The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) is the leading international body representing the interests of library and information services and their users. It is the global voice of the information profession. The series IFLA Publications deals with many of the means through which libraries, information centres, and information professionals worldwide can formulate their goals, exert their influence as a group, protect their interests, and find solutions to global problems.
Librarians and information workers the world over are faced with the constant challenge of remaining abreast of developments in their field. Rapid changes in technology and workplace roles threaten to make their skills obsolete unless they undertake constant professional development. This international collection presents a comprehensive overview of current continuing professional development theory and practice for those who manage and work in library and information services. Papers by academics and practitioners describe numerous innovative responses to emerging continuing education and training needs, including workplace learning; individual learning and learning organisations.
Library marketing and advertising in schools are now very widespread practices. Since libraries and schools have been strongly linked to economic performance, adopting marketing and advertising techniques into them is often seen as a natural extension of that linkage. But should that be the case? John Buschman argues that as we shape and guide our educative institutions, we should carefully consider the consequences. In Libraries, Classrooms, and the Interests of Democracy: Marking the Limits of Neoliberalism, Dr. Buschman details the connections between our educative institutions and democracy, and the resources within democratic theory reflecting on the tensions between marketing, advertising, consumption, and democracy. Drawing on wide scholarship to explore some of the history of democratic theory and its intertwinements with capitalism, the author helps the reader think about how democracies can deal with the challenges of this current historical phase. The complex arguments of de Tocqueville, Dewey, Marx, and many others help clarify how the market has pierced classrooms and libraries with advertising and marketing—and why this is of concern in the interests of democracy. In this volume, Buschman provides a history of marketing and advertising and their entanglements with democracy, education, and libraries. He then engages Democratic Theory and the framework it provides to critique neoliberalism’s influences. A final chapter traces the trajectory of neoliberalism and educative institutions on our democracy. Throughout, the book makes clear that issues concerning public educative institutions in a democracy are political. A provocative and engaging book, Libraries, Classrooms, and the Interests of Democracy should be required reading for anyone interested in the challenges facing libraries today.
The marketing of library services is an essential agenda item for almost all kinds of libraries all over the world. In this volume 47 experts from 20 countries address the issue through 40 articles. The bundling of dozens of contributions from a truly international group of librarians, presented in this book, provides a broad spectrum on the topic. This book will thus prove immensely useful, helping both working librarians and future librarians to understand vital issues relating to the marketing of library and information services at the local, national and international level. The book is divided into the following six sections: Marketing concept: a changing perspective; Marketing in libraries around the world; Role of library associations; Education, training and research; Excellence in marketing; Databases and other marketing literature.
In Marketing Today’s Academic Library, Brian Mathews uses his vast experience to speak directly to the academic library practitioner about matching services with user needs. This book proposes new visions and ideas, challenging the traditional way of thinking and providing a framework to target users more precisely.Most library marketing intended for undergraduates promotes the collection, reference and instructional service, and occasional events such as guest speakers or exhibits. The guiding principle of Marketing Today’s Academic Library is that marketing should focus on the lifestyle of the user, showcasing how the library fits within the daily life of the student. Mathews’ personal and compelling presentation will assist readers in Challenging and rethinking their marketing strategies Demonstrating their value through applied relevance Focusing on the needs of the student and their expectationsWritten in a concise and engaging manner that speaks to popular anxiety points about new marketing techniques, this book is filled with tips and strategies that academic librarians can use to communicate with students, surpassing their expectations of their library experience.
Electronic resource management is becoming a primary responsibility of library managers. This book approaches electronic resource management as a system affecting all library work, linking it to concepts of collaborative management and the assessment cycle. The author demonstrates how collection development, acquisitions, licensing, budgeting, and cataloging techniques; technological infrastructure; and user services for electronic resources fit into the new collaborative management that relies on learning more than control to respond to change. The techniques presented for managing electronic resources improves the library's service value through relationships between library professionals and with library customers. Engaging the librarian in a cycle of constant learning and assessment, the approach ultimately makes work lighter, relationships with colleagues and customers more productive, and library services more relevant to community needs.
The library and information profession builds skills and expertise that cover a wide spectrum. These skills are often desirable in other fields and industries. Likewise, the skills we build before entering the library and information professions can help us as professionals. Skills to Make a Librarian looks at both sides of this equation through a collection of essays by current and former librarians and information professionals who make use of this wide range of cross disciplinary skills. - Chapters written by authors at various points in their careers detailing what skills they have developed outside of librarianship - Chapter authors discuss skills that have benefited their practice and careers, and how the skills of librarianship fit into life outside libraries - Authors open up about personal experiences while keeping it professional
Get the information needed to advocate for the significance of your library! How do you make the case that your library is a valuable instruction center? The Teaching Library helps librarians assess data on information literacy instruction programs so that they can better support the teaching role of the academic library in campus settings. This practical, professional resource features case studies from across the United States and Canada—in both public and private institutions—that offer a variety of evaluation methods. Here are the latest, easy-to-adopt ways of measuring your library’s direct contribution to student learning, on-campus and off. With a unique multifaceted approach to questions of assessment, The Teaching Library is an important resource that not only offers the latest techniques, but answers the larger question of how to make use of this data in ways that will best advocate information literacy instruction programs. From creating a multidimensional assessment to turning an initiative into a program to teaching and learning goals and beyond, this invaluable text covers many of the core issues those in this rapidly-evolving field must contend with. These contributions reinforce the importance of the learning that takes place in the classroom, in the co-curriculum, the extra-curriculum, and the surrounding community. Some of the key topics covered in The Teaching Library are: assessment practices such as 360° analysis, attitudinal, outcomes-based, and gap-measured integrating the teaching library into core mission, vision, and values statements presenting the message of a library’s value to internal audiences of colleagues building momentum—and maintaining it tying information literacy assessment to campus-wide assessment activities identifying and reaching end-of-program learning outcomes assessing the impact of the one-shot session on student learning information literacy instruction and the credit-course model promoting instruction among Library and Information Science educators and many more! The essays in The Teaching Library offer viable and practical ways for librarians to demonstrate their direct contribution to student learning in ways consistent with those accepted as valid across the campus. An important resource for academic librarians and Information Science professionals, The Teaching Library is also a useful tool for those in the campus community concerned with developing, funding, and continuing successful library programs—professional staff such as alumni directors; faculty and educators looking to make students more successful; and researchers.
This work presents a thorough examination of librarianship and the social and economic contexts in which the profession and its institutions operate. As a basis of analysis, Buschman employs critical education scholarship and the research of German philosopher Jurgen Habermas, whose seminal work on the public sphere—the arena in which the public organizes itself and formulates public opinion—serves as a meta-framework for Buschman's study of librarianship. Buschman asserts that a significant shift has occurred from the library as a contributor to the public good to a model where economic rationality directs policy. He challenges much of the current thinking and assumptions guiding libraries, exploring the circumstances in which librarians and libraries operate and linking the profession back to democratic and public purposes as the core essence of the field. Chapters include: • Crisis Culture and the Need for a Defense of Librarianship in the Public Sphere • The New Public Philosophy and Critical Educational Analysis • The Public Sphere: Rounding Out the Context of Librarianship • Studies in Librarianship and the Dismantling of the Public Sphere • Follow the Money: Library Funding and Information Capitalism • Follow-the-Leader Library Management and the New Public Philosophy • On Customer Driven Librarianship • Drifting Toward the Corporate Model: ALA • Notes on Postmodern Technology, Technocracy, and Libraries • The Public Sphere and Democratic Possibility Highly recommended for courses in policy and librarianship, as well as for academic and public library directors, this work will also be of interest to theorists in the social sciences.
With contributions from library and information professionals (practitioners, researchers, faculty members, consultants, and others), Marketing Library and Information Services: A Global Outlook highlights a variety of exemplary LIS marketing practices and efforts from around the globe. The following broad topics are explored: changing marketing concepts; marketing library and information services in different countries; marketing library and information services in different kind of libraries; web-based LIS marketing, etc.
