    Better Library and Learning Space
    Published by:
    Facet
    Published online:
    08 June 2018
    Print publication:
    31 October 2013, pp 193-200

  • Summary

    The Internet has become a vital part of our lives and our society.

    Dutton and Blank (2011, 8)

    Welcome to the network society

    The Oxford Internet Institute's biennial study (Dutton and Blank, 2011) reminds us just how important the internet now is to every aspect of life. Three-quarters of the UK population are regular internet users (ONS, 2012), who invariably use broadband, and the web is now an essential information source in support of the daily routine. Most searched-for topics include travel information (86% of users), local information (86%), news (79%) and health information (71%). The web is an online shopping mall (86%) and bank (60%), a place of communication and interaction (e-mail 96%, social networking 60%) and entertainment (music 61%, games 51%) (Dutton and Blank, 2011, Chapter 3). Dutton and Blank (2011) report that almost half of internet users expect 24/7 access from multiple platforms, and these next generation users are of all ages.

    Attaching simple labels to something as complex and heterodox as a whole society risks oversimplification, but they may be helpful to understanding general patterns of change. The agrarian, industrial, postindustrial and information society all highlight significant change both in social behaviours, values and expectations and in the conventions and structures that sustain a society. In his seminal study The Rise of the Network Society, Manuel Castells (2010) argues that the defining feature of the network society is that digital networks become ‘the predominant organizational form of every domain of human activity’, and it is within Castells’ definition that this chapter considers the future for libraries as agents of learning. The evidence within the Oxford Internet Survey certainly demonstrates significant behavioural changes. Furthermore, in the private sector radical structural change has already taken place in sectors such as the recorded music industry and retailing (Naughton, 2012). Traditional industries have frequently struggled to respond to the speed of market evolution and to competition from start-up entrepreneurs and innovators. Google and Facebook grew from student ideas to become global phenomena, while it took an innovative organization to see what the recorded music industry could not see, that the chemistry of Napster and the MP3 player was not a threat, but a catalyst for the marketchanging iTunes service. The net result is an ever-increasing rate of change with greater competition, rapid innovation and unstoppable market demand for new platforms and services.

Page 174 of 293