Cover

 24th BOBCATSSS Conference

Proceedings & Abstracts

January 27-29 2016

Lyon, France

www.bobcatsss2016.com

Edited by Fanny Blanchard, Valentin Famelart, Katarina Leyrer, Guilhem Martin Saint-Léon, Paulin Ribbe, and Laure Fabre.

Published by Enssib, Villeurbanne, France, 2016.

ISBN 978-2-37546-015-3

Introduction

Dear colleagues,

Ensuring the free flow of information is a major political and social issue in modern society. Democracy relies on an informed citizenry to make good decisions, and this relies on information access. In the digital era, new technologies give us greater access to knowledge and allow us to be more informed participants in society. Information professionals possess an unparalleled ability to understand, teach, and navigate through the constant flow of data and information. Libraries have always been considered places of universal knowledge. Nowadays, they play a major role in information access by offering citizens tools and resources.

BOBCATSSS 2016, thanks to the 100 proposals received, from which with the great help of our reviewers we selected 40 papers, 16 posters, 16 workshops to be presented at the conference, was trying to question the role of the library as a social and political place: How open is it? How welcoming? What is its part in spreading democracy and squaring inequalities? By what means? How do libraries conceive their political model? Those 73 contributions, which full texts and abstracts you can find in this e-book, explores the main theme through several key topics: The Role of Libraries in Democratic Cultures, Intellectual Freedom and Censorship, Libraries, Open Access and Open Data and Protecting Privacy.

The role of libraries in democratic cultures: As institutions of public service, libraries provide citizens access to culture and information, but how can libraries play a role in providing tools and opportunities for citizens to realize their citizenship fully and to take active parts in society and in democracy?

Intellectual freedom and censorship: Democracy is closely tied to intellectual freedom. However, this concept is still the subject of debate. What responsibility do information professionals have in defending intellectual freedom? What can they do to support and promote individuals’ rights to access, explore, consider, share and express ideas?

Libraries, open access and open data: In a knowledge-based society, open access conveys the idea of sharing and promoting knowledge without boundaries. This begs the questions: What are the ways to implement freedom of access? How to sustain new economic models? How can libraries make the most of open access resources and promote free access?

Protecting Privacy: The privacy has become one of the main issues in the digital society as a human right. How to strike a balance between open access and privacy? How should privacy concerns be handled by information professionals? How can they educate citizens about issues related to privacy? What’s their role in protecting users’ information?

Every year, BOBCATSSS Conference is organized by students of library and information science from at least two universities. Thanks to the 2016’s teams, from Enssib (Lyon-France), Université Paris Descartes (Paris-France) and the University of Tennessee-Knoxville (Knoxville,Tennessee -USA), for organizing this event where such important topics were studied and analyzed by students, teachers and professionals from all over the world.

You can either navigate through this collection by type of document, by theme, following the symposium order or strolling through keywords via our index.

We hope you will enjoy the reading of those contributions, as much as we enjoy their presentations during the conference.

Raphaëlle Bats

Team Bobcatsss 2016

Enssib – Lyon, France

Papers

Public libraries as tools for democracy

Svanhild Aabø, Ragnar Audunson

svanhild.aabo@hioa.no, ragnar.audunson@hioa.no

Oslo and Akershus University College, Departm. Of Archiv., Library and Information Science, PB 4 St.Olavsplass, N-0130 Oslo, Norway

Keywords: Democracy, Role of Libraries, Qualitative Survey, Social Role

Abstract

Democracy is a complex issue, and public libraries are linked to several dimensions of the issue of democracy and participation:

They are arenas giving their users access to information they need to realize and live out their rights as citizens.

They are arenas promoting integration and community, partly by being arenas used by all segments in society, thereby making the complexity of today's multicultural societies visible, partly by offering services promoting integration to groups threatened by marginalization, for example immigrants.

They are related to basic democratic rights in modern welfare societies such as the right to education and cultural experiences.

They are institutions underpinning the existence of a sustainable public sphere.

In this paper we aim at analyzing how the role of public libraries in relation to these different dimensions of democracy is perceived by citizens. The paper will, in the first section, summarize earlier research on the issue. The main section of the paper will analyze data from a nationwide Norwegian survey among a representative sample of the adult population (18 years or older). The web panel which constituted the sample, consisted of 1000 persons.

The results indicate that respondents in their own lives first and foremost see the library as a channel to book and literary experiences, i.e. as related to the cultural public sphere. As a social institutions, however, the library's most important role is related to fundamental rights such as the right to education, and the library is regarded as efficient in promoting dimensions of democracy also in areas where the respondents not report the library to be in their own lives.

Introduction

The mission statement of the Norwegian law on public libraries was recently amended. In the new formulation of their assignments, the public libraries are commissioned with the task of being independent meeting places and arenas for public discourse in their communities. Findings from the PLACE-project which, with is forerunners and aftermath projects, have done in-depth studies of public libraries as meeting places for a decade, have produced findings that might be relevant when discussing how libraries can realize their new, extended mandate. By being independent meeting places and develop arenas for public discourse, the public libraries have potential to strengthen their role as tools for democracy.

The PLACE project (Public Libraries Arenas for Citizenship) received funding from the Norwegian Research Council for the period 2007-2012. The goal of the project was to research the potential of public libraries of being meeting places contributing in creating sustainable and integrated communities and promoting social capital in a digital and globalized environment.

The project was coordinated by the Department of Archival, Library and Information Science at Oslo University College. In addition, the University of Tromsø, Department of Culture and Literature, and the Department of Urbanism at the Norwegian School of Architecture and Design participated as partners.

The project has resulted in several peer-reviewed articles in international journals, one PhD-dissertation (Evjen, 2012), ten master dissertations, and a report commissioned by the urban district Furuset in Oslo analyzing how the local library can contribute in elevating the multicultural community. The PLACE project’s findings and perspectives are communicated to the field of practice and findings and key concepts can be traced in the governmental policy document to the Norwegian parliament on public libraries (Ministry of Culture, 2009).

In this paper, we aim at an integrated presentation and overall discussion of findings and results from sub projects investigating the libraries as meeting places and as such their potential significance as tools for democracy. Were the hypotheses and expectations we started out with confirmed or rejected? Did the theoretical concepts and perspectives prove to be useful or do they have to be revised in future research on libraries as meeting places?

Below we first summarize the problem statement and theoretical concepts of the project. Then we summarize results from two quantitative and two qualitative studies on how libraries are used as meeting places – what kind of meetings do actually take place there? What do people do in the library? What is the role of meetings compared to individual activities? We also summarize findings related to specific groups such as immigrant women. Finally, we discuss the fruitfulness of one of our basic theoretical perspectives: low intensive versus high intensive meeting places.

Problem statement and basic concepts

In Aabø, Audunson & Vårheim (2010), the problem statement was formulated as follows: Digitization and multiculturalism are profound trends reshaping our society. They hold promises of more democracy, participation, community, fruitful and stimulating multicultural encounters etc. However, they also contain negative promises: Instead of more community and democracy, digitization can lead to a transfer of power from citizens to governments and the digital content industry producing surveillance, fear and conformity instead of participation and centralization instead of the dismantling of hierarchies (Braman, 2007; Schirrmacher, 2015). Instead of fruitful and dynamic encounters, multiculturalism can lead to ghettoization, conflicts and reduced trust in society. Can public libraries, which we know from user statistics, are used by all segments of society, be an arena that can help us realize the positive promises and avoid the threats of digitization and multiculturalism?

A key concept developed in the project is the concept of high intensive versus low intensive meetings and meeting places (Audunson, 2005). High intensive meeting places are meeting places where you live out your primary values and interests, whereas low intensive meeting places expose you to other values and interests than those cherished by yourself.

Our research questions reported here were:

To what extent is the library used as a meeting place in the community?

What kind of meeting place are public libraries? Do they function as low intensive meeting places, with a capacity for generating bridging social capital?

What kinds of meetings take place there and to which life sphere are they related?

What kinds of meetings take place in the library

Two surveys were undertaken to measure the extent to which people use the library as a meeting place and the kinds of meetings taking place there. The first survey from 2006 consisted of a randomly drawn statistical sample from Tromsø and three townships in Oslo: One multicultural suburb, which at the time of the first survey had approximately 35 per cent non-Western immigrants, one inner city township, and one typical middle class township. The sample consisted of 1000 respondents, whereof the 750 in Oslo are reported here. In 2011, the 2006 study was replicated, updated and amended.

Table 1 shows that a number of meetings take place in the library. We have grouped them into six categories: The square (accidentally bumping into friends and neighbors, meeting at the library to go somewhere else), meetings with different people (conversation with strangers and being exposed to otherness), public sphere (using the library to inform oneself on a public issue of interest and taking part in organized meetings in the library), joint activities (doing things in the library together with friends and family), meta meetings (finding out about other activities and organizations in the community) and finally virtual meetings (using computers in the library for social purposes).

Table 1 demonstrates that the library is used for a variety of meetings. The figures are quite stable between 2006 and 2011. When the 2006 results were presented, both researchers and audiences from the field of practice were surprised that such a high proportion of respondents reported having experienced conversations with strangers: 28 per cent of the sample and 44 per cent of active library users. We suspected that the wording of the question could play a role here. Respondents were asked if they could report having experienced encounters with strangers without any time qualification. It could have been at any time during the course of their lives. In the 2011 questionnaire, we changed the wording and asked if the respondents over the last couple of years had experienced a given kind of meeting. However, the qualification did not affect the proportion reporting entering into conversations with strangers.48 per cent in the 2011 sample report such meetings and the majority of them report conversations with people belonging to a different group than themselves. This indicates that the library has a potential as a low intensive meeting place exposing its users to otherness. The dominating kinds of meetings are those which can be subsumed under an expanded definition of the library as a square in the community and which are related to exposing the library users to the complexity of the community: Bumping accidentally into friends and neighbors, observing people different from oneself, conversing with strangers and finding information about community activities of interest. The library also plays a significant role as an arena for the local public sphere. Approximately every fifth in both surveys report having used the library to acquire information on community issues of interest and having attended organized public meetings in the library.

(2006) Can you remember that you as library user have:
(2011) Can you remember that you as library user during the last couple of years have:
2011
All respondents
(N=750)
2006
Library users active last year
(N=343)
2011
Library use active last year
(N=364)

1. Observed people with a different background
39%
57%
53%

2. Accidentally met neighbors or friends
32%
49%
48%

3. Got into conversations with strangers
26%
44%
48%

3B. Have you also got into conversations with people from another background than yourself, persons from another generation etc?

33%
75%

4. Learned about org. or activities in the local community
25%
34%
50%

5. Been with friends or colleagues to work on a common task or a leisure activity
21%
20%
21%

6. Used internet for social purposes, chatting, in discussion groups, etc.
17%
21%
14%

7. Got knowledge about local matters or social issues that you are involved in
16%
26%
23%

8. Participated at meetings, such as author's nights, lectures etc.
14%
18%
20%

9. Made appointments to meet family or friends in the library before going together to the movie, into the city, shops, etc.
10%
16%
15%

Table 1: Participation in different kinds of meetings in the library (in percent).

The project sought to explain how public libraries were used as meeting places. The dependent variable was meeting intensity, measuring in what kinds of meetings in the library the respondents had participated, in other words measuring how varied the respondent had used the library as a meeting place. The independent variables included in the model were township, occupation, age, cultural and linguistic background, participation in the local community, trust in community institutions and finally frequency of library use. Township was found to have a low explanatory effect. Socioeconomic variables play a role only for two categories of meetings – joint activities and virtual meetings. Engaging in such activities is related to being young, having a non-Western cultural and linguistic background, a low household income, and, for joint activities, also a low education. There is a constant correlation in the data between having a low income and using the library for meetings related to the public sphere, joint activities and virtual meetings, indicating that the library plays a role in equalizing the possibilities of being an active citizen across social and economic differences.

Independent variables that measured active participation and civic engagement were shown to have a strong explanatory effect. Participation in local activities was significant for all six kinds of meetings. Respondents who showed civic engagement by trying to improve conditions in their local community used the library as a more varied meeting place than those who were less engaged. The strongest independent variable, however, is frequency of library use. It increased explained variance significantly for four of our six categories of meetings: square, meetings with people different from oneself, public sphere and meta-meetings. Involvement in the local community had significant effects on meetings with people different from oneself and public sphere related meetings and activities.

An observational study was carried out to supplement the data from the surveys and get a deeper understanding of how the library is used. The observations were done in the same three townships in Oslo. In all three branches, all weekdays and all parts of the day – morning, mid day, afternoon and evening – were covered (Aabø & Audunson, 2012. In order to reveal the purpose and context of the observed usages, observations were supplemented with short interviews.

The findings from the observations supplement the findings from the surveys in important ways. First, a variety of usages was observed. An asylum seeker studying Norwegian could be observed in the reading room of one of the branches, sitting side by side with a social science researcher working on a book on quality of life. An entrepreneur running her own one person company and using the library as a kind of office, was sitting side by side with students from the university.

Most uses were related to the private sphere. People were coming to the library with their private projects related to education and work, reading and sending e-mails, being on social media etc. They sat down and created a private room around themselves to make the place where they were sitting suit their purpose, in line with McKechnie et al. (2004) found in their study of library use compared to the use of bookstores. However, from time to time they went out of the private bubble they had constructed around themselves. Then their behavior often changed into uses related to the parochial or public sphere. Typical examples could be observed after storytelling hours or theater performances for children, when parents were observed strolling around, stopping to talk to acquaintances, maybe looking at posters and pamphlets from the local council etc., i.e. uses related to the parochial sphere. Or two women in the library in the middle class district who used to meet in the library every afternoon after work, sitting in a sofa with a cup of coffee talking. They lived out their friendship, i.e. a use also related to the private sphere. The afternoon we observed them, one of them walked away for a second to the shelf with books on religion, coming back with a book on Islam. When asked, she said that she wanted to be better informed on that issue which was much discussed on her workplace, i.e. a use related to the public sphere. We frequently observed such moves between life spheres.

One interesting case of the library as a private space that the user in question must have felt as a safe haven, almost like a home, was observed in the multicultural library. A woman dressed in niqab came in together with her son, aged 4 or 5 years old. She met with a friend dressed in hijab, also visiting the library with her children and they had a chat. The observed use so far was related to the parochial sphere. After a while, however, we observed the niqab woman sitting in a sofa reading for her son, and she had taken her niqab off, a sign that she must have felt at home and safe in the situation.

The surveys undertaken in the project indicated that immigrants tend to use the library more as a meeting place than non-immigrants. Within the PLACE framework a study making use of quantitative observation (Høimyr, 2009) elaborated upon this. She undertook her study in one multicultural township (Furuset) and the middle class township included in our surveys and observational study. Hoimyr found that patrons in the multicultural township used the library more for other purposes than borrowing books and other media and immigrants frequently visited the library in groups.

Another study focused particularly on immigrant women (Essmat, 20011; Audunson, Essmat Aabø, 2012). The main findings in this study was that:

The library plays different roles in the different stages of the adaption to the new country. In the first stage, many described it as a place where they could find consolation, later the role of the library changed.

Many of the women we interviewed reported meetings and conversations with Norwegians. It could be when they, after an arrangement at school, came to the library in a national costume and were approached by interested Norwegians in that connection or short conversations with Norwegian at the shelves with films.

Some described the library as an arena for legitimate peripheral participation, i.e. an arena opening up for a gradual increase in participation and integration. One woman reported how she first sat in the library alone, observing what was going on. Then she was recruited into a mother and child group organized by the library. There she made Norwegian acquaintances. In this way, the library accelerated her integration process.

The women, all of them coming from Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan, described the library as one of the few public spaces they were allowed to visit alone or with female friends.

The women tended to express low trust in their own ethnic group, whereas they expressed high trust in the librarians, to the extent of showing the librarian their medical record.

What, then, about the library as a low intensive meeting place exposing users to otherness? The observations indicated that libraries have a potential in this respect. Even in the middle class library, drug addicts and homeless people were observed, and they were seemingly treated with respect. It is, indeed, a place where one is exposed to complexity. One major finding, however, is that the library is an arena, which also opens up for hiding otherness. One cannot see that a man sitting at one of the PCs is a long term unemployed or that the young woman sitting in the sofa is on disability benefits due to mental illness. All stand forth as ordinary and normal users.

As for the high intensive versus low intensive dimension, our main impression is that the library as a low intensive arena is very much a side effect. People come to the library first and foremost with projects related to high intensive arenas such as family, friendship, work, education. But in breaks or after having concluded their primary activities, the library as a low intensive arena takes over. The young woman who said that the sole purpose of visiting the library was reading e-mails from her friends, could be observed walking around looking at books, reading posters and brochures etc. for 15-20 minutes after she had concluded her primary activity. The same was the case with the group of immigrant women at the library in the gentrified township after a meeting in a language group for immigrants and it was the case for the parents in the middle class district after a theater performance for children.

Our theoretical approaches revisited

Did our concepts and approaches related to high intensive versus low intensive meeting places prove fruitful or do we have to revise them for future research? Our results indicate that libraries do function as low intensive meeting places where users are exposed to the complexity of today`s society. The library is used by children, young people and old aged citizens, by people belonging to different subcultures, by ethnic Norwegians and immigrants, by those with success as well as those with less luck in the lottery of life. In our observational study, we observed all these groups in the library. We did, however, not observe very much contact between them.

Nevertheless, the surveys indicate that communication across ethnic, cultural and generational belongings do take place. A high proportion of library users report having experienced communication across such borders and belongings. The results from the surveys, although very stable between the two surveys undertaken, do not, however, say anything about the intensity and character of the communication across cultural and generational borders. The qualitative interviews with immigrant women underpin the findings from the surveys. Exposure to otherness was important in our understanding of low intensive meeting places. As stated above, our results indicate that the library is an arena exposing its users to otherness. Throughout the process, however, we became increasingly aware of the importance of being able to hide otherness and marginalization. When visiting NAV or a café for marginalized run by the Salvation Army or the urban mission of the Norwegian church, your situation is immediately visible to observers: You are an unemployed among other unemployed, a drug addict among other drug addicts etc. That is not necessarily the case in the library. The possibility to hide otherness and marginalization and stand forth as a normal user among other users might be important in itself and it might be conducive for integration and rehabilitation. The library`s potential in this respect, is a topic for further research building upon the findings from the PLACE project.

At the start of the project we were preoccupied with library use and the library as a meeting place related to the private, parochial and public sphere. We observed uses and meetings related to all three spheres. A main finding, however, is related to the library as an institution opening up for moving smoothly between these spheres. In the course of one and the same visit we observed people being parents or friends, neighbors and citizens – i.e. whole human beings. This possibility of moving between roles and life spheres is probably an important quality which it is important not to lose sight of when public libraries strive to adapt to the new mission statement in the law on public libraries.

One influential approach in the field of integration is the so called contact theory (Allport, 1954). According to Allport, contacts have to be of a certain intensity to promote integration. Does this approach challenge our approach of the importance of low intensive meeting places? Our concept of low intensive meeting places describe arenas where one is exposed to difference, but where the contact is of low intensity. Does this low intensive exposure to otherness promote integration or is Allport right – contacts have to be of a more intensive nature? Our findings indicate the following:

The library seems to have a potential as an arena for legitimate peripheral participation (Wenger, 1998), opening up for a movement from sitting in the library observing the new society to gradually taking part in activities and more intensive communication. The extent to which that is so has, however, to be the object of further research.

Granovetter in his seminal work has revealed the importance of weak ties. Can the library, as a low intensive meeting place generate that kind of ties? We do find indications of it, but also that has to be researched more thoroughly.

Trond Berg Eriksen (1988) maintains that being exposed to and having to reconciliate oneself with pluralism in itself promotes tolerance. That was one of the points of departure for the concept of low intensive meeting places. Although PLACE has generated relevant findings, much research remains to elicit if this is so.

The library is simultaneously a social arena and a public institution representing the authorities. Sustainable communities presuppose institutional trust as well as trust in fellow citizens. Also this is an issue which should be further researched.

When libraries now are striving to adapt to the amendments in the library law, seemingly giving priority to the high intensive dimension, further research on the balance between the library`s role as a high intensive and low intensive arena is important.

References

Aabø, S., & Audunson, R. (2012). Use of library space and the library as place. Library & Information Science Research, 34(2), 138–149. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.lisr.2011.06.002

Aabø, S., Audunson, R. A., & Vårheim, A. (2010). How do public libraries function as meeting places? Library & Information Science Research, 32(1), 16–26. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.lisr.2009.07.008

Allport, G.W. (1958). The nature of prejudice. New York, Doubleday

Audunson, R.A. (2005). The public library as a meeting-place in a multicultural and digital context: The necessity of low-intensive meeting-places. Journal of Documentation, 61(3), 429-441

Audunson, R.A., Essmat, S. & Aabø, S. (2011). Public libraries: A meeting place for immigrant women? Library & Information Science Research, 33(2), 220–227

Braman, S. (2006). Change of State: Information, policy and power.Cambridge, MIT Press

Eriksen, T.B. (1988). Profesjonsetikk. Bok og bibliotek, 55(6), 4-6

Essmat, S. (2009). Biblioteket som møteplass for innvandrerkvinner. Oslo: Høgskoleni Oslo. Masteroppgave

Evjen, S. (2012). Placing the public library: a comparative analysis of political perceptions. København: DetInformasjonsvidenskabeligeAkademi. Ph.d.-afhandling

Granovetter, M. (1983). The strength of weak ties: A network theory revisited. Sociological theory 1, (1), 201-233.

Høimyr, T. (2009). Sosial kapital på biblioteket?: En undersøkelse av bruken av to lokalbibliotek i Oslo. Oslo: Høgskolen i Oslo. Masteroppgave

McKechnie, L.E. et al. (2013). Covered beverages now allowed: Public libraries and book superstores. In Proceedings of the Annual Conference of CAIS/Actes du congrèsannuel de l’ACSI.

MinistryofCulture (2009). Bibliotek: Kunnskapsallmenning, møtestad og kulturarena i en digital tid. St.meld.nr. 23 (2008-2009)

Schirrmacher, F. (2015, Ed.). TechnologisherTotalitarismus. Berlin, Suhrkamp

Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice. Learning, meaning and identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Towards Better Social Learning:
Contributions from Sentiment Analysis

Jihad Al Ansari, David McMenemy

jihad.al-ansari@strath.ac.uk, d.mcmenemy@strath.ac.uk

Research Scholar, Department of Computer & Information Sciences, University of Strathclyde Glasgow, Livingstone Tower, 26 Richmond Street, Glasgow, G1 1XH

Keywords: Open Information, Intellectual Freedom, Artificial Intelligence and Sensitive Analysis

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to review the methods of sentiment analysis from early period to the era of social media to understand how effectively such tools can be applied for social learning. The quest of knowing ‘what do others think?’ might have started just by listening to people when just voice was a medium of communication network. But when the medium widened further by books, blogs, posts, statuses and tweets, we needed special tools to know what do others know and call them as brand monitoring, online anthropology or consumer intelligence.

The social network has been changing over time and it has now become a virtual platform called social media where people can create, publish and share contents directly. Unlike traditional media anybody can become an author or critic and thus opening new avenue for intellectual freedom. There is voluminous yet open information available for everyone to learn and use. Meanwhile the growth of sentiment analysis as a machine learning algorithm is finding different areas of application. The capabilities of sentiment analysis pose a great point of advantage to mine useful information from these raw and unbiased data. Many experts show that the sentiment extraction approaches become compelling with the high complex data in social media.

After defining the related terms, the first section introduces the early history sentiment analysis with a note on justification of the need. The next section illustrates the classification of available methods that can be worked unison with the data from social media. This work also illustrates how tools of sentiment analysis have been improvised to meet with large data. After reviewing the basic characters of social media, we have observed that most of the methodology relied on machine learning algorithms. As there is a clear connection between offline (the real world) and the online (the social network), the results of such analysis on social media is really wide and multidimensional. This review is a part of PhD thesis that investigates potential applicability of sentiment analysis for customer relations management in the perspective of social media.

Introduction

Romance should never begin with sentiment. It should begin with science and end with a settlement- Oscar Wilde, An Ideal Husband

Everyone is so curious to know ‘what do others think?’ Human race could have possibly started this by hearing what others say. But today we reached beyond ‘hearing’ that is evident through the buzz words like ‘brand monitoring’, ‘online anthropology’, ‘influence analytics’ or ‘consumer intelligence’.

In the current era of huge digital information, there is inexhaustible mine of views. Containing wealth of information that is a key for making decisions and affecting the people concerned. There are many ways evolved in the literature to detect the sentiments underlying in these sources. Each of these techniques having its pros and cons, there is no singular universal method that can be fitting under all situations, thus forcing more and more methods to develop.

In Oscar Wilde’s words, the sentiment is not the starting point but it is destination of the journey that is guided by the science.

Definition of terms

In order to understand opinion mining, Sentiment analysis and subjectivity analysis and appreciate this evolution, the following terms should be understood:

Subjectivity: Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech, and Svartvik (1985) definition on subjectivity goes such as: “the states those are not open to the objective observation or verification”. Liu (2006) has improvised this definition to interpret more broadly so that it can include various different types of analysis of the text that can be evaluated.

Opinion mining: the earliest definitions of the term opinion mining is given by Dave, Lawrence, and Pennock (2003) as ‘processing a set of search results with a list of attributes and aggregating opinions’. The attributes include quality, features and etc while opinions refer to judgments such as poor, mixed or good.

Sentiment analysis: The authors like Das and Chen (2001) & Tong (2001)who were with a great interest on analyzing market sentiment, have been using the term sentiment analysis in the meaning of ‘automated analysis of text and tracking the predictive judgments’.

Evolving methods of SA

The areas of sentiment analysis and opinion mining are becoming an active research activity in recent time. This could be attributed to a steady undercurrent of research works for a very long period of time.

The early history

The forerunning research that start of this burst could be from Carbonell (1979) and Wilks and Bien (1984). Carbonell’s project focused on proposing a computer models for a belief system where as Wilks and Bien extended the belief system to the point of view in a multiple environments.

Then there was a shift on this research mostly towards interpreting metaphor (Huettner & Subasic, 2000), explaining narrative (Huettner & Subasic, 2000; Wiebe, 1990) and such as evidentiality (Wiebe, Bruce, & O’Hara, 1999) etc.

It was after 2001, according to Pang and Lee (2008), the mark of the beginning of ‘burst’ in sentiment analysis and opinion and they include the following as reasons for such ‘land rush’:

Beginning of extensive use of machine learning algorithm

Availability of huge dataset

Intellectual challenges and potential application areas

Thus in earlier period the sentiment analysis was seen as an extension of web analytics and as an integrated field with web analysis. And then there the extension is observed towards knowledge extraction associating the term ‘opinion mining’ with sentiment analysis. As can be seen in the reference section of this work, most of the papers appear in ACL or WWW. Most of the algorithms in this early stage were focusing on various extraction patterns remained largely academic.

The contemporary methods

The current methods of sentiment analysis involve various techniques including machine learning, lexicon based, statistical or rule based methods.

The machine learning method involves using learning algorithms to determine the sentiment of the text data and usually involves training with the earlier recognized dataset (Allwein, Schapire, & Singer, 2000). The semantic orientation is the key tool used in the lexicon based methods. In this method the sentiment polarity is calculated to measure subjectivity and opinion in the data (Ding, Liu, & Yu, 2008).

Looking for opinion words and then classifying them with respect to positive, negative or neutral words is the methodology employed in rule based approach. There are set of rules using dictionary, negation emoticons etc. Poria, Cambria, Ku, Gui, and Gelbukh (2014) recent review details all such approaches. The statistical methods encompass both latent aspects and ratings, use multinomial distribution by clustering them into sentiment scores (Moghaddam & Ester, 2011).

The above classifications is based on just the techniques, some authors (Wiebe et al., 1999; Wilks & Bien, 1984) classify the methods in view of how text is taken. It could be document-level, word-level or even sentence-level. There can also be various rating methodology by which review can be conducted in global level. The polarity (positive, negative or neutral) or detailed rating schema(three or five stars) can be put in place for calculating sentiment score (de Albornoz, Plaza, Gervás, & Díaz, 2011).

The following figure illustrates the big picture of contemporary SA methodologies.

Figure 1: Contemporary Methods of SA

Towards the Social Learning

The social media or most often used ‘social networks’ is defined by Scott JG (2010) as “a social structure, formal or informal, comprising a group of people or organizations, together with their respective views".

Yu and Kak (2012) go further by considering social media as virtual platforms that allow people to create, publish and share content, which, in turn, are generated directly by their users. This is the point of difference with the traditional media and social media where anyone who owns a mobile with internet connection can post their view without bias.

The capabilities of sentiment analysis pose a great point of advantage to mine useful information from these raw and unbiased data. The sentiment analysis just started to define the ‘belief systems’ have to grow and equip to analyze huge social media data increasing exponentially with the need of real-time analysis. The sentiment extraction approaches become compelling with the high complex data in social media.

Today’s social media comprises of blogs, forums, social networking sties, wikis etc. Twitter has become one of such powerful micro-blogging portals having millions of data tagged with rich information. The tagging can include temporal, special and communal information that are required for further classification(Bollen, Pepe, & Mao, 2010). Although each tweet is only 140 characters length, there are around 95 million tweets per day appear. Therefore it becomes obvious for the sentiment analyst to depend on Twitter for knowing sentiments of people (Lai, 2011).

Most of the sentiment analysis used with Twitter employs machine learning techniques. For example Pak and Paroubek (2010) study aimed at classifying tweets based on polarity of the sentiment. They constructed simple binary classifier that can identify tweets as positive, negative and neutral. This attempt goes on further even to detect the much difficult entity, the sarcasm in tweets (Reyes, Rosso, & Veale, 2013; Tsur, Davidov, & Rappoport, 2010). These works have been able to report the sarcasm around 70-80% accuracy.

Conclusion

The journey of sentiment analysis from belief systems to social learning is thus multi-folded. In particular one hand development of new algorithms and on the other hand availability of rich data keeps this journey exciting and challenging. Started as a simple belief system and growing as a learning system that can contribute to decision making whether it is buying a product or electing a president.

Based on the needs and demands both robust data collection mechanism and rapid analyzing tools have been developed from time to time. Certainly the sentiment analysis today is catering the needs of not only linguistics but for much more.

Reference

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Das, S., & Chen, M. (2001). Yahoo! for Amazon: Extracting market sentiment from stock message boards. Paper presented at the In Proceedings of the Asia Pacific Finance Association Annual Conference (APFA).

Dave, K., Lawrence, S., & Pennock, D. M. (2003). Mining the peanut gallery: Opinion extraction and semantic classification of product reviews. Paper presented at the In Proceedings of WWW.

de Albornoz, J. C., Plaza, L., Gervás, P., & Díaz, A. (2011). A joint model of feature mining and sentiment analysis for product review rating Advances in information retrieval (pp. 55-66): Springer.

Ding, X., Liu, B., & Yu, P. S. (2008). A holistic lexicon-based approach to opinion mining . Paper presented at the Proceedings of the Conference on Web Search and Web Data Mining (WSDM).

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JG, S. (2010). Social Network Analysis: A Handbook. Londra: SAGE Publications Ltd.

Lai, P. (2011). Extracting Strong emotion trends from Twitter.: CS224N Project Report.

Liu, B. (2006). Web data mining; Exploring hyperlinks, contents, and usage data: Springer.

Moghaddam, S., & Ester, M. (2011). ILDA: interdependent LDA model for learning latent aspects and their ratings from online product reviews. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the 34th international ACM SIGIR conference on Research and development in Information Retrieval.

Pak, A., & Paroubek, P. (2010). Twitter based system: Using Twitter for disambiguating sentiment ambiguous adjectives. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the 5th International Workshop on Semantic Evaluation.

Pang, B., & Lee, L. (2008). Opinion mining and sentiment analysis. Foundations and Trends in Information Retrieval, 2(1-2), 1–135.

Poria, S., Cambria, E., Ku, L.-W., Gui, C., & Gelbukh, A. (2014). A rule-based approach to aspect extraction from product reviews. SocialNLP 2014, 28.

Quirk, R., Greenbaum, S., Leech, G., & Svartvik, J. (1985). A comprehensive grammar of the English language: Longman.

Reyes, A., Rosso, P., & Veale, T. (2013). A multidimensional approach for detecting irony in twitter. Language resources and evaluation, 47(1), 239-268.

Tong, R. M. (2001). An operational system for detecting and tracking opinions in on-line discussion. Paper presented at the In Proceedings of the Workshop on Operational Text Classification (OTC).

Tsur, O., Davidov, D., & Rappoport, A. (2010). ICWSM-A Great Catchy Name: Semi-Supervised Recognition of Sarcastic Sentences in Online Product Reviews. Paper presented at the ICWSM.

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Citizen Scholarship using Web2.0 :
Tools in Library and Information Science Journals

Kendra Albright, Theo Bothma

albright@sc.edu, theo.bothma@up.ac.za

University of South Carolina, School of Library and Information Science, Columbia, South Carolina, United States, and University of Pretoria, Department of Information Science, Pretoria, South Africa

Keywords: Citizen Scholarship, Scholarly Communication, Knowledge Communities, Communities of Practice, Open Access, Social Media

Abstract

As the number of open access journals increases, so do the number and type of online tools that facilitate the exchange of ideas and ongoing dialog. Scholarly communication includes a variety of formats which can include letters, memos, conference papers, technical reports, dissertations, primary articles, review essays, monographs, and edited books (Kling &Callahan, 2004).When combined with hypertext and Web 2.0 technologies, scholarly journals have opportunities to expand the knowledge sharing capacity for a discipline. This is particularly true for open access journals who offer an online discussion forum for commentary, critique, and other forms of scholarly dialog. Citizen scholarship is defined as the opportunity for participating in scholarly dialog using digital tools in response to the open access publication of scholarship. These ongoing commentary options present new opportunities for the creation of knowledge-building within a disciplinary community through the ongoing exchange of dialog. The concept of digital citizenship is born from the notion of a community of practice, defined as “a group that forms around a particular interest where individual members participate in collaborative activities of various kinds” (Siemens et al., 2012:450).Within a community of practice are knowledge- building communities, which are a specific type of community of practice whose focus is on “the development of individual and collective understanding” (Hoadley and Kilner, 2005).The purpose of this study is to explore the use of Web 2.0 technologies for scholarly dialog in open access journals. Web 2.0 technologies include digital tools for “knowledge creation and sharing, media sharing, blogs, bibliographic and bookmarking tools, aggregators, collaborative(scholarly) editing, massively multi-player online games (MMOGs), peer to peer social networks, project management software, and wide-scope content management systems” (Siemens et al., 2012: 450). The focus of this study is on the use of tools for dialog sharing in open access journals in Library and Information Science. These tools may appear as boxes for commentary and critique, blogs, wikis, and group discussion forums. According to the Directory of Open Access Journals(DOAJ) (), there are 150 open access journals in Library and Information Science(LIS).About 25% of the peer-reviewed Open Access Journals are included in Ulrich’s Directory of Periodicals. The LIS journals listed in DOAJ were cross- referenced with Ulrich’s for a total number of 86 journals. Of these 86 journals, 31 were considered to be in scope and were published in the English language. To assess the degree of digital citizenship, a typology of criteria is established, which is used to evaluate the LIS open access journals as listed in DOAJ. The results of this analysis are presented.

Introduction

The increasing number of academic journals to an open access model brings new challenges and opportunities for information dissemination and advancing knowledge. Because of the economic challenges facing the open access journal model, it is important for these journals to circulate their work as widely as possible. The wide circulation contributes to a more successful economic model and also increases access to scholarly work. Wider circulation is associated with greater scholarly impact and therefore, contributes to advancement of the field. Social media provides new opportunities for access through promotion of wider circulation. It also creates new opportunities for feedback and commentary, advancing academic discourse in a given field. Opportunities for academic dialog create new opportunities for citizen scholarship, which is defined here as the opportunity for participating in scholarly dialog using digital tool sin response to the open access publication of scholarship. The purpose of this study is to investigate the use of social media in open access journals in Library and Information Science (LIS) in terms of citizen scholarship.

Literature review

Web 2.0, social media, social bookmarking and related terms have become very common in research and popular literature. Since the concept Web 2.0 was popularized by Tim O’Reilly and John Battelle at the Web 2.0 Conference in 2004, hosted by O'Reilly Media and MediaLive (see O’Reilly & Battelle 2004, O’Reilly 2005, O’Reilly & Battelle 2009), the “2.0” specification has been added to many concepts to indicate an environment where users have the possibility to create content and add this to published content. In the Library and Information Science and research environments, concepts such as Library 2.0, OPAC 2.0, Science 2.0 and Scholarly Communication 2.0 are relevant examples. This expanded Web 2.0 environment is described by Ponte & Simon (2011: 150) as follows: “What is stressed by these new words is that the coupling between science and ICT provides new models for accessing scientific knowledge and new models of participation. These new models are strongly based on the interactive engagement of researchers, whether they are authors, readers or reviewers”. According to Gul, Shah &Nisa (2014), “Web 2.0 is a collaborative web development platform that has tremendous usage in building effective, interactive and collaborative virtual societies [...], and these features can best be utilized in open scholarly journals to achieve a successful scholarly communication model”.

Social media tools, according to Bik & Goldstein (2013: 1), “offer a powerful way for scientists to boost their professional profile and act as a public voice for science. [...], scientists are increasingly using social media as a way to share journal articles, advertise their thoughts and scientific opinions, post updates from conferences and meetings, and circulate information about professional opportunities and upcoming events”. In this context, the primary reason for social media use is to enhance the researcher‟s reputation by sharing (his/her) knowledge, increasing his/her online visibility, and enhancing professional networking (Bik & Goldstein 2013: 1, 3). Bik & Goldstein (2013: 1, 3) state furthermore that many researchers are of the opinion that online tools improve their productivity and that “there is mounting evidence to suggest that an active online presence may directly impact” their scientific metrics, both traditional metrics and altmetrics: “social media and article-level metrics may thus be particularly important for unveiling research impacts that cannot be reflected in traditional scientific metrics”. This point of view is confirmed by Priem, Piwowar, &Hemminger (2012) when they state that “altmetrics and citations track forms of impact that are distinct, but related; neither approach is able to describe the complete picture of scholarly use alone”. In addition to personal visibility through social media, Heagerty (2015) emphasizes that it is imperative for researchers to share their knowledge with the public:

“Public engagement is clearly a necessity”, and he provides ten reasons why this is imperative, including social accountability, trust and transparency, and research advocacy.

Amongst his list of the ten “Basic Principles of Public Engagement”, he lists “Communicate regularly”, and specifically mentions social media as one option. Siemens et al. (2012: 450) discuss a further important use of social media tools, viz. “With the facilitation of social media, there is a growing movement in humanities knowledge building communities to expand the scope of community membership beyond academics, and into the interested and engaged general public, to those practicing what has come to be termed citizen scholarship”. According to Siemens et al. (2012:451), “the crucial features of these tools and the ways in which they engender new modes of engagement with digital objects” consist of “(1) collaborative annotation, (2) user-derived content, (3) folksonomy tagging, (4) community bibliography, and (5) shared text analysis”.

Luzon (2007) analyzed 500 online scholarly journals and “identified the features that are different from those in print journals or are not provided in print journals” which she classified “into the following types of value-adding features: features which enhance ease of use and facilitate access to data; features that provide selected information and thus reduce noise; features which improve quality; features which address specific user needs; and features which contribute to time or cost savings”. Luzon (2007: 70) comes to the conclusion that online journals “increase interactivity among academics, thus facilitating the process of submitting a paper, reviewing, editing, and making it easier for researchers working on a similar topic to collaborate and to contribute comments to a paper. [...] more sophisticated and innovative features are only present in some journals. These innovative features represent radical changes which are transforming the journal toward a more effective support for scholarly activities such as finding and accessing relevant information, reading articles, refereeing or collaborating with peers, and getting feedback”.

Web 2.0 technologies include digital tools for “knowledge creation and sharing, media sharing, blogs, bibliographic and bookmarking tools, aggregators, collaborative (scholarly) editing, massively multi-player online games (MMOGs), peer to peer social networks, project management software, and wide-scope content management systems” (Siemens et al., 2012:450). Bik & Goldstein (2013: 3) provide a list of the most commonly used tools, which includes blogs, RSS feeds, Apps, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, Storify and the linking of communities; they also provide a brief comparison of some of these tools, listing both pros and cons (Bik & Goldstein 2013: 4). All these tools can be used to advocate research published in academic journals, for example, by tweeting or blogging about a new volume of a journal, or individual articles, in addition to enhancing the individual researcher’s profile. Altmetrics can provide substantial additional data to show the actual readership of individual articles (in addition to standard metrics).

Neither of the lists mentioned in the preceding paragraph, however, includes typical commenting/annotation tools, by means of which readers can comment on an article and thereby participate and enhance the scholarly debate. Online commenting on content is very common in the non-research areas. In this regard, see, for example, the comments in online newspapers and news services, as well as the often extensive customer reviews of books and other items to be found on e-commerce sites such as Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc. Extending such a feature to online scholarly journals, either as moderated or unmoderated commenting technology, is trivial from a technological point of view. However, such annotations can influence readers‟ understanding of content, as discussed by Anderson et al. (2013: 383), who found that “perceptions towards science are shaped in the online blog setting not only by „top-down information,‟ but by others‟ civil or uncivil viewpoints, as well.

While the Internet opens new doors for public deliberation of emerging technologies, it also gives new voice to non-expert, and sometimes rude, individuals”. Felder (2014) supports this, when he states that “even if you don't realize it, unmoderated comments change the way you think about what you read” and comes to the conclusion that “there are good options for encouraging reader feedback: nice moderated comment sections, forums that build community, quick exchanges on Twitter, or lengthy feedback over email. But unmoderated comments appear to have a small, but real deleterious effect on readers' perception of the sites on which they appear”.

This brief literature review has shown that, on the one hand, there is consensus that social media, user-generated content, citizen scholarship and user empowerment are all extremely important in the current Web 2.0 environment, but, on the other hand, that unmoderated comments may have a negative effect on readers‟ perceptions of article content.

In the light of the above, it is interesting to ascertain to what extent various new technologies have been implemented in open access Library and Information Science journals, and how such features are managed.

Methodology

As of December 6, 2015, there were 10,807 Journals in DOAJ, of which 150 were considered to be in Library and Information Science. For this study, non-English journals and those that are not peer reviewed, were removed from the list. In addition, some were removed because their primary subject classification fell outside of Library and Information Science. Next, each of the remaining 33 journals was searched in Ulrich’s Periodicals Directory for verification and accuracy of data, as well as to make sure the journals were still “active,” i.e., still in publication. Of these 33 journals, two were eliminated from the list because they were not completely in English or again fell outside the actual scope of Library and Information Science. A final list of 31 journals was included in the final study. The complete list of journals that were analyzed is included in Appendix A.

Typology

There are a number of Web 2.0 tools that were included in this study and included a typology of social bookmarking, liking, commenting, RSS feed or email subscription, blogging or wiki capabilities, links to other publications by the same author, a recommender system (i.e., “more like this), follow the journal on Twitter, a journal Facebook presence, and a LinkedIn group. Social bookmarking is “the practice of saving bookmarks to a public Web site and tagging‟ them with keywords” (Educause Learning Initiative, 2005).Through the use of hyperlinks, they allow a user to manage, tag, comment, and share on the web for others to see and use. Users of social bookmarking tools can then use the bookmarks to retrieve particular documents, as well as to suggest terms that can be used to retrieve other, similar documents. The tags also allow others to see who and how many others have used a particular tag, allowing them to make social connections. In addition, the frequency of social bookmarking tags helps to develop a folksonomy, which is a “unique structure of keywords to define resources” (Educause Learning Initiative, 2005).Examples of social bookmarking tools include delicious, Reddit, and Digg.[1] Twitter could also be considered a form of social bookmarking but was given its own category because it is ubiquitous.

Discussion

Most of the peer-reviewed, English language, open access publications in the study were published in the United States (48%)(Table 1).India followed with three publications (10%), with Canada, Italy, and the United Kingdom each publishing two journals (7%).The remaining countries of Croatia, France, Iran, Korea, Lithuania, South Africa, and Turkey, each published one open access journal (3%) that met the study criteria.

Country
Number of
Percent of

Publications
Publications

United States

15

48%

India

3

10%

Canada

2

7%

Italy

2

7%

United Kingdom

2

7%

Croatia

1

3%

France

1

3%

Iran

1

3%

Korea

1

3%

Lithuania

1

3%

South Africa

1

3%

Turkey

1

3%

Table 1.Country of Publication

The distribution of the social media typology is provided in Figure 1.Over half of the journals(65%) made sharing the links to articles available through social bookmarking. Over half (61%) also made e-mail subscriptions or articles available to be sent via e-mail. Slightly over half (58%) offered an RSS feed, and 17 (55%) made it possible to share the links via Twitter(Tweet).A blogging tool was available in ten of the journals (32%).Nine of the journals (29%)allowed for users to follow the journal on Twitter and six of them (19%) asked users to “like” them on Facebook. Six of the journals (19%) offered a recommender system to provide users with the option of seeing “more like this,” and only 5 (16%) provided the opportunity for user commentary or feedback. Five of the journals (16%) had a Facebook presence, and only 3 10%) had an affiliate group on LinkedIn. Only three (10%) provided links to other publications by the same author(s).

Figure 1. Distribution of Social Media Typology

Five of the journals (16%) from five individual countries (Lithuania, Turkey, Iran, Korea, and the United States) did not include any social media features.

Discussion

Social bookmarking appears to be the most common form of social media used by open access journals in Library and Information Science. Sharing of information, through social bookmarking, provides an opportunity for journals for promotion in the web environment. Subscribing and making articles available through e-mail, also serves to increase awareness among users about a journal’s content, availability, and access. Social media types that offer users a chance to make comment (e.g., blogging, commentary) are not as common, but present an opportunity for growth in open access journals. While social bookmarking is more ubiquitous and contributes to creating and facilitating scholarly networks, the need for commentary and feedback holds promise for advancing research through academic discourse.

Conclusion

The journals in this study appear to use social media in two ways: 1) to increase visibility and awareness of their offerings, and 2) promoting scholarly access and discussion. While visibility and awareness of open access journals in LIS is more common, combined with facilitating scholarly access and discussion, may lead to accomplishing the overall goal of open access; namely to widely promote scholarly access and advance knowledge. Further study that examines the specific types of social bookmarking, the nature of commentary/feedback, usage of recommender systems, and type of publisher, would be useful and is warranted based on the findings reported in this study.

References

Anderson, A.A., Brossard, D., Scheufele, D.A., Xenos, M.A.&Ladwi, P. (2013). The “nasty effect:” Online incivility and risk perceptions of emerging technologies. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 19 (3), 373-387. Retrieved December 20, 2015 from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jcc4.12009.

Bik, H.M., Goldstein, M.C. (2013).An introduction to social media for scientists. PLoSBiol, 11 (4): e1001535. Retrieved December 20, 2015 from: doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001535.

Casey, M.E.&Savastinuk, L.C. (2010).Library 2.0. Library Journal 2010.Retrieved December 20, 2015 from: http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2010/05/technology/library-2-0/#_.

Educause Learning Initiative. (2005). 7 things you should know about social bookmarking. Retrieved December 23, 2015 from: https://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7001.pdf.

Gul, S., Shah, T.A.&Nisa, N.T. (2014).Emerging Web 2.0 applications in open access scholarly journals in the field of agriculture and food sciences. Library Review, 63 (8/9), 670-683.Retrieved December 20, 2015 from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/LR-05-2013-0060.

Heagerty, B. (2015). Dissemination does not equal public engagement. The Journal of Neuroscience, 35 (11), 4483-4486. Retrieved December 20, 2015 from: DOI:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4408-15.2015

Hoadley, C.M. &Kilner, P.G. (2005).Using technology to transformcommunities ofpractice into knowledge-buildingcommunities. SIGGROUP Bulletin,25(1), 31-40.

Kling, R. &Callahan, E.(2004). Electronic journals, theinternet, and scholarly communication .CSIWorking Paper WP-01-04.Bloomington, IN: Center for Social Informatics. Retrieved November 15, 2015 from: https://scholarworks.iu.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/2022/1087/wp01-04B.html

Luzon, M.J. (2007). The added value features of online scholarly journals. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 37 (1), 59-73.

O'Reilly, T. (2005). What is Web 2.0.Retrieved December 20, 2015 from: http://www.oreilly.com/pub/a/web2/archive/what-is-web-20.html

O'Reilly, T.& Battelle, J. (2004). Opening Welcome: State of the Internet Industry. Web 2.0 Conference. San Francisco, California, 5 October 2004. Retrieved December 20, 2015 from: http://conferences.oreillynet.com/pub/w/32/presentations.html

O'Reilly, T, & Battelle, J. (2009). Web squared: Web 2.0 five years on. Web 2.0 Summit. San Francisco, California, 20-22 October 2009. Retrieved December 20, 2015 from: http://www.web2summit.com/web2009/public/schedule/detail/10194

Ponte, D.& Simon, J. (2011). Scholarly Communication 2.0: Exploring Researchers' Opinions on Web 2.0 for Scientific Knowledge Creation, Evaluation and Dissemination. Serials Review, 37 (3): 149-156. Retrieved December 21, 2015 from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00987913.2011.10765376

Priem, P.,Piwowar, H.A.&Hemminger, B.M. (2012).Altmetrics in the wild: Using Social Media to explore scholarly impact. Retrieved December 21, 2015 from: http://arxiv.org/html/1203.4745v1

Siemens, R., Timney, M., Leitch, C., Koolen, C.& Garnett, A. (2012).Toward modeling the social edition: An approach to understanding the electronic scholarly edition in the context of new and emerging social media. Literary and Linguistic Computing, 27 (4): 445-461. Retrieved December 20, 2015 from: DOI: 10.1093/llc/fqs013

Whitworth, B. & Friedman, R. (2009). Part II: A socio-technical vision. First Monday, 14(9).Retrieved December 21, 2015 from: http://journals.uic.edu/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2642/2287

Notes

[1]For additional examples of social bookmarking, see Baker, L. (2007). 50+ Social Bookmarking Sites: Importance of User Generated Tags, Votes and Links. Search Engine Journal. Retrieved December 20, 2015 from: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/50-social-bookmarking-sites-importance-of-user-generated-tags-votes-and-links/6066/

Diversity of film collections in European public libraries

Mihaela Anđić, Matea Kotarac, Mirko Duić

mandic@student.unizd.hr, mkotarac@student.unizd.hr, miduic@unizd.hr

University of Zadar, Department of Information Sciences, F. Tuđmana 24i, Zadar, Croatia

Keywords: Pluralism of Collections, Variety of Viewpoints, Censorship, Access to Culture and Information, European Public Libraries, Film Collection

Abstract

The main mission of public libraries is to provide a diverse offer of library resources and services to all the members of the community in which library operates. Public libraries, with their offers, have an influence on their patron’s information acquisition, and thus on the spread of democratic ideals. Regardless of the type of library resources, if libraries do not provide its patrons with a wide range of materials, resources and services, they can even unconsciously cause certain kinds of informational and cultural censorship. Films, as one of the most used type of library resources, can greatly contribute to the introduction and spread of different cultures. Public libraries often tend to purchase commercial films, mostly of American origin, knowing those films will be sought by their patrons, but ignoring other kinds of films which provide an insight into other cultures. If acting like that, public libraries could not successfully implement its democratic role to enable an equal access to the knowledge about various cultures. This research will be done in order to explore the extent of diversity of film collections of European public libraries. The following method will be used: examining of film records in online library catalogs of public libraries in ten European cities. In each catalog, the first hundred film records in alphabetical order will be analyzed to determine the country of film origin, the year of film production and the type of the film (documentary, animation, and feature). Analysis using these three criteria will provide insight into the diversity of film collections of public libraries of those European cities: Aarhus, Brno, Dublin, Lyon, Munich, Salzburg, Sankt Petersburg, Stockholm, Torino and Zurich. The results will confirm or reject the initial hypothesis that there is a dominance of recently made American feature films in the European public libraries.

Mission of public library and collection diversity

One of the most important goals of the public library is to provide diverse collections, services and opportunities for building and strengthening democratic society. The public library provides information access with the aim of creating new knowledge and its collections should be transparent to all of the members of the community regardless of age, genre, race, nationality, religion, language, education level, disability and economic status (IFLA, 2003, p. 1). The public library makes a connection between culture and society, which enables society to sustain and prosper (Stipanov, 1996, p. 47). Likewise, UNESCO Public Library Manifesto states that the core mission of public library is to encourage and support the basic human values; freedom, success and development of community and individuals as well. They can be accomplished only if citizens are well-informed to realize and defend their democratic rights and actively participate in a society. The public library is also fundamental in collecting and providing local knowledge. It is the place where the basic requirements for lifelong learning, cultural development and independent decision-making are provided (UNESCO, 1994).

The tasks of the public library are diverse, but essentially they all refer to providing information access, encouraging literacy, education and intellectual development of individual and society, preservation of cultural heritage and support of cultural development. UNESCO Public Library Manifesto lists twelve main tasks of public libraries and many of them are related to the cultural diversity:

promoting awareness of cultural heritage, appreciation of the arts, scientific achievements and innovation;

providing access to cultural expressions of all performing arts;

fostering intercultural dialogue and favoring cultural diversity, etc.

Since every library user has its own special information needs, the role of the public library is to satisfy those needs and to support further intellectual development of its users. Library collections, which reflect the diversity of society, should not be exposed to any kind of religious, political or ideological censorship. Otherwise, relevant information discovery would be disabled for some patrons and libraries would not complete their mission (UNESCO, 1994).

Talking about censorship, one thing is rarely mentioned, but has a great impact – economical censorship, that is, commercial pressures which can bring to censorship. Those pressures have a significant impact on the reduction of the range of available human experiences and opinions in library collections. Since the neutrality of librarians is one of the fundamental library values, it is also connected to the commercial pressures. The questions could be asked: “What librarians think about the impacts of commercial imperatives on libraries? What do they think about the impacts of commercial imperatives on democratic society and education? Do they act to defend libraries from the negative effects of the commercial pressures?”

There is a problem in the development of diverse collections. The problem is that global media environment, which includes books, journals, music and films, is strongly controlled only by a few multimedia corporations mostly from the United States. The public sphere is endangered because in their quest for profit, media corporations are adapting their content to advertisers. That leads to cultural homogenization. As Habermas has noticed, global markets, mass production and mass tourism disseminate standard products of mass culture; the same consumers’ goods and fashions, the same films, TV channels and bestseller music and books are spreading around the world (2001, p. 75). This situation is unfavorable for the diversity of publishing fields. It limits the possibilities to develop diverse library collections. The fundamental mission and values of libraries are endangered.

There is another aspect of this problem. The global film distribution, promotion and screening are in a considerable measure controlled by Hollywood film corporations and that has a great impact on the needs of people who watch films. The majority of the audience will accept what is offered and, consequently, would not develop the need for films that are not heavily promoted and distributed. This situation is relevant to the dilemma of whether public libraries should build quality or popular collections. Librarians are confused since even theorists could not agree about the preferred aspect of collection development. While some of them think that education of the community and quality are the most important criteria in selecting documents for public libraries, others advocate democratic rights of the community and assume that public libraries should purchase only what taxpayers want (Naude, 1950; McColvin, 1925). Those two criteria for selecting documents are often in opposition, so this situation is a great challenge for public librarians; they are supposed to please both sides and build quality collection, which will be wanted by the vast majority of community members.

Handman is concerned about the nature and direction of film collections development. He thinks that there are too many low quality collections with popular titles which are intended for mass market (2003, p. 38). This could happen because librarians often treat film collection development as an additional activity and not as something placed in professional focus. Also, fear that they will lose users and that consequently, public authorities will reduce their budgets could be an important factor in the public library’s activities. Those fears could increase the distance between public libraries and their mission. However, librarians should always bear in mind that the expectations of their patrons are designed by the activities of the library (Pitman, 2001, p. 117).

Strategies and actions for developing the collection’s diversity

The consolidation of media companies creates threats to the diversity of library collections. Those threats are discussed in the text Fostering media diversity in libraries – strategies and actions. The authors provide some suggestions how to reduce threats and how to increase collection’s diversity. Various strategies and actions are described which could help in achieving one of the library’s main responsibilities – providing access to diverse collections of resources and services:

to prepare policy of collection choices and building, which emphasize the importance of diverse collections of library materials;

to promote the variety of sources, information channels and viewpoints essential for an informed citizenship and strong idea market;

to determine librarians who will follow new/independent/alternative publishers and provide recommendations for collection building, and choose and represent their titles;

to educate employees about the importance of inclusion of alternative information sources in library collections (American Library Association, 2010).

This text emphasizes the same problem that is described by Jürgen Habermas when he discusses the significance of public sphere for democracy. Habermas states that the audience is deprived of the possibility of healthy, open information and ideas exchange in situations when media consolidation limits the creation and dissemination of various viewpoints (Webster, 2006, p. 163-167).

Research methodology

It is very hard to find any research activities related to the topic of the diversity of the library’s collections. We didn’t find a single research paper with the topic of the diversity of the library’s film collection. Therefore, we had to establish our own research methodology.

The paper named Measuring cultural diversity: a review of existing definitions was helpful in that activity because it contains the useful definition of cultural diversity and examples of the diversity research. Ranaivoson states that any kind of diversity is the mixture of variability, balance and distance. He points out that the higher the variance, balance and distance are, the greater diversity will be. If we want to evaluate the diversity of some system, we should first divide that system in different categories. Variance refers to the number of different categories; balance refers to the share of each category and the distance refers to a qualitative difference between each category (Ranaivoson, 2007, p. 5). In our research, we explored variance and balance of public libraries’ film collections.

Ten European public libraries have been chosen for this research – public libraries in Aarhus[1], Brno[2], Dublin[3], Lyon[4], Munich[5], Salzburg[6], Sankt Petersburg[7], Stockholm[8], Torino[9] and Zurich[10]. We used catalog records analysis method and we used three variables to analyze film records: country of film production, date of film production or film type. We searched for films in online library catalogs by using the catalog option to search the holdings by media type: DVD discs. After we got a full list of films in catalog, we sorted that list alphabetically and analyzed first hundred films in every library, looking for their type, country and date of production.

Research results

Regarding the film type, feature films are certainly the most dominant type. As it is visible in Figure 1. in the sample of films from all ten libraries, share of feature films is 83%, share of documentary films is 11%, and share of animation films is 6%. Similar results are also visible if we examine the libraries separately – minimal percentage of feature films is 70%. For example, public library in Zurich has the highest percentage of feature films (97%), and the lowest percentage of documentary films (1%).

Figure 1. Distribution of film types in ten public libraries

If we look at the Figure 2. we can see the distribution of countries of film production in ten public libraries. Dominant country of film production is the United States of America: 40% of films are from the USA; 13% from the United Kingdom; 13% from France; 8% from Germany, while the remaining 26% of films are from other countries.

Dublin City Library and Archive has the highest percentage of American films (58%), while Lyon library has the lowest percentage (24%). Torino, Brno and Lyon libraries are the only ones without domination of the USA films. The majority of films in Torino is produced in Italy (34%), the majority of films in Brno (39%) is produced in Germany, and the majority of films in Lyon (50%) is produced in France.

Figure 2. Distribution of countries of film production in ten public libraries

In Figure 3, we see the distribution of time periods of film production in ten public libraries. The vast majority of films had been made recently. The majority of films (56%) is made in the period from the year 2000 to the year 2015. The Stockholm, Torino and Sankt Petersburg public libraries are the only ones in which percentages of films that were made from the year 2000 to the year 2015 are lower than 50%. Generally speaking, the older the year is, less films from those years exist in the library. The library with the greatest percentage of old films is a Stockholm library with 35% of films made until 1955, while other libraries have from 2% to maximum 11% of films made until that year.

Figure 3. Distribution of time periods of film production in ten public libraries

Looking at the country of origin of the films, if we exclude the most dominant country, USA, it is interesting to see which European and other world countries are the most common countries of origin. Figure 4. represents the shares of films made in Western Europe. As we can see, films produced in Western Europe are mostly from the United Kingdom (13%), France (13%), Germany (8%) and Italy (6%). Most Western European countries have a significantly lower percentage of films; about two-thirds of countries have less than 2% of films in libraries.

Figure 4. Distribution of films from Western Europe

The similar presentation is made for the shares of films produced in Eastern Europe. As visible in Figure 5., former Soviet Union (1,5%) and Russia (1,4%) have the largest number of films. All other countries have less than 1% of produced films. In public libraries, there are significantly lower number of films from Eastern Europe than films from Western Europe.

Figure 5. Distribution of films from Eastern Europe

Looking outside Europe and USA, Figure 6. shows that Japan, although with only 2%, has the greatest number of films in libraries. Canada is at the second place with 1%, while other countries have less than 1% of films in libraries.

Figure 6. Distribution of films outside Europe and USA

Conclusion

Research results have established that in the whole sample convincingly the most common film types in libraries are feature films. Every tenth film is a documentary film and there are even less animation films. If we look libraries separately, the situation is similar because in the sample of each library there are more than two thirds of feature films. Interesting finding is that almost all films in the sample of Zurich public library are feature films (97%).

Research results have established that in the whole sample the USA is a most frequent country of film production, almost half of all the films. While films from the United Kingdom are on the second place, it is interesting that French films are on the third place with just one film less than the United Kingdom. The explanation is that half of all the films in the Lyon sample are produced in France and there are only 24% of films produced in the USA. Lyon library is the only library, except Brno and Torino libraries, which don’t have the majority of USA films in the sample. It is also an interesting fact that the majority of films in Brno are produced in Germany. After that, on the fourth place are German films.

Research results have also established that in the whole sample the majority of films was made in the period from the year 2000 to the year 2015. The Stockholm, Torino and Sankt Petersburg public libraries are the only ones in which percentages of films that were made from the year 2000 to the year 2015 are lower. It is indicative that, except Stockholm public library that has 35% of films made until 1955, other libraries have only 2% to 11% of films made until that year.

Based on all these findings, it could be said that European public libraries could improve the diversity of their collections regarding all three variables: country of film production, date of film production or film type. The awareness for the problem of the insufficient diversity of collections is the first step to ameliorate it. Librarians should be familiar with the functioning of cultural and media industries because then they will be in a better position to make decisions and choose appropriate activities to develop and maintain diverse collections. If films from any country are dominant in certain library, it does not have to mean that those films are the most valuable. For example, one reason for non-diverse film collection can be domination of film corporations over smaller, independent producers and distributors of films. Librarians need to develop and promote the arguments for investing more effort and resources in developing diverse film collections so the market deficiencies could be compensated and so that libraries could act in accordance with its mission and core values.

References

ALA. Intellectual Freedom Committee Subcommittee on the Impact of Media Concentration on Libraries. (2010). Fostering media diversity in libraries – strategies and actions In Intellectual Freedom Manual (pp. 9-25). Chicago: American Library Association.

Habermas, J. (2001). The postnational constellation: Political essays. M. Pensky (Ed.). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Handman, G. (2003). A view outside the mainstream. American Libraries, November.

IFLA. (2003). IFLA-ine i UNESCO-ove smjernice za razvoj službi i usluga. Willer M. (Ed.) Zagreb: Hrvatsko knjižničarsko društvo.

McColvin, L. (1925). The theory of book selection for public libraries. London: Grafton.

Naudé, G. (1950). Advice on establishing a library. University of California Press.

Pitman, R. (2001). Sex, democracy, and videotape In Nancy Kranich (Ed). Libraries & democracy: The cornerstones of liberty (pp. 113-118). Chicago: American Library Association.

Ranaivoson, H. (2007). Measuring cultural diversity: a review of existing definitions. Concept Paper, UNESCO Institute for Statistics.

Stipanov, J. (1996). Knjižnica i društvo: (ne)promjenjivost knjižnica. Vjesnik bibliotekara Hrvatske 39, 1-2.

UNESCO. (1994). Public Library Manifesto. Retrieved December 20, 2015 from:http://www.unesco.org/webworld/libraries/manifestos/libraman.html

Webster, F. (2006). Theories of the information society. Routledge.

Notes

[1]Albrecht Rodenbach Open Kenniscentrum Aarhus. City of Aarhus, Dennmark. Retrieved November from: http://www.arhus.be/home/ (total: 12142 DVDs)

[2]Moravian Land Library Brno. City of Brno, Czech Republic. Retrieved December 7, 2015 from: https://www.mzk.cz/en (total: 3714 DVDs)

[3]Dublin City Library and Archive. City of Dublin, Republic of Ireland. Retrieved November 21, 2015 from:http://librariesireland.iii.com/iii/encore/search/C__S%28a%29%20f%3Ag__P2__Otitle__U__X0?lang=eng&suite=def (total: 3530 DVDs)

[4]Lyon Public Library. City of Lyon, France. Retrieved November 12, 2015 from: http://catalogue.bm-lyon.fr/ (total: 37977 DVDs)

[5] Munich Public Library. City of Munich, Germany. Retrieved November 25, 2015 from: http://www.muenchner-stadtbibliothek.de/ (total: 26339 DVDs)

[6]Salzburg City Library. City of Salzburg, Austria. Retrieved November 22, 2015 from: https://buch.stadt-salzburg.at/ (total: 4040 DVDs)

[7] The Central Public Library Sankt Petersburg. City of Sankt Petersburg, Russian Federation. Retrieved November 27, 2015 from: http://pl.spb.ru/ (total: 655 DVDs)

[8]Stockholm Public Library. City of Stockholm, Kingdom of Sweden. Retrieved November 30, 2015 from: https://biblioteket.stockholm.se/ (total: 8607 DVDs)

[9]Torino Public Library. City of Torino, Italy. Retrieved December 1, 2015 from http://www.comune.torino.it/cultura/biblioteche/index/index.shtml (total: 10932 DVDs)

[10] Zurich Central Library. City of Zurich, Switzerland. Retrieved November 17, 2015 from: http://www.zb.uzh.ch (total: 3729 DVDs)

Security level of DRM technologies

Zsuzsanna Arany, Andor Nagy

arany.zsuzsi19@gmail.com, donandor@gmail.com

University of Pécs - Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Education and Regional Development, Hungary - 7633 Pécs, Szántó Kovács János u. 1/b.

Keywords: Ebook, DRM, Security, Vulnerability

Abstract

One of the greatest challenges libraries are facing in the recent years is developing e-book related services. Given that these are present on the market in ever increasing numbers, the task to reconcile conflicts of interests that are hindering library service is growing more urgent by the minute. Most entities on the market regard the DRM (Digital Rights Management) technologies as the solution, though the publishers do not trust their efficiency. The goal of DRM is to stop illegal circulation of e-books bought or rented from a legal source.

Many of the largest corporations have developed their own DRM solutions, and as such, libraries and bookstores have the option to choose from many different solutions. However, owners of intellectual property, being afraid of online piracy, are still reluctant when it comes to spreading their works in electronic form (this is especially true related to borrowing from a library).

The aim of this research is to give an insight for those interested in the topic and stakeholders involved in publishing e-books into the operation of certain DRM technologies, an overview of the differences between them and an answer to the question of whether the fear of the publishers from pirated copies is valid. I will focus on the process of operation and possible security-related vulnerabilities of certain DRM solutions.

Furthermore, I will pose the question of whether it can be said in general of DRM solutions that they do not successfully obstruct piracy, or whether any exceptions exist. Having carefully examined the different DRM technologies I arrived to the conclusion that none of them can efficiently fulfill its mission, consequently owners of intellectual property have to find other means to protect their values against illegal distributors when designing library services.

In recent years, electronic texts have become more and more common. They have been around for some time, but as information technology is progressing, so are devices that can display electronic documents. This process enhances the demand for readers and electronic documents in general, which is of crucial importance for libraries and bookstores. Electronic documents present these institutions with an absolutely new challenge: although traditional, paper-based document services are well established by now, dealing with electronic documents raises several questions. They are primarily related to copyright issues, since one of the attributes of electronic documents is that they can be copied very easily. This is an appealing feature for readers, but the owners of copyright-protected documents are worried to publish their work electronically. Some authors, like Stephen King, do not publish some of their writings or they make them electronically available with a delay. Others do not want to be left out of e-book publishing, so they make their work electronically accessible and trust the technologies designed to prevent illegal sharing. My research focuses on the effectiveness of DRM technologies.

The question of whether it is worth using DRM technologies and which method is the most secure has been around for a while. Some believe DRM technologies are secure and are willing to spend hundreds of thousands of Euros on them, while there are also skeptics who avoid electronic publishing altogether. DRM technologies have been designed to protect intellectual property. They are not very new - even magnetic tape mediums were equipped with protection mechanisms. DRM technologies are, of course, more complex. Apart from protecting copyrighted content from copying, they can also be used to limit renting time - when the time expires, the document can be made unreadable.

My research focuses on the examination of the operation and vulnerability of DRM technologies from the point of view of informatics, rather than giving a general review. My hope with this study was to find an answer to the question if DRM technologies are worth relying on in the future when selling and lending electronic books. Also, if they prove to be reliable, which method is the most secure? Altogether, I have examined eight techniques which are being regularly developed.

Due to the specific nature of my research, I had very little literature available, so I had to search for other ways to study the operation and discover the flaws in DRM solutions. I have been able to find documentation for some DRMs, though. This documentation is intended for the clients’ IT specialists, and they contain detailed instructions on how to integrate the technology into their current systems. I have had some extremely positive experience with BooXtream DRM after contacting the developer - he readily answered a few technical questions and sent me the documentation as well. Studying it proved to be very helpful for finding out more about the operation of DRMs, but they were not available for all the technologies, and the one I received was insufficient for a comprehensive study.

I used three methods: studying the documentation, analyzing various DRM protection software, and, in some cases, finding out about the operation of software designed to remove DRM protection. The basis of my research was the examination of DRM protection software and the analysis of program codes designed to by-pass it. Since, in most cases, DRM is not freely accessible, open source software, I had to find indirect ways to understand their operation and reveal their weaknesses. For example, when we open a program, a large number of system files are created on the hard drive and the memory. Despite these files being temporary (i.e. they are only needed for the current running of the program), they can be tracked down and provide insight into file functions carried out by the program. Valuable information can also be gathered by observing the network cards data-traffic while the DRM software communicates with the authentication server.

Another great help was the examination of software made to remove DRM protection. Most such software is open-source, the program codes were freely accessible, and by studying in detail the circumstances of executing these codes provided me with invaluable information.

Due to time constraints, I am going to report only my findings about the most widely used software Adobe ADEPT, and then summarize the rest of my research. I have chosen to focus on Adobe ADEPT because it is the most common DRM software and it is thought to be the most reliable by many. The full report of my study can be read in the latest issue of “Könyvtári Figyelő”.

The Adobe DRM solution has 3 key participants: The reader, whose reading device runs Adobe Digital Editions, which can open the purchased or rented e-book. This software is in touch with the Adobe Content Server run on the server of the library, as well as with the Adobe Authentication Server. These three participants communicate several times during the authentication process.

For example, when an e-book arrives at a library and is added to the holdings, the Adobe Content Server encrypts it with a particular document key and from then on each time someone rents the e-book, it is encrypted with the same key.

Although the reader receives this key with the e-book, it comes in a format that only the Adobe software can interpret. This is achieved by each registered reader having their own user key, based on which an algorithm creates a new key, which encrypts the document key received. Thus, by the time the reader gets the key, it has been encrypted several times.

The entire process takes place like this:

When the reader buys or rents an e-book, they do not receive the document itself but a tiny file with ACSM extension, which is an XML type document. It contains the basic data of the e-book, including the URL which the readable e-book will be downloaded from after the authentication process is completed.

When the reader opens the ACSM file on their own reading device, Adobe Digital Editions sends 4 things to Adobe:

the reader’s personal identity code;

the identity code of the reading device (for example the hard drive serial number, the identity code of the processor, or the so called MAC address of the network card);

the reader’s unique personal key;

and the identity code of the requested e-book.

The identity code of the e-book is not only sent to the Adobe server, but also to the library. In response, the library requests the e-book key from Adobe, as it is only to be found on the Adobe server.

As the last step, Adobe Digital Editions running on the reader’s reading device creates the key that Adobe has encrypted the document key with; basically, we can say, it copies the key needed to decrypt the document key. Once the process is complete and the document key is available, the e-book itself becomes readable. The essence of this process is that the reader cannot access the unencrypted e-book since the entire authentication process is carried out by Adobe’s own servers, without letting the reader know what processes are taking place in the background.

The flaw in the process :

Although Adobe has created an extremely complex DRM process, it contains a flaw: despite the strict rules and the complicated authentication process, the e-book and its document key do get onto the reader’s device. This would not be a problem in itself, since both the e-book and the document key are encrypted and unusable on their own. However, it is not impossible to unlock the document key encryption - several programs have been designed to do that. In order to unlock the encryption, we need to examine how the key was encrypted. This can be done with the so called reverse engineering method, which means the decryption process carried out by the reading software is analyzed step by step. With the obtained data we can model the process, so, besides the Adobe software, software designed to decrypt will also be able to unlock the encryption and we will have a DRM-free document as a result.

Let us take a closer look at the reverse engineering method in order to see what it can reveal about the process:

As the first step, the encrypting software gets the reader’s unique personal key. Then it removes part out of it to make it harder to identify, which is a way of distraction.

This truncated key is encrypted in two layers, applying the base64 process first and then the 128-bite Advanced Encryption Standard coding. The flaw of this two-layer encryption method is that base64 is a reversible code form and is easy to do; the Advanced Encryption Standard would be safe enough in itself, however, the decryption key is stored on the reader’s computer by the Adobe software.

So if we do this process backwards, that is we decrypt the Advanced Encryption Standard and then the base64 code, we can access the document key.

I have shown the flaws in only one method, but in my full paper I present in detail the security flaws in Apple FairPlay, Barnes and Noble, Marlin, BooXtream, SiDiM and Amazon mobi, and DRM solutions used with topaz format e-books. The flaws in FairPlay result primarily from the simplicity of the encryption algorithm and in the fact that the reader’s device communicates with Apple’s central server through an insecure channel. Barnes and Noble create the key in an even simpler way, in two steps. Marlin DRM operates very similarly and also stores the elements of the key in a SQLite database on the reader’s device. BooXtream uses a completely different method - various watermarks - but does not come up with any revolutionary solution, so detecting the watermarks is not impossible either. However, SiDiM places watermarks differently: for example, by slightly modifying the phrasing and by changing word order in sentences so that the sentences still remain meaningful. The flaw in this method results from the fact that the modifications are done differently for each reader, so if two copies of the same e-book are compared, most changes can be detected – this way it is difficult to identify a reader securely. In addition, after its unfavorable reception, it seems that SiDiM will not be further developed. Finally, Amazon uses DRM for two file formats, mobi and topaz. In both cases, the algorithm used to create the key is so simple that the key can often be unlocked by simple trials (brute force method).

My study has shown that all the 8 DRM technologies I have examined, including Adobe ADEPT, can be bypassed. In most cases a security breach does not only exist in theory, but there is publicly available software capable of removing the DRM in question. There are some protection methods with no public solutions for bypassing them, but even these have flaws, and if they become more widespread, it is most probable that someone will share software to remove the protection.

Based on this information I think the use of DRM is not a real solution to prevent the promotion of pirate copies, as soon as only one person removes the protection from a document and then publishes the e-book on a file sharing site, the money spent on DRM technology has been wasted. Furthermore, the use of DRM technology has a downside, too. If a person buys or rents a protected document, there are several restrictions on its use, for example, the document cannot be copied freely, it can only be read on certain devices or it cannot be printed. As opposed to this, an illegal copy can be used freely, which makes it more attractive for readers in at least two ways: it is free, and its use is unrestricted.

The conclusion of my study is that currently there is no DRM technology that can effectively protect documents from pirate copying and sharing, therefore I think its use has no real advantages. Moreover, due to the lack of restrictions, pirate copies are more appealing, which also makes the use of DRM ineffective. In my view, a new method should be developed to promote legal e-book consumption.

References

Abie, Habtamu (2007). Frontiers of DRM Knowledge and Technology. International Journal of Computer Science and Network Security, 7 (1), 216-231.

Adobe Inc. (2009). Adobe and Barnes & Noble Join Forces to Standardize eBook Technology. Retrieved: August 30, 2014. https://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/pressroom/pressreleases/pdfs/200910/102009AdobeBarnesNobleebooks_000.pdf

Adobe Systems Incorporated (2009). Adobe Content Server 4 User Manual. [not public document for customers]

Ausderau, Patrick (2014). Protection mechanisms for electronic books. Helsinki: Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences. Retrieved: July 21, 2014. [doctoral thesis] https://www.theseus.fi/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10024/74667/Ausderau_Patrick.pdf

Bailey, Jonathan (June 18, 2013). Changing Words and Changing Direction on eBook DRM. PlagiarismToday.com. Retrieved: August 15, 2014. https://www.plagiarismtoday.com/2013/06/18/changing-words-and-changing-direction-on-ebook-drm

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SiDiM (2011). SiDiM: Sichere Dokumente durch individuelle Markierung. Retrieved: July 26, 2014. https://www.sit.fraunhofer.de/fileadmin/dokumente/Projektblaetter/SiDiM_de.pdf

Stallman, Richard (2003). Some Confusing or Loaded Words and Phrases that are Worth Avoiding. Retrieved: July 25, 2014. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/words-to-avoid.html

Torres-Padrosa, Víctor (2008). Contribution to an Architecture for Multimedia Information Management and Protection Based on Open Standards. Barcelona: Universitat Pompeu Fabra. Retrieved: July 26, 2014. [doctoral thesis]. http://www.tdx.cat/bitstream/handle/10803/7547/tvtp.pdf.pdf;jsessionid=FEA5C976E256FB63618D184678B73CAD.tdx2?sequence=1

Tószegi Zsuzsanna (2006). A szerzői jogok védelmét szolgáló digitális technológia. Tudományos és Műszaki Tájékoztatás, 53 (10), 447-456. Retrieved: September 27, 2014. http://tmt.omikk.bme.hu/show_news.html?id=4533&issue_id=476

Van de Pol, Huub (2014). BooXtream Usage Scenarios. [not public document for customers]

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Youth as Citizen?: Libraries and Youth Civic Engagement

Jeanie Austin

austin10@illinois.edu

Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, U.S.A.

Keywords: Youth, Civic Engagement, Social Justice, Library

Abstract

Where do youth fit into library practice when the library is constructed as a space for citizen-belonging and citizenship building? Drawing from research in youth studies, including research on youth activism, this paper examines how, when, and whether or not discussions of youth as citizens shape library practice. It works to explore the crevices and corners of citizenship discourse in library practice by focusing on marginalized positions (youth under 18) in contemporary democratic citizenship practices.

In the United States, youth are discussed (constructed) not as present day social actors but as "citizens-in-the-making", individuals to be prepared for engaging in the political process once it is legally feasible (Gordon, 2010). Within this construction of future citizens there are obvious disparities - some groups of youth are viewed as more likely to be "good" future citizens (predominantly white, middle class youth) while other groups of youth are positioned as threats to the political process(youth of color/queer youth) (Kwon, 2013). These constructions of youth and of groups of youth hinge on ideas that engagement with the State is either criminal (or possibly criminal) or legitimate, good, and law-abiding. Narratives of citizenship (both exclusion from and future access to) continue to shape the ways in which Young Adult (YA) librarianship is taught and practiced in the United States.

In examining the ways youth are positioned in popular discourse, theory, and library practice, this paper examines how narratives of social development (found in the 40 Developmental Assets established by the Search Institute and incorporated into YA library practice) shape and may conflict with imagining the library as a space in which youth can engage in acts for social justice and social change (Sukarieh and Tannock, 2015). The paper concludes by examining how some recent youth social justice projects have pushed the bounds of acceptable citizenship and exploring the role of YA librarians in relation to these movements.

The following is excerpted from my upcoming chapter in Mehra and Rioux's edited volume, Progressive Community Action, to be published by Library Juice Press.

Positive Development as a Guideline and Goal

Young adult librarianship (in the United States) was founded on the idea of “youth development” as a guiding principle. At the present moment, the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) division of the American Library Association, utilizes just such a narrative of development to describe the role of YA librarians in youth lives. Named the 40 Developmental Assets for Adolescence, and developed by the Search Institute [1], YALSA places youth development as one of the touchstones of YA library services. These “assets” concern the following areas:

Support

Empowerment

Boundaries and Expectations

Constructive Use of Time

Commitment to Learning

Positive Values

Social Competencies

Positive Identity

At face value, the 40 Developmental Assets seem to be straightforward and transparently positive. They are associated with what is broadly discussed, in various social science fields, with positive development, the process of becoming a better, more attenuated social and political actor (given the premise of present society as either close to or capable of becoming a desirably functioning society of relative equals)[2]. Not present here is any straightforward acknowledgment of how social and political factors (including manifestations of systemic oppression or the social and political positioning of youth and specific groups of youth) shape the lives of and possibilities available to youth in the United States.

While the Search Institute's 40 Developmental Assets sit under the auspices of positive development, to which is ascribed the quality of being a divergence from deficit-based models of youth (i.e. positive development focuses on what youth can become rather than their ascribed personal failures), they do not clearly carry a message of social change that recognizes the positions of youth. The Assets follow a larger trend of positive developmental models, described by Sukarieh and Tannock as utilizing “concepts of “competence”, “character”, “caring”, “prepared” and “productive” adulthood and so on [as though they were] self-evident, unproblematic and easily measurable terms, rather than being controversial and politicized social and cultural constructs.”[3] The implementation and widespread adoption by YA librarians of the Search Institute's 40 Developmental Assets, then, may even work to the detriment of youth by failing to give room for youth activism and response to social and political oppression.

Are Youth “Citizens”?

A deeper examination of the premise of a relatively functioning society that underlies the 40 Developmental Assets will reveal that the assets do not necessarily consider the lived realities of many youth who face individual and institutionalized racism, sexism, homophobia, and a myriad of other constraints and confrontations in their day-to-day lives. Many of the assets are related to ideas of youth becoming law abiding and productive citizen-adults, an option that is not readily available for many young people, despite the language of plurality that is utilized in discourses of American democracy. For example, Kwon, in a brief description of how youth are “imagined as crucial to a nation's future” states, “youth of color are not often imagined as future agents of democracy, but as objects already under suspicion and state surveillance and regulation”[4]. Theorists within critical pedagogy have emphasized how disparities continue within a dominant culture that has historically privileged Whiteness, heterosexuality, and being male [5]. As such, a common conception of positive development may be implicitly tied to values that position White straight males as those most likely to be granted access to becoming “fully developed”.

Youth (ages 13 – 21) and children (those younger than 13) [6] are often viewed, in Gordon's terms, as “citizens-in-the making” – thus youth and children have limited levels of social and political power in traditional adult contexts [7]. Gordon examines how “age is an axis of inequality” [8], illustrating the ways in which youth activism can create changes in how stratification exists within society. Youth activism and political resistance can be acts of social justice – acts that seek to move toward creating a new set of relations in which hierarchies of age, race, sex, sexuality, and class status are no longer relevant. While youth may not necessarily be engaged in struggles that address all of the divisions and privileges currently present in society, Gordon believes that youth activism counters adult conceptions of youth as future adults, unsettling adult ideas of youth through political and social engagement, resistance, and collectivity. This is relevant to YA librarianship as developmental models re-institute ideas of youth as future adults, rather than necessarily providing library services to youth as individuals with histories – where and how they are situated in the moment of encounter.

Youth as Unknowable

To denaturalize adult conceptions of youth as future/future-citizen requires an understanding of how power operates to create these categories. This calls for an analysis of how youth have been positioned throughout history and in the current context, as well as an understanding of how youth navigate their current positions to address their own life needs and desires [9]. Considering the positions of youth, and recognizing and resisting the structures of power that surround adult conceptions of youth is an act toward social change. Creating ways of understanding youth that push against understanding youth as a category of “becoming” works to resist the ways in which distributed power works to further inscribe youth and to describe some youth as “good” (or potentially good) and others as “bad” (or potentially bad). Beyond and within this are youths own conceptions of projects for social change – the idea that the world in which youth live is not the only possible world, that they have power to help push for a world, society, and distribution of power that enhances their own chances of survival and thriving, as well as those of others and of the Earth.

The growing amount of critical and queer scholarship around youth informs and supports an interrogation of youth as citizens. Stockton asserts that children (and, we can extrapolate, youth) are made strange to adults through the paradigms that adults have created, including the idea of proper development [10]. Meiners describes adult conceptions of youth as centered in adult “anxieties”[11]. In an interrogation of the construction of sex offender as a category, Meiners asks “How do we acknowledge and discuss that we continually reproduce constructs of the child that are filled with our own anxieties about sexuality and race and gender?”[12]. Meiners utilizes the “racial contract” defined by Mills and the “sexual contract” defined by Pateman to illustrate the historical roots of these cultural anxieties [13]. In a similar vein, many researchers and practitioners have called for frank discourse around racialized representations in books for children and youth and of the material power held by librarians and publishers [14]. The pressures that surround youths' positions in relation to moral issues of sex, sexuality, race and racism, appropriate family structures, and other hot button topics [15] suggest that YA librarians are required to continuously interrogate these fears and the bases of these fears. In short, to reconceptualize youth [16].

This is true even when youth have been presented in terms of empowerment, civic participation, and youth voice – features of a neoliberal shift in the conceptualization of youth [17].

As Sukarieh and Tannock state, “[y]outh as a social category has always been double-sided, encompassing both negative and positive stereotypes”[18]. Models of youth positive development are couched in, and work to reveal, the ways in which adult and institutionalized anxieties about youth failing to become functioning members of a generally static system of social and political power [19]. While youth studies have focused on many aspects of youth, including youth subculture, youth relationships, youth as consumers, and youth's relationships with their families, there has been an increasingly intensified focus on individual youth and individualized group practice in the field [20]. A critical approach to youth studies, as proposed by Sukarieh and Tannock, examines the positioning of youth as a category across time and space in a global context, one that recognizes the limitations and opportunities made available for youth as social and political actors [21].

Youth Activism: In and Outside of Political Realms

To shift from adult perceptions of youth as “citizens-in-the-making” to how youth conceptualize their own social and political engagement is one of the means by which adult categories of youth can begin to be destabilized. Here is only a brief example, but there are many available.

Community action, activism, and resistance on the part of youth occur in relation to and interaction with adult conceptions of children and youth. Taft, in Rebel Girls, includes information related to girls‟ activism and adult conceptions of youth across the Americas (specifically located in San Francisco, Mexico City, Caracas, Vancouver, and Buenos Aires) a study of young women in various activist communities [22]. The youth interviewed do not present a cohesive account of youth activism in relation to adults. Rather, they set forth complicated and individualized understandings of adults and youth activism.

Central to the statements of girls in Taft's study are ideas of youth as being uniquely positioned to respond to the issues that most affect their lives. As Taft writes, “[t]eenage activists directly assert their authority to organize around „youth issues‟ like educational policy and school privatization, student bus fares, juvenile justice system reforms, teenagers' reproductive rights and sexual education, child abuse and youth rights, and curfews and police harassment precisely because these are topics that impact their lives but are not, in their view, part of the political concern of most adults"[23]. While youth in the study make arguments both for a difference in age and a difference in “historical moment” (generations) as defining their activism as divergent from that of adults, they almost consistently emphasized a difference between their social positions and the social positions of adults as shaping how and which social justice issues were addressed by activist movements [24]. Acting in relation to a feeling of a “world in crisis”, youth did not exclusively concern themselves with youth issues [25]. Participants in the study named aspects of adult constructions of youth as both valuable and detrimental to their activist practice – including the idea of youth as not yet fully formed (becoming adult) as creating a possibility for youth to take more risks and speak more openly, as they were not expected to be authoritative knowers. In contrast to this, in all sites except Venezuela, youth also expressed that adults were largely disillusioned or unresponsive to the needs of youth*. Youth expressed their relationship to adults and adult activism as shaping “their political action and practice”, utilizing constraints, such as the distance between the worlds inhabited by adults and those inhabited by youth, to create instances of possibility, in this case through the utilization of peer networks [26].

Possibilities in the Library

YA librarians, and other information professionals working with youth, are made aware of the ways in which individual youth very much exist in a present that is lived, even as adult expectations and their own hopes and fears involve manifestations of the future. As “all literacy is local”, so too are the lives of individual youth localized [27]. They may be limited by their position in relation to global forces and neoliberal politics, but the practices of youth agency in addressing power and retaining culture are well documented [28]. Local, national, and global issues and trends have impacts for youth's lives as they are lived – defining opportunities and constraints for youth in particular ways due to the adult ideas that surround and often limit possibilities for youth. YA librarians should have a working comprehension of these issues, how they (potentially) affect youth, and how youth utilize their own agency and negotiate power through traditional and new technologies (this is seen through the exploration of personal identities and youth culture described by Rothbauer [29] and in Jenkins' descriptions of the power structures surrounding the creation of Harry Potter fan-fiction [30]).

YA librarians should be skeptically aware of how youth are defined and the research that surrounds them, noting the ways in which that research perpetuates existing ideas of youth as threat to the world of adulthood and existing social orders (after all, social change and social justice will involve an interruption in the existing social order). Maybe our history can critically inform us here - as Braverman shows, this lack of insight (disturbing adult ideas of youth) is one of the faults of librarianship in U.S. in the 1960s, in which a divisional line between youth social movements and YA librarianship became an apparent fault on the end of the libraries [31]. YA librarians are possibly being led into another such pitfall - that of interacting with youth as future-citizens, as in need of adult surveillance and continuous guidance, rather than as informed actors in a multitude of imperceptible social and political realms. Narratives of youth as future leaders, youth as agents of positive change, and youth as “citizens-in-the-making” work to make youth more comprehensible to adults, limiting the actual possibilities for youth to cross generational lines in their social and (broadly defined) political aims. Recognizing this requires that YA librarians interested in engaging in activism and supporting youth resistance must (and are able) to unsettle narratives that separate the good kids from the bad, those worthy of effort and those who have (by force of social position, option availability, or through contextualized personal choice) limited access to or desire for becoming positively developed citizen-adults.

References

Bernier, Anthony. “Not Broken by Someone Else's Schedule: On Joy and Young Adult Information Seeking.” In Youth Information Seeking Behavior II: Context, Theories, Models and Issues, edited by Mary K. Chelton and Colleen Cool, xiii-xxviii. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2007.

Bishop, Rudine S. Shadow and Substance: Afro-American Experience in Contemporary Children's Fiction. Urbana, IL: NCTE, 1982.

Braverman, Miriam. Youth, Society and the Public Library. Chicago, IL: ALA, 1979.

Cai, Mingshui. Multicultural Literature for Children and Young Adults: Reflections on Critical Issues. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2002.

Cart, Michael. Young Adult Literature: From Romance to Realism. Chicago, IL: ALA, 2010.

Fine, Michelle. “Sexuality, Schooling, and Adolescent Females: The Missing Discourse of

Desire.” Harvard Educational Review 58 (1988): 29 - 54.

Giroux, Henry. Youth in a Suspect Society: Democracy or Disposability? New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009.

Gordon, Hava Rachel. We Fight to Win: Inequality and the Politics of Youth Activism. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2010.

Hughes-Hassell, Sandra and Ernie Cox, “Inside Board Books: Representations of People of Color.” The Library Quarterly 8 (2010): 211-230.

Jakobsen, Janet R. and Ann Pellegrini. Love the Sin: Sexual Regulation and the Limits of Religious Tolerance. Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 2003).

Jenkins, Henry. “Why Heather Can Write: Media Literacy and the Harry Potter Wars.” In

Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide, 169 – 205. New York, NY: NYU Press, 2006.

Kwon, Soo Ah . Uncivil Youth: Race, Activism, and Affirmative Governmentality. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2013.

Ladson-Billings, Gloria and William Tate. “Toward a Critical Race Theory of Education.”

Teachers College Record 97 (1995): 47 – 68.

Maira, Sunaina. “Cool Nostalgia: Indian American Youth Culture and the Politics of Authenticity.” In Contemporary Youth Research, edited by Helena Helve and Gunilla Holm, 197 – 208. Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing, 2005).

Mayo, Cris. “The Tolerance that Dare Not Speak Its Name.” In Democratic Dialogue in Education: Troubling Speech, Disturbing Silence, edited by Megan Boler, 33 – 47. New York, NY: Peter Lang, 2004.

Meiners, Erica. Right to be Hostile: Schools, Prisons, and the Making of Public Enemies. New York: Routledge, 2007.

Rothbauer, Paulette. “Chapter 3: Young Adults and Reading.” In Reading Matters: What the Research Reveals about Reading, Libraries, and Community, edited by Catherine Sheldrick Ross, Lynne (E.F.) McKechnie, and Paulette M. Rothbauer, 101 – 132. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2006.

Search Institute, “40 Developmental Assets for Adolescents.” Accessed November 11, 2014.http://www.search-institute.org/content/40-developmental-assets-adolescents-ages-12-18..

Stockton, Kathryn Bond. The Queer Child: Or Growing Sideways in the 20th Century. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2009.

Sukarieh, Mayssoun and Stuart Tannock. “The Positivity Imperative: A Critical Look at the „New' Youth Development Movement.” Journal of Youth Studies, 14 (2011): 675 – 691.

Sukarieh, Mayssoun and Stuart Tannock. Youth Rising? The Politics of Youth in the Global Economy. New York: Routledge, 2015.

Taft, Jessica K. Rebel Girls: Youth Activism and Social Change Across the Americas. New York City: New York University, 2011.

Notes

[1] Search Institute, “40 Developmental Assets for Adolescents,” accessed November 11, 2014, http://www.search-institute.org/content/40-developmental-assets-adolescents-ages-12-18..

[2] Mayssoun Sukarieh and Stuart Tannock, Youth Rising? The Politics of Youth in the Global Economy (New York: Routledge, 2015), 1-8.

[3] Mayssoun Sukarieh and Stuart Tannock, “The Positivity Imperative: A Critical Look at the „New' Youth Development Movement,” Journal of Youth Studies, 14 (2011): 679.

[4] Soo Ah Kwon, Uncivil Youth: Race, Activism, and Affirmitive Governmentality (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2013), 7.

[5] Gloria Ladson-Billings and William Tate, “Toward a Critical Race Theory of Education,” Teachers College Record, 97 (1995): 47 – 68; Cris Mayo, “The Tolerance that Dare Not Speak Its Name”, in Democratic Dialogue in Education: Troubling Speech, Disturbing Silence, ed. Megan Boler (New York, NY: Peter Lang, 2004), 33 – 47; Michelle Fine, “Sexuality, Schooling, and Adolescent Females: The Missing Discourse of Desire,” Harvard Educational Review, 58 (1988): 29 – 54.

[6] Age frames for these categories are constructed loosely, with recognition that age itself is constructed and that age-based restrictions (and possibilities) vary from location to location, country to country, context to context. Sukarieh and Tannock, discuss the varying definitions of age as related to social circumstances, including an expansion of adolescence as an age category downward into childhood and upward into what was previously adulthood as features of a neoliberal society (Mayssoun Sukarieh and Stuart Tannock, “The Positivity Imperative: A Critical Look at the „New' Youth Development Movement,” Journal of Youth Studies, 14 [2011]: 682 – 683).

[7] Hava Rachel Gordon, We Fight to Win: Inequality and the Politics of Youth Activism (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2010), 8.

[8] Gordon, We Fight to Win, 6.

[9] Henry Giroux, Youth in a Suspect Society: Democracy or Disposability? (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009), 1-26; Sunaina Maira, “Cool Nostalgia: Indian American Youth Culture and the Politics of Authenticity,” in Contemporary Youth Research, eds. Helena Helve and Gunilla Holm (Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing, 2005), 197 – 208.

[10] Kathryn Bond Stockton, The Queer Child: Or Growing Sideways in the 20th Century (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2009), 1-59.

[11] Erica Meiners, Right to be Hostile: Schools, Prisons, and the Making of Public Enemies (New York: Routledge, 2007), 137.

[12] Meiners, Right to be Hostile, 137.

[13] Ibid.,19, 44.

[14] Rudine Sims Bishop, Shadow and Substance: Afro-American Experience in Contemporary Children's Fiction (Urbana, IL: NCTE, 1982); Mingshui Cai, Multicultural Literature for Children and Young Adults: Reflections on Critical Issues (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2002), xiii-34; Michael Cart, Young Adult Literature: From Romance to Realism (Chicago, IL: ALA, 2010), 75-202; Violet J. Harris, “The Complexity of Debates About Multicultural Literature and Cultural Understanding,” in Stories Matter: The Complexity of Cultural

Authenticity in Children’s Literature, eds. Dana L. Fox and Kathy G. Short (Urbana, IL: NCTE, 2003), 116-134; Sandra Hughes-Hassell and Ernie Cox, “Inside Board Books: Representations of People of Color,” The Library Quarterly, 8 (2010): 211-230.

[15] Janet R. Jakobsen and Ann Pellegrini, Love the Sin: Sexual Regulation and the Limits of Religious Tolerance (Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 2003), 16, 93 – 94.

[16] While other issues related to dominant, normative moralities (including physical health, appropriate relationship styles, family structures) exist in the public as well as in librarianship and publishing, they are less openly discussed and debated within the profession of librarianship.

[17] Sukarieh and Tannock, Youth Rising?, 12-32.

[18] Ibid., 7.

[19] Ibid., 19.

[20] Ibid., 5 – 8.

[21] Ibid., 13 – 32.

[22] Jessica K. Taft, Rebel Girls: Youth Activism and Social Change Across the Americas (New York City: New York University, 2011), 56-66.

[23] Taft, Rebel Girls, 56.

[24] Ibid., 57.

[25] Ibid., 66.*Emphasis made by author.

[26] Ibid., 59.

[27] Anthony Bernier, “Not Broken by Someone Else's Schedule: On Joy and Young Adult Information Seeking,” in Youth Information Seeking Behavior II: Context, Theories, Models and Issues, eds. Mary K. Chelton and Colleen Cool (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2007), xix.

[28] Henry A. Giroux, “Expendable Futures: Youth and Democracy at Risk” in Youth in a Suspect Society: Democracy or Disposability? (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009), 1-26; Maira,“Cool Nostalgia,” 197-208.

[29] Paulette Rothbauer, “Chapter 3: Young Adults and Reading,” in Reading Matters: What the Research Reveals about Reading, Libraries, and Community, eds. Catherine Sheldrick Ross, Lynne (E.F.) McKechnie, and Paulette M. Rothbauer (Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2006), 101-132.

[30] Henry Jenkins, “Why Heather Can Write: Media Literacy and the Harry Potter Wars,” in Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide (New York, NY: NYU Press, 2006), 169-205.

[31] Miriam Braverman, Youth, Society and the Public Library (Chicago, IL: ALA, 1979).

Hacker culture, libraries and intellectual freedom: Analysis of hacker and hacktivist scene in Croatia and its collaboration with Croatian libraries

Milan Balać, Mia Kuzmić and Iva Magušić - Dumančić

mbalac@ffos.hr, mkuzmic@ffos.hr, imagusic@ffos.hr

University of J. J. Strossmayer, Department of Information Sciences, Lorenza Jägera 9 Osijek

Keywords:Intellectual Freedom, Hacker Culture and Ethics, Hacktivism, Library, Freedom of Expression

Abstract

"Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice." (The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 19.)

Hackers are not just heroes of computer revolution. Through their activist agenda and intellectual freedom activities they help shape the democratic values of modern day society. One of the values being intellectual freedom that is, and should stay a fundamental right of every individual, especially in the 21st century information society. Free flow of information and ideas must become an imperative if the goal is to build enlightened and free society that nourishes creativity, innovation, independence and human rights. Both, libraries and hacktivists could and should be involved in establishing this imperative and in shaping the future of intellectual freedom and freedom of expression. Hacker activists have often fought for social change and political ideals. Through their community spaces and technological platform they've always tried to "hack" their way into the freedom of opinion, freedom of expression, freedom of access to information, into the free and open society. Libraries, on the other hand, were always committed to the freedom of information and free expression. They have always served the society educating the public how to be and act as information-independent citizens of the world. Society needs to encourage and support the alliance of libraries and hackerspaces if it wants to become truly free and open.

This paper examines the role of Croatian hacker culture and hacktivism in providing intellectual freedom and individual's democratic rights. Some of the most recognized programs, initiatives and projects will be described and analyzed. Furthermore, the paper presents the most active and recognized hackerspaces, hacklabs and makerspaces in Croatia, it describes their role in promoting and supporting intellectual freedom and freedom of expression as well as the nature and the degree of their collaboration with Croatian libraries.

The method used is in-depth interview with the founders and members of hackerspaces, hacklabs, makerspaces and hacktivist centers in Croatia, as well as with the head of one library makerspace. To analyze different initiatives, programs and projects quantitative analysis and descriptive method were used.

The aim of this research is to identify the role hacker culture and hacktivism have when it comes to building a democratic society, to determine the importance of hackerspaces and makerspaces in supporting intellectual freedom and information freedom, and to identify the level and form of their collaboration with libraries. Also, the aim is to address the idea of cooperation and partnership between libraries and hackerspaces, hacklabs, makerspaces and other similar places and their joint advocacy for a truly free society.

Introduction and general overview

The image of hackers has evolved since they first appeared in MIT in the 1950's. Thanks to sensationalist media coverage most of the public usually perceives them either as computer criminals stealing protected data, or Robyn Hood type introverts fighting "the Man" using programming skills. Not only are said stances too general since there are many different types of hackers, but the act of hacking doesn't necessarily have to do anything with computers or technology. A hacker is an expert or enthusiast of any kind [1], using anything in a way it wasn't meant to be used [2]. Hackers cannot be defined simply by their expertise, but their motivations and work ethic, the way they perceive intellectual property and freedom of information. Hacking is more about the imagination and creative uses of technology [3] - a computer is just a medium of expression for hackers, as concrete is for architects [4].

How hackers came to be is somewhat unclear. Busch and Pȧlmas go as far as the1920's defining amateur radio and car mudding as one of the earliest hacker activities [5], while Thomas considers Alan Turing as the first computer hacker [6]. However, it is generally agreed that the "original" hackers originated in MIT labs in 1950's and 60's among programmers who believed all information should be free and access to computers unlimited and total [7]. Those beliefs would later form the hacker ethic and influence their work approach. In its most succinct form the ethic comprises of principles that define how hackers see information, authority, other hackers etc. It propagates freedom of information and unrestricted access to computers, it promotes decentralization and judging others by their skill, and it suggests that computers can better people’s lives as well as create art and beauty [8].

Along with the original hackers, Taylor and Jordan differentiate six more types of hackers – hardware hackers, responsible for the PC revolution in the 70's; software hackers; crackers, who appeared in the 80's as hacker's criminal counterparts; micro serfs, who became part of multimillion corporations; open source hackers who rose along with Linux; and hacktivists who appeared in mid-90's and combined hacking with political activism [9].

As many hackers had become integral to corporate businesses, and media usually defined hackers as criminals, it became harder to see hacking as a counterculture. It was at this time that hacktivism stirred [10]. It represented a return to the roots of the original hacker ethic, and became more politically engaged than hacking ever was. Hacktivism concerned itself with freedom of information and access to technology as it ranged from website defacing to efforts to ensure the privacy of ordinary citizens [11]. In Taylor’s words, it offered hope that a critical proactive dimension could be restored to our predominantly passive reception of the media [12]. Simply put, hacktivism ensured that the voice of the underdog could be heard among the voices of those more privileged [13].

Following the same principles of freedom, both intellectual, and of information, emerged the maker movement. In what Anderson considers an industrial revolution, it turned the manufacturing process on its head [14]. It was no longer necessary for creators to turn to companies for idea realization – all they needed was a computer and an Internet connection. The focus shifted from protecting ideas to sharing them and collaborating on their improvement. Such changes became fertile ground for Makerspaces to emerge [15] - places where anyone could create and learn by creating.

It was only logical for libraries to come on board. Through their existence they've fought censors, maintained freedom of information and served as knowledge repositories. By opening their doors to hackers and makers of all kinds they've created a beneficial symbiosis for everyone involved, and by opening fab labs, makerspaces and coworking areas, libraries have improved user's literacy in design, science, technology, engineering, art and math, urging them to create instead of merely consuming [16]. They have revitalized themselves as institutions while getting full support from umbrella organizations. In a social and productive atmosphere users have access to equipment that would otherwise be unaffordable or impractical to own [17], they're encouraged to share their knowledge and collaborate on their work while upholding some of the same principles as hackers.

It's encouraging to see that a hacker/maker scene exists in Croatia as well. Different hackerspaces, hacklabs and makerspaces have propagated open access and technologies and free flow of information for years making political stances, giving access to modern tools and offering alternative views on creation. Hackerspaces such as social and cultural center MaMa, and the Multimedia Institute (MI2) are well known for their political activism, promoting universal access to knowledge and putting an emphasis on free access. Croatian Linux Users Group (CLUG) have promoted free software and open source concentrating on community benefits rather than making a profit. Programs like #labOS have been organizing interactive lectures and workshops educating the community about open technologies, and different ways of using them. Radiona Makerspace has been focusing on developing a DIY culture in the community, while digital lab within Public library Rijeka (GKR Lab) perseveres in strengthening creative potentials in children and youth with modern tools. It is the aim of this paper to identify the role these groups have had in developing a democratic society which strives on intellectual and information freedom, as well as their collaboration with libraries.

Methodology

This paper analyzes 2 hackerspaces (MAMA - Multimedia Institute and #labOS), 1 makerspace (Radiona), 1 association whose activities are in the field of free and open software (Croatian Linux Users Group (CLUG)) and 1 digital lab and incubator for 3D printing within a public library (GKR Lab). Said creative spaces were analyzed with in-depth interviews with founders and members, as well as with the head ofa library makerspace. Quantitative analysis and descriptive method were used to analyze different initiatives, programs and projects. Three of the in-depth interviews were conducted through Skype, one face-to-face, and, unfortunately, the last interview could not be carried through, therefore their activities and programs were analyzed through their website.

Interviews were divided into six sections regarding general information, projects and activities, cooperation with the community, perception of the role of the hacker ethic and hackerspaces, hacklabs and makerspaces in promoting and strengthening social values like freedom of expression, intellectual freedom and democratic values, the perception of aforementioned as places for designing and implementing hacktivist initiatives that aim to improve society and/or local community, and finally their future as well as future projects and activities. The interviews were recorded, transcribed and then analyzed.

It is hypothesized that hackerspaces, hacklabs and makerspaces in general are not yet recognized in the community as places where intellectual freedom, freedom of expression and the right for knowledge are promoted. Moreover, our hypothesis is that there is little or no cooperation between libraries and said creative spaces, although, maybe ironically, both libraries and hackerspaces, hacklabs and makerspaces are, more or less, public institutions and one of the main protagonists in promoting and strengthening intellectual freedom, democratic values and the right to information, that is, knowledge.

Results

General information, problems and challenges

#labOS hackerspace was founded with the basic idea of knowledge sharing and finding people with similar interests. The main goal of #labOS is a aforementioned knowledge sharing, but not only technical – they want to connect people from different science and art fields so they can share knowledge through (smaller) projects. CLUG is a Croatian Linux Users Group that gathers people interested in Linux and open software. Its main goal is to promote Linux and open software as well as share knowledge. Furthermore, CLUG has two main focuses –technical, regarding the system itself, and ideological concerning open software and freedom of sharing. The main reason for starting GKR Lab were technological and creative trends, as well as 3D printing, which, in their opinion isn’t really available in Croatia. The main objective is to encourage anti-consumerist, creative behavior, especially when it comes to children. Radiona's central purposes are education, knowledge sharing, promoting DIY and DIWO culture, and combining high and low-tech while demystifying technology. Multimedia Institute (MI2) is a non-profit organization operating at the intersection of culture, art, technology and activism. Local MI2 is most identified with the social and cultural center MaMa, which organizes cultural, educational and technology programs, bringing together local hacker communities and providing an open space for other cultural initiatives. MaMa's main purpose is promoting innovative cultural practices and critical social positions.

#labOSis a club located in the Centre of technical culture Osijek. Purchasing equipment, tools and materials are mostly self-financed, which means everyone buys something depending on their possibilities, but also through donations. CLUG doesn't have a physical space and they mostly meet virtually. When it comes to financing, funding mostly comes from membership fees, while computers and telecommunication equipment are donated to them. GKR Lab was, until recently, financed with the grant they got which covered the expenses of equipment and materials. They also often apply for project financing and use library space, which, they claim, is too small. Radiona moved a lot, as they had issues concerning space. They also have financing problems and most of the financial resources come from donations, projects, membership fees, sponsors, local community and they tend to apply for different grants.

Three of the creative spaces, #labOS, GKR Lab and Radiona have some kind of local support – #labOS and Radiona are directly financed from government administration – #labOS got one third of the funds required for buying a 3D printer from their County, while Radiona is sometimes financed by the City of Zagreb. CLUG has no local support although there were some attempts and earlier cooperation, especially regarding space which, unfortunately, wasn't adequate. Additionally, some of their main problems are related to county and state administration/government. Both lack understanding for, and of open software in terms of national production, since every change you make in the software makes it a new, national, and not foreign product. Moreover, they pointed out an issue in Croatian education relating to no or little information and practice with open software (and other new technologies). It's interesting that not only CLUG mentioned education as a problem – #labOS pointed at the outdated school system in terms of technical culture that’s just not “technical” anymore. All of the interviewed creative spaces face other problems as well, mostly concerning space (GKR Lab, Radionaand CLUG). Some of them mentioned finding co-workers and motivating people as a problem (#labOS, GKR Lab), while other pointed at financing and keeping the space clean (#labOS, Radiona).

Projects and activities

All of the creative spaces conduct some form of activities – conferences, workshops, lectures etc. #labOS organizes many different projects and activities, such as Arduino Days, a great number of workshops involving 3D printing and most importantly a hacktivist project

"Open Network". The aim of Arduino Days is to popularize and demonstrate the Arduino platform, transfer knowledge and present technology. In addition to the lectures on the Arduino platform and 3D printing all attendees have the opportunity to see a 3D printer in action, feel printed objects and manage projects based on the Arduino platform.

In 3D workshops everyone has an opportunity to see and work with the tools for 3D printing, with their aim being the introduction of anyone interested to 3D technology, as well as (future) experts in the subject. "Open Network" is a project made in association with NGO OSWireless, which promotes and advocates equal access to Internet, thus promoting open development and the use of Internet for the benefit of society. Their latest activities include aid to refugees, where they saw a need to help volunteers, refugees, the police and even the Red Cross. It was a situation in which there was no time to wait for an official permit and it was acted out through establishing a wireless network in a backpack, and later with setting up networks in refugee camps. Cooperation with other hackerspaces and hacklabs is maintained through the so called anti-conference "Nothing will happen".

CLUG organizes an annual gathering and conference, CLUC – Croatian Linux Users Convention, with participants who work with open software and technology. They've also implemented a project with the government, researching the possible applications of free software in government administration and developing a manual for office use as a result. Through their activities, they promote the use of free software and benefits of open technology, free software and privacy protection.

GKR Lab is an especially creditable creative space since it's organized within a public library. They hold regular workshops of 3D modeling and 3D printing for children and youth where every 3D print is actually a small separate project. GKR Labs activities promote intellectual freedom through workshops which are all free, accessible, shared and open to anyone.

Radiona's most important project involving cooperation with information institutions is the Creative Museum. It is a new project funded by the EU under the Erasmus + program. The Project seeks to explore the connections between cultural organizations and their communities by capitalizing on the emergence of new technologies and democratizing digital technologies. The project sees museums as dynamic learning environments in which staff and visitors can use digital tools to explore and reason about collections in new and creative ways. It aims to explore how European museums can offer this continuum of engagement for their visitors. It's worth noting that Radiona is the only makerspace participating in this project. Apart from The Creative Museum project, Radiona organizes a great number of exhibitions, concerts, festivals, workshops and presentations. Many of those activities are established in cooperation with local associations, cultural institutions and international makerspaces like Mechatronic Art Society (Zurich), Ljudmila Media Lab (Ljubljana) and Dublin Makerspace. The hacktivist aspect of this makerspace is seen through a guerrilla workshop where everything is in open access and available for use.

The Public Library is one of MaMa's most praiseworthy projects. Its aim is to create a networked infrastructure of universal access to knowledge, as well as to promote, connect and improve that infrastructure. It does so through presenting artworks, digitization projects, software development, building of DIY book scanners and workflows taught in workshops. The Public Library cares for and preserves collective memory of all challenges and struggles with artificially induced scarcities, forbidden knowledge and exclusive territories – the activation of the public library’s memory holds the key to its survival. Other noteworthy projects are Skill Swapping events where participants of a certain community exchange skills and knowledge in an informal way; and Hacklab where MaMa gathers a community of technology enthusiasts and fighters for freedom of information, open technology and free culture. In its wake, the association launched an international group Nothing will happen, which is held four times a year and gathers participants from the post-Yugoslav region and activists from all over Europe. The group is integral in raising awareness about social issues in a wider technological society, as demonstrated during the protest activities against ACTA. Two other projects worth mentioning are Creative Commons and G33koskop. Creative Commons is a comprehensive solution for licensing works as publicly available. CC Croatia is a project of translating the Creative Commons license into Croatian language and judiciary system, performed by Multimedia Institute Zagreb. G33koskop engages in cultural and artistic practices of authentic internet culture, as well as history of technical culture of the region. The movement is built on the foundations of free software called the free culture movement, and gathers around the initiative of an alternative approach to copyright and it's probably the most relevant branch of geek culture and hacker culture as well as a free software movement [18].

Perception, cooperation and hacktivism

One of the aims of this paper was to uncover the perception of hackers, makers and hacktivists themselves of the role of hacker ethic and creative spaces in promoting and strengthening social issues and values (freedom of expression, intellectual freedom and democratic values). The main focus in the interviews was a possibility of cooperation between creative spaces and information institutions. All of the interviewees agreed that cooperation is possible, though through different aspects. While #labOS stated that the library is a place where young people are brought together and they're the ones who use technology in libraries, CLUG stated that young people unused to a library surrounding could be a problem, but they did mention that the role of libraries in society should change and is already changing, therefore there are a lot of opportunities for collaboration. GKR Lab and Radiona also stated that there is a lot of room for partnership, and that those kinds of collaborations already exist. Also, both creative spaces already cooperate with different institutions like museums and galleries. Every interviewee thinks libraries should have same form of a creative space. Firstly, because libraries should be adjust to their users (#labOS) and because innovative services are more than welcome in modern libraries (Radiona). Furthermore, since libraries in Croatia also have problems with resources, mostly technical, a solution could and should be cooperation (CLUG). In addition, creative spaces could enhance the role of libraries in society thus making libraries future-proof.

When it comes to hacker ethic and solving social and political issues, the general opinion is that hacktivists can have some kind of a role "in their own way" (CLUG), but maybe at a micro level (GRK lab). Additionally, hacker ethic does not take assumptions into account, but rather finding a solution through research, meaning a lot of people nowadays just make a conclusion, without the whole process of „coming to“ it, and a lot of people "go around convincing others that their conclusion is the best" – all of that just isn’t working out anymore (#labOS). The common opinion regarding hacker culture and ethics becoming mainstream is that it still hasn't become that common, though it is not marginalized. There's still not enough peoplein Croatia who can make a change in these fields (#labOS), though lately there's been a bit more talk about hackers (Radiona). It is a general opinion of everyone interviewed, that hackerspaces can "wake up" the community to become more actively involved with questions regarding freedom, rights and open and free society with their projects, activities and programs. However, there's a problem in Croatia where people want to make a change but it's usually just wishful thinking lacking any engagement (#labOS). A Croatian hacktivist scene does exist, and there are clubs that are well connected and working together (Radiona), but too few people are committed (#labOS), and the scope of activities is too small (CLUG). What needs to be done is connect all the clubs so that everyone knows where somebody is and what's being done (Radiona).

Hackerspaces alone are not deeply engaged in hacktivist activities, at least not in Croatia. People working within hackerspaces are more interested in art, culture and technical sciences, and there aren't many hacktivist elements, although everybody did agree that hacktivism can be a successful driver of social and political participation, both nationally and internationally. Moreover, it's considered that hackerspaces should initiate and conduct hacktivist programs (#labOS) since hacker and makerspaces are based on a free society, free software, Internet etc. (Radiona).

It's hard to predict the future of hackerspaces in Croatia as well as directions of their development. But it's a fact that there are people who do want to share knowledge (#labOS) and people still interested in involvement. The opinion is that there's an evolution going – hackerspace members change along with technology (CLUG). The hope is that hackerspaces will develop more and bring along more urban content and civic culture with society in general showing more appreciation (Radiona). The future of Croatian hacktivist scene is not so bright – hackerspaces do grow, but in the sense of education (#labOS), there is a tradition of hacktivism in Croatia but it lacks support and resources (CLUG). Fortunately, though small, the hacktivist scene in Croatia will never be out of work, in some way or another, we will always need people who'll defend common sense where there's a lack of it – consumerism, politics, corporations etc. As long as those thing surround us – there will be hacktivism (Radiona).

To enhance their role in society hackerspaces and makerspaces should go independent, which is hard to achieve (#labOS), and the idea is to start from ourselves and participate more (CLUG) and then promote the cause in the community (Radiona).

Conclusion

It seems that the lack of initiative is a chronic state in Croatia. Those individuals who break from it do their best to form groups to show their communities how to better they, learn, create and participate in forming an open and free society. Those individuals face problems regarding funds, materials, technology and even space from the get go. Our starting hypotheses have been disproven – there is an active scene of hackers and makers in Croatia willing to strive and collaborate. It'd be much easier if the scene was nonexistent or they tended to refuse cooperation, as it could be written off as libraries being afraid of change, or a country still too young for anything meaningful to develop, but it seems that the issues run much deeper. In a world where problems of privacy and freedom, both intellectual and that of information, constitute as burning issues, it's discouraging to see people unwilling to educate and uplift themselves. What is the main cause for the lack of support for these kinds of initiatives, and what can be done to make people see how exhilarating creating, learning and involvement can be, is something to be looked into. If we as members of society do not wish to participate in its formation, then we should not be surprised when things don't go exactly as we planned. The interviewed groups, through tremendous effort, have made it possible for the community to create something new – all they have to do is join in. As Kristian Benić said,

"life without creating is like a cemetery" - if our lives will ever be described as such, we'd have only ourselves to blame.

References

Anderson, C. (2012). Makers: The New Industrial Revolution. New York, NY: Crown Business.

Chance, T. (2008). The Hacker Ethic and Meaningful Work.

Colegrove, T. (2013). Editorial Board Thoughts: Libraries as Makerspaces? Information technology and Libraries.

Graham, P. (2004). Hackers & Painters: Big Ideas for Computer Age. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly Media, Inc.

Jordan, T. & Taylor, P. (2004). Hacktivism and cyberwars: Rebelswith a cause. London, New York, NY: Taylor & Francis e-Library.

Levy, Steven. (2001). Hackers: Heroes of the computer revolution. Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly.

Ludlow, P. (2010). WikiLeaks and Hacktivist Culture. The Nation. 25-26.

Pinto, Laura (2015). Putting the Critical (back) into makerspaces. Retrieved December 15, 2015 from:https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/putting-critical-back-makerspaces.

Samuel, Alexandra Whitney. (2004). Hacktivism and the Future of Political Participation (Doctoral thesis, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts).

Taylor, A. P. (2005). From hackers to hacktivists: speed bumps on the global superhighway? New media & society. 7(5), 625–646.

Thomas, D. (2002). Hacker Culture. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.

Von Busch, O., Palmas, K. (2008). Abstract Hacktivism: The Making of a Hacker Culture. London, United Kingdom: Lightning Source UK Ltd.

Notes

[1] Chance, T. (2008). The Hacker Ethic and Meaningful Work. Pg. 4.

[2] Jordan, T. & Taylor, P. (2004). Hactivism and cyberwars: Rebelswith a cause. London, New York, NY: Taylor & Francis e-Library. Pg. 7.

[3] Thomas, D. (2002). Hacker Culture. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press. Pg. 5.

[4] Graham, P. (2004). Hackers & Painters: Big Ideas for Computer Age. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly Media, Inc. Pg. 18-19.

[5] Von Busch, O., Palmas, K. (2008). Abstract Hacktivism: The Making of A Hacker Culture. London, United Kingdom: Lightning Source UK Ltd. Pg. 28.

[6] Thomas, D. Pg. 13.

[7] Chance, T. Pg. 4.

[8] Levy, Steven. (2001). Hackers: Heroes of the computer revolution. Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly. Pg. 28-34.

[9] Jordan, T. & Taylor, P. Pg. 10-12.

[10] Ibid. Pg. 5.

[11] Ludlow, P. (2010). WikiLeaks and Hacktivist Culture. The Nation. Pg. 2.

[12] Taylor, A. P. (2005). From hackers to hacktivists: speed bumps on the global superhighway?. New media & society. 7(5), pg. 627.

[13] Samuel, Alexandra Whitney. (2004). Hacktivism and the Future od Political Participation (Doctoral thesis, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts). Pg. 212.

[14] Anderson, C. (2012). Makers: The New Industrial Revolution. New York, NY: Crown Business. Pg. 41.

[15] Ibid. Pg. 18.

[16] Colegrove, T. (2013). Editorial Board Thoughts: Libraries as Makerspace?. Information Technology and Libraries. Pg. 1-2.

[17] Pinto, Laura (2015). Putting the Critical (back) into makerspaces. Retrived December 15, 2015 from: https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/monitor/putting-critical-back-makerspaces.

[18] Multimedia Institute – MaMa. Retrived December 17, 2015. from: http://www.mi2.hr/en/.

French Libraries Post-Charlie Hebdo: Between Freedom of Expression and the Neutrality of Cultural Institutions

Raphaëlle Bats

raphaelle.bats@enssib.fr

Enssib, Université de Lyon, LCSP, Paris 7, France

Keywords: Freedom of Expression, Censorship, Librarianship, Public Service, Neutrality, Engagement

Abstract

In the beginning of January, 2015, attacks against Charlie Hebdo and the HyperCacher in France upset the French people, suddenly put in front of the concrete and bloody demonstration of what is a refusal of freedom of expression, freedom of the media and freedom to believe. In a country where some of the Charlie Hebdo draftsmen, like Cabu and Wolinski, were known by several French people generations (by their drawings in other newspapers or on the television), this event came along with an incredible emotion and was followed by a great mobilization of citizens, the March of January the 11th.

The librarians, as professionals of information, had an immediate reaction with the writing of message of support and / or of stands against the censorship, in posting the sign " I am Charlie " inside and outside of libraries' buildings, in exhibitions of journalistic drawings, and in selections of resources and conferences on the secularism, the freedom of expression, etc. More spectacular, the library of Pierres-Vives in Montpellier opened its door almost empty of books to symbolize the censorship. (BBF, 2015)

If all these actions and mobilizations are praiseworthy, a surprise remains however: how these actions can be jointed to the requirement of neutrality and the duty of confidentiality of the French librarians (Hubert, 2013). From then on, are their reactions librarians' reactions, working in cultural institutions, pillar of the democracy, or citizens' actions, led in a moment of emotion; actions carrying a certain vision of freedom and community for sure, but also centered on the event. In other words, how the political action of librarians questions its place as citizen on one hand and on the other hand as civil servant working in the maybe unique public place for the exercise of the democracy.

From a methodological point of view, a collection of librarian's action was led between January and September 2015 and allowed to gather a corpus of more than hundred reactions. Besides, the analysis of these actions is influenced by critical Library and Information Science movement. «We shall not intend to be made here the followers of the authors of the Critical Theory of the school of Frankfurt, but rather practicing a critical look on our society, to re-question the habits, the operating and the apparatus (dispositifs). » (Bats, 2015).

This article will be the opportunity, through the results of the collection and this analytical look, to discuss the notion of civic engagement which, for us, cannot be separated from the librarianship exercise. It will allow us to question the neutrality, to take away it from a certain definition leading to depoliticizing librarians and to move it closer to the exercise of a plural and critical look on the society and on the evolution of the democracy (Lewis, 2008).

Introduction

In the beginning of January 2015, attacks on Charlie Hebdo and the HyperCacher kosher supermarket in France rocked the nation, and the French people suddenly found themselves confronted with the violent reality of what it means to be denied freedom of expression, freedom of the media and the freedom to believe. In a country where some of the Charlie Hebdo draftsmen, such as Cabu and Wolinski, were known by several generations (whether through their drawings in other newspapers or on television), this event had a great emotional impact on the French people, and was followed by a large mobilization of citizens in a march on January 11th.

As information professionals, France’s librarians reacted immediately, posting messages of support for Charlie Hebdo and/or messages against censorship, and displaying the Je suis Charlie ("I am Charlie") sign inside and outside of their libraries, in exhibitions of journalistic art, and in selections of resources and conferences on laïcité, [1] freedom of expression, and so on. In a spectacular gesture, the library of Pierres-Vives in Montpellier nearly emptied its bookshelves in order to symbolize censorship.

Though all these actions and mobilizations are praiseworthy, it remains unclear how exactly these actions can be linked to the duty of French librarians to uphold neutrality and confidentiality (Hubert, 2013). Were these the actions of civil servants working in cultural institutions to uphold the pillar of democracy, or the emotionally driven actions of French citizens, carrying a certain vision of freedom and community, but centered above all on the event itself? In other words, how have these political acts confronted the librarian’s role as a citizen on one hand, and on the other, a civil servant working in perhaps the only public arena for the application of democracy?

In order to better understand the role of French libraries during times of crisis, and their relation to neutrality, a detailed study on the kinds of actions that were carried out after the attacks was necessary. The following article is based on a survey of around 200 actions that were carried out between January 7th and late December 2015, and will be presented in three parts: first, a presentation of the methodology implemented in the collection and analysis of the data, second: an analysis of the results, and finally, a discussion concerning neutrality, political engagement and debate.

1: Methodology

1A: Theoretical Framework

The question of neutrality in French libraries has been examined in library charters, laws, codes of ethics, and so on, both at the national and international level. In times of crisis, however, this duty to uphold neutrality, and the ways in which it is performed, is often reevaluated.

In 1999, Jean-Luc Gautier-Gentès responded to certain acts of censorship carried out by far-right local governments on their libraries, and pressed the duty of the librarian, both a potential (and even probable) censor and defender of free speech, to take a political stance: “This is the case with librarians. Also, as we’ve searched for ways to help librarians avoid arbitrary decisions, should we not now be searching for ways to protect citizens from arbitrary decisions, to which librarians themselves can contribute?” (Gautier-Gentès, 1999). He also examines the paradoxical position of the librarian, a civil servant and citizen, a political actor subject to both neutrality injunctions and the duty to exercise discretion:

“…the library thus presents a sort of double-aspect. On one hand, notably, it contributes to the molding of minds (including the particularly vulnerable minds of children), in which case it seems that neutrality is understood to be of the utmost importance, and held to a more scrupulous standard than in other public services (excepting schools). On the other hand, the fact that libraries find themselves in the position of having to manipulate pure politics, politics that are shown more or less as they are, notably the in news, means that neutrality appears to be markedly more fragile and threatened than in other public services.” (Gautier-Gentès, 1999)

In a 1999 text written in the same political context, Anne Kupiec pressed the eminently political and critical role of the public cultural institution: “As a public service, the library is committed to four well-known principles: continuity, adaptability, equality and neutrality. In the case of neutrality, it means that libraries must not promote any personal opinions (especially political or religious opinions, or racial biases) when carrying out their services, and in doing so avoid a critical conception of the constitution of the collections”. She recalls the contours of emancipation, a democratic opportunity in which libraries play a key role. Her texts question libraries’ actual capacity to emancipate citizens. “From a historical perspective, it is obviously in libraries’ interests to remember the use of critique in the fight against ignorance and belief, as well as the fight for the advent of Enlightenment for all, and consequently, to show the soil in which the development of the library slowly and sinuously took root.” (Kupiec, 1999).

Finally, in 2015, three months after the attacks of January 2015, Anne-Marie Bertrand examined the role of the public institution in the debate and conflict, recalling the state sources of the role of libraries as places of education and emancipation. “The analyst observes an avoidance of politics rather than a strong articulation, because the library is in an ambivalent position: on one hand, assuming its civil role, and on the other, assuming the role of an institution devoted to maintaining social links. Firstly, the library represents political conflict via pluralism. Secondly, it cultivates a “vivre-ensemble”,[2] elevating that which unites over that which divides.” (Bertrand, 2005).

In this article, we aim to examine the actions carried out in the wake of the attacks through the lens of the three following approaches to neutrality: the possibility of discussion and political action on the part of libraries, their willingness to enter into debate and process conflict, and the paradoxical position of the French librarian.

1B: Statistics

On January 11, 2015, we [3] launched the “#Bibenaction” campaign on Twitter, which called upon French librarians to share the actions carried out by their libraries in the wake of the attacks. This first step in the survey was conducted using Internet searches as well as first-hand accounts.[4] These actions were collected and listed on Twitter in an improved [5] Excel spreadsheet, which allowed us to organize the collected actions by the following criteria:

Type of action: message, exposition, selection, acquisition, debate, meeting, free speech, or professional action. This was to see what kinds of actions were carried out in a time of political crisis.

The presence or absence of Je suis Charlie (“I am Charlie”), whether in the form of a photo, a message, a news headline, a blog post title, a hashtag (#jesuischarlie), or otherwise. This was meant to gauge the presence of this message in cultural institutions that used the image or slogan as a means of mobilization, or even counter-mobilization (for example, using the message Je ne suis pas Charlie, or “I am not Charlie”).

Type of library: public libraries, territorial libraries, academic libraries, national libraries, and professional organizations. This was to see in which kinds of libraries the attacks reverberated the most.

City: this was to measure the distribution of the actions throughout the French territories.

Date: this was to delineate the different phases of political action in 2015.

Means of communication: websites, social media, email, the press, and so on. This was to see how libraries and librarians gave visibility to these actions.  

Theme of the action: freedom, solidarity, cohabitation, and so on. This was to see what motivated and triggered the action.

The actions thus identified with this table were then passed through the filter of our theoretical framework in order to find some answers answers to our question regarding neutrality.

2: General Results

2A: General Results

The survey allowed us to identify 187 different actions.[6]

These actions were carried out by all kinds of French libraries: public libraries, departmental libraries, university libraries, national libraries, and so on. Of all of these, it was the territorial libraries (that is to say public and departmental libraries), which carried out the majority of the actions identified in our survey (56%).

Figure 1: Actions, categorized by type of library.

Despite this evidence, we cannot conclude that public libraries have been more active than academic libraries. Indeed, 116 libraries or organizations appeared in this survey, each with one or several actions to their credit. Relative to the number of libraries in France, the mobilization can seem insignificant; however, only libraries that publicized their actions on the Internet, or employed librarians who were part of the network of this article’s author, were able to be observed in the study. It should be noted, however, that nearly a third of all academic libraries in France publicized their actions.

In the case of public libraries, the proportion is significantly higher, that is to say 0.43% of the libraries and reading stations counted by the government in 2011. This extremely small percentage can be explained by the fact that public libraries are less active on the Internet and social media than academic libraries. Moreover, in order to know the actual number of actions carried out in reality, we would have had to contact France’s 16,000 public libraries and reading stations identified by the government. As we were unable to undertake such an enormous project at the time, we had to limit ourselves to studying the actions that were diffused, publicized, and politically positioned in full view of the public, adding a second political level to an already politicized action.

The actions we observed were carried out by libraries through all of France, both in small towns (with 500 inhabitants or fewer) and larger cities such as Paris, Lyon, and Lille. Paris, the city directly affected by the shootings, was not the only city to react, and the mobilization in the wake of the attacks clearly reached far beyond the geographical context of the attacks. We have yet to determine whether the common point between these institutions is: their status as an institution dedicated to information, or their status as a French institution. In other words, should these actions be qualified as the actions of citizens or libraries? It is worth noting that in the smallest villages in the study, the library personnel was often entirely composed of volunteers, a fact which renders the status of the library as a public institution (within the context of the actions carried out) and the obligation to uphold neutrality as completely separate from the staff.

Figure 2: Means by which the action was communicated.

As is evident in the above chart, the information on the actions was most often attained through the library’s website [7](77 times) and social media pages [8](72). The other sources, which reflected direct experience or first-hand accounts, were less frequent; nevertheless, we continue to observe the latter. Putting these actions online shows that they are not hidden under the cover of a neutrality injunction, but on the contrary, very much in the public eye. It should be noted, however, that because this survey was not exhaustive, we were unable to examine the absence of action in detail, or distinguish the libraries which publicized their actions from those which did not act at all. In other words, that which was unobservable was not considered as an active stance, but as the absence of a stance, that it to say a position which was not entirely in line with the reactions of local and national governments, nor in the general reaction of the French people. This brought us to wonder if neutrality is in fact a question of quantity: perhaps the more visible reactions there are, the less the object of the reaction can be neutral.

Finally, the categorization of actions by type shows a significant proportion of messages and document selections. The actions were carried out between January 7th, 2015 and December of the same year, even if the large majority were carried out that January (159 out of 187). This demonstrates both the quick reflexes of France’s libraries, which went into action from the day of the attacks, and the gravity of the event which, 12 months later, continues to inspire specific actions.

Figure 3: Type of action.

The combined analysis of type and time of action allowed us to distinguish three distinct phases: a period of high emotions during the first month after the attacks, a period of transmission during the first quarter of 2015, and finally a period of transformation which lasted for the duration of the year 2015.

2B: Results and Discussion

2B-1: Emotion

The month of January was an emotional one due to the attacks. This emotion was evident in the messages diffused by libraries (73 out of 187), calls for collective action (3) and spaces dedicated to free speech available to the public (7). The total number of actions carried out in January represent 45% of the total actions observed in the study. The messages that were diffused expressed condolences and support for the victims’ families, paid homage to the victims, and reaffirmed the determination of France’s libraries to support freedom of speech. Public walls dedicated to free speech also served as spaces for the expression of thoughts for the victims, their own worries, or other responses to the attacks. “They wanted to bring us to our knees, but they’ve made France rise up” was written by two students in Caen on the wall dedicated to free expression in their university library.  Furthermore, actions that focused on solidarity, rather than liberty or vivre-ensemble, represent 48% of the total actions, of which 61% expressed solidarity with the victims and 39% with Charlie Hebdo. Finally, the Je suis Charlie sign was posted in library windows where it was visible to passerby, on the walls and windows inside the libraries, and sometimes even posted on the librarians themselves. In the library of Lyon 1 University, for example, the staff wore Je suis Charlie armbands. 52% of the total actions in the study, all categories included, included the message Je suis Charlie, whether in the form of a photo, a title, or in the URL of the messages broadcasting the action.

These messages, and above all the Je suis Charlie posters, cannot be considered neutral for two reasons: on one hand, in posting these messages, the library takes a stance on a current event, on the other hand, the Je suis Charlie posters elevate a slogan which does not represent all French citizens, when state institutions are supposed to avoid making distinctions between citizens. This emotional reaction, as understandable as it is, demonstrates that these librarians reacted as citizens rather than civil servants, taking a certain distance from the events and the conflicts which mark, and even underlie our society. Does this mean that this lack of distance is acceptable in times of crisis, and that the library must therefore take a side in the issue? Or must we distinguish between messages diffused by the libraries and, much less frequent, invitations to expression such as walls dedicated to free expression and calls to rally?

Though some say that this expression of the library, and by extension, the public institution, is a renouncement of its neutrality, others evoke the notion of each individual’s freedom to express their opinion in a public institution, a space which precisely because of its duty to neutrality guarantees freedom of expression, or in other words, is a public space. As Sandra Salomon reminds us, Hannah « Arendt defined politics as courage and speech: the kind of free speech that can only exist in a public space where a plurality of free men (citizens) can exchange diverse ideas in free confrontation (the Athenian democratic model, the Greek ecclesia).” (Salomon, sd). Thus, we can say that the messages and posters reflect the reaction to current events, whereas walls dedicated to freedom of expression and calls to rally consist of a veritable political action in support of democracy, without upholding the neutrality of the institution.  

2B-2: Transmission

During the first two months of 2015, we observed a second type of action, which was more focused on the transmission of information: selections of documents (50 actions), acquisitions (8) and expositions (26). This second wave of actions was more specifically library-oriented, and, we can suppose, more neutral due to the cover of professional expertise. These actions often reflected the effort of librarians to contextualize, explain, show, and put into perspective the events of January 2015, and represent 44% of the total actions observed. Librarians’ selections also dealt with the themes of freedom of expression, censorship and religion, as well as homages to victims through exhibitions of their work. The selections of books, audio and video sources, songs, and electronic documentation were diffused on all types of media and materials: on the windows and tables inside libraries, via links on their blogs and websites, through thematic pre-selections in their catalogs, and so on. Sometimes these selections were explicitly directed toward parents, as when Tourcoing public library offered a selection of digital resources on talking about traumatic events with children. Acquisitions mostly consisted of renewed subscriptions to Charlie Hebdo when the publication of the magazine was temporarily halted, or the purchase of the first issue after the attacks. The Pierre Villey sound library, for example, offered free access to the audio description of the January 14th issue. With regard to exhibitions, libraries often displayed covers of past issues of Charlie Hebdo, or illustrations drawn by journalists from all over the world. The Hérouville library, for example, displayed drawings that were paired with excerpts from both the UNESCO Manifesto for Public Libraries and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

These actions test the neutrality of libraries, not in reaction to the attacks, but leading up to them. Indeed, in order to foster freedom of expression, there must be many different collections that offer a real sense of neutrality with regard to the construction of the collection. This neutrality, though a myth, doesn’t prevent librarians from trying to reach this goal as much as possible - but the acquisitions of Charlie Hebdo issues, or the renewal of subscriptions to the magazine, show that this kind of pluralism is far from being reached. We hypothesize that this pluralism is avoided due to the potential conflicts it could create, conflicts that librarians may not know how to mediate. The Champs Libres library, for example, posted a reminder of the constitutional pluralism of democracy, and filled their shelves with documents as disparate as Charlie Hebdo, Minute and Monde Libertaire. The reaction of some of the public was virulent: tracts, protests, and so on denounced the presence of extreme-right literature in a library.

This question of conflict also arose during the third period observed in the study, with the organization of debates. At a moment when the key concepts of the French republic such as laïcité, vivre-ensemble and freedom of expression were being re-examined, few debates were held. Though some were organized later in the year, this trend nevertheless raises the question of the place of contentious topics in state institutions. After displaying a Je suis Charlie poster, one library director offered to organize a debate centered around religion – the mayor, however, reminded her that “here, we don’t discuss politics”, the implication being that anything which leads to conflict and debate is inherently political, while actions that lead to consensus are inherently social, in the sense that social ties are rediscovered and reaffirmed.

It is here that we can further question the issue. Should the library be a reflection of these social links, specifically those which unite, or should it, as Anne Kupiec wrote (1999) “serve as a reflection of divergences and conflicts, borne of social divisions, that occur in democratic societies. The library brings to light the tensions and differences of opinion that come with vivre-ensemble: democracy is not synonymous with general and perpetual consensus”. In other words, embracing conflict allows us to better examine neutrality, and divorce it from the definition that depoliticizes librarians, moving it closer to the exercise of a plural and critical examination of society and the evolution of democracy (Lewis, 2008). By thus renewing the democratic debate of ideas, and we can consider that democracy does not come about when we agree, but when we confront ideas head on. As Chantal Mouffe wrote: “A democratic government must establish institutions which allow conflict, not in the form of a confrontation between enemies, but in a form that I call “agonistic”: a confrontation between adversaries who know that there can be no rational solution to their conflict, but recognize their opponent’s right to defend their point of view” (Mouffe, 2016).

2B-3: Transformation

The final period was observed over the course of the year 2016, and was most reflective of a transformation which manifested itself in a renewal of debates, as well as a particular attention given to reflection, discussion and training. This transformation took on a double form: first, that of debates and conferences that were open to the public, and second, day-workshops, articles, and training programs for professionals. Admittedly, these statistics are rather low: we observed 11 out of 187 actions directed towards professionals, and 8 actions that can be qualified as public debates. However, these low numbers should take timing of the actions into account. These actions did not take place during times of high emotion, but over the course of the entire year, continuing even into 2016. This was thus a period of fewer actions, but these actions were carried out after more thorough reflection and consideration.

Thus, the Lyon public library published a message of solidarity, and put Charlie Hebdo covers on display in several locations in the days following the attacks. Soon after these messages and images were posted, the windows of one library were vandalized. This even prompted a city-wide meeting of all public library personnel in January, which was organized in order to exchange information and prompt discussion. This internal discussion preceded several actions that wouldn’t occur until June or even autumn of 2015, such as conferences on the caricature, workshops examining caricatures of former presidents, and the launch of the Democracy project.[9] Similarly, starting in February, the Dunkerque public library suggested that patrons leave a hand-written commentary on the books that they returned, hoping to respond to the attacks by recreating the social ties both within and without the library. Finally, the departmental library of Pierres-Vives in Montpellier temporarily emptied its shelves of documents in order to help patrons visualize the consequences of censorship, and provoke discussion and debate.  

While this was not the first time that debates on freedom of expression or religion were organized by libraries, for many it was perhaps the first time that they touched on these kinds of themes, as libraries are often hesitant to broach subjects that can create conflict. Similarly, with regard to professionals, we can take the example of the Champs-Libres library, which organized a series of workshops for their staff on the reflection and discussion of the neutrality of public institution, and the pluralism of the library’s collections. What interests us here is the willingness of libraries to offer themselves up as spaces dedicated to transformation – or, at the very least, reflection - on the transformation of society, notably questioning key notions of our republic and democracy. It’s the idea of neutrality, exercised by librarians through their engagement in a political mission, that is being questioned. While we have no trouble recognizing the militancy of the generation of the 70s and 80s, which fought for the institutionalization of libraries, and defended the book and public reading, we also consider a militancy which advocates issues that are less centered around libraries (feminism, ecology, LGBT militancy, anti-racism, and so on) to be non-neutral. This kind of delayed militancy was amplified in 2015 by the attacks and incoming refugees.

 En 2005, Dominique Lahary painted a picture of the different generations of librarians, and found the most recent to be the most depoliticized:

 “[Dominique Lahary] proposed a delineation from which arise four kinds of professionals. The oldest are mostly militants and creators. Those in their 50s also show these tendencies, but are primarily concerned with implementing a republican approach to public reading, cultural exchange, and taking a normative approach to the profession and the tools that come with it. Those in their 40s have had managerial training, and have a different, more political vision of the profession (the state vs. local authorities). Finally, the youngest generation is distancing itself from a centralizing approach to the role of the book, and are better trained in new technologies; they are more “counselors” than prescribers, committing themselves to the needs of the patron, and using a more relativistic cultural approach.” (Verry-Jolivet, 2005)

Perhaps we should see this last generation not as depoliticized, but as a generation that has shifted the object of its politicization, and in this time of crisis has finally found a way to express this politicization through action, notably library-related actions. One text, presented at a conference on emotions and politics, thus explains between professional careers and political engagement (Arrigoni, 2015). Indeed, militancy naturally takes a form that is driven by the combination of skills and knowledge that are often developed in the professional world, a combination which also serves to legitimize the militant action being carried out. In fact, an analysis of the actions by theme reveals a silence on the subject of religion, with freedom of religion representing only 2% of the themes addressed by these actions, while the freedom of the press represents 24%, and freedom of expression, the concept at the heart of library activity, and the foundation of the library itself, represents 74% of these actions. Furthermore, the aforementioned emotion present during the first period in this chronology could be the catalyst for political engagement (Fontaine, 2015) which relies to a certain extent on professional practices, but which focuses on subjects linked to politics in general, rather than the book policy in particular.

Conclusion

This study on the actions carried out in the wake of the attacks of January 2015, which was conducted with the question of neutrality with regard to librarians in mind, allowed us to witness a revival of the question of politics in libraries. In raising this question, these libraries have blurred the line between the political and the social, and revived democratic debate, and begun to think of themselves not as emancipators, but as a participants. We hypothesize that we are witnessing a turning point in the construction of a new model of the French library, in which the role of the institution is not to passively defend the democracy we have, but to actively construct the democracy we want. To this end, librarians perhaps need the appropriate training and education, not just managerial, but political: training in political culture, training on the values of libraries, and training in critical thinking.

References

Arrigoni, M. (2015). Les sensibilités primordiales, un lien impensé entre carrières professionnelles et carrières militantes. Presented at the Congrès AFSP Aix 2015, Aix. Retrieved from http://www.congres-afsp.fr/st/st8/st8arrigoni.pdf

Bats, R. (2015). Biblioteche, crisi e partecipazione. AIB studi, (1). http://doi.org/10.2426/aibstudi-11003

BBF Dossier. (2015). Liberté Chérie. Bulletin des Bibliothèques de France, (5). http://bbf.enssib.fr/sommaire/2015/5

Bertrand, A.-M. (2015). Les bibliothèques sont filles des Lumières. Quoique…. Bulletin des bibliothèques de France, (5). Retrieved from http://bbf.enssib.fr/consulter/bbf-2015-05-0044-005

Fontaine, J. (2015). Les Instituteurs en Résistance. Obéissance collective et désobéissances individuelles au  prisme de l’émotion. Presented at the Congrès AFSP Aix 2015, Aix. Retrieved from http://www.congres-afsp.fr/st/st8/st8fontaine.pdf#page=1&zoom=auto,-107,842

Gautier-Gentès, J.-L. (1999). Réflexions exploratoires sur le métier de directeur de bibliothèque. Bulletin des Bibliothèques de France, (4). Retrieved from http://bbf.enssib.fr/consulter/bbf-1999-04-0014-002

Hubert, C. (2013). Bibliothécaires et militantisme: neutralité et pratiques professionnelles. Villeurbanne, Rhône, France.

Kupiec, A. (1999). Éléments de réflexion pour une déontologie professionnelle. Bulletin des Bibliothèques de France, (4). Retrieved from http://bbf.enssib.fr/consulter/bbf-1999-04-0008-001

Lewis, A. M. (Ed.). (2008). Questioning library neutrality: essays from Progressive librarian. Duluth, Minn: Library Juice Press.

Mouffe, C., Faure, S., & Vécrin, A. (2016, avril). Interview de Chantal Mouffe. Libération. Paris, France. Retrieved from http://www.liberation.fr/debats/2016/04/15/chantal-mouffe-obtenir-un-consensus-en-politique-est-par-principe-impossible_1446542

Salomon, S. (sd). Pour Hannah Arendt, la politique fait exister l’agir en commun | multitudes. Retrieved from http://www.multitudes.net/Pour-Hannah-Arendt-la-politique/

Verry-Jolivet, C. (2005). Mais à quoi servent vraiment les bibliothèques municipales ? Bulletin des Bibliothèques de France, (4). Retrieved from http://bbf.enssib.fr/consulter/bbf-2005-04-0069-001

Notes

[1] The word laïcité is so inextricably linked with French history that there is no equivalent in the English language. This word refers to the law of laïcité, which followed the separation of church and state in 1905. This law, which is absolutely fundamental to the French republic, requires religious neutrality on the part of the state and public services. Government employees, for example, cannot display their religious beliefs while on the job, whether physically or verbally, whether through actions or the passive wearing of religious garments and jewelry. According to the law, citizens are free to practice the religion of their choice, and wear signs and symbols of their religion, everywhere but in public schools, where children are forbidden from wearing religious garments or paraphernalia in the interest of avoiding discrimination. Furthermore, religion is considered a private practice, which should therefore not be practiced in public spaces.

[2] The notion of vivre ensemble (with or without a hyphen) is related to the construction of the French nation. How can individuals share a territory and a collective vision, all the while maintaining their own individuality with regard to religion, opinions, and ideas? Since 2015, many appeals have been made to this concept, whether as positive reminders of the capacity of the French state to offer a rule of law that is based on the notions of liberty, equality and fraternity, or as critiques on the notion of vivre ensemble, which was challenged, or at the very least disturbed, by the different attacks carried out on French soil, as well as the responses by the state in the wake of the attacks (such as the declaration of a state of emergency).  

[3] My sincere thanks to Nathalie Clot for asking me to proofread and edit her translation of David Lanes’s text, which led to our launch the first step of the #bibenaction survey together. Thank you for the opportunity to transform my feelings of powerlessness into something positive.

[4] Either within the framework of parallel collection (Dominique Lahary and Philippe Charrier), or within the framework of personal contacts.

[5] Thanks to Marie Larochelle for creating a unified Excel spreadsheet which improved upon my original document.

[6] As of January 1st, 2016. We continue to observe these actions today.

[7] Or a photo-hosting site such as Flickr.

[8] Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

[9] This project aimed to organize a cultural season (2016-2017) centered around democracy that would have a very strong participatory element, both internally with the teams organizing the event, and externally with the public.

E-book reading data protection in libraries

Estelle Beck

beckestelle@gmail.com

Université Paul-Valéry III, ITIC, Montpellier

Librarian, Luxembourg City

Committee member of the Luxemburgish Librarians’, Archivists’ and Documentalists’ Association (ALBAD)

Keywords:Ebook, Reading Data, Privacy Protection, User Privacy

Abstract

An average reader needs only seven hours to finish the last volume of Suzanne Collins' trilogy "The Hunger Games", on a Kobo e-reader, representing an average of 57 pages per hour. This is the kind of information that can be gathered through the exploitation of e-book reading data. What are the most read e-books? What are the most searched topics in a digital encyclopedia? After how many pages do readers decide to buy/borrow or abandon the selected item? All these questions can now be answered, based on accurate numbers and figures.

Through their e-book offers and e-reading devices lending programs, libraries expose their users to this environment and thus, indirectly, to the e-book reading data exploitation practices. Although the latter may be beneficial and may bring some benefits to the readers, they also represent a threat to the library users’ privacy. Indeed, a user who must identify herself or use her library card to browse online or borrow an e-book transmits personal data to the digital book providers, erasing all traces of anonymity. For commercial publishers and aggregators, this represents an inexhaustible wealth of information; even governments may be interested in this data, for example to fight against terrorism.

However, isn't it the libraries' role to enable readers to anonymously have access to all types of information, without fear of being judged or watched? Couldn't this role be threatened by e-book reading data collection and exploitation practices? This very current issue has been foreseen by the International Federation of Library Association (IFLA) in its "Trend Report", stating that now, "the boundaries of privacy and data protection will be redefined".

To try to bring an answer to these questions, this paper tackles the e-book reading data protection issue from the library’s point of view. In this matter, a definition of the e-book reading data and a description of their characteristics will first be provided. The dangers, but also the opportunities that the reading data collection and exploitation practices by commercial publishers, aggregators, governments and libraries represent, as well as their implications on the library readers' privacy will then be analyzed. To identify the librarians' awareness and perception about this topic, the results of a comparative quantitative survey has been conducted among the French and American information professionals in the context of this research process, will be presented. Finally, the libraries' role in the e-book reading data protection will be summarized, while practical recommendations will be proposed, aiming at guiding information professionals wishing to commit to protecting the anonymity of e-book usage.

Introduction

E-books have long been rare gems, only being of interest for the ones in favor of progress and technological innovations. Yet, for about a decade, their popularity has been increasing, propelling them into the heart of the Amazon and Google Books’ services (to name only the most famous initiatives), as well as into most scientific publishers’ electronic platforms, such as Elsevier or Springer. The emergence and development of e-readers and other reading devices have also played an important role in the democratization of this form of digital reading.

Hence, faced with these rapid technological progresses, new problems and challenges are arising in libraries: copyright restrictions, e-book accessibility in libraries, embargoes, readers’ property rights, etc. Among these awkward questions, another aspect is taking more and more importance: e-book reading data protection.

E-book reading data

Reading data is still an emerging notion. Therefore, no precise definition has yet been proposed in the scientific literature. For the purpose of this work the following definition is nevertheless suggested: e-book reading data is “personal measurable and quantifiable information that can be stored, analyzed and transmitted to third parties, generated by e-book reading, and reflecting the reading habits of a given reader”. Thus reading data has the ability to transform reading activities into bytes and turn reading into a community experience. (Mayer-Schönberger, 2014)

Currently, there are two ways to collect reading data: from the web when reading online or from any reading device, with the help of the specially adapted document format. Ozer (2010, pp 137-138.) describes these reading data collection strategies as the equivalent of an “offline library or bookstore hiring an agent to follow each individual patron around the stacks ; throughout their day, and finally into their homes.”

Indeed, reading data collection and exploitation embodies many risks, starting with the main one: users’ surveillance, bringing fear of reading a particular book and so questioning the fundamental values of the freedom of expression and research. (Klinefelter, 2007; Alter, 2012) Highly targeted advertising (Proia, 2013) and the loss of literary diversity, due to the fact that the authors may become more focused on the analyzed readers’ needs and wishes rather than on their own creativity, are two other reasons leading to negative consequences of reading data collection practices. (Mallié, 2014)

Beyond these dangers, the use that can be made of personal data also opens up new opportunities. For example, it allows the transfer of information from a reading device to another, allowing the reader to juggle multiple devices (Dobbs, 2014). It also facilitates digital rights management, proves beneficial for improving the performance of digital books, making possible for authors to offer better content, and leads to more social and connected reading practices.

Undertaken actions in the USA

Problems related to e-book reading data collection have been identified in the US as of 1998. However, it is only following the 2012 Amazon scandal, when library users borrowing e-books from the library on their personal Kindle received advertising messages that the librarians reacted to this data exploitation and added preventive messages on their websites and e-books platforms.

To reduce the impact of such situations on individual privacy, senators from the state of California voted, in October 2011, a “Reader Privacy Act”[1], the first law adapting to the exponential growth and usage of digital books. (Kelley, 2011) As of 2013, the states of Arizona [2], New Jersey [3] and Missouri [4] have followed suit. (Mays Espino, 2013)

Following the 2014 scandal accusing Adobe of storing and transmitting all the reading data accessed through the new version 4.0 of ADE to the company servers, the American Library Association voiced their concern about the amount of data collected and stored by the e-book providers. Thence, some libraries have responded to this arising issue by including a sentence regarding e-books and digital resources in their privacy policy.

Undertaken actions in France

In France, e-book reading data protection is a rarely addressed topic. Aside from Gary (2011), who suggests the adoption of a law comparable to the “California Reader Privacy Act”, and the CAREL working group, which advocates "to retrieve reliable and usable statistics to assess the usages and to develop the collection, while respecting the personal data protection principles as set out in the CNIL recommendations"[5], no recommendation or project following the example of the US has been undertaken..

Even though the various aspects concerning e-book reading data protection are extensively pointed out on some librarians’ blogs, which mainly concentrate on reporting what happens in the USA, no scientific study, survey or action specifically dedicated to this issue has been identified in France. Thence the survey below has been carried out in order to partially fill this gap.

Study methodology

To identify the awareness and perception among librarians regarding the e-book reading data protection issues, a qualitative survey was conducted for 28 days in May-June 2015 among the French [6] and US [7] professionals. This survey was designed to provide answers to the following two main assumptions:

Librarians are favorable to users’ data protection and unanimously opposed to reading data exploitation.

They consider that users do not want third parties collecting and analyzing their reading data.

Study results

As presupposed, a large majority of librarians (92% US and 79% French) consider that the users’ data protection is part of their mission (Figure 1).

Figure 1.  Answers to the question “do you think that users’ data and privacy protection belongs to the libraries’ missions?”

However, contrary to the assumption that they would unanimously be against reading data collection practices, some of the respondents, especially among the French librarians, asserted that the readers are themselves responsible for the fate of their data. Furthermore, Amazon practices or Adobe security flaws are tolerated by some participants, sometimes being seen as the price to pay for accessing the services. This latter trend is less obvious in France, since the French professionals are more numerous to show reluctance with those situations.

Faced with this issue, only few respondents having no privacy policy at their institution consider the creation of such a document. The majority of the US-participants offering e-books in their libraries cannot imagine ending their e-book lending program because of an inadequate supplier’s privacy policy. The opposite seems to be true in France, where the majority would be ready to end their program depending on the terms offered by the provider. The question on this topic being formulated hypothetically, the respondents’ statements do not ensure the actual implementation of those resolutions. Still, French librarians seem to engage more vigorously for the users’ data protection. Although it is complex to interpret this divergence of opinion, it can be supposed that the national context plays an important role here. French librarians feel perhaps powerless in front of international web platforms, but are more inclined to commit to reading data protection when selecting their local e-book suppliers.

Indeed, 40% of French participants agreed with the fact that the suppliers’ privacy policy belongs to the selection criteria when choosing business partners, against 32% US. Moreover, the latter are more numerous to assert that, due to the e-books' popularity and the monopoly of the existing platforms, no real alternatives exist. French participants added, that ending an e-book lending program because of the weaknesses of a suppliers’ privacy policy would be a disproportionate solution considering the general lack of respect for privacy on the Internet, apparently accepted by a majority of the population.

Concerning the second assumption, on the presumed users’ perception, many survey respondents did not give their opinion. Nevertheless, thanks to the few collected answers and the comments left at the end of the questionnaire, it could be discerned that a majority of US librarians believe that the users do not see privacy protection issues in the same way and, therefore, do not consider it problematic to disclose some of their personal information in exchange for an access to an offer or for the services' customization. This aspect is also mentioned by some French participants, although more moderately. Indeed, the latter mainly suggest that the general lack of privacy on the Internet has become usual and commonly accepted, letting e-book reading data collection and exploitation practices seem banal for the users.

Thereby, the second hypothesis, assuming that library professionals believe that users do not wish to see their reading data used by third parties, is partially being reversed. Indeed, despite the fact that 89% US and 71% French librarians believe that users perceive libraries as trusted institutions regarding the protection and non-disclosure of their personal data (Figure 2), a high number of professionals, mainly in the United States, consider however that their patrons are not particularly against the use of their personal data.

Figure 2. Answers to the question “do you think that for the patrons, libraries represent a trusted institution concerning the privacy protection and the non-disclosure of their personal data?”

Therefore, and despite the fact that many respondents in both countries consider data protection as an important topic, current concrete commitment mainly aims at informing and training users.

Libraries and the e-book reading data protection

Perceived as institutions guaranteeing democracy, libraries are intended to act against censorship and for the protection of freedom of expression and intellectual freedom. Furthermore, these institutions, through the personal data protection of their users, have an important role to play in defending freedom of access to information regardless of race, ethnicity, color or social class, as advocated in article 19 of the Human Rights Declaration.

This is why the confidentiality of the readers’ transactions in libraries is explicitly mentioned in most codes of conduct and ethical texts of the profession, be it at international [8] level, the United States [9] or France [10].

According to these general ethical principles, individuals must be able to trust libraries and consider them as a sanctuary in which they can feel completely free in their thoughts, reading and researches. (Magi, 2007; Klinefelter, 2007) In the arising “Barnes & Noble” era, it is essential for the reputation and sustainability of libraries, and to maintain the trust relationship with the public, that these institutions continue to fit to existing user expectations regarding data protection, and that they commit themselves as much as before to ensuring the confidentiality of loan transactions, despite the changes due to the increasing internet growth. (Coombs, 2004)

Yet while librarians are acutely aware of their role regarding readers’ privacy protection, Sutlieff (2010) indicates that professionals are not really prepared to handle these emerging challenges. In fact, many librarians do not even know which type of personal data they collect through their library systems or third party websites, or how the information is collected. This means that most professionals still gradually discover the consequences of the latest technological developments on readers’ privacy protection.

Among librarians, even though the majority believes in the importance of users’ data protection, some consider that protecting the users’ privacy will become less and less crucial, given the evolving societal values (Klinefelter, 2007) or think that it is the role of the user to choose whether or not, depending on the privacy policy, they wish to consult the documents provided by a given-book platform. (Parry, 2012)

Anyhow, the importance of this topic requires a proactive response from the professionals who should start debating, lobbying and negotiating with the e-book providers, government agencies and legislators. This may lead to a necessary digital transition's slowdown, providing the time needed to identify working methods that will ensure compliance with the core values of the profession.

Practical recommendations

While achieving a perfect reading data protection is currently an illusion, some actions can nevertheless already be undertaken. The four most important points, which are also those prevailing in the comments of the survey, are:

Develop a data protection policy, a privacy policy and/or a clear code of conduct, accompanied by easily comprehensible information to library users.

Give readers the right to opt out of the reading data collection, or even ask them explicitly in advance if they wish to opt-in.

Lobby to promote the development of laws that would be more suitable to the digital environment and would lead to better regulation of the liability of providers’ liability in case of reading data collection and exploitation.

Make users aware of reading data privacy issues. Make them aware that the contractual practices of third parties do not necessarily meet the libraries’ ethical principles. (Mayer-Schönberger, 2014; Caldwell-Stone, 2012 ; McSherry, 2010 ; Ozer, 2010; Coombs, 2005 ; Fifarek, 2002)

In short, “librarians of all ranks must become more familiar with the technology they employ in order to educate their patrons on how to protect themselves during online information seeking, whether or not they are using library resources. Only then can we be sure that we have fully prepared our patrons for the vicissitudes of the online world.”[11]

Conclusion

The 21st century is becoming the century of public, measurable and quantifiable reading. (Mahé, 2014; Biagini, 2012) This change raises many questions about the e-book reading data, questions that become increasingly relevant considering the growing numbers of internet users’ personal data collection practices. (Proia, 2013) The future risks ensued from the exploitation of reading data are also increasingly important, since digital reading continues to expand. (Mays Espino, 2013)

Faced with this yet undefined environment, it is essential to ensure that the ethical values of libraries are not abandoned, especially because these institutions have a strong reputation of protecting data and user privacy. (Sutlieff, 2010) Therefore, librarians should intensively debate about the balance to be reached between the values they wish to defend against the e-books reading data collection practices, and the principles they are willing to sacrifice to facilitate access to information and users’ convenience. (Yelton, 2012)

References

Biagini, C. (2012), L’emprise numérique : comment internet et les nouvelles technologies ont colonisé nos vies. Paris : Editions l’échappée Caldwell-Stone, D. (2012, May 29). A digital dilemma ebooks and users’ rights: new technology may prove inhospitable to privacy. American Libraries Magazine. Retrieved from http://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2012/05/29/a-digital-dilemma-ebooks-and-users-rights/.

Coombs, K. A. (2004). Walking a tightrope: academic libraries and privacy. Journal of academic librarianship, 30, 493-498

Coombs, K. A. (2005). Protecting user privacy in the age of digital libraries. Computers in libraries, 25(6), 16-20

Fifarek, A. (2002). Technology and privacy in the academic library. Online Information Review, 26(6), 366-374

Gary, N. (2011, October 11). Protection des données personnelles et livre numérique : incompatible ? ActuaLitté. Retrieved from https://www.actualitte.com/legislation/protection-des-donnees-personnelles-et-livre-numerique-incompatible-28976.htm.

Kelley, M. & Blumenstein, L. (2011, May 15). California moves to safeguard reader privacy. Library Journal, 136(9), 15

Klinefelter, A. (2007). Privacy and library public services: or I know what you read last summer. Legal Reference Services Quarterly, 26(1-2), 253-279

Magi, T. J. (2007). The gap between theory and practice: a study of the prevalence and strength of patron confidentiality policies in public and academic libraries. Library and information science research, 29, 455-470

Mahé, T. (2014). Lectures et lecteurs. Design et architecture de l’ebook. Retrieved from http://tibomahe.com/projet_epub/Text/chap2.xhtml.

Mayer-Schönberger, V. &Cukier, K. (2014). Big data : la révolution des données est en marche. Paris : Robert Laffont

Mays Espino, M. (2013). Sometimes I feel like somebody’s watching me… read?: a comment on the need for heightened privacy rights for consumers of ebooks. John Marshall Journal of information technology and privacy law, 30(2), 281-306

McSherry, C. & Cohn, C. (2010). Digital books and your rights: a checklist for readers, San Francisco : Electronic Frontier Foundation. Retrieved from https://www.eff.org/files/eff-digital-books_0.pdf.

Ozer, N. & Lynch, J. A. (2010). Protecting reader privacy in digital books. Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence Privacy 2010 Symposium, pp. 136-141. Retrieved from http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1588187.

Parry, M. (2012). As libraries go digital, sharing of data conflicts with tradition of privacy. Chronicle of higher education, 59(11), 14

Proia, A. A. (2013). A new approach to digital reader privacy: state regulations and their protection of digital book data. Indiana Law Journal, 88(4). Retrieved from http://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=11087&context=ilj.

Sutlieff, L. &Chelin, J. (2010). An absolute prerequisite: the importance of user privacy and trust in maintaining academic freedom at the library. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 42(3), 163-177

Yelton, A. (2012, September 15). The ethics of ebooks. Library Journal, pp. 30-31

Notes

[1] California Reader Privacy Act, added in 2011 to Californian Civil Code. Source: http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&sectionNum=1798.90.

[2] Arizona House Bill 2165, relating to public libraries. Source: http://www.azleg.gov/legtext/51leg/1r/bills/hb2165h.pdf.

[3] Bill Text NJ A3802 enacting the Reader Privacy Act. Source: https://legiscan.com/NJ/text/A3802/id/899047.

[4] Missouri Revised Statutes, County and City Libraries - Libraries Generally. Source: http://www.moga.mo.gov/mostatutes/stathtml/18200008151.html;http://www.moga.mo.gov/mostatutes/stathtml/18200008171.html.

[5]Recommendations for e-book implementation in public libraries. Source: http://www.reseaucarel.org/ Quote translated by the author.

[6] 146 participants / 1000 contacted (15% answer rate)

[7] 136 participants / 7790 contacted (unfortunately less than 2% answer rate)

[8] IFLA Principles for library elending, Article 6, 2013. Source : http://www.ifla.org/files/assets/hq/topics/e-lending/principles-for-library-elending-rev-aug-2013.pdf;IFLA Internet Manifesto 2014. Source: http://www.ifla.org/publications/node/224; IFLA Code of Ethics for Librarians and other Information Workers, Section 3. Source: http://www.ifla.org/news/ifla-code-of-ethics-for-librarians-and-other-information-workers-full-version; Lyon declaration 2014,Article 2. Source: http://www.lyondeclaration.org/content/pages/lyon-declaration-fr.pdf.

[9] Library Bill of Rights, 1996. Source: http://www.ala.org/advocacy/sites/ala.org.advocacy/files/content/intfreedom/librarybill/lbor.pdf; Code of Ethicsof the American Libraries Association, Article 3, 2008. Source: http://www.ala.org/advocacy/proethics/codeofethics/codeethics.

[10] Code de déontologie du bibliothécaire, 2003. Source: http://www.abf.asso.fr/fichiers/file/ABF/textes_reference/code_deontologie_bibliothecaire.pdf.

[11] Fifarek, 2002, p. 372

Modern Times, Modern Librarians:
A Comparison of Historical and Modern Library Services of Hungary and the United States

Alyson Bell

afbell2@illinois.edu

University of Illinois, Graduate School of Library and Information Science, Champaign-Urbana, USA

Brigitta Jávorka

javorka.brigitta@oszk.hu

National Széchény Library, Hungarian Library Institute, Budapest, Hungary

Keywords: Public Libraries, Community Development, Civic Engagement, Access to Culture and Information, Participatory Projects

Abstract

The role public libraries play within their communities is continually evolving. Libraries are shifting away from the stereotype of stuffy rooms monitored by over-zealous librarians and towards an image of a place for community engagement, professional development, and lifelong learning. This paper explores the role today’s public libraries play within their communities, as well as how external factors influence that role. Focusing on public libraries within the United States and Hungary, this paper will review the history of public libraries within each country and examine how historical influences shaped the role of modern public libraries in their communities. This paper will examine the roles Ervin Szabó and Andrew Carnegie played in founding and remodeling public libraries in Hungary and the United States and how their legacies still influence public library policy today. This paper will inspect the similarities and differences of libraries in Hungary and the United States in regards to their civic engagement, patron access to information, and development within communities. It will also explore how public libraries in each country continue to improve and expand their services. This paper will examine the execution and success of non-traditional roles of public libraries, such as partnerships with other community organizations and the implementation of FabLabs, advanced workshop space for computer-based design. The methodology will be a literature review of articles published on this subject. Examining the historical and modern-day roles of public libraries from an American and Eastern European context will contribute to recognition of best practices that can be applied on a global scale.

Introduction

Public libraries today are not in an easy situation, as they are faced with numerous expectations. Their users want a fun place where they can freely spend their time and be provided with the opportunity to do interesting things, but this must be balanced by the needs of the institutions. Libraries are also responsible for managing and protecting their collections, including valuable works. The libraries have social responsibilities because their system is the world’s largest database. They need to help people in education and lifelong learning, as well as in everyday life by giving them access to public information. The institutions around the world choose different ways to fulfill their mission, influenced by many things. This includes the law of the country, the government’s aid system, the support of the community, the mentality of the librarians, and the country’s cultural habits. Focusing on public libraries within the United States and Hungary, this paper reviews the history of public libraries within each country and examines how historical influences shaped the role of modern public libraries in their communities.

Public Libraries in Hungary

In Hungary the predecessors of public libraries were reading groups and booksellers’ lending libraries. The Anglo-Saxon model of public libraries was introduced by Ervin Szabó, who reorganized the metropolitan library of Budapest and opened it to the general public in 1911. Earlier the main tendency was the use of the German Volksbücherei (people's library) model.[1]

The new metropolitan library had one central library and five branches. It opened its local history collection (called the Budapest Collection) in 1913, and made a department of children’s literature available in the same year.[2]

Library development stopped at the beginning of World War I, and during World War II a large number of books were destroyed. In the 1950s politics had a strong influence on the operation of the library systems. Before the transition period (1989-1990) and the fall of the communist regime the political pressure on the culture had gradually eased. Hungary was sometimes described as "the happiest barrack in the socialist camp." Though even the library system of the 1980s is linked to the modern public library conception.

Today the public libraries in Hungary are just seeking their place in the life of their users. There is not one common strategy or goal libraries are hoping to achieve. There are many successful routes, but a collective thinking is missing. The innovative librarians try to follow international trends and make their library into a third place and a community space. The conservative librarians think the most important task of libraries is to preserve the books and information, as they think we should not alter the library's focus and make things that do not connect to our collections. The future of the Hungarian libraries is not clear and largely depends on the expectations of the users.

The Hungarian Library Institute undertook a large study in 2014 among the Hungarian city libraries, asking them about how important the library is to the local people within their communities. Data shows that libraries are most important for primary school students, elderly people, and pensioners; although the importance of the library decreases as children grow older. The institutes are more important to the intellectuals than to the people with low social status and the library is not important for entrepreneurs at all. We can say that the library plays a significant role in communities, but there are some target groups that are not be reached.

The most important target groups are racial or ethnic minorities to whom the library needs to offer special services. In Hungary the biggest minority group is the population of the Romani people. The official surveys count 600,000 Romani, but many people do not declare themselves as a member of this community. A more accurate estimate is 800,000 – 900,000 people with Romani lineage.

One of the most active researchers of this topic is Ferenc Kardos who works in the Halis István City Library of Nagykanizsa. He and his coworkers adapt their theories into practice. His beliefs are that a successful model could be to have an employee who understands their culture and possibly belongs to their community to help the minorities, as he could be a mentor and role model to the Romani children.[3] However, it is important to develop the collection along special considerations. Hungarian libraries need to have books in Romani and Beas languages (even separated special collections) and also direction signs, signage, and website content translations.

Ferenc Kardos says one of the biggest problems is that the educated people are not always active with the Romani people, as they sometimes fall out from the community. Because of this Romani children are not motivated to learn and there is a mutual distancing between themselves and the library. They are sometimes too noisy and they do not know the rules and they are met with an aggressive reaction from the librarians. The Halis István City Library employs a Romani librarian who is a part of the community. They have also Romani users and they provide space for the events of the Romani non-governmental organizations in the area.[4] In Hungary work with the community, crowd sourcing, is not used by many libraries. But the best example of what connects the community to collections is the Fortepan. It is an online photo archive that relies on the volunteer work of editors and helpers.

Public Libraries in the United States

The initial form of libraries within the United States was social libraries and school libraries. Social libraries were formed voluntarily by nongovernmental associations and funded by subscriptions. Libraries run by local school districts often carried materials for the adults in their communities as well. Public libraries first began appearing within the United States in the 1830s. The first large public library was established in Boston from 1848 through 1854. During subsequent years the public library movement in the United States grew slowly, gaining increased support in the late 1800s. From 1876 to 1929 public libraries increased at a rate of nearly eight percent per year. The growing library movement was a direct result of a number of changing factors within the United States, including the success of the educational movement, as the increased support for and expansion of public libraries occurred along with the implementation of compulsory school enrollment. By the time the library movement was in full effect in the late nineteenth century, many children in the United States were enrolled in primary school, and the movement for secondary (high school) education was gaining momentum.

In The Sociological Beginnings of the Library Movement published in 1931, Anthony Borden attributes the rise of the library movement to additional factors including the role of the federal government, the interest of private philanthropists, and the increased demand for —educational activities resulting from the rise of an affluent middle and working class that had more time for leisure.[5] The growth of women’s organizations within the United States also contributed to the library movement. Women’s groups, which gained in popularity after the Civil War, supported the library movement through fundraising, using clubhouses or member’s homes as temporary library buildings, and soliciting grants. Philanthropists, like Andrew Carnegie also contributed to the rise of public libraries within the United States. Andrew Carnegie was devoted to education and the library movement and provided —funds to build... 1,689 [libraries] across the United States[6] by the time of his death in 1919.

Today, there are approximately 16,500 public libraries within the United States.[7] Modern libraries have a number of roles within their communities. In addition to the traditional role of providing access to information, the roles and responsibilities of American libraries today have grown to include community engagement. Libraries are the perfect venue for community outreach, because libraries are viewed as —trusted, stable, apolitical, safe institutions that are —accessible to everyone.[8] Libraries today provide classes, such as adult and computer literacy, workshops in resume writing, completing taxes, health insurance, and serve as voting centers. A partnership with outside organizations is a common way for public libraries to expand their influence. For example, public libraries in Greensboro, North Carolina have partnered with the local Parks and Recreation department on a teen gang prevention initiative. These new ways of servicing library communities support Paul Jaeger and his co-authors statement in Library Research and What Libraries Actually Do Now—libraries are continually adapting and innovating to meet the basic needs of their communities.[9]

In addition to community engagement, American libraries today act as a technological bridge for their communities. In many communities, libraries are the sole place providing free Internet access and support. By offering this —vital and invaluable community service,[10] libraries have created new social roles, service responses, and professional values that are inextricably linked to the library.[11] In addition to the providing computer use and free Internet, libraries also teach their patrons how to use new technologies. Today, more than 90% of American libraries — offer formal or informal technology training.[12] Libraries house innovative new ways of using technology, as evidenced by the rise of Fab Labs and Makerspaces within public libraries. Makerspaces are especially effective at engaging young patrons, as well as artists and entrepreneurs. These technological tools help ensure that American public libraries remain in the learning business, not just the book business.[13]

Public Libraries within the United States are also instrumental tools for immigrant communities. As of 2004, immigrants comprised nearly 12% of the United States population and nearly 20% of children were the children of immigrants.[14] Libraries are able to serve these populations by offering English as a Second Language classes, offering bilingual materials, ensuring collections include the languages of foreign born residents in the library’s community, and having bilingual signs, and if possible employees, available to assist patrons. The most common obstacle facing libraries ability to successfully meet the needs of immigrant populations is a lack of understanding of the library’s purpose. It is therefore essential that public libraries are able to convey their services through outreach or by partnering with other organizations working with immigrant communities.

Conclusion

Despite cultural, historical, and economic differences, public libraries within the United States and Hungary both strive to serve their communities. The foundations of the public library movement in Hungary and the United States differed greatly. Within the United States, public libraries have played an active role in communities since the late 1800s, while the public library movement began in Hungary in the early 1900s. Public library development was stunted within Hungary during the World Wars and throughout the mid-twentieth century, while library services in the United States continued to develop. However, public libraries in both countries today play similar roles within their communities. Intensive efforts are being taken to meet the needs of underserved populations—the Romani people in Hungary and immigrant communities in the United States. Libraries in both the United States and Hungary are striving to adapt their services to meet the changing needs of their communities.

References

American Library Association. (2015). Number of Libraries in the United States. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/tools/libfactsheets/alalibraryfactsheet01

Belbin, N. and Newcombe, P. (2013). Fab Labs at the Library. Education Digest, 78(7), 65-68.

Bertot, J.C., McClure, C.R., and Jaeger, P.T. (2008). The Impacts of Free Public Internet Access on Public Library Patrons and Communities. Library Quarterly, 78(3), 285-301.

Borden. A.K. (1931). The Sociological Beginnings of the Library Movement. Library Quarterly, 1, 278-282.

Burke, S.K. (2008). Use of Public Libraries by Immigrants. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 48(2), 164-174.

Fekete, R. (2013). A szemléletmód vagy a lehetőségek korlátjai?. Tudásmenedzsment, 14(2), 84-97.

Jaeger, P.T., Gorham, U., Taylor, N.G., Kettnich, K., Sarin, L.C., and Peterson, K.J. (2014). Library Research and What Libraries Actually Do Now: Education, Inclusion, Social Services, Public Spaces, Digital Literacy, Social Justice, Human Rights, and Other Community Needs. Library Quarterly, 84(4), 491-493.

Kardos, F. (2013). A roma mint követhető értékminta a könyvtárakban. A közeli és a távoli jövő roma könyvtárosa és roma olvasója. Könyv, könyvtár, könyvtáros, 22. (4), 21-32.

Kardos, F. (2015). Speciális ismeretszerzési, tanulási lehetőségek roma fiatalok számára a könyvtárban. Retrieved from http://mokk.skanzen.hu/kardos-ferenc-specialis-ismeretszerzesi,-tanulasi-lehetosegek-roma-fiatalok-szamara-a-konyvtarban.html

Kevane, M. & Sundstrom, W.A. (2014). The Development of Public Libraries in the United States, 1870-1930: A Quantitative Assessment. Information & Culture, 49(2), 117-144.

Mackenzie, S. (2013). Andrew Carnegie: The Billionaire Benefactor of Great Britain. The Big Issue. Retrieved from http://www.bigissue.com/features/2945/andrew-carnegie-billionaire-benefactor-great-britain

McCrossen, A. (2006). —One Cathedral More or —Mere Lounging Place for Bummers? The Cultural Politics of Leisure and the Public Library in Gilded Age America. Libraries & Culture, 41(2), 169-188. 

Ministry of Education and Culture (2006). Libraries and librarianship in Hungary. Retrieved from http://www.mek.oszk.hu/04200/04288/04288.pdf

Scrogham, R. (2006). The American Public Library and its Fragile Future. New Library World, 107(1/2), 7-15.

Watson, P. (1994). Founding Mothers: the Contribution of Women’s Organizations to Public Library Development in the United States. Library Quarterly, 64, 233-269.

Young, R. (2012). More Than Just Books: The Role of Public Libraries in Building Community and Promoting Civic Engagement. National Civic Review, 101(4), 30-32.

Notes

[1] Fekete, R. (2013.). A szemléletmód vagy a lehetőségek korlátjai?. Tudásmenedzsment, 14(2), 84-97.

[2] Ministry of Education and Culture (2006). Libraries and librarianship in Hungary. Retrieved from http://www.mek.oszk.hu/04200/04288/04288.pdf

[3] Kardos, F. (2015). Speciális ismeretszerzési, tanulási lehetőségek roma fiatalok számára a könyvtárban. Retrieved from http://mokk.skanzen.hu/kardos-ferenc-specialis-ismeretszerzesi,-tanulasi-lehetosegek-roma-fiatalok-szamara-a-konyvtarban.html

[4] Kardos, F. (2013). A roma mint követhető értékminta a könyvtárakban. A közeli és a távoli jövő roma könyvtárosa és roma olvasója. Könyv, könyvtár, könyvtáros, 22. (4), 21-32.

[5]Borden. A.K. (1931). The Sociological Beginnings of the Library Movement. Library Quarterly, 1, 278-

[6] Mackenzie, S. (2013). Andrew Carnegie: The Billionaire Benefactor of Great Britain. The Big Issue.

[7]American Library Association. (2015). Number of Libraries in the United States.

[8]Young, R. (2012). More Than Just Books: The Role of Public Libraries in Building Community and Promoting Civic Engagement. National Civic Review, 101(4), 30-32.

[9]Jaeger, P.T., Gorham, U., Taylor, N.G., Kettnich, K., Sarin, L.C., and Peterson, K.J. (2014). Library Research and What Libraries Actually Do Now: Education, Inclusion, Social Services, Public Spaces, Digital Literacy, Social Justice, Human Rights, and Other Community Needs. Library Quarterly, 84(4), 491-493.

[10]Bertot, J.C., McClure, C.R., and Jaeger, P.T. (2008). The Impacts of Free Public Internet Access on Public Library Patrons and Communities. Library Quarterly, 78(3), 285-301.

[11]Ibid.

[12]Belbin, N. and Newcombe, P. (2013). Fab Labs at the Library. Education Digest, 78(7), 65-68

[13]Ibid

[14]Burke, S.K. (2008). Use of Public Libraries by Immigrants. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 48(2), 164-174.

User Experience in the Italian Academic Libraries context:
may we start?

Carla Colombati

ccolombati@unite.it

University of Teramo, The Library at the Coste St. Agostino Campus Faculty of Law building, Campus Coste Sant'Agostino – 64100 Teramo

Keywords: User Experience , Academic Libraries, Research Methods

Abstract

In the Italian Academic Digital Libraries context, digital services represent an interesting landscape to explore according to User Experience value. Several studies offered an investigation about Italian realities focusing on users’ evaluation of services (Tammaro, 2008; Rogani, 2007; Agosti et al. 2010; Consonni, 2010). These steps were followed by other research initiatives such as those provided by the Italian National Libraries Association (AIB) with its Study Group on Academic Libraries, the Italian Academic System Study Group and some Cultural Institutions. Further along this path came other contributions in which it would be useful to look at many aspects, such as work byXie (2008), who stressed how most of users’ studies on Digital Libraries were the result of scholars’ view.

A new concept is present in Digital Libraries Literature and it concerns User Experience which seems to be a fashion term according to literature, education and training. A new online peer reviewed Journal, Weave, is dedicated to Library User Experience. So it would help to gain further insights on the term User Experience in the context of Digital Libraries services and to reflect on the Italian Academic Digital Libraries services.

The work aims to establish some paths to follow to examine the Italian Academic Libraries “scenario” in the field of User Experience. The research focuses on a reflection: a.) about the relevant initiatives concerning the topic in Italy; b). about some relevant experiences in a selected group of international academic libraries; and on a methodology to study the topic with a chosen group of Italian academic libraries.

Introduction

Digital libraries evaluation by users point of view is a new research topic, “an exciting area” (Dobreva, O’Dwyer, Feliciati, 2012, p. 1, but see also p. 1-17). Users studies are able to get useful insight of digital libraries’ services and contents. Now the scene is encompassing changes: from technological approach to changes devoted specifically to users, with two main characteristics: at one side there are multi-disciplinary users’ studies related to digital libraries; and, on other side, closely related to this field of research, there is a trend topic which explore the User Experience (UX) in Libraries, especially in academic libraries (Walton, 2015).

User Experience (UX) Literature review

In literature many works refer to User Experience as a wide concept: “UX is a broadly defined term, including attainment of behavioral goals, satisfaction of non-instrumental (or hedonistic) needs, and acquisition of positive feeling and well-being”. (Law, Hvannberg, & Hassenzahl, 2006). There is not one agreed-upon statement, but many definitions referring to the discipline with whom User Experience is studied. Law et al. explored three “metrics” from Usability, a concept more related to the technological side [environment]: “effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction” and stated that actual User Experience tries to work on “satisfaction” exploring its main characteristics: “fun, pride, pleasure, surprise, intimacy, joy” and some others so as to identify criteria for an UX’s evaluation. As stated: “The challenge is how to define, theorize, qualify and quantify co-experience, which is clearly not the sum of individual user experiences” (Law et al 2006, p. iii) and that UX has grown in a “coherent” way, but the methodology should be developed better.

The interesting result achieved by Law et al. aims to develop a “shared understanding that UX needs to clarify and operate constructs to be taken seriously within the context of SE or user-centered design. Second, at least some approaches to UX believe that with a proper definition come valid and reliable measures.” (Law et al 2006). Against those who criticized the possibility to evaluate non definable User Experience (emotions, behaviors), Law et al. in their work gave a contribution to search for a “unified view” based on the shared conviction that exploring UX was useful and the next steps should be addressed by design, engineering and research. (Law et al 2006).

A recent survey study was held to understand whether or not this concept - first approached by HCI, and pursued by many disciplines - could be compressed in a shared single statement. The survey study findings were impressive because of the way thay are related to respondents nationalities and fields (Lallemand, Gronier, & Koenig, 2015). Lallemand et al. (2015) carried out a literature review proposing the Barcenilla & Bastien study (2009) on comparing UX and the Hassenzahl (2008) reflections about the boundaries on UX related to the quality of interaction. Until 2000 the varied panorama on UX studies set forth many point of views, some frameworks. The main evidence is that UX statements and models refer to each discipline framework, it is mostly used when referring it to HCI, and that definition should provide an umbrella for many aspects, this definition should encompass the components of UX and the outcomes of an experience, and it could be really different for an “Academia”, often related to study researches, or “Industry” environment for designing products. Lallemand et al.’s final conclusion (2015) was that a “standardized definition” could not be achieved (see also Walton, 2015, MacDonald, 2015) but that “it is the result of the user’s emotion, their past experience(s), their goals and needs, and their external context” (Lallemand et al, 2015). We can argue that every discipline or environment could have its own User Experience statement to establish according to Users.

MacDonald too (2015) agrees that there is no shared statement about User Experience, but the topic is transforming libraries’ characteristics to enrich the user-centered approach with a User Experience toolbox which can lead to “a disciplinary collaboration” among different communities. MacDonald offers a User Experience timeline describing the main topics: from usability of library web pages, to exploration of remote or digital services. In addition, MacDonald refers to SPEC Kit 322 form Association of Research Libraries (ARL) which had the Library User Experience as its main topic. The most interesting findings of the report were about research methods to get User experience in Libraries exploiting UX methods: surveys with a preference for LibQual; focus group, and usability tests (MacDonald, 2015). 16 librarians participated in MacDonald survey to give insights about this particular topic. The research method he exploited was “qualitative study involving interviews with 16 librarians who have “User Experience” in their official job titles” study (MacDonald, 2015). In this study there are three findings which are useful to delimit and define User Experience in Libraries: 1. User Experience has a user-centered approach in which usability tests are only a part of users’ interaction with libraries and librarians should make efforts to boost user engagement and interest for all libraries’ services, not only those connected with digital services; in this case librarians should activate all “touch points users”; 2. librarians prefer to use qualitative research methods such as “focus groups, interviews, and observations”, supported by questionnaire like LibQual and some other kind of questionnaires; the main idea is to leave “assessment” which is related to “statistics” to move toward User Experience-engagement; 3. in this survey most of the participants had responsibilities for any kind of services, from the digital to others, and so with any kind of users’ interaction with the libraries and this is a challenge to face because it involves many aspects to analyze; 4. Librarians stresses all User Experience usability research methods (card sorting, personas/scenarios etc) but they are not engaged with User Experience design librarians engaged, mostly because they do not have the skills to re-design interfaces, etc. (MacDonald, 2015).

Two User Experience initiatives and studies

In the U.S.A. and UK there are initiatives and studies concerning User Experience in Libraries. An interesting conference took place last year at Cambridge University with the aim to sum up relevant initiatives about “User Experience in Libraries”. One of the most interesting results of the conference was that Ethnography could be the best method to get insights about User Experience. Walton (2015) recalls how before 2000 the topic was eluded in academic libraries as a form of inability of librarians to manage users’ needs by themselves while now the change is highly requested to face digital seeking and access to information resources. One of the main characteristics of academic library is to be a gateway for information and at that education level many users present a high information seeking level which has to interact with digital libraries’ websites and services: “In a world where the user is king/queen, UX can only increase in importance”(Walton, 2015, p. 3).

An important research led across USA and UK scholars from OCLC, JISC and academic gives so many outputs and stresses a toolset of research methods which is almost the complete one. The main actors of the research came from the partnership between US University of North Carolina, Charlotte and from UK Oxford Brooks University, Warwick University, and secondary schools in Oxford and Leicester (Connaway, Hood, Lanclos, White, Le Cornu, 2013, p. 23). The first aim was to intercept users’ habits and engagement with technological and information means and needs. In this study there is swift from “information seeking” to explore all along participants’ information discovery according to the specific moment and scenario during their educational life, from high school to university. The sample chosen was divided into “Digital Visitors and Residents (V&R)”, investigated all along 3 years study career exploiting their engagement with digital resources. The “Digital Visitors and Residents (V&R)” was established as framework. The research had 4 stages: to get participants from US and UK divided in two groups; to interview them and inviting them to fill in a monthly diary accompanied by conversation; to go deeper with a survey analyzing data collected; to retake interviews with other users. The research methods were qualitative and quantitative: semi-structured interviews, diaries, and an online survey […] including ethnographic methods that devote individual attention to the subjects (Connaway et al., 2013, p. 22). The findings are all centered on “convenience” key word. The convenience for all users, at any level, also the academic one, to access to the convenient and accessible and open resource available: Users prefer to use Wikipedia and Google as source of information and it could be useful to improve digital literacy skills from the early stage of the education process. The institutions were found a useful mean to validate the previous research in the open web, as repositories of physical resource already found with the search. A suggestion was to work on “links and media (whether locally produced or not) by institutions under a trusted URL” (Connaway et., 2013, p. 26).

It is worth to visualize all research methods described and so usefully presented:

Figure 1: User study methods (Dobreva, O’Dwyer, Feliciati, 2012, p. 6)

Italy: users’ evaluation

In Italy several studies investigate users’ evaluation of services (Tammaro, 2008; Rogani, 2007; Agosti et al. 2010; Consonni, 2010), some of them are in the context of Academic Libraries and some of them are specifically associated with Academic Digital Libraries’ services. Among these studies, the chosen ones, presented in a chronological timeline, it is interesting to show more useful viewpoints that are here collected with a brief description of the research methods to get data.

Rogani’s study involves a users perspective to “assess the usability and usefulness of Emeroteca Virtuale” (Rogani, 2007, p. 504) a Consortium, a portal to access to e-journals in academic sector. The research methods exploited qualitative and quantitative methods given by a questionnaire, interviews, “usability test and a post questionnaire”. The sample chosen was quite huge with 1.350 users belonging to the University of Calabria. The focus group interviews were carried out with 20 persons. The final findings gave a good result about Emeroteca Virtuale access and services. Some issues were found at information literacy level or tools provided by the service itself.

Anna Maria Tammaro gives the findings of an interesting evaluation held by the Fondazione Rinascimento Digitale. The mentioned survey of digital services provided by three Italian humanistic Digital Libraries in Tuscany was exploited taking care of “the user’s point of view”. In this survey it is well focused that two important criteria were not so often explored and constituted challenges: users’ exigencies and ‘satisfaction’ (Tammaro, 2008, p. 131). The research methods had three steps, from a stage of collecting data about the italian digital libraries, to go further with a feedback by specialists to build a framework for digital libraries and finally to get a “user survey subgroup” exploiting “questionnaire and structured interviews.”. The final aim was to explore in the digital libraries context: “collections, digital services and their use” with a focus to develop a “framework” to evaluate together “user perceptions, use measurement and service impact”. Another interesting point of view tried to link the digital library’s “success” according to its definition in the program/mission/statement chosen to characterize the organization itself. The success key was linked to “user success” and to satisfaction of users. The impact outcome was given by those service/s which could be fundamentals for users’ activities in the context of digital libraries.

Chiara Consonni’s work examines an interesting point related to digital libraries: non-users whose insight “is crucial to an exhaustive evaluation of a digital library service (Consonni, 2010, p. 325). The chosen library to develop the investigation was the University Library of Milan with a sample of students, professors and working personnel. The survey was held with a questionnaire with “10 closed questions with the possibility to add comments” divided into personal data and digital Library sections (Consonni, 2015, p. 327). The findings are useful because non-users show their ability in accessing and exploiting the digital library’s service they could use and the lack in fidelity was due mostly because of the changed need or for the use of other services. In this survey usability as user-friendly access came out as a challenge.

Agosti, Crivellari, Di Nunzio & Gabrielli (2010) describe the process followed to build “a prototype for The European Library (TEL) Web portal” exploiting a “user-centered design” method. In the article the group underlines a first useful statement: a digital library has its own “user groups” and “any evaluation of DL collections and services must be inevitably taken into account the characteristics of the target user groups” (Agosti et al, 2010, p. 226). By this assumption, the investigation had an overall complexity: it was an important research which was conducted over 3 years and was undertaken with more than 200 users (students). It was undertaken in different phases, a preliminary one, that helped address a second one with some improvements. Synthetically the survey was composed by an exploration of web user session (with different log analysis – considered really demanding in the phase of output to synthesize!) plus a questionnaire with the scope to have a deep feedback “of both explicit and implicit measures of user interaction” (Agosti et al, 2015, p. 225).and a task to accomplish. Each part of the whole research process had the key point of understanding the TEL web portal. The conclusion here led to the opportunity to work more on log files to get “implicit” habits of users’ interaction with Digital Libraries and to target them.

Conclusions and research to start

In Italy academic digital libraries are under research and users studies are carried out. Users’ studies cover both qualitative and quantitative methods with a preference to: survey questionnaires, interviews, focus group interviews, usability tests. The gaps are related to an established framework about users questionnaire (thinking of Sconul framework in UK or to LibQual in USA) and to the User Experience topic which seems to be unexplored in the library context and in the academic one too.

According to the User Experience preferred evaluation in English spoken language countries (USA and UK) it would be useful to exploit an ethnographic research supported by a standardized questionnaire to share with some academic colleagues and LIS’ scholars. At National Association Level with our AIB (Associazione Italiana Biblioteche), the “academic libraries study group” could be the driver for a questionnaire to share among colleagues belonging to a chosen sample of academic Digital libraries (by Universities’ size) or choosing the CIPE consortium which has established shared tools to provide digital services and which has an agreement with OCLC’s services. As second step ethnographic investigations should be carried out by librarians of the same chosen sample. The final aim should be to push academic librarians to discover User Experience usefulness to increase user engagement and satisfaction with academic digital library services.

Limits of this research: this solution seems to be really ambitious because the study group should advocate the User Experience topic, followed by academic colleagues which should also available to find a solutions to get users’ participation for User Experience survey; finally the ethnographic discovery is really demanding. Of course a group of advocate librarians could be created at small investigation size.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Anna Maria Tammaro and Graham Walton for their guidance as supervisor and mentor for DILL Master, my DILL Master colleagues, Valentina Gamboni and Sofia Axonidi. I add also: my colleagues in the Humanistic Library, the Head Manager, and the Training Committee of the University of Teramo for their support.

References

Agosti, M., Crivellari, F., Di Nunzio, G. M., & Gabrielli, S. (2010). Understanding user requirements and preferences for a digital library web portal. International Journal on Digital Libraries, 11(4), 225-238. DOI: 10.1007/s00799-011-0075-7

Alben, L. (1996). Quality of experience. Interactions, 3, 11-15.

Battarbee, K. (2003). Defining co-experience. Proceedings of DPPI’03, June 23-26, Pittsburgh, USA

Barcenilla, J., & Bastien, J. M. (2009). L’acceptabilité des nouvelles technologies: quelles relations avec l’ergonomie, l’utilisabilité et l’expérience utilisateur ? Le Travail Humain, 72(4), 311–331.DOI: 10.3917/th.724.0311

Connaway, L. S., Hood, E. M., Lanclos, D., White, D., Le Cornu, A. (2013). User-centered decision making: a new model for developing academic library services and systems. IFLA (39)1, 20-29. DOI: 10.1177/0340035212472462

Consonni, C. (2010). Non-users' evaluation of digital libraries: A survey at the Università degli studi di Milano. IFLA Journal, 36(4), 325-331.

Dobreva, M., O’Dwyer, A., Feliciati, P. (2012). Introduction: user studies for digital library development. In M. Dobreva, A. O’Dwyer & Feliciati P. (Eds), User studies for digital library development (1-17). London: Facet.

Hassenzahl, M. (2008). User Experience (UX): Towards an experiential perspective on product quality. In Proceedings of the 20th International conference of the association francophone d’interaction homme-machine (IHM 2008), Metz, France. DOI: 10.1145/1512714.1512717

Lallemand, .C., Gronier, G., Koenig, V. (2015). User experience: A concept without consensus? Exploring practitioners’ perspectives throu.gh an international survey. Computers in Human Behavior. 43(February), 35-48.

Law, E. L-C., Hvannberg, E.T., & Hassenzahl, M. (Eds.). (2006). User Experience: Towards a unified view: In Proceedings of the 2nd COST294-MAUSE International Open Workshop, 14th October 2006, Oslo, Norway. Retrieved from: http://cost294.org/upload/408.pdf.

MacDonald, C. M. (2015). User Experience Librarians: User Advocates, User Researchers, Usability Evaluators, or All of the Above? In Proceedings of the 2015 Annual Meeting of the Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T 2015), 72. Silver Spring, MD: ASIS. Retrieved from: http://www.craigmacdonald.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/MacDonald-2015_UX-Librarians_official.pdf.

Rogani, J. F. (2007). Library consortia and digital services: Users' perceptions at the university of calabria. New Library World, 108(11-12), 504-525.

Tammaro, A. M. (2008). User perceptions of digital libraries: A case study in Italy. Performance Measurement and Metrics, 9(2), 130-137. DOI: 10.1108/14678040810906835

Graham Walton (2015) What User Experience (UX) Means for Academic Libraries, New Review of Academic Librarianship, 21:1, 1-3, DOI: 10.1080/13614533.2015.1001229

Xie, H. I. (2008). Users’ evaluation of digital libraries (DLs): Their uses, their criteria, and their assessment. Information Processing & Management, 44(3), 1346–1373. DOI:10.1016/j.ipm.2007.10.003

Mobile library service in Baranya County: How to provide library services to the people of a rural region in Hungary?

László Csobán, Fruzsina Farkas, Zsófia Pajor

laszlo.csoban@gmail.com, fruzsinaeva.farkas@gmail.com, pajor.zsofia@baralib.hu

Csorba Győző Library, Hungary, Pécs 7622 Universitas str. 2/A

Keywords:Mobile Library Services, Bibliobus, Cultural Equality, Baranya County, Hungary

Abstract

Aging society is one of the main problems in Europe.

In many Hungarian villages the unemployment rate is very high and beside this, the social, cultural and public services are about to disappear Among other unsolved, urgent things, providing cultural equality in this situation is a challenging task. In Hungary, there are many counties where the villages' population is below 500 people. Baranya is one of these counties.

This territorial fragmentation can contribute to the low living standard. In these villages there are fewer opportunities to access information, education, culture and jobs, the news and innovations arrive at a slower rate.

Hungarian law states that every Hungarian village must have a library or if they cannot maintain an independent library because of any reason, they must require a service from the county library. There are two options for those villages who do not own a library. They can choose between the bibliobus or a depository library.

The mobile library service is a well-known and beloved form all over the world. There were several examples for the mobile library service in the 50's and 60's in Hungary. For example the so-called cultural cars, which were grass green Moskviches, they “brought” the culture to the people. Librarians in Baranya County try many forms to meet the information and cultural needs for nearly 300 villages in the last 50 years.

After the millennium, with a new bibliobus there was an opportunity to meet the mentioned needs. This new modern vehicle can be a real, functional communal place for the people in the rural region.

Since 2014 there are already two bibliobuses working in this field.

In 2015 we organized the I. Bibliobus meeting in Pécs. The main goal of the international meeting was to establish a strong partnership between CsorbaGyőző Library and the libraries of Pécs's twin towns that possess bibliobuses, and to invite the library's partners at least in every second year to a meeting to the city of Pécs.

Altogether 12 libraries represented the seven participating countries: Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Netherlands, Croatia, Germany, Romania and Slovenia.

Besides our foreign guests there were ten libraries (county, city or university libraries) from Hungary. More than 500 visitors (both children and adults) could “get on” the bibliobuses to see them functioning as libraries. Both foreign and domestic partners participating in the conference find the program professionally meaningful, forward-looking raising a number of questions about the future work:

What are the cultural needs of a village with only a few young people? How can the librarians motivate the people in those poor villages where the basic needs are not ensured? What kind of opportunities has a child or a youth in a one-street village? What is the most important service which the bibliobus can bring to these villages?

In our essay we try to answer these questions based on the experience of five years of the first bibliobus service in Baranya county.

About Baranya County

Hungary has 19 counties, Baranya County lies in southern Hungary. Baranya County’s area is 4429 m² and the population is nearly 400,000 people.(Hungary is 93,030 m² and the total population is 9,896,000 people). In Baranya there are 9 districts with 301 villages. There are 210 villages where the population is under 500 people.

According to the Hungarian Central Statistical Office’s survey in Hungary the unemployment rate was 7,7% in 2014. In Baranya it was 8,4% [1]. It is important to note that between the high unemployment rate we can talk about closed down schools, kindergartens, shops. Most of the services are mobile, it means the products like bread, milk, gas bottle, meat, and also the postal service and the medical care are organized by vehicles.

Library service in Baranya County

According to the Act CXL of 1997 on the Protection of Cultural Goods, Museum Institutions, Public Library Service and Cultural Education [2] in Hungary, every village have to maintain a library. The Library Supply Service System (LSSS) is a part of the Hungarian Library Strategy 2008-2013, which regulates the library supply of the small settlements. From 2013, those settlements who cannot provide the library service on his own, they can order the service from the county libraries.

In Baranya County 283 of 301 settlements order the service from the CsorbaGyőző Library.

Therefrom 225 villages have library service points and 58 settlements are provided by bibliobus.

The past

In 1959 the Ministry of Culture gave some so-called cultural cars to the county libraries in Hungary, including Baranya County. They can be called the first mobile library service, the main functions were book borrowing, document exchange, informing and educational work. The cars were regulated by a guide and the adult education plan. These vehicles got public educational roles too, they usually brought writer-reader meetings, movie screenings, tiny exhibitions to the villages.

The first Hungarian bibliobus started its service in 1973, in Budapest the capital of Hungary. A year after in 1974, the second one started to provide library service in the outskirts of Pécs the county town of Baranya. The second came in 1984 and the third bibliobus in 1991. Due to financial problems the service had to be ceased in 1999.

After the Millenium

The first modern bibliobus started operation on December 6, 2010, as a result of a winning EU proposal. It provides 27 settlements in 2010, now it’s 29. Under the contact between the county library and the settlement, the bookmobile visits the settlements twice per month and stays one and a half hour. The designated stops for the 13 meters long bibliobus are in the center of the settlements, for example in front of the community center, church, school, shop or a bar. Cooperation between the librarians and the settlements assisted by a contact person in each settlement, his duty is to inform the population and provide power source for the bibliobus.

The vehicle can be visited for the disabled and a software (Jaws) is available for blind people. In addition to various electronic devices (laptops, printer, projector) 4,000 documents are available to the users. The bus offers 30 types of journals for browsing and the users may also borrow CDs, DVDs. The collection contains a wide range of fiction and non-fiction for adults, literature for children and young adults and also for the ethnic minorities of Baranya County (Croatian, German, Roma). Documents have been bundled together according to the reader’s requests, they can find adventurous, crime, historical, sci-fi, romantic books.

The bus is equipped with a satellite dish which is moveable, this dish makes available the broadband internet service in 5 minutes. Two laptops are available to the readers and one to the librarian.

The Csorba Győző Library – which is a county and city library also – operates the Library Supply Service System of Baranya County (LSSSBC). It has got its own stock which is continuously expanding. The document supplying to the library service points and to the bibliobuses are operated from there. Bibliobus readers can request documents from the LSSSBC’s and the county library’s stock, they can get the requested document at the following service day. Besides the interlibrary loaning, the holding is also possible.

The second bibliobus

In April of 2014 the second bibliobus was handed over with the help of another winning EU proposal. It has started to provide 28 settlements, now it’s 29. The 10 meters long vehicle equipped with 2,000 documents and the electronic devices and a movable satellite dish are same as on the first bibliobus. A comfortable couch and four PCs are available for the users. Although there are less books than in the first bibliobus, the communal space gets bigger because a corner for crafting and playing has been created in the second bus. It is also possible to request documents as we described previously.

About the service

Two librarians and two drivers maintain the mobile library service. One of them is in the library and doing background tasks, process the requests, planning events, the other one is visiting the villages with the driver.

The bibliobuses provide service 9 times every fortnight, reaching on the average three settlements per day, with a visit to each settlement twice per month. It was important when we assembled the itinerary that highest number of our readers should be at home at the time when the mobile library arrives. The next bibliobus service day displayed at the bibliobus stops and also available online at the library’s homepage. Every service on the bibliobuses are completely free.

In order to function well between the settlements and the librarians, the cooperation is necessary between both parties. A motivated, enthusiastic contact person can help this relationship with problem solving, event organizing and gathering people at the right time. This person have to play a central role and have good contacts in the community. Experience has shown that the service is better where these personal conditions are provided.

Statistics

The mobile libraries visit every settlement on average 20 times a year. The supplied settlements population is about 20,000 inhabitants. The active users on both buses are nearly 1000 persons. To borrow documents users must have a library card, a simple registration (name, age) is enough to use other services like browsing. Both bibliobuses have 6,000 attendings (included borrowing, net surfing, handicraft activities, read on the spot) in 2015.

Bibliobus users can be separated to 3 age groups: 40% are under 14 years old, 55% are people between 14-65 years old and 5% are over 65 years old. Last year the users borrowed a total of 20,000 books on the buses. There were 2,000 book requests from the county library’s, from the Library Supply Service System of Baranya County’ stock and by interlibrary loaning.

About the settlements

Generally we can say that there are a very few opportunities to meet any kind of cultural needs in those villages where the bibliobuses supplies. Although in every settlement we could find community centers, but these buildings are in a very bad condition and besides the maintenance raises financial problems. Most of them are need to be renovated, some of them are new but non-functional [3].

There were many settlements where there wasn’t any library service for decades before the bibliobus service started. If there was a library it couldn’t have been called a modern library: furniture in bad condition, outdated, musty collections, and stuffy library rooms. People have to travel to a nearby city to meet its culture needs, kids are also have to travel to school. Shops are hardly working in these villages, except bars. Because most of the services are mobile, different vehicles are coming in given time.

Locally it is hard to find an opportunity for sports and meaningful recreation for youth. Bibliobuses can help with activities, leisure facilities (card gaming, board games, quizzes) for activate the community. Most of the readers are not coming to just borrow a book, they are there because of the community, that’s why the regularity is important.

As we mentioned before the unemployment rate is high in the county, it is an important task to help the job searchers and find information about the further education. Mobile librarians can help with CV writing, print or copy tests for language exam, collect literature for high school, college and university studies.

Beside the traditional library functions, the bibliobuses can be a vivid community place, it can easily happen that the book borrowing is pushed into the background and the social function comes into view. It can be observed that the more people get acquainted with the library service the more confidently using it. A change of a librarian or a contact person may affect the service. In the worst case the lack of a contact person can also cause negative effects.

As the standard of living decreases, we should think there is no chance to get it better, but we still have a lot of users who want to learn more or pursue meaningful recreation activities, develop skills and acquire knowledge in any topic from gardening to establishment of a private enterprise.

In 2015 started a nationwide program called "Cinema in the Library", which is another opportunity to community organization in the libraries. After the screening, people can talk about their feelings about the movie.

International bibliobus meeting in Pécs

Last year Csorba Győző Library decided to organize the I. Bibliobus Meeting in Pécs. Besides seeing the best practices and establishing strong partnership between the bibliobus–owner libraries we aimed to spot further opportunities to exploit the potential of this network. Representatives of 7 countries (Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Netherlands, Croatia, Germany, Romania and Slovenia) attended the conference including 12 libraries and 7 buses. The meeting provided a lot of lessons for the participants. We learned from the presentations that there are noticeable differences between the capacity and the facilities of mobile libraries. Trucks and minibuses- due to their sizes - are not equally suitable for all kinds of library tasks. Those built on bus-chassis are capable of storing 3000-8000 documents, while minibuses can deliver about 1500-2000 documents (mostly books, periodicals, CDs / DVDs) to readers. On some buses besides the conventional documents, board games, video games and e-books can also be borrowed; other buses provide slide projectors and education packages, tutorials to educational institutions. In Austria and the Netherlands the buses are constructed and designed to keep up with the technical demands of the 21st century. Their infrastructure is much more advanced, and besides computers and unlimited internet access other digital tools are provided to help-primarily- schoolchildren with the conscious and considered use of digital media (e.g. 3D printer in the Netherlands).

The majority of buses focus on small aging towns with a population of less than 5,000. As for the location of the service: the stations are usually formed by the township busier nodes, but there are many examples based on local needs. For instance close to schools, nurseries, hospitals, old people's homes, special care institutions or homeless shelters. Buses are always in the place near enough to be easy to get to.

In the field of financing process - mainly in the Eastern European countries – we can find lot similarities. Poor financial conditions and gradual financial uncertainty is typical/ not unusual in many places however in some Western European countries the self-supporting form of the service is a matter of course. The causes are very practical. For instance in Holland - due to the termination of public services in small settlements - people can arrange certain tasks on the bibliobuses such as postal services, cash withdrawal, money transfer by credit card etc. For taking over these tasks the mobile library is given financial support to make its real service almost self-supporting.

Development directions

The bibliobus meeting raised a number of questions in relation to the supply of small settlements that have to be reconsidered in the light of existing possibilities of our library. Five years ago - when the bibliobus program started - our aim was to reach 10% of the target population. Library-use slightly varies in localities: in some places the enrollment has been higher than this rate, in other villages the number of registered readers has been close to 10%, but there are library stations that have not achieved the set target. This has caused us to reassess the way we approach the bibliobus readers. We have to gather information about the population again. Besides their ages, the distribution of ethnic communities, the local work capacities, the unemployment rate, the number of commuters, social and infrastructural capacities, the presence of civic and public sector, also necessary to reassess more personal data to be able to make an effective plan for satisfying the real cultural needs of the target community. These questions focus on the changes in local cultural traditions, the typical jobs, activities, hobbies, what they lack and what they value most, what they require. The answers may give a much more appropriate perspective on their lives.

The next step is a thorough and detailed analysis of the situation which opens up the possibility of developing more effective service plans with based on local needs with the broadest possible involvement of the population.

Networking

In order to direct outreach of the target group flyers and posters should be prepared and shared to inform people about the opportunities the service offers them.

Besides with the mayors, to create a good contact with the local public institutions and the leaders of civil organizations is also indispensable.

Involving the municipalities we have to think through the possible changes in the time and length of the buses according to the needs of the population as well as the capacity of bibliobuses and the existing human resource. A perfectly capable, devoted contact person (moderator/ librarian) may play a key role in changing the approach of the library or digital literacy if she can act as a catalyst.

Taking into account that the personal contact, relations between people are significant in small settlements, we want to address our passionate and regular bibliobus- goers either to help with motivating their friends and family members to use the service.

Regarding the fact that along the southern border the number of multinational villages is rather high, stronger relationship should be established with Croatian, Roma and German multi-national governments in both county and local levels.

While bibliobuses are designed to provide accessibility for disabled readers as well, we aim to broaden our cooperation with various organizations working in Baranya County (e.g. Association of People with Disabilities, The Deaf and Hard of Hearing Association, Organization of the Blind and Visually Impaired) - to inform those with disabilities that the service is free and available to everyone.

The modern, hi-tech bibliobuses beyond distributing books and research materials are supposed to work as small community centers - reflecting the needs, personality, and the characteristics of the target community. By expanding and enriching the services the small library room in the buses can have substantive impact on their lives. Let me remind you of Labukini project [4] in Gratz that offers thematic education packages (Books, magazines, games, DVDs) to schools, kindergartens and nurseries, as well as social assistance to job seekers, people starting business, help with competence development etc.)

Following the Holland example the role of the library buses in rural development can be strengthened in the future if they can take over services that contribute to comfort of local people. Involving the impoverished peripheral area of Pécs in the service - can be a key to mitigate the feeling of isolation. In addition by offering regular programs our special libraries can bring disparate members of the community together.

In summary

We can say that the bibliobus service plays an extremely valuable role in bringing the world to the disadvantaged areas promoting rural development. We do believe that the free bibliobus service can create a space for information-process and knowledge improvement through developing of information literacy contributing to equal opportunities and a higher quality of life in rural communities. In addition it helps to keep the population in small villages, refrain them for moving and leave their homes.

We want people not only to get on the bus but stay! Take charge of the destiny and get down to work, get down to lifelong learning.

Thanks to mobile libraries the up-to-date and high-quality library service is available to every single village in Baranya County.

Notes

[1] Hungarian Central Statistical Office’sstatistics: https://www.ksh.hu/docs/hun/xstadat/xstadat_eves/i_qlf027b.html (2015.12.08.)

[2] http://www.eui.eu/Projects/InternationalArtHeritageLaw/Hungary.aspx (2015.12.08.)

[3] Barany County's Regional Development Concept, 2013, http://baranya.hu/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/BMTK_Helyzetertekeles.pdf

[4] Labukini project: http://www.stadtbibliothek.graz.at/?ref-type=labuka (2015.12.08.)

An Analysis of International Library Aid to Africa: Cultural, Economic, and Political Impacts

Cailín Cullen

caculle2@illinois.edu

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Keywords:Democracy, Library, International Aid, Africa, Non-governmental Organizations

Abstract

This paper discusses the library’s function as a democratic tool in developing countries.

More specifically, it explores the motives, objectives, and outcomes of the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that provide aid to libraries in the developing world. To what extent are NGOs fostering democracy through library aid in developing nations? By studying libraries in newly democratic countries, one can see the important role that libraries play in advancing the value of open access to information. However, many developing nations do not have the funds to endorse local libraries, and NGOs from developed countries have taken it upon themselves to foster the development of African libraries. What role do these NGOs play in determining how libraries should function in the developing world? By focusing on the work of NGOs, such as the African Library Project and Beyond Access, one can decipher whether the efforts of these organizations stimulate a more democratic society through the promotion of libraries.

There is a substantial body of literature surrounding the relationship between libraries and democracy. A great deal has also been written about the impact of humanitarianism in post-colonial Africa. However, there has been little debate over the soundness of NGO assistance to local African libraries. Recent scholarship on humanitarian aid sheds light on some of the disastrous outcomes of international aid work in Africa over the past half-century and refuses to accept altruism as inherently good. Therefore, it is worth questioning the role of library aid in developing countries. Is the aid provided to African libraries culturally relevant and sustainable? Does it promote local leadership and initiative? Answering these questions will elucidate the democratic nature of African libraries and reveal the extent to which NGOs are advancing the democratic mission of libraries in the developing world. Through a review of the literature on humanitarianism in general and international library aid to Africa specifically, it is argued that the cultural, economic, and political influences of aid to African libraries undermine the democratic institution it attempts to support.

Introduction

In the global West, public libraries are seen as a vital part of the foundation upon which democracy stands. By nature, libraries are places of knowledge and learning. They provide access to information, which is an essential feature of a functioning democratic society. Because the Western world places such a high value on public libraries, many people have found the scarcity of libraries in Africa to be alarming. People like Tom Warth (Books for Africa), Chris Bradshaw (African Library Project), and Patrick Weil (Libraries Without Borders), have been so moved by the absence of this valued institution that they founded non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in an attempt to help the less fortunate and remedy the situation. There is a substantial body of literature surrounding the relationship between libraries and democracy. A great deal has also been written on the impact of humanitarianism in post-colonial Africa. However, there has been little analysis of the effectiveness of NGO assistance to local African libraries. Recent scholarship on humanitarian aid sheds light upon some of the disastrous outcomes of international aid work in Africa over the past half-century and refuses to accept altruism as inherently good. Therefore, it is worth questioning the role of library aid in developing countries. Is the aid provided to African libraries culturally relevant and sustainable? Does it promote local leadership and initiative? Answering these questions will provide some insight into the role of African libraries in promoting democracy and reveal the extent to which NGOs are advancing the democratic mission of libraries in the developing world. This paper will analyze the cultural, economic, and political impact of library aid to Africa. Although Africa is a large and diverse continent with many differences among various countries, the following will provide a broad overview of the general influence that book-related NGOs can have in African communities. Through a review of the literature on humanitarianism in general and international library aid to Africa specifically, it is argued that the cultural, economic, and political influences of aid to African libraries undermine the democratic institution it attempts to support.

Libraries and Democracy: A Literature Review

The connection between libraries and democracy lies in the belief that a healthy, functioning democratic society relies on informed citizens. Libraries, in turn, are service institutions which provide the public with access to information. Public education and access to information are especially significant in a political system in which citizens actively participate in the political process. According to Mohammed M. Aman (2007), libraries “are part and parcel of the civil society movement that serves as the fuel for the engine of democracy” (p. 72). On the International Federation of Library Association's (IFLA) website for Freedom of Access to Information and Freedom of Expression (FAIFE), it states that “intellectual freedom is the core of the library concept” and that “intellectual freedom is the basis of democracy.” It can only be implied, then, that libraries are institutions which promote democratic values. There have certainly been instances in which libraries situated in democratic countries may have strayed from the standards they set for themselves, like during wartime, but intellectual freedom and open access are ideals toward which libraries strive. This begs the question of the role that libraries play in developing democratic societies. Many libraries in developing African countries rely on funds and donations from non-governmental organizations, and some have been established entirely by support from aid workers. How does this reliance on foreign assistance affect the democratic mission of libraries? Before answering this question, it is important to understand the history and criticisms of humanitarian aid.

Humanitarian Aid: A Literature Review

The effectiveness of international aid, in general, has recently been a widely debated topic. Modern day humanitarianism has its roots in World War II and the Marshall Plan that came after the victory of Allied forces. The 1960s saw a focus on large-scale industrial projects, while the 1970s witnessed a shift toward aid as the answer to poverty. The free-market policies of the 1980s had its influence on humanitarianism as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank implemented structural adjustment programs. It was in the 1990s that aid became linked with democracy and good governance. In the 2000s, according to Dambisa Moyo (2010), aid has come to be seen as the only answer to Africa's problems (p. 10). Humanitarian aid has become so ingrained in our world that some claim it is not only widely accepted but that it is now considered a duty (Bricmont, 2006, p. 18). Much of the scholarship on humanitarianism tends to focus on Africa since it has been the largest beneficiary of Western aid, having received US$1 trillion over the past sixty years (Moyo, 2010, p. 47). Only recently, have scholars and journalists begun to expose the negative consequences of international aid. Dambisa Moyo (2010), for example, authored a book dedicated to the subject entitled Dead Aid, in which she claims that the past half century of international aid has held Africa back and led to corruption, rather than fostering economic growth (pp. 6-7). Some authors go even further and attack the motives of international humanitarian aid. Roberto Belloni (2007) accuses Western humanitarianism of hiding an agenda of containment and insists that it does not spring from altruist motives. He states, “Rather than originating from a transnational morality, humanitarianism originates from and reproduces the unequal power relationship between the West and the less developed world” (Belloni, 2007, p. 454). Belloni, therefore, sees Western humanitarianism not as unintentionally ineffective but as deliberately destructive. Most scholars and activists, however, do not take such an extreme standpoint and view the harms of humanitarian work as the inadvertent effect of generally good intentions. Intentional or not, it is important to look critically at humanitarian aid agencies, such as book donation organizations, rather than simply accepting their altruism as a sufficient reason for intervention.

An Overview of Library-Related NGOs

What, then, are the implications of international aid to libraries in Africa? If humanitarian aid has been criticized as at best, ineffective, and at worst, destructive, then how do these criticisms apply to library-related NGOs? First, one must consider the work and missions of these organizations. Many of the largest and most prominent NGOs are based in the global West. Books for Africa, the African Library Project, and Friends of African Village Libraries are all American organizations. In the United Kingdom, there is Book Aid International. Bibliotheques Sans Frontieres is French and founded a sister organization, Libraries Without Borders, which is headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana. Organizations such as these claim to have donated millions of books to dozens of countries. Since its founding in 1954, Book Aid International maintains that it has donated 31 million books to libraries in Africa (“Book Aid International”, n.d.). Not to be outdone, Books for Africa makes the claim that it has shipped over 34 million books to various countries since 1988 (“Books for Africa,” n.d.). In addition to donating books, some NGOs also build libraries and train librarians in developing countries. The Libraries Without Borders website states that it has trained 500 librarians across the globe since it was founded in 2007 (“Libraries Without Borders”, n.d.). The African Library Project broadcasts that it has completed 1,716 libraries in various African countries (“African Library Project”, n.d.).

The mission of these organizations is to “fight ignorance,” “change lives book by book,” and “end the book famine in Africa” (“Libraries Without Borders”, n.d.; “African Library Project, n.d.; “Books for Africa, n.d.). Despite these lofty goals, the question remains whether their efforts are making a positive impact on local African communities. Or, like the larger humanitarian picture, are there negative consequences of library NGOs? There is very little information available on the evaluation of work done by book-related NGOs. Significantly, there is also a “lack of hard data and feedback from the recipients: the African librarians and other recipients who have benefited from, and have been involved in processing and distributing book donations” (Zell & Thierry, 2015, p. 8). In order to get a sense of the impact of library aid on African communities, the following will discuss the cultural, economic, and political influence of book donation organizations in Africa.

Cultural Influence of Library Aid

One major concern regarding the cultural influence of library aid relates to the language of the books being donated. Many NGOs receive donations of books from citizens or companies of Western countries, like the United States, France, and the UK, and ship them off to countries in Africa. In 2011, for example, Books for Africa received some of its largest donations on record. Thomson Reuters in Eagan announced its donation of fifteen full legal libraries each year, which was valued at $1.2 million. Tanzania was the first to receive the donated law books, which were “English language texts about basic legal principles, such as torts, and not specific to the legal system of any particular country” (Marquez Estrada, 2011). This generous donation represents one of the problems of library aid. In many instances, books are donated in a foreign language, and language is deeply intertwined with culture. There exists a “relationship between the phonetic structural elements and the sounds of the language and the ways in which speakers of the language realize the world and behave in it” (Parameswaran, 2014). The donation of English-language materials can be viewed as the dissemination of Western culture. It is unrealistic to assume that such an infiltration of Western culture would not have the effect of stamping out local languages and cultures. Books are representations of the world around us, and it is important for African people to see their world reflected in the books they borrow from the library. The flood of English-language texts into local African libraries risks the validation of local cultures and threatens to homogenize even the remotest regions of the world. Tanzania, for example, recognizes English and Swahili as its official languages. Most Tanzanians speak Swahili and a local language, of which there are over 120 (Olden, 2005, p. 431). English, however, is the language of imperialism, and is mainly spoken by those whose are highly educated. Anthony Olden (2005) refers to a report which asserts that Tanzania would use Swahili for all official business because the continued use of English was an "insult to the nation (pp. 431-432). The issue here is not with the exposure to different languages. The purpose of libraries is to provide access to information, and many different points of view are welcome. The trouble, however, is when African libraries are bombarded with books in a foreign language, drowning out the collective native voice. If libraries are to be bastions of democracy, then they must represent the people and the local culture. Book donations are a thoughtful endeavor, but they are rendered useless when the books undermine the very culture they are meant to enhance.

Economic Influence of Library Aid

One way to ensure a more relevant collection in African libraries would be to support local publishing companies. Local publishers are more likely to disseminate culturally and linguistically appropriate books. NGOs which utilize book donations, however, do just the opposite. Book donations flood the market and jeopardize the sales prospects of local book industries. Hans Zell and Raphaël Thierry (2015) recognize this danger and attempt to debunk the “myth of an almost total absence of indigenous publishing” (p. 9). Zell and Thierry (2015) claim that book donation organizations have perpetuated this myth for many years, but in fact, there is a “rich diversity of books currently available from numerous African publishers” (p. 9). In this way, the charitable endeavors of international aid organizations have a negative effect on local economies by rendering certain markets obsolete. Zell and Thierry (2015) also point out that “the inclusion of African-published books in current donation schemes makes up a miniscule proportion of the millions of books that are shipped to Africa by donation organizations each year” (p. 9). However, the fault cannot rest solely on NGOs – they are merely enabling a bad situation. Many African countries do not provide adequate funding for their public libraries, and library staff have very little choice as to whether they will accept free donations or purchase locally-published books (Zell & Thierry, 2015, p. 8). This creates a “culture of dependency” on international aid (Zell & Thierry, 2015, p. 8).

Political Influence of Library Aid

The impact of international aid on political accountability is widely debated and not limited specifically to library aid. In Humanitarian in Question: Politics, Power, Ethics, Barnett and Weiss (2008) argue that it is impossible for humanitarian aid organizations to be apolitical since their actions have political consequences (p. 4). Aid organizations often fill spaces that should be occupied by the government of the recipient country. Boundaries blur as aid agencies perform functions once viewed as the domain of the state (Barnett & Weiss, 2008, p. 5). The government of any given country should ensure food security and healthcare for its populace just as it must promote widespread literacy. When NGOs intervene to provide food, medical assistance, or in this case, books, they take the place of the national government. This interference disrupts the relationship between the people and their government. According to Dambisa Moyo (2010), aid erodes the essential fabric of trust that is needed between people and their government in any functioning society (p. 59). Citizens are not forced to hold their governments accountable because their needs are being met by aid agencies. What incentive, then, do African governments have to fund their libraries when there is a constant flow of free books coming into their country? In addition, how can the people of a given country legitimate their government when its essential functions are performed by foreign organizations? It may be argued that many governments in Africa do not have the resources to fund public services such as libraries, and perhaps many libraries would fail if it were not for the assistance of NGOs. This is a valid point and underscores the complexity of this problem. This situation is particularly problematic for a newly formed democracy, which relies heavily on both an informed citizenry as well as a government that can be held accountable by the public. It is undeniable, then, that a discrepancy exists between the information needs provided by libraries (essential in a democratic society) and NGOs' disruption of government accountability to its people (also essential in a democratic society).

Conclusion

In countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, and France, libraries are highly valued as an essential part of democratic society. It is no surprise, then, that some have felt compelled to share this important part of their culture with other parts of the world. This represents an issue in international librarianship since it involves the development of libraries in many different African countries and the support of these libraries by Western organizations. Library aid attempts to spread the democratic values of libraries, such as open access, intellectual freedom, and an informed public; however, the very act of donating books can conflict with these values. First of all, the donation of English-language or other foreign language books can undermine culturally representative and inclusive collections in African libraries. Secondly, the millions of books that flood African libraries de-incentivize the purchase of local publications by African libraries. Not only does this hurt the local economy, but it also discourages the acquisition of books in native African languages. Lastly, the work of library aid organizations interferes with the relationship between a government and its people. A democratic society allows for its public officials to be held accountable. However, this is not necessary when the government's failure to fund public libraries is remedied by the numerous organizations donating books and building libraries in Africa. While donating books and supporting libraries are worthy causes, it is vital to understand the implications of the work of library-related NGOs.

References

Primary Sources

African Library Project. Retrieved December 10, 2015, from https://www.africanlibraryproject.org

Bibliotheque Sans Frontières. Retrieved December 10, 2015, from http://www.bibliosansfrontieres.org

Book Aid International. Retrieved December 10, 2015, from http://www.bookaid.org Books for Africa. Retrieved December 10, 2015, from https://www.booksforafrica.org

Friends of African Village Libraries. Retrieved December 10, 2015, from http://www.favl.org Libraries Without Borders. Retrieved December 10, 2015, from http://www.librarieswithoutborders.org.

Marquez Estrada, H. (2011, January 23). Teaming up to stop Africa's "book famine". Star Tribune. Retrieved December 10, 2015, from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nfh&AN=2W64091317083&site=ehost-live

Secondary Sources

Aman, M. A. (2007). Libraries and democracy. In A. Mcharazo & S. Koopman (Eds.),

Librarianship as a bridge to an information and knowledge society (pp. 71–82). Munich: K G Saur Verlag Gmbh & Co.

Barnett, M., & Weiss, T. G. (Eds.). (2008). Humanitarianism in question: Politics, power, ethics. United States: Cornell University Press.

Belloni, R. (2007). The Trouble with humanitarianism. Review of International Studies, 33(03), 451–474. doi:10.1017/s0260210507007607

Bricmont, J. (2006). Humanitarian imperialism: Using human rights to sell war. New York, NY: Monthly Review Press.

Moyo, D. (2010). Dead aid: Why aid is not working and how there is another way for Africa. London: Penguin Books.

Olden, A. (2005). "For poor nations a library service is vital": Establishing a national public library service in Tanzania in the 1960s. The Library Quarterly, 75(4), 421–445. doi: 10.1086/502785

Parameswaran, S. (2014). Learning a new language is learning a new culture. Language In India, 14(12), 405-415. Retrieved December 10, 2015, from http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy2.library.illinois.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ufh&AN=99889122&site=ehost-live

Zell, H., & Thierry, R. (2015). Book donation programmes for Africa: Time for a reappraisal?. International Leads, 29(3), 8–10. Retrieved December 6, 2015, from

http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lls&AN=109890633&site=ehost-live.

French think tanks analysts and librarians: the cart of communication comes before the horse of knowledge

Lucile Desmoulins

lucile.desmoulins@u-pem.fr

University of East-Paris Marne-la-Vallée, Business intelligence, Information and communication science department, Marne-la-Vallée, France

Research academic laboratory: DICEN-IDF, Paris, France

Keywords: Public Relations, Think Tanks, Library, Watch Platforms, Public Policies, Debate,Media

Abstract

Think tanks have been described as "catalysts for ideas and action"(McGann, Weaver, 2000), they take an active part in public debates, they feed journalists with information and analysis but their role in public policy decision making processes is questioned. As far as France is concerned, many organizations claim that they are think tanks since it is a positive label but very few of them meet the strictest definition criteria: public policy research institutes that are long-lived, autonomous, develop original researches and respect scientific rigor and epistemology. As far as their roles are concerned, they should develop influence strategies towards decision-makers, as well as be involved in vulgarization actions toward the public and contribute to debates in the public space. French think tanks are small, short-lived and poor compared to their American counterparts. They do not benefit from philanthropy prone laws and culture. They also suffer from French jacobine centralization tradition. They often lack autonomy since they are subsidized or affiliated with the academia. There intellectual ambition may be low since they won't be able to finance and host research activities. Even one the most famous French think tank, l'Institut Montaigne, merely hosts group-works to publish their propositions. Some don't even develop original researches; they just advocate for given causes or provide political parties with predictable ideas and propositions. The difficulties are so great for think tanks to exist in France, that Thierry de Montbrial could declare in an interview to the journal Le Monde that "The IFRI is the first and only French think tank". Yet, think tanks are considered worldwide as important actors in public policy making rationalization and democratization. They may provide decision makers with alternative information and analysis which prevents administrations' self-intoxications. Think tanks are indeed active parts of civil societies. Researches describe French think tanks involved in increasing their public notoriety through professionalized communication strategies and in diversifying their outputs: reports, phone calls, interviews, notes, infographies (Desmoulins, 2012, 2014). We would now like to present what lies upstream, so to say to describe how think tanks do get the valuable information that should allow them to play a key role in modern democracies. To do so, we tackled the following questions: how do think-tankers select their "sources"? How do librarians and analysts see their personal role in think tanks professionalization and in researchers' intellectual freedom? What's their opinion on think tank's role in modern democracies in France and abroad? Many "think tankers" don't rely on any documentation professionals to do their research. The corpus is limited to the few think tanks that actually hire a librarian, a data analyst, or a platform watchman. As a counterpoint to synchronic analysis, this paper could also describe the unique yet discreet political and intellectual role played in the 80's by the library on violence, conflicts and military strategies of the EHESS. Here, librarians, peace activists as well as military strategy lovers gathered around a charismatic director who happened to be the brother of a very influent former French defense minister. Here, with little resources, a group of mobilized people, criticized French military choices, checked information that were taken for granted by the journalists and the wider public, and explored new ideas.

Introduction

Think tanks have been described as “catalysts for ideas and action” (McGann, Weaver, 2000). This description values their roles in democratic public policies processes. In France, many think tanks take an active part in public debates, they feed journalists with information and analysis but their role in public policy decision making processes is questioned. As far as France is concerned, many organizations claim that they are think tanks. It is a quality label. A network of opinion leaders called the Saint-Simon Foundation, for example, enjoys the legal status of an association. This so-called Foundation used to be a club of intellectuals, journalists, top civil servants, industry directors and academics who used the same influence strategies as American think tanks to enhance and promote economic liberalism. It is not surprising that there is no generally accepted translation for the term think tanks in French, unlike in Canada where one speaks about “laboratoire d’idées”.

If “think tank” is a label, very few of self-called think tanks meet the strictest definition criteria: public policy research institutes that are long-lived, autonomous from the state and companies, which means they should enjoy highly diversified funding patterns. They should also develop original applied researches, provide decision-makers both with analysis, strategic and operational advices and respect scientific rigor and epistemology. Theoretically again, they should develop influence strategies towards decision-makers, as well as be involved in vulgarization actions toward the public and take part in animating debates in the public space.

Most French think tanks are small, short-lived and poor compared to their American counterparts. They do not benefit from philanthropy prone laws and culture. They also suffer from French “jacobine” centralization tradition. They often lack autonomy since they are subsidized or affiliated with the academia or parties. In-house administration bodies even claim to be think tanks. Some think tanks don’t even develop original researches; they just advocate for given causes or provide parties with predictable ideas and propositions. The difficulties are so great for think tanks to exist in France, that Thierry de Montbrial could declare in an interview to the journal Le Monde that “The IFRI is the first and only French think tank”. French think tanks function with very low budgets in comparison to other European think tanks. Hence French public policy institutes wishing to have an impact on the building of civil society have important unmet financial needs.

Yet, think tanks are considered as important actors in public policy making rationalization and democratization. They may provide decision makers with alternative information and analysis which could prevent administrations’ self-intoxication. Think tanks are indeed active parts of civil societies. Researches show that French think tanks are involved in increasing their public notoriety through professionalized communication strategies and involved in diversifying their outputs: reports, phone calls, interviews, notes, infographics (Desmoulins, 2012, 2014). No researchers focused on the epistemology of French think tanks publications, and on the way data, knowledge, analysis, and advices are produced. We would like to present in this paper what lies upstream, so to say to describe how think tanks do get the valuable information that should allow them to play a positive role in modern democracies. To do so, we checked the “sources” quoted in think tanks publications; we also interviewed think tankers about their information research routines and tools. We also analyzed the highly changing place and role of libraries, librarians and analysts within think tanks. We could ask them how they perceived their own personal role in think tanks professionalization and influence. We asked them their opinion on think tank’s democratic role.

Few French think tanks host documentation services or libraries. And many “think tankers” don’t rely on any documentation professionals to do their research. The corpus limits itself to the few think tanks that actually hire a librarian, a data analyst, or a platform watchman. As a counterpoint to synchronic analysis, this paper could also describe the unique yet discreet political and intellectual role of the librarian of a specialized library on violence, conflicts and military strategies of the EHESS in the 80’S. Here students, peace activists, military strategy lovers gathered around a librarian and the charismatic director of a research laboratory called the (CRISP, CIRPES) who happened to be the brother of a very influent former French defense minister.

French think tanks’ poor documentation capacities as a French exception?

In spite of the French decision-makers and scholars proclaimed admiration for the Anglo-Saxon think tanks model of institutionalization of political expertise, French think tanks efforts will be only exceptionally rewarded. The recognition of their public utility and legitimacy, and their increased participation to public debates and to decision-making processes is indeed to face many historical, cultural and institutional constraints. Speaking of French “think tanks” implies that such institutions in France do exist and can be referred to as such. Yet, the public policy research community in France is so diverse and scattered that one can hardly maintain “I know one when I see one” as James McGann says. It is accurate to speak of a French exception with respect to think tanks.

First, the French Constitution, political institutions, balance of power and political culture do not encourage the creation and development of independent public policy research institutes. The funding patterns and financial autonomy towards public money remains a sensitive issue for most public policy research institutes. Many French research centers can be described with Kent Weaver “universities without students” category. French researchers seldom enjoy the help of a librarian or an analyst, they would use the same documentation services as students. Those academic based think tanks relly primarily on public money, which allows them to adopt a non-profit, non-lucrative attitude. We assert that state support, in France, does not systematically forbid scientific independence. The structure of French public policy research institutes remains indeed stable regardless of political changes in the government. There is, in France, no long-established philanthropic sector. Public policy research institutes have thus very few opportunities to increase their budget.

It is not surprising that a French think tank like the French Institute for International Relations (IFRI), whose mission allows it to call on American foundations money, was notably able to purchase its own building thanks to the contribution of the Ford foundation. This building symbolizes the ambition of the IFRI, the place looks great, senior think tankers have their own office, the building hosts a huge conference room and a library, where only in-house researchers can go freely. This library is not open to the public. Phd students may enjoy full access after they received an authorization that is delivered by the direction. Once they get their sesame letter, they would be kindly welcomed by a research assistant who would help them find the books and journals they are looking for. This can be easily done since the library is fully digitalized and because it is surprisingly small. One should underline that all think tankers and research assistant offices are covered with bookshelves and that the person in charge of the documentation services was trained on the job as far as internet researchers are concerned.

Their budget and economic model have a huge impact on think tanks recruitment policies. Most French think tanks are short-lived and unstable so they need to stand the test of time and prove their expertise capacity. The recruitment policy of major French “think tanks” is therefore favorable to senior researchers, standing head and shoulders above all the other scientists in their fields. One could argue that hiring senior researchers requires heavy salary budget lines. Yet most researchers only receive sporadic grants and working facilities from the research institute to which they are affiliated. The most important fact about French “think tanks” staffing pattern remains that most of them could not exist and be active without hosting researchers who enjoy a civil servant status in the academia. Most researchers are indeed also University or elite colleges’ teachers. French “think tanks” host or recruit not only confirmed senior researchers but also highly motivated junior researchers with low salary expectations. For them, being affiliated to a research center not only means working capacities but also, name recognition. French public policy researchers do not systematically need to have a Ph.D. to be hired in a think tank, especially if the latter institute fits more in the category of “advocacy tanks” than in the category of “university without student”. In most social sciences, it usually takes more than three or four years to complete a doctoral thesis, which prevents or discourages even motivated students to answer the challenge. Academic requirements are very diverse from an academic think tank to an advocacy one. Yet it seems that most researchers hired or hosted by think tanks have at least a Master degree.

Most think tanks experience difficulties to finance strategic support staff like librarians and modern documentation services. There intellectual ambition may be described as low or unsettled since they won’t be able to finance much in-house research activities. Very few French think tanks hire researchers. Researchers from the academia or experts would rather work as free-lance or even as volunteers. Even one of the most famous French think tank, l’Institut Montaigne, merely host group-works of 10 to 20 people. Most of them would be professionals, politicians, high civil servants but every group should host one researcher.

Quoting Michel Girard: “French academics and scholars […] seem generally to underestimate the credibility they enjoy among practitioners and their role”(Girard, 1994, p.51). Some French “think tanks” may legitimately claim a competence comparable to their American counterparts, but no French institution has reached a pluridisciplinary competence as wide as prestigious American think tanks have. This “inferiority complex” reveals itself in the fact that many French public policy researchers describe in a caricatured way American think tanks as gifted of universal competence, exceptional organizational capacities. Sometimes, French think tanks even lack elementary working conditions such as fixed offices and support staff. Very few think tanks have documentation services with one in-house permanent librarian. It is the case at the IFRI, the FRS, the Montaigne Institute, but in most of the other think tanks, documentation and archival work is fulfilled by a support staff who would also do paper work, re-writing or communication missions. The most common pattern of documentation work organization is that it is realized by highly qualified interns during their Master Degree or even by PhD students. The former would stay only 3 to 6 months whereas the latter would stay longer. The quality of their work would be therefore very unpredictable depending on whether they have enjoyed classes during their studies such as epistemology, information sources, fact-checking. Think tanks may recruit as interns the best students since it is a considered as a very nice and fruitful experience to be the assistant of a famous think tanker. The intellectual Parisian elite is indeed a tight circle, and key personalities within each field of public policy can be counted on the five fingers of a hand. An overwhelming majority of French “think tanks” are located in Paris, where the administration is also concentrated.

The Foundation for strategic research (FRS) for instance is the French think tank that enjoys a library headed by an analyst with a PhD in Information science. She would prepare research files and look for data when asked by researchers but would also be pro-active: “I know what researchers are doing, what they are looking for so I provide them with data they wouldn’t be able to get even if they have their own sources and network”. She would use pluralist research strategies and not rely solely on watch platforms. She regrets that her library got smaller when the FRS moved to a new building but focuses on the fact that she enjoys access to more databases now. She likes to be of some use to PhD students and research directors. She acknowledges that some of the FRS think tankers never use the library and would never give her any analysis missions, but doesn’t see that as a problem since researchers maybe super skilled in fact-checking or may enjoys access to data she doesn’t enjoy. She feels happy with her job since some researchers are happy to tell her they were “impressed by the stuff I managed to get. Researchers are good clients. They know the value of information and don’t overestimate what you get typing two words on google or using a watch platform”. She also underlines that she has now become very efficient on some topics she has been searching for more than ten years. The expertise is very much valued at the FRS even though she stresses on the difference between the two jobs of librarian and think tankers: “I’m backstage”.

The second aspect of the exception lies in the fact that think tanks traditional functions are, in France, generally performed by various mixed institutions like clubs, university research centers, parties, French famous “intellectuals” and administrations. Third, both French political culture and institutions are challenging French think tanks participation in the public policy debates and their effective influence on the decision-making processes. A gap obviously divides politics and universities due to the respective recruitment policy of both spheres. It is accentuated by the “Grandes Ecoles” system. The National School for Administration (ENA, an elite national college) is, for instance, practically the only provider of top civil servants and decision-makers and there are but little revolving doors in France. This gap has an impact on the formal and informal interaction between decision-makers and research fellows.

Fourth, French think tanks are currently developing great efforts in order to reach American think tanks’ activism, recognition and influence capacities. But on the other hand, we could see little efforts toward developing scientific epistemology, documentation capacities. French think tanks are especially resolute to increase the level of their public recognition, think tankers will answer a lot of interviews for instance when they are required to do so by journalists. Some think tankers are even mocked for their ability to answer questions on any topic from international relations, to oil conflicts, football geopolitics, internal security or terrorism. French think tanks are involved in to diversifying their outputs and probing new medium of influence (social media, visual communication and infographics, short videos). One may observe that they put the cart before the horse. Due to legitimacy problems, communication came first before all the support activities that lie behind and before the production of knowledge.

The counter-example of the CIRPES’ library

The CIRPES is a micro-institute compared to other think tanks that regularly contract with French defense administration. This is an original and modest center with little formalism. In 1982, Alain Joxe, a brilliant researcher and the brother of a defense ministry, created at the School for Advanced Studies in Social Sciences (a University) two joint centers referred to as 1/ the association called the Interdisciplinary Centre for Peace Research and the strategy (CIRPES), and 2/ a regular University research center. In 1989, Alain Joxe created another association, the Interdisciplinary Research Group on strategy and Peace (GRISP), while the CIRPES became the common name of the Sociology of Defense Group research laboratory within the EHESS. The CIRPES is still known for publishing a newsletter, the strategic debate, as well as for Strategic Studies Cahiers since 1983. Its active members are few. One should mention amongst peace activists, students two leading figures of pacifism in France : Jean-Paul Hébert, an economist and research engineer in the School who is also a member of the Council for Economic Defense and André Brigot, a “mere” certified teacher, who was officially hired to run the Defense and Peace library. They were both responsible of a very much attended free speech seminar on arms Industries, security features and political construction of Europe. This tiny, dirty and messy library became the place to be for all peace studies scholars, pacifists, and even military officers! According to many interviewees, André Brigot was the heart of the CIRPES. One wouldn’t make any difference in between the think tanks and its library, the library hosted the seminars, it was the heart of the activities. Without the library and the seminars, the CIRPES would have been an empty nut-shell, an elite research centers. The library provided the think tank with documentation but it also provided diplomats and military officers with analysis: “They would just drop by. They would know Alain, Jean-Paul or André would answer the question as well as they could. They were helpful no matter where you came from”. The door of the library office was always open, and the librarian was a mentor for students who became later leading experts in the field. Even though he wasn’t a researcher, nor have a PhD, he would be acknowledged as a leading expert in military strategy and peace researches. Described as passionate, lively, and friendly, he managed to bring together very different people and played a huge impact on French key military doctrines, like nuclear dissuasion: “He kept alight the flame of a critical thinking on defense at the University", Alain Joxe once said. This is a very good yet sadly isolated example of a librarian who played an overwhelming role in a crucial democratic debate.

Conclusion

French think tanks have become famous institutions where journalists go to get interviews and materials quickly. Think tankers may work on expertise missions for the government or as shadow ambassadors, but it seems that their analysis and documentation capacity is poor which could lower their capacity to “bring new ideas”. It also seems that the conditions required for producing valuable knowledge and analysis are under developed within thing tanks. Hence their documentation services and activities are not so professionalized as they should be according to their ambition, and in comparison to their communication departments’ activism. The cart of communication came before the horse of knowledge.

References

BOUCHER, S. (2004), L’Europe et ses think tanks : un potentiel inaccompli, Paris, Notre Europe.

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Target Groups and Activities: Six Swedish Public Libraries’ use of Facebook

Emmelie Ernsth, Johanna Svensson,

Emmelieernsth@gmail.com , Jgmsvensson@gmail.com

University of Borås, Swedish School of Library and Information Science, Allégatan 1, 501 90 Borås

Keywords:Public Libraries, Social Media, Facebook, Information Activity, Target Groups

Abstract

The public library among other information mediators in our society is often considered to be a place for citizens to access information, culture and knowledge (Aabo 2005, Hansson 2010, Jochumsen & Rasmussen 2012). The utilization and the impact of Internet on public libraries have been broadly addressed in research. Among other things as a way of expanding its services outside the physical walls and for reaching new target groups (Vakkari 2012). Furthermore, research shows that social media is gaining an increasingly important role in library services and outreach and libraries are using different social media platforms, tools and strategies (Burns 2013). Facebook among other social media platforms is used for informing, communicating, networking, marketing events and as an outreach tool (Aharony 2012, Calvert & Neo 2012, Carlsson 2012).

Inspired by Burns (2013) and Kronqvist-Berg (2014) the main focus of this paper is to study Swedish libraries’ use of Facebook as an information interface. In particular, we are interested to investigate target groups and activities. From this purpose the paper examines two research questions: What target groups is status updates aiming at and how much focus is on each activity at the different libraries?

As a method we used content analysis and coding manual inspired by Banek Zorica et al. (2012) and Bryman (2008). Data from six Swedish public libraries from five target groups and fourteen categories of activities was collected and their status updates from a three month period were counted and analyzed. The results of the survey reveals some differences between the libraries; regarding both which target groups the status updates are aiming at and which activities the libraries are focusing on. Of totally 316 status updates, most of them are directed at the target group General (78,8%), followed by Children (17,7%) and Adults (2,5%). None of the libraries had activities directed toward Senior citizens and very few were directed toward Young adults (0,9%). These findings raise questions concerning the strategies and goals using Facebook.

Furthermore the results show of totally 316 status updates the libraries focused mainly on activities such as Miscellaneous (15,2%), Gatherings (11,7%), Information about the library (11,4%) and Public lectures (9,8%). Although there are some indications that libraries use Facebook for other activities than those mentioned above the results are pointing out that libraries are primarily using Facebook as an extension of its traditional services and roles such as informational, educational and as a meeting place.

Introduction and research problem

The numbers of social media users are expanding over the world and Facebook is currently the largest platform. This means a good opportunity to spread information about one’s company or organization. The public library among other information mediators in our society is often considered to be a place for citizens to access information, culture and knowledge (Aabo 2005, Hansson 2010, Jochumsen & Rasmussen 2012). Libraries have always been keen to adopt new technology and a numerous libraries have already been using Facebook for some time for information and as a platform to communicate and to network with the different target groups (Vakkari 2012, Calvert & Neo 2012, Aharony 2012, Carlsson 2012). Furthermore the research shows that the number of employees is one of several important factors for libraries when it comes to adopting Facebook (Calvert & Neo2012). Libraries with a larger number of personnel are able to let one (or more) of the staff to be responsible for updating the Facebook account. On the other hand, smaller public libraries in terms of employees, do not always have this kind of resources, but can still have a Facebook account. Since there is no research conducted from this perspective, we were interested in studying how a smaller Swedish public library uses Facebook as an information interface. Therefore we have formulated two research questions: What target groups status updates are aiming at and how much focus is on each activity at the different libraries?

Method

In this study we wanted a geographical representation of public libraries from all over Sweden and therefore six public libraries were selected; Kiruna Stadsbibliotek in the north of Sweden, Ystads Bibliotek from the south, Almedalsbiblioteket Visby from the east, Strömstad Stadsbibliotek from the west, Motala Bibliotek and Östersunds Bibliotek from the middle of Sweden.

As a method we used content analysis and coding manual inspired by Banek Zorica et al (2012) and Bryman (2008). Since we wanted to study library activity to specific groups, we defined, with the help of coding manual, five different target groups; General, Senior citizen, Adult, Young adult and Children. However, since we choose not to set an exact age for each group those are ought to be seen as ruff categorization.

Furthermore, the most common activities from the studied libraries Facebook accounts were collected. Every activity was divided into one of the fourteen categories;

Art exhibitions - all kinds of art by local artists that the library is showing in their areas.

Blog/website - all updates containing links to a website or a blog.

Competitions - when the library arranges competitions for children or others.

Digital management - an activity where the library provides an opportunity to learn how to handle a computer or how to search on the internet.

Events - an activity where the librarians visit public activities to promote the library. Gatherings – including social meetings at the library e.g., language café, handicraft café and storytelling.

Information about the library - library informs about opening hours or renovations.

Meet an author - author is visiting the library to talk about her/his book.

Memorial days - highlighting of national days, the victims of the holocaust and the Nobel Laureate etc.

Miscellaneous - all updates that we cannot place in the given categories. For example, short movies, funny pictures etc.

Reader’s advisory - when a librarian gives reading tips.

Reading groups, performances - all kinds of performances, both music and theatre, that takes place at the library

Public lectures - when the library invites a lecturer to talk about a subject.

Findings and discussion

The first research question was to examine what target group the status updates are aiming at and the result of the survey reveals differences between the target groups, see figure 1.

Figure 1. Overall percentages for every target group.

Firstly, the most common target group at investigated libraries is General (78,9%) followed by target group Children (17,7%). To keep content of general character updated is an expected result, since public libraries are serving very diverse users- target groups with variety of needs and activities. Targeting Children was also expected, since this group is often highly prioritized among public library services. However, it is noticeable that only two libraries had updates directed toward Young adults (0,9%) which raises questions concerning the strategies and goals of Facebook use toward this target group. This question is especially important since library services for young adults have been considered to be critical in providing a transition from children’s to adult services based on the unique needs of young adults such as cultural, educational, informational, and leisure (Bon 2009). In addition to this, is the fact that this target group is native to Facebook and therefore it is surpassing to see that libraries are not targeting this group in larger extent. Furthermore, none of the libraries directed their Facebook updates to target group Senior citizens. Looking at this result one can get impression that libraries did not target this group due to the perception that seniors do not use internet, social media and therefore Facebook. However, recent study in the USA shows that 65% of adults today use social networking sites, which is a nearly tenfold jump in the past ten years. Additionally, 35% of seniors (65 and older) today use social media compared to year 2005 when was only 2% (Perrin, 2015). Although the use of Internet and social media among senior citizens have increased, the research shows different information practices and needs, e.g. while younger generations use it for socializing (e.g. social media platforms), older generations use it primarily for emailing and to seek information (Kronqvist-Berg 2014).

Our second research question examines how much focus is put on each activity at the investigated libraries. Figure 2 below, reveals that the libraries had most status updates directed at activity Miscellaneous (15,2%). Since this activity group consists of status updates without any evident activity the result was expected and is very similar with the Aharony (2012) exploratory study about Facebook use in libraries, where the findings shows that the

Miscellaneous is the second largest activity category in academic libraries and the third largest in public libraries.

As mentioned before some of the main purposes of the public library are to be a meeting place and a place for citizens to access information, culture and knowledge (education) (Aabo 2005, Hansson 2010, Jochumsen & Rasmussen 2012) and social media could be a place where the library can open up and establish their user-centered perspective (Kronqvist-Berg 2014). The result of this study reveals that all the libraries more or less have focused on such activities on Facebook. As observed in figure 2 Gatherings (11,7%) was the second most common of those activities followed by Information about the library (11,4%), Public lectures (9,8%), Performances (9,2%), Reader’s Advisory (8,9%), and Meet an author

(8,5%), Reading Groups (7,6%).

Competitions (1,6%) were the activity that the libraries focused least on followed by, Events

(1,9%), Memorial Day (2,5%), Blog/Website (3,5%), Digital Management (4,1%) and Art Exhibitions (4,1%).

Figure 2. Overall percentages for every activity.

Figure 3. Libraries activities in relation to the number of updates.

As one can see in figure 3, Motala Bibliotek was the library with most updates in category Miscellaneous with 35,1% of 74 updates. Almedalsbiblioteket Visby seem to focus most on Public Lectures with 23,4% of 64 updates while Östersunds Bibliotek and Ystads Bibliotek focused most on Gatherings with 20,4% of 54 updates respective with 24,4% of 45 updates. Kiruna Stadsbibliotek had most focus on Information about the library with 22,2% of 45 updates. Strömstad Stadsbibliotek seem to focus mostly on the activity Reader’s advisory with 26,5% of 34 updates.

Motala Bibliotek had several contributions each day during the investigated period. David Lee King (2015) writes in his paper Landscape of Social Media for Libraries that libraries are sharing two types of content, “Library news” and “Fun stuff” which is amusing posts with the purpose of receiving likes. One reason that may support why Motala got such a high number of Miscellaneous is due to the use of “Fun stuff” posts. Those were made by one of their librarians, who beside formal contributions also wrote amusing posts, e.g. about the librarians baby grandchild who had “applied” for a summer job at the library. Furthermore, Vassilakaki and Garoufallou (2015) argue that one of Facebook's features, Wall Posts, is a relevant tool in marketing the library. Among investigated libraries Motala was the library that posted on this wall several times during the day, which is a way to appear in the news feed. However, according to Alam & Wagner (2013) and Ravindran et al., (2013) posting could lead to the opposite results, since Facebook users tend to hide those friends that post too much creating them fatigue.

Calvert and Neo (2012) surveyed why some New Zealand public libraries adopted Facebook and why some did not. In addition to earlier mentioned reason concerning the number of employees, they found that two out of nine libraries thought it was helpful if the staff already used Facebook, but also that the librarians wanted to keep up with technologies.

However, the lower number of updates does not have to be understood in terms of less or no activity. Strömstad Stadsbibliotek for instance had 34 updates and was the library with the lowest number of updates although; they had clearly most focus on the activity Reader’s advisory. This result may indicate that libraries with few employees are making strategic choices concerning the Facebook activities and target groups.

Finally, this study shows that investigated libraries have a friendly and professional tone in their updates which is also argued by Anwyll and Chawner (2013) in their article about social media at New Zealand public libraries. As earlier mentioned, a librarian at Motala Bibliotek wrote personal updates, but after a while the tone in the updates changed to a more professional tone and there were no signature by the librarian.

Conclusion

The aim with this survey was to investigate how Swedish libraries with fewer employees use Facebook, and in particular concerning the target groups and activities. Due to the time limitation we only analyzed six libraries and therefore cannot generalize results. However, the results show that the investigated six libraries focused most on updates without any age classification (General) probably due to the fact that public libraries are serving very diverse target groups with variety of needs and activities. Furthermore, this study shows that a strong focus on Facebook was made on Miscellaneous but also social activities and programs, such as Gatherings and Public lectures, possibly as a way to support its traditional services and role as an informational, educational and as a meeting place. However, none of the libraries directed their Facebook activities toward Senior citizens, despite the fact that this target group is rapidly becoming a common user of Internet and social media platforms. Finally, to establish if those findings are prevalent further research is needed suggestively with a higher number of investigated libraries.

References

Aabo, S. (2005). The role and value of public libraries in the age of digital technologies. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 37(4), p. 205-2011.

Aharony, N. (2012). Facebook use in libraries: An exploratory analysis. Aslib Proceedings, 64(4),358: 371.

Anwyll, R., & Chawner, B. (2013). Social Media and Readers’ Advisory: New Zealand Experiences. Reference & User Services Quartely, p. 113-118

Alam, M., & Wagner, C. (2013). “’Facebook distress’: a model to investigate discontinuation of social networking site use”, PACIS 2013, Paper 179, available at: http://aisel.aisnet.org/pacis2013/179(accessed 11 December 2015)

Banek Z., M., Ivanjko, T., & Bencec, M. (2012). Croatian libraries on Facebook - content analysis. Proceedings of the 35th International Convention MIPRO, p. 1130 - 1134. Bon, I. (2009) Guidelines for Library Services. Young Adult Library Services. p. 1.

Bruns, T. A. (2013). Using Social Media in Libraries: Best Practices ed.C. Harmon and M. Messina. Public Services Quarterly, 9 (4), p. 313-314.

Bryman, A. (2008). Social Research Methods. New York: Oxford University Press. Calvert, J. P., & Neo. E. (2012). Facebook and the diffusion of innovation in New Zealand public libraries. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, p. 1-11.

Carlsson, H. (2012). Working with Facebook in public libraries, A backstage glimpse into the Library 2.0 rhetoric. Libri, 62 (3), p. 199-210.

Hansson, J. (2010). Libraries and identity: the role of institutional self-image and identity in the emergence of new types of libraries. Oxford: Chandos.

King, D.L. (2015). Landscape of Social Media for Libraries. Library Technology Report, 10-15,2.

Kronqvist-Berg, M. (2014). Social Media and Public Libraries: Exploring Information Activities of Library Professionals and Users. Åbo: Åbo Akademi University Press Perrin, A. (2015). Social Media Usage: 2005-2015, available at: http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/10/08/social-networking-usage-2005-2015/#social-media-usage-by-age-ubiquitous-among-youngest-adults-notable-among-older-adults (accessed 12 December 2015).

Ravindran, T., Chua, A.Y.K & Hoe-Lian, D. (2013). Characteristics of social network fatigue, In information Technology: New Generations (ITNG), Tenth International Conference on IEEE, Las Vegas, NV, 15-17 April.

Vakkari P. (2012). Internet use increases the odds of using the public library. Journal of Documentation, 68(5), 618-638.

Vassilakaki, E., & Garoufallou, E. (2015). Library Facebook practices for creating and promoting a professional profile. Program, p. 343-359.

Film education and film preferences of the LIS students as important factors for the development of diverse film collections

Laura Grzunov, Barbara Konjevod and Mirko Duić

lgrzunov@student.unizd.hr, bkonjevod@student.unizd.com, miduic@unizd.hr

University of Zadar, Department of Information Sciences, F. Tuđmana 24i, Zadar, Croatia

Keywords:Film Education, Film Preferences, Film Collection, Pluralism of Collections, Variety of Viewpoints, Access to Culture and Information

Abstract

IFLA Public Library Service Guidelines confirm that “providing access to major collections of the world’s literature and knowledge including the community’s own literature, is a unique contribution of the public library and still a vitally important function.” (IFLA, 2011, p. 6).

According to the same document, important mission of the public library is fostering intercultural dialogue and favoring cultural diversity (IFLA, 2011, p. 120). These goals are accepted by many libraries. For example, in guidelines for library reform of Norwegian libraries it is said that libraries “have a particular cultural-political responsibility to promote the reading and knowledge of Norwegian literature and translated works and they can make their public more aware of the huge variety of literature available.” (Norwegian Archive, Library and Museum Authority, 2014, p. 19)

However, there are some barriers that prevent the development of diverse collections in which you can find valuable works from entire world. One of the major challenges is a global enlargement of the publishers which have as a consequence decreasing of the diversity of the published works. Profit-oriented publishers prefer to publish works which are interesting to the largest number of people. Therefore, libraries have difficulties to find and buy valuable, less known works from the various parts of the world. Consequently, they can’t develop diverse collections of world literature (ALA, 2010, p. 9). Also, library users and librarians don’t have an opportunity to develop a diverse book, film or music preferences if they don’t have a chance to encounter valuable, less popular works. Therefore, their preferences can also present a barrier that is preventing the development of diverse library collections. Another important barrier could be deficiencies in librarian’s education. E. G. Evans and M.

Z. Saponaro (2005, p. 76) confirm that film education and film preferences have an important influence on the possibility of the development of diverse film collections, when they say that the most helpful tools for the selection of works for the collection are curious and active mind of the selector and dedication of the librarian to “read, read, read”. Surely, the same recommendations apply equally to the development of film collections: Librarians that have a curious and active mind and which are dedicated to watch diverse films and to learn about them, most certainly will be more motivated and competent in the development of diverse film collections.

Focus of this paper will be the film education and film preferences of students of library and information science. We will use a survey instrument to explore Croatian LIS students’ preferences for animation, feature and documentary films, their preferences for films from various countries and world regions and their preferences for old movies. We will also explore their formal and informal film education.

Introduction

One of the most important goals of public libraries is the development of collections that will offer diverse opinions, perspectives and ideas to library users. To achieve this goal, librarians need to have a proactive approach in identifying and acquiring diverse documents to try to develop and maintain diverse collections of films, books, magazines, music albums, etc. In this text we focus on film collections. One of the primary conditions to develop diverse, high-quality film collections is that librarians need to have a very good knowledge of film and various activities related to film collections in libraries. The question could be asked: "To what extent are LIS students - future librarians - knowledgeable about film and what are their film preferences?". We will try to find answers to this question.

Mission of the public library

Public libraries could be found "in a variety of societies, in differing cultures and at different stages of development" (IFLA, 2010, p. 1). Public libraries support the development of free and open society, realization of democratic rights and active role of citizens. According to international library organization IFLA, the main goals of public libraries are "promoting awareness of cultural heritage, appreciation of the arts, scientific achievements and innovations; (...) fostering inter-cultural dialogue and favoring cultural diversity" (IFLA, 2010, p. 120). The American Library Association states that the fundamental responsibility of libraries is to provide their users with diverse collections and services (ALA, 2007, p. 9). Diverse collections and services are especially important in the social and media environments in which public interest is threatened by profit-driven private interest. Libraries are part of the public sphere and their democratic role is threatened. Film collections are especially vulnerable to commercial influence. For example, film publishers often publish mainly the most popular films and libraries can't buy less popular films. In the next chapter, we describe this and other barriers for the development of diverse film collections consisting of different types of films produced in different countries and time periods.

Barriers that prevent the development of diverse film collections

One of the most important barriers for the development of diverse film collections is the global domination of Hollywood film studios. They have a very strong position in global film production, distribution and promotion (Currah, 2007, p. 362). By virtue of their huge financial advantages these film studios are having a strong influence in directing the preferences of global film audiences and in controlling various media and film distribution channels. Films supported by Hollywood studios have become most available, popular and interesting films to the large parts of the global audience (Lorenzen, 2007, p. 351). People around the world are inundated by attractively packed promotional information and these films dominate in television and cinema programs. Viewers' film preferences are guided to Hollywood films at the expense of films that don't have financial support from big film corporations. In this situation, libraries have difficulties to acquire less popular, non-Hollywood, "independent" films from various countries and time periods. It is not rare that independent films need to be bought directly from authors or small, specialized publishers (Handman, 2003, p. 39). Librarians are faced with challenge to find small, reliable film suppliers. This situation can induce them to reduce their activities to develop diverse film collections, especially if they don't have enough financial and other resources or if they are not sufficiently motivated and educated.

There is another barrier for the development of diverse collections. Libraries need to take into account preferences of their users because it is necessary that they satisfy their needs (IFLA, 2010, p. 11). But uniform, non-diverse needs of the significant number of library users can induce librarians to find and acquire primarily the most popular films (blockbusters) which leads to non-diverse film collections (Handman, 2003, p. 38).

Another barrier for developing diverse collections could be librarians' deficit of preferences for diverse films and their insufficient film education. To develop diverse collections librarians have to have diverse film preferences and broad and deep knowledge about the film so that they can find, choose and acquire high-quality, diverse films in accordance with the preferences of library users, but also the films that library users never heard of. By encountering lesser known, quality films, users could develop preferences for them and for the various themes and ideas that are prominent in those films.

Importance of librarians' film education and preferences

The Croatian educational system appreciates knowledge about literature a considerably more than knowledge about film (Gilić, 2003, p. 53). Croatian primary and secondary schools offer very thin film education. Because of inadequate or nonexistent conditions to implement film education, it is rarely present in schools (Majcen & Turković, 2001, p. 76). This situation hinders young people to learn about film and its various facets: film types, film history, important films from different countries and time periods...

Libraries have accepted the principle that users need the same level of service for audiovisual documents as it is provided for "traditional" types of library documents such as books. For example, in The freedom to view statement published, viewing is proclaimed the same constitutional right as talking, hearing and reading (ALA, 1989). But if this right is to be realized, it is important that librarians are knowledgeable in the field of film. Librarians that work with film need to know film history, important old and new films and authors, they need to have certain technical skills and be acquainted with film publishing in the country and abroad. However, students of librarianship haven't had many opportunities (just as all other Croatian students) to learn about the film during the primary and secondary education. If they will not learn about a film in university courses, one day when they will have to work with film in the library, they will not have the necessary knowledge, skills and diverse film preferences. Only if they have learned about the film independently in their own time, according to their personal motivation and learning possibilities, they will acquire this knowledge, skills and develop their preferences. Therefore, it is very important that at the universities, LIS students - future librarians - start to learn more about film and specifics of working with film in a library.

Research methodology

The survey instrument was used to explore participants’ preferences for animation, feature and documentary films, their preferences for films from various countries and their preferences for old movies. We also explored participants’ film education. The survey contained 21 questions which were designed to include various aspects related to the diversity of participants' film preferences and education. The goal was to acquire a broad range of insights related to these two topics. Survey participants were former and current LIS students from Croatian towns of Osijek, Zagreb and Zadar. Messages about the survey were published on the Facebook page of the Department of Information Sciences at the University of Zadar and on the Facebook pages of students' clubs of the Department of Information and Communication Sciences at the University of Zagreb and Department of Information Science sat the University of Osijek [1]. 129 participants have answered the survey questions in the period from October 24 to November 10, 2015. The survey was accessible online and it was made by using LimeSurvey software.

For the understanding of the next chapter in which research results are presented, it is important to describe our approach to the interpretation of the grade system. Namely, survey participants graded the questions related to film preferences with grades from 1 to 5. Grade 5 means that the participant has a strong preference for certain category of films and grade 1 means that participant don't have a preference for certain category of films. In our approach to the interpretation of the results we established the rule that grades 3, 4 and 5, confirm that participant has a preference for graded category of films and would want to view films in that category. Therefore, when we are describing research results related to participants' film preferences, we summarize percents of participants who graded preferences for certain category of films with grades 3, 4 and 5. If participants graded certain category of films with grades 1 and 2, then we interpret that as they don't have a preference for that category of films and that they wouldn't be interested to view films in that category.

Research results

There were 129 survey participants of whom 22% were of the male sex and 78% of the female sex. 69% of participants were LIS undergraduates, 24% were LIS graduates, 6% were holders of the LIS university degree and 1% of the participants didn't belong to any of the aforementioned groups.

Figure 1. Distribution of participants according to the city in which is located their LIS department.

Figure 1 presents a number of participants according to the town of study. The greatest numbers of participants were from Zadar - 80, followed by participants from Zagreb - 34, and Osijek - 15.

Figure 2. Preferences for feature films from various geographical areas.

Figure 2 presents participants' preferences for feature films from various geographical areas. Greatest preference is for North American films – 91.47%, and Western European films – 76.75%. Lower preference is for South American films – 55.81%, East European films – 49.61%, Asian films – 46,51%. Lowest preference is for African films – 46,51%. From this data it is visible that the great majority of participants have preferences for films of the countries located westward from Croatia. The curious fact is that films from South America are 6% more interesting to participants than films from Eastern Europe. Although there is a lowest preference for African films, still almost every other participant has a preference for these films.

Figure 3. Preferences for feature films from various countries.

Figure 3 presents participants' preferences for feature films from various countries. Strongest preference is for films from USA – 95.35%. They are closely followed by films from Great Britain – 93.02%. At the third place are films from Croatia - 72.09%, closely followed by films from France – 69%. Films from two countries that share borders with Croatia are interesting for more than half of the participants: Bosnia and Herzegovina – 56,60%, and Serbia - 52,71%. For Japanese films, there is a preference of 41,08% participants and for Brazilian films – 37,21%. It is somewhat contradictory that Brazilian films are less interesting for approximately 15% of participants than films from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Namely, results from previous question have indicated that films from South America are more interesting for survey participants than films from Eastern Europe.

Figure 4. Preferences for various feature film types.

Figure 4 present participants' preferences for various feature film types in relation to date of production. Greatest preference - 96.12% - is stated for feature films produced in the last few five years. For feature films produced more than forty years ago, there is the preference of 78,29% of participants. For black and white feature films preference is 51,94%, and for silent feature films preference is 26,36%. It is visible from the results that preference for older films falls down significantly.

Figure 5. Opportunities for acquiring film knowledge during the formal education.

Figure 5 presents survey participants' opportunities for acquiring film knowledge during the formal education. The greatest opportunities for acquiring film knowledge were in high school - 47,28% participants gave the highest grades (3, 4, 5) to opportunities in that phase of their education. Nearly the same level of opportunities were present in the university education – 45,73%. Primary schools were graded with three highest grades by 37,97% participants. Only 13,19% of participants have good opportunities to acquire film knowledge through some other form of formal education (film school, course, club...). From these results it is evident that more than half of participants might not have opportunities to learn about the film during formal education.

Figure 6. What survey participants think about the usefulness of university courses focused on various areas of art and culture.

Figure 6 presents what survey participants think about the usefulness of university courses focused on various areas of art and culture, especially in relation to their (future) work in libraries and other heritage institutions. More than 90% of participants think that during the LIS studies it would be useful to acquire knowledge from the fields of film, literature and music. More than 90% of participants think that it would be useful to acquire knowledge from the fields of fine arts and comics. Therefore, almost all participants think that knowledge from all those fields is very important.

Research results also showed that the average number of films that participants have in their home collections is 106. Participants view monthly approximately eight feature films and two documentary or educational films. Only 20,93% of participants is visiting film festivals. 96,9% of participants is interested in feature films, 88,37% in animation films and 82,17% in documentary and educational films. Croatian national TV programs that are mostly viewed by participants are: RTL - 65,89%, NOVA TV - 64,34%, HRT 2 - 47,29%, HRT1 - 44,96%. It is indicative that TV program HRT3 is very popular for 27.91% of participants. This program has the greatest number of diverse films. On the other hand, the most popular TV programs - RTL and NOVA TV - show lowest number of diverse films because they show almost exclusively the newest Hollywood feature films.

Participants use following methods to learn about films: viewing films on computer - 99,22%, talking about films with acquaintances - 96,89%, viewing films on TV - 85,27%, viewing films in cinema - 74,41%, reading film critics in magazines and newspapers - 60,47%. Least popular methods are reading books about films – 34,11%, and reading brochures from film festivals - 32,55%.

Answers to this question are interesting: "Which foreign language you know well enough so that you can view untranslated films in that language?". 98,45% of participants have answered that they know English language well enough for that purpose. Films in German language without translation could be understood by 11,63% of participants and films in Italian language by 6,2% of participants.

Conclusion

Research results have established that the most interesting films for participants are from the USA and Great Britain. After that, most interesting films are those from Croatia and Western Europe. There are also considerable preferences for films from various other countries. The majority of participants have a strong preference for all film types: feature, animation, documentary and educational films. There is also the significant preference of participants for old films, although they are more interested in recent films.

One curious finding is that although approximately majority of the participants claim that they have preferences for diverse films, nevertheless, they prefer to view TV programs that show predominantly recent Hollywood feature films.

It is also important to accentuate the result that 98,45% of the participants claim that they know the English language well enough to view untranslated films in that language. This finding suggests that Croatian librarians should start to think to include in their collections more untranslated films that have English subtitles. The acquisition of films from foreign publishers would help to increase the diversity of film collections in libraries, because Croatian film publishers are publishing primarily recent Hollywood feature films.

Especially concerning finding is that more than half of the participants might not have opportunities to learn about the film during their formal education. Almost all participants think that knowledge from the fields of film, literature, music, fine arts and comics is very important for the librarians. These two findings support the idea to include in LIS studies the film courses and also courses from other fields of art and culture related to film. During the LIS studies, it is crucial to try to develop the students' preferences for diverse films, to present learning opportunities about the film and to treat the film as equally valuable as literature, music, science, etc. In that way one of the basic conditions will be fulfilled for libraries to realize their democratic role of providing access to diverse ideas in different media.

References

ALA. (1989). The freedom to view statement. Retrieved December 20, 2015 from: http://www.ala.org/vrt/professionalresources/vrtresources/freedomtoview

ALA. ( 2010). Intellectual freedom manual. Chicago: ALA.

Currah, A. (2007). "Hollywood, the Internet and the world: A geography of disruptive innovation". Industry and Innovation, 14 (4), 359-384.

Evans, E. G. & Saponaro, M. Z. (2005). Developing library and information center collections. Santa Barbara: Libraries Unlimited.

Gilić, N. (2003). "Sustav medijskog obrazovanja". Hrvatski filmski ljetopis, 36 (9), 53-54.

Handman, G. (2003). "A view outside a mainstream. American Libraries", 38-40. IFLA. (2010). IFLA Pubic Library Service Guidelines. The Hague: IFLA.

Lorenzen, M. (2007). "Internationalization vs. globalization of the film Industry". Industry and Innovation, 14 (4), 349-357.

Norwegian Archive, Library and Museum Authority. Library reform. (2014). Retrieved  December 20, 2015 from: https://www.biblioteki.org/repository/PROJEKT%2018/Inspircje/Library%20Reform%202014.pdf

Majcen, V. &Turković, H. (2001). Kinematografija u Hrvatskoj - izvještaj o stanju. Hrvatski filmski ljetopis, 7 (27), 53-95.

Notes

[1] Information Sciences Student Club. Department of Information and Communication Sciences at the University of Zagreb. Retrieved December 20, 2015 from: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ksiz.ffzg/.
Information Sciences Student Club - Libros. Department of Information Sciences at the University of Osijek. Retrieved December 20, 2015 from: https://www.facebook.com/klublibros
Department of Information Sciences at the University of Zadar. Retrieved December 20, 2015 from: https://www.facebook.com/groups/infoznanosti/.

Green Libraries – partners for realizing fully citizenship

Petra Hauke

petra.hauke@hu-berlin.de

Berlin School for Library and Information Science, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany

Keywords:Green Libraries, Environmental Sustainability, Ethical Leadership, Ecological Footprint

Abstract

Sustainable thinking and going green are undoubtedly on the agenda worldwide. More and more both public libraries and academic libraries are taking a leading role regarding the awareness of ecological sustainability. Green Libraries are reducing their own “ecological footprint” through strategic goals focusing on environmentally friendly building design and management as well as on “green services” and education, serving as examples of ethical leadership. The number of examples of creative and innovative initiatives is growing. Many of these involve library customers directly through urban gardening projects, using the library’s garden environment, through second-hand-shops or Fair-Trade-cafeterias in the library, running maker spaces to foster DIY initiatives, to name but a few. In doing so, library users do not just visit the library for borrowing information materials but get in contact with other citizens. They are provided with an opportunity to exercise their rights as citizens as well as to experience applied democracy through communication and creative activities. Therefore Green Libraries with their special commitment can play an important political and social role in modern society. “Sustainability can serve as a tool to build community”[1].

The paper to be presented at the BOBCATSSS conference provides examples from different countries like Thailand, Uganda, France, and the United States. Furthermore it will encourage the next generation of information professionals’ to consider the role of libraries in taking responsibility for defending our environment on one hand and on the other hand in defending intellectual freedom through fully exercising their citizenship responsibilities.

Introduction

One main point in the Lyon Declaration on Access to Information and Development, which was drafted by IFLA and a number of partners in the library and development communities from January to May 2014, is about sustainability: “Sustainable development seeks to ensure the long-term socio-economic prosperity and well-being of people everywhere”[2].

ENSULIB, the Environmental Sustainability and Libraries Special Interest Group of IFLA, have postulated this demand on their website: “The consideration of the role of humanity in climate change and the notion of sustainable development are core concerns of society, and consequently of libraries”[3].

The Dictionary for Library and Information Science tells us that a “sustainable library” is “designed to minimize negative impact on the natural environment and maximize indoor environmental quality by means of careful site selection, use of natural construction materials and biodegradable products, conservation of resources (water, energy, paper), and responsible waste disposal (recycling, etc.)”[4]. The dictionary offers just the same common definition of a “Green Library” as Wikipedia: “Green libraries are a part of the larger green building movement [5].

Going through past publications on the topic, you will find from about the year 2000 on the term “green library movement”[6] is used, although the first articles on Green Libraries were published as early as the 1990s. As Lynn Boyden and James Weiner postulated in 2000, libraries “as gateways for knowledge […] are particularly well-suited as demonstration vehicles” as well as for “teaching environmental responsibility to communities”[7].

Most publications about “Green Libraries” focused on eco-building when announcing for example “a new century in public library architecture”[8]. However not all libraries – both public and academic libraries – have had the opportunity to build a new building or to renovate and modernize an old one. The challenge is: “Libraries have to operate environmentally now and in the future in existing buildings and without new resources. But how do we achieve this?”[9]

Besides a new or renovated sustainable building there are more and other opportunities of "going green" with the library and serving the community. It is all about reducing the "ecological footprint" in the libraries' workaday life. Green Libraries are focusing on sustainable services, activities, events, literature, and projects, demonstrating the social role and responsibility of libraries as leaders in environmental sustainability. Green Libraries are particularly partners for realizing fully citizenship, for enabling citizens to play a role in the local society – in many ways.

Partners for realizing fully citizenship – examples

Maarifa Knowledge Centres [10]

One example is the Maarifa Knowledge Centers [11], established in some of East Africa's remotest, isolated areas in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. These centers start with a facility made from recycled, fabricated shipping containers and equipped with computers and internet access. The program includes information support through books, journals, brochures and selected exchange visits. In partnership with other agencies, they “bring information and communication technologies (ICTs) to rural communities to enable the documentation and sharing of local knowledge – in particular, knowledge relating to farming and natural resource management. […] The information exchange activities focus on small-scale sustainable agriculture, climate change adaptation, natural resources management and other livelihood issues. […] At the Maarifa Centers, community members can access and share information on how to improve their livelihoods through new technologies for farming, livestock keeping, coping with environment and climate change, and current marketing information. The centers also offer information related to health, gender, and HIV and AIDS.”[12]

Figure 1.  Wakiso, Central Uganda: Focal group members in an ICT training at the maarifa centre [13].

Urban gardening

The Huntington Library with art collections and botanical gardens is a collections-based research and educational institution in Southern California. The Library started the Huntington Ranch

Project as an “urban agricultural garden project that explores and interprets optimal approaches to gardening in our regional ecosystems and climate – the semi-arid landscapes of Southern California. Part classroom and part research lab, the Ranch Garden draws inspiration from Huntington's and the region's agricultural heritage, while making connections with gardeners, native plant enthusiasts, landscape professionals, educators, and researchers throughout Southern California. The library also offers a wide “spectrum of programs and educational activities for adults, families, teachers, as well as professional development for people actively involved in teaching gardening on a community, education, or professional level” [14]. Users of the Huntington library are not just served by the library with information and materials but invited to practice their citizenship through actively common learning and creative working together.

Figure 2. Huntington Library, California. “Ranch Garden Project, returning to our agricultural roots.”[15]

Garden Seed Library

In San Francisco the Jewish Community Center (JCCSF) offers to distribute (“to borrow”) garden seeds from their JCCSF Rooftop Garden Seed Library. “Similar to a book library, the process is simple: choose from vegetable, flower and herb seeds (up to six seeds per variety at a time), take them home and plant them during the growing season. When your harvest has matured, cut one of each variety open and scrape out the seeds (reserve what remains for eating), dry the seeds and return them to the library for others to borrow. Your participation helps sustain and grow the Bay Area's unique plant varieties and supports a community of sharing and abundance”[16].

Library Gardens

The Arlington Public Library, VA, seeks to create connections among people and to help building a sustainable community [17]. The libraries' front gardens are used as “Central Library Gardens” [18]. The program is called “Arlington reads – Arlington grows”. The library participates in the Arlington Food Assistance Center’s (AFAC) Plot Against Hunger program [19]. The program collects fresh vegetables and fruits from different sources supporting citizens coming to AFAC each week for supplemental groceries. The program – combining learning, doing, and charity – is accompanied by weekly scheduled “Garden Talks” from March through October, led by volunteers and staff from AFAC and the VCE, the Virginia Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners at Virginia State University. VCE experts and educators seek to put university knowledge into the hands of people through information, education, and tools people can use every day to improve their life [20].

Figure 3. Arlington, VA, Central Library Garden in front of the library.

Bicycle sharing

Bicycle sharing systems like Vélo'v, run by the city of Lyon, have spread all over world [21]. In Arlington, VA, the public was involved in finding sites where Bikeshare stations could be added down the line through an online forum as well as through public meetings, for example in the Central Library. Pushing for a greener community the Arlington Central Library is now proud to have installed a Capital Bikeshare station directly in front of the library’s entrance: “… just like with any Arlington Public Library materials, you can drop off any Bikeshare bikes at Central too [22]. Taking over the role as leaders in environmental sustainability, they seek to encourage their customers choosing the green way: “… you’ll quickly find it cheaper than using a car and maybe even mass transit. Maybe more convenient too. And definitely better for your health and the planet’s. Pay for just a day or a whole year of Bike share usage.”[23]

Figure  4.  Arlington, VA, Capital Bikeshare station in front of the library [24].

Cycling for libraries

Cycling for libraries is not really a Green Library initiative but supports sustainability values and ecological lifestyle. The politically and economically independent international un conference for librarians and library lovers was founded in 2011 to advocate for libraries and increase awareness of the valuable services and resources that libraries offer to the community [25].

In 2014 a tour went from Montpellier to Lyon, where the IFLA Congress took place [26]. On their way the group visited interesting and fascinating libraries in France. In June 2015 more than 50 librarians and library lovers cycled from Basel (Switzerland) to Strasbourg (France) to attend the French librarians association’s (ABF) congress [27].

“Cycling for libraries builds physical and mental well-being of library professionals, grassroots networking, and internationalism and – last but not least – the crucial role of libraries for the society and for the intellectual and scientific education in general. Cycling for libraries also supports environmental values and ecological way of life”[28].

Figure 5 and 6.  Cycling for libraries – 2014 from Montpellier to the IFLA Congress at Lyon [29].

Fairtrade products

Many libraries in many countries participate in the international Fair Trade Town campaign that started in 2001 in the United Kingdom. The city of Lyon for example is listed as one of the Fairtrade settlements in France [30]. Libraries should participate in the campaign through offering Fairtrade products in their cafeteria – as the Bibliothèque Municipal de Lyon should do – are they doing? On their homepage the café and restaurant MiWaM offers already “bio” products and “pour la plupart des productions locales” – what is another good way of “going green” [31].

Library cafeterias that offer Fairtrade coffee and Fairtrade confectionery can be found in many public libraries as well as in university libraries. One example was the Isabel Rose Café at Montclair Public Library, run by “Terra”[32], a fair trade social enterprise.

Figure 7. Isabel Rose Café at Montclair Public Library, NJ [33].

The Bluffton Public Library, OH, used the month of October as National Fair Trade Month to join with a number of local businesses and residents to promote Fair Trade in their town. The library hosted a Fair Trade Tea Talk, an informal afternoon tea, with scrumptious goodies, to learn more about Fair Trade and what one can do to help. Participants were encouraged to bring cookies or cake to share. The library also hosted a Fair Trade Jewelry Party to encourage citizens to combine Christmas present shopping and support of Fair Trade at the same time [34].

DIY – Do-it-yourself programs

Many libraries are supporting and fostering the DIY movement. They offer courses for making new items from recycled materials.

One example is the Flagstaff Public Library in Arizona. They offer a Do-It-Yourself Home Energy Efficiency Workshop where customers learn how to keep their house warm and save money on their energy bills. “A free energy kit consisting of LEDs, weather stripping, shrink wrap and many other goods will be given to attendees of the workshop and a licensed contractor will demonstrate techniques on weatherizing your home.”[35]

Another example comes from the Kasetsart University Library in Bangkok, Thailand. As part of the long-term project “Kasetsart Loves the Environment” an eco-library was founded. The library's equipment itself is totally made from scraps, sponsored by local furniture manufacturers and other companies who deliver their offcuts to the university's architecture faculty Scrab Lab.

Figure 8. Bangkok, Thailand, Kasetsart University © R. Prommajan.

The Eco-Library also has a program to strengthen environmental consciousness. But they do not offer just books on ecology, environment, and catastrophe management but regularly holds eco-activities, led by the library staff. They gather materials from home or everyday life to make bookmarks from used plastic straw, toy puppies from used socks or handmade notebooks decorated by old New Year cards for selling to the public. Doing so the library is always looking for possible ways to bring people closer to environmental friendliness [36].

Résumé

This paper could only catch a glimpse of what Green Libraries are providing for citizens to realize their citizenship fully and to take an active part in society and in democracy. Green Libraries play a major role in information access by offering citizens tools and resources on environmental sustainability issues. Furthermore they actively take over a leading role in social responsibility through teaching their customers environmental awareness. They offer their customers opportunities for acting environmentally friendly, for realizing an environmental friendly lifestyle in their families and in their communities– as an important part of a democratic culture.

Now it's up to you: the forthcoming generation of library and information professionals to foster this already running Green Library movement also in your libraries and in your countries to make clear the important role of libraries in terms of social responsibility and actively practiced democracy!

References

Antonelli, M. (2008). "The green library movement: An overview and beyond". Electronic Green Journal, 1(27). Retrieved December 21, 2015 from: http://escholarship.org/uc/item/39d3v236.

Boyden, L. & Weiner, J. (2000). "Sustainable libraries: teaching environmental responsibility to communities". The Bottom Line, 13(2), 74–83.

Genovese, P., & Albanese, P. (2013). "Sustainability can serve as a tool to build community…" Sustainable libraries, sustainable services – a global view. In P. Hauke, K.-U. Werner, & K. Latimer (eds.), The Green Library = Die Grüne Bibliothek. The challenge of environmental sustainability (pp. 39–64). Berlin/Boston: de Gruyter Saur (IFLA publications, 161). Retrieved December 21, 2015 from: http://edoc.hu-berlin.de/miscellanies/greenlibrary.

Hauke, P., Latimer, K., & Werner, K. U. (Eds.) (2013). The Green Library = Die Grüne Bibliothek. The challenge of environmental sustainability. München/Boston: De Gruyter Saur, 2013 (IFLA Publications, 161). Retrieved December 21, 2015 from: http://edoc.hu-berlin.de/miscellanies/greenlibrary.

Sahavirta, H. (2013). “... proud that my own library is such a responsible operator!” Vallila Library in Helsinki shows the greener way. In P. Hauke, K. Latimer, & K. U. Werner (eds.), The Green Library = Die Grüne Bibliothek. The challenge of environmental sustainability (pp. 317– 332). Berlin/Boston: de Gruyter Saur (IFLA publications, 161). Retrieved December 21, 2015 from: http://edoc.hu-berlin.de/miscellanies/greenlibrary.

Tinarat, S. (2013). Loads of scraps become precious raw materials: The Kasetsart University Eco-Library in Bangkok, a prototype for the next generation of sustainable buildings in Thailand. In P. Hauke, K.-U. Werner, & K. Latimer (eds.), The Green Library = Die Grüne Bibliothek. The challenge of environmental sustainability (pp. 213–228). Berlin/Boston: de Gruyter Saur (IFLA publications, 161). Retrieved December 21, 2015 from: http://edoc.hu-berlin.de/miscellanies/greenlibrary.

Tseng, S.-H. (2007). "An eco-building, a healthy life, and good service: A new century in public library architecture". Public libraries, 46(4), 50–55. Retrieved December 21, 2015 from: http://www.ala.org/pla/sites/ala.org.pla/files/content/publications/publiclibraries/pastissues/pl_46n4.pdf.

Notes

[1] Genovese & Albanese 2013.

[2] Retrieved December 21, 2015 from: http://www.lyondeclaration.org/.

[3] Retrieved December 21, 2015 from: http://www.ifla.org/about-environmental-sustainability-and-libraries.

[4] Retrieved December 21, 2015 from: http://www.abc-clio.com/ODLIS/odlis_s.aspx#sustainablelib.

[5] Retrieved December 21, 2015 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_library.

[6] Antonelli 2008.

[7] Boyden & Weiner 2000.

[8] Tseng 2007.

[9] Sahavirta 2013, p. 327.

[10] Genovese & Albanese 2013, p. 58–60.

[11] Retrieved December 21, 2015 from: https://ccafs.cgiar.org/publications/maarifa-knowledge-centres.

[12] Retrieved December 21, 2015 from: https://ccafs.cgiar.org/publications/maarifa-knowledge-centres.

[13] “Maarifa” is the Souhaili word for “knowledge”. Retrieved December 21, 2015 from: http://lukwangamaarifa.blogspot.de/2011/01/blog-post_24.html.

[14] Retrieved December 21, 2015 from: http://www.huntington.org/ranchgarden/.

[15] Retrieved December 21, 2015 from: http://www.huntington.org/ranchgarden/.

[16] Retrieved December 21, 2015 from: https://www.jccsf.org/adult/adult-classes/urban-gardening/seed-library/.

[17] Retrieved December 21, 2015 from: http://library.arlingtonva.us/about-us/mission/.

[18] Retrieved December 21, 2015 from: http://library.arlingtonva.us/events/garden-talks/central-library-gardens/.

[19] Retrieved December 21, 2015 from: https://www.afac.org/plot-against-hunger/.

[20] Retrieved December 21, 2015 from: http://www.ext.vt.edu/.

[21] Retrieved December 21, 2015 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bicycle-sharing_systems.

[22] Retrieved December 21, 2015 from: http://library.arlingtonva.us/2012/02/17/wheel-be-seeing-you-at-central-library/.

[23] Retrieved December 21, 2015 from: http://library.arlingtonva.us/2012/02/17/wheel-be-seeing-you-at-central-library/.

[24] Retrieved December 21, 2015 from: https://www.arlnow.com/2012/02/21/new-capital-bikeshare-stations-built-in-virginia-square/.

[25] Retrieved December 21, 2015 from: http://www.cyclingforlibraries.org/.

[26] Retrieved December 21, 2015 from: http://www.reporterre.net/Ils-aiment-les-livres-et-les-velos.

[27] Retrieved December 21, 2015 from: http://www.cyclingforlibraries.org/.

[28] Retrieved December 21, 2015 from: http://www.cyclingforlibraries.org/?page_id=3092.

[29] Retrieved December 21, 2015 from: http://www.cyclingforlibraries.org/.

[30] Retrieved December 21, 2015 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Fairtrade_settlements#Fairtrade_settlements_in_France.

[31] Retrieved December 25, 2015 from: https://www.bm-lyon.fr/15-bibliotheques-et-un-bibliobus/points-forts-des-bibliotheques/cafe-restaurant?lang.fr.

[32] Retrieved December 21, 2015 from: http://www.terramontclair.com.

[33] Retrieved December 21, 2015 from: http://patch.com/new-jersey/montclair/terra-cafe-montclair-library-will-shut-doors-september-0.

[34] Retrieved December 21, 2015 from: http://www.blufftonicon.com/news/2014/10/05/public-library-has-full-calendar-events-october.

[35] Retrieved December 21, 2015 from: http://www.flagstaff365.com/event/detail/441899952/DIY_Home_Energy_Efficiency_Workshop.

[36] Tinarat 2013.

Social media and privacy defense strategies

Stjepan Horvat, Sanja Lapiš, Marta Matijević

shorvat@ffos.hr, slapis@ffos.hr, mmatijevic1@ffos.hr

University of J. J. Strossmayer, Department of Information Sciences, L. Jägera 9 Osijek, Croatia

Keywords: Social Media, Privacy, Defending Privacy, Privacy Defense Strategies

Abstract

Social media make their money and stay on the market by utilizing personal data each user decides to share with the platform he or she is using. That personal data is used to place marketed commercials to each user given their sex, age, location, religion and similar information. Facebook, for example, encourages its users to provide much of private data, which plummets the level of privacy each user has.

According to Uses and gratification theory (UGT), users are prone to accept compromising level of privacy in order to get better satisfaction achieved by use of the social media (Debatin, Lovejoy, Horn, & Hughes, 2009). Given that social media are a relatively new phenomenon first studies have suggested that users simply do not care about their privacy. A lot of those results are related to users being unable to find their way around a platform or not understanding the system they are using. As time progresses, it is evident that users care for their privacy, but also that they need certain knowledge and skills to retain that information. Danah Boyd (2014) proves that the state of violated privacy in terms of social media is not that different from normal privacy situation where parents are violating the privacy of adolescents. Adolescents whose privacy is already violated merely transfer their privacy defense strategies into virtual surroundings, leaving their privacy violated and vulnerable.

On the other hand, companies which own social media sites also develop and utilize systems which encourage users to publish more personal data and thus put the pressure on every one of them. It is possible to say that privacy defense strategy means balancing between two opposing forces. One wants to collect every bit of personal data but in such a way that is not seen as pressuring the user. However, the other encourages users to defend their private data and information, but not too well or they will stay isolated and, according to UGT, lose their gratification.

This paper will present the results of an interview conducted on a student population. Goal of the research was to see how social media users (mainly but not only Facebook users) experience privacy issues, which strategies they use to defend their privacy and to examine to what extent the system itself has influence on their sharing of personal information.

Introduction

Social networks and networking are not new concepts as they exist, through various means, since forever. They merely represent a simple act of maintaining and strengthening an existing circle of friends and acquaintances, as well as expanding that circle. Due to increase in usage of personal computers and the Internet, these concepts are transferred in online environment with the help of social software and Internet services (Kušić, 2010).

Online social networks can be described as a “favor based on web which enables one to build a profile inside of a bounded system, articulate their list of other users with whom they share a connection while observing and using own list of connections and lists of other users inside the system” (Boyd  & Ellison, 2008). Alongside social networks, public discourse also uses social networking as a synonymous term, even though there are differences. Networking emphasizes initiating a relation, most often between persons who do not know each other. Even though networking is possible in online social networks, it is not their primary goal (Boyd, & Ellison, 2008).

Literature review

Most distinguishable of social networks is Facebook, if judged by the total number of users. More than a milliard of users daily publishes different kinds of information including personal data, photographs, interests, etc. Such massive usage and sharing of information imposes the question of privacy on Facebook. Since its inception in 2004, this popular social network service has quickly become both a basic tool for and a mirror of social interaction (Debatin, Lovejoy, Horn, Hughes, 2009).

During its development, Facebook made many omissions which endangered the privacy of the users. In the beginning, for example, the passwords were sent unencrypted; the possibility of restricting visibility of information provided on a profile was not functional, etc. Even though omissions were corrected, safety of using such a system is still questionable. As such, a third party with some skill and knowledge can easily obtain private information about the user. It all leads to identity thefts and various information abuses. Creating an enormous database about their users, Facebook has a capability to commercially use such information.

Facebook users constantly manoeuvre between perceived privacy risks and expected benefit, while many are unaware of the importance of privacy protection and share all of the information with a large circle of friends, until they become victims of information abuse (Debatin, Lovejoy, Horn, & Hughes, 2009).

Popular opinion is that a wish for sharing on public spaces exists, but also any act of exposure to publicity is incompatible with a wish for having privacy. Idea that young people share too much is so ingrained in public discourse that researches showing young adults wanting privacy are oft ignored. Boyd (2014) says she met young people who care about their privacy, but the way they understand occurrences and make decisions differs from adults. At first their desire to have privacy and to be a part of public life may seem contradictory. But, understanding how young conceptualize privacy and manage social media is key to understanding the meaning of privacy in an online world.

Privacy is a term with no clear definition. Some define it as a “right to be left alone” where others see it as a “measure of the access other have to you trough information, attention, physical proximity” while there is also a statement that privacy is “the claim of individuals, groups, or institutions to determine for themselves when, how, and to what extend information about them is communicated to others” (Boyd, 2014).

Public discourse about privacy orientates itself on hiding from public environment, while scientists are focusing on information flow (Boyd, 2014). Many a discussion about privacy lays on the issue of one having it or not. But, for young adults, privacy is not something one has, rather something that has to be achieved by means of controlling social situations. It is necessary for people to have a certain degree of power, an understanding of a social situation and context and have skills for managing social situations so as to affect the flow or stopping the information. Those are the elements standing in front of young adults while achieving privacy.

Many popular centers in social media encourage participants to share information. On social networks, like Facebook, it is much easier to share something publicly than it is to manipulate privacy settings. As a result, individuals often share information in a manner different to the real world. Instead of asking themselves is something important enough to be publicly shared, they ask themselves is it intimate enough to be protected. In accordance to that, many assume public-by-default, private-through-effort mentality (Boyd, 2014).

Instead of limiting their privacy settings, they use different strategies to achieve it, one of which is social stenography. It means encoding additional content to make it readable only to a specific part of the public, regarding their knowledge and the signs embedded in a certain context (Boyd, 2014).

Lastly, privacy is not a static creation, nor an inherent data or environment attribute. It is a process in which individuals strive to have control over their social situations through managing impressions, information flow and context. Boyd (2014) concludes that teenagers have not given up on privacy, even if their attempts undermine those ruling over them. Instead of finding privacy in control of access to content, they control access to meaning.

Theoretical approach

Paper’s conceptual frame is based on The uses and gratifications theory (UGT) which regards one’s usage of social media to fulfill one’s needs. Those are need for diversion and entertainment, the need for (para-social) relationships, and the need for identity construction. According to UGT social media users, and especially Facebook, users agree to terms of lower privacy level in exchange for gratification achieved by use.

Based off of aforementioned literature, three research questions were drawn, categorized by questions asked to interviewees. Categories are content sharing, personal information sharing, importance of privacy and thoughts on Facebook privacy protection options. Research questions are:

How much users care about adjusting privacy settings and about who sees their posts and personal information?

How important is privacy, both offline and online, to users?

How much users understand privacy protection options on Facebook and do they believe those are good enough?

Interview method was used to write this paper, to establish thoughts and frame of mind of interviewees. They themselves provided contact information through a survey. 27 face-to-face, phone call and Skype interviews were performed. Participants were aged 18-27.

Analysis

Content sharing

To investigate the extent to which Facebook users care about others seeing their published content, we asked several questions. In Facebook it is selectable who will see published content – only the publisher, his friends, friends of his friends or all Facebook users.

When asked: “Do you know who sees your posts?” interviewees mostly claimed that only their friends can see them. However, some of them were unsure of that, but have only assumed. On the other hand, there are those who exclude groups of friends from seeing their posts – one interviewee expressed that her family cannot see what she is posting.

Some share posts publicly, but in further explanation stated that there are posts only for his friends, in spite of having a public profile. Decision of privacy or publicity is based upon the nature of shared content. Most interesting of answers says:

“It is all public; I am not ashamed of anything:”

It is evident that he sees no hindrance in sharing publicly, as long as content is not compromising.

Except content visibility, question of setting their profile visibility (Who can look me up option) was asked, as well as who can add them for a friend. As for visibility, exception of two interviewees was noted – one can only be found by his friends, and the other by friends of friends. All of them, however, answered that they can be added by anyone. One notable answer was:

“I did not do it [limit adding to friend list]. If someone new wants to add me, he has to be able to do it on Facebook.”

Given that all of the answers are similar, it can be deduced that these options are not perceived as privacy protection mechanism.

Importance of who of their friends can see published posts also arose during the interview. Total number of friends varies from 100 to 800 friends, and the question was of import, but the answers are parted. About half of interviewees does not care at all about the issue, others modify post visibility settings depending on content, or simply do not publish on Facebook what they deem is not for everyone to see. After a mishap with published content and kinsfolk, one interviewee started caring meticulously about her post visibility.

Personal information sharing

Regarding personal information and visibility of such, attitudes vary. Facebook enables users to edit their profile in such a way that it is possible to state detailed personal information, such as: birth date, birthplace, address, contact, education, etc. Answers regarding which information they are willing to state on their profile differed. Almost a third of interviewees showed uncertainty what they stated, and what not. Notable answer regarding this is:

“Honestly, most of those options I left blank, except basic ones. Maybe my e-mail is available, but I think that not even my residence is filled in. I have some information regarding education, but that is it. Things such as address, phone number, no, I am not ready to share that information.”

Personal information in their eyes is divided depending on perception of possible usefulness and privacy vulnerability. Regarding contact, be it e-mail or phone number, most are unwilling to give that information, or make it visible to others.

Giving out falsified information to Facebook can also be perceived as a means of privacy protection, and several interviewees had incorrect data on their profile, but not as protection policy, more as a trend that was around when filling out information. One of the interviewees has incorrect place of residence and as the reason he stated:

“At the time it was interesting, funny and maybe even others did it and so did I. It stayed, and I don’t mind it, really, because I do not think it is serious.”

Interesting point is revealing more personal information for needs of playing games or using different applications. A third of answers stated that such a thing is unacceptable and that they avoid such games and applications. Several stated that they do not think it is a problem if they are willing to use the application or play the game, and the rest were unsure as it depends on information they need to provide and the importance of application.

“I usually do not use such applications, but if it is something I really need at the moment, I would maybe agree to it, even though I do not like such applications.”

Importance of privacy

For closer analysis, a direct question about importance of privacy was asked, first about privacy in general and then about privacy on Facebook. Goal was to determine their perception of privacy, as well as importance. Overall answers differed, and several pointed out that importance depends on information itself. An explanation was given:

“I can share my opinions and stands, I am not afraid of other people’s opinions, everyone has a right on opinions and stands, and regarding really personal matters there is a narrow circle of friends privy to that information.”

One stated that she has nothing against public showing of opinion expression, but certain information she does not share with others, or only with closest of friends regardless of Facebook.

Some regard their privacy as extremely important, and others perceive it as not as important, yet none suggested that it is irrelevant.

It was also assessed if there is some perception difference between privacy protection on Facebook and in real life. Most interviewees said that they value their privacy equally, regardless of environment. One opinion states:

“I share my opinions with close friends, my company, and most of my Facebook friends are not that close, lesser number of them is actually close to me than the rest.”

Interestingly, several stated that Facebook criteria for privacy protection are even higher than usual while maintaining privacy. Usually they opt for not sharing content they find inappropriate.

Opinions on privacy protection options

Research found it important to find out what opinion is there on privacy protection options available on Facebook. That being the actual question, but also are those options enough to protect one’s privacy. Most interviewees believe that given options are satisfying. Most notable amongst options is capability to adjust privacy settings in regard of personal preference, but also constant development and furthering of privacy protection.

“I believe they [privacy settings options] are enough, everyone can adjust them as he likes, depending on what he uses Facebook for. For my usage, even though I am a person who does not want to share some information, it is enough.”

Regarding constant changing and updating privacy settings:

“I check it every now and then. Privacy is important to me, and it is not difficult to check new options and possibilities. [about constant changes] I think that is okay, everything should, of course, get better, and those who care about privacy will try new and better ways of protecting it.”

On the other hand, handful showed skepticism regarding privacy options.

“I believe that is funny, they take our privacy and before you know it they will start selling it back to us for like $15 for protecting our privacy, that is mine, you do not have to protect anything. I believe it is not in their interest to make settings that actually protect users, everything they do is to protect their own interest and gather more information about individuals so they can make deals and manipulate.”

Regarding control over their privacy on Facebook, most interviewees believe they have control, but merely because they choose not to publish much content. When asked if the feeling of degree of privacy control changed during time, most answered positively, but for various reasons. Mostly it is because there were fewer users before, or because of rigorous privacy settings.

Lastly, we asked are they aware of the fact that Facebook gathers data on them and for which purposes. Most interviewees are aware of these data gatherings, but do not know for what purpose. Some expressed belief that it is purely for marketing purposes, as a means to place targeted ads.

Discussion and conclusion

In accordance with existing findings about privacy on social networks, goal of this research was to see how social media users experience privacy issues, which strategies they use to defend their privacy, importance of privacy in online and offline environment and to find out what their opinion on privacy settings given by Facebook.

First research question was stated to see how much do user’s care about adjusting privacy settings and who sees their posts and private information. Since interviewees are of young population, a parallel can be drawn with Boyd’s opinion that most of them have default public profile. Instead of restricting access, they use own strategies to achieve privacy. (Boyd, 2014)

Research shows that most interviewees adjusted their privacy settings regarding published content and personal information, meaning their posts are visible only to their friends, and personal information contact and location are usually not stated. Also, they are not inclined to give out more personal information to use applications or games. Giving falsified information, which can be considered a method of protecting privacy is not represented. While publishing, half of interviewees does not think or mind who sees their posts. Others adjust their privacy settings depending on shared content, or simply do not share what they deem unworthy of everyone’s knowledge. It can be concluded that they adjust their settings for more protection and relatively care about who sees their content.

Furthermore, importance of privacy in offline and online environment was tested. Boyd says that young are frustrated by assumption that they dismissed privacy. She proves that the state of violated privacy in terms of social media is not that different from normal privacy situation where parents are violating the privacy of adolescents. (Boyd, 2014) In accordance, they stated that privacy is important both in their home and life, and as such also in online environment. It can be concluded that privacy is important to interviewees.

Finally, regarding how informed of privacy settings on Facebook and their understanding was brought up. Results of Debatin, Lovejoy, Horn, & Hughes research say: “that while the majority of Facebook users report having an understanding of privacy settings and make use of their privacy settings, it is also apparent, however, that they may have a skewed sense of what that exactly entails.” (Debatin, Lovejoy, Horn, & Hughes, 2009). Authors concluded that users are informed and understand the settings, but have a warped view of what they mean. In research referenced most in examinees knows basic elements of Facebook privacy protection and have an impression of protectiveness. Most of them do not know for what purposes Facebook gathers data of its users, it can be concluded that they do not understand privacy protection of Facebook well enough, but believe that they are good enough to feel in control.

References

Boyd, D. (2014). It's Complicated: the social lives of networked teens. Retrieved December 19, 2015 from: http://www.danah.org/books/ItsComplicated.pdf

Boyd, E. (2008). Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship. Retrieved December 18, 2015 from: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2007.00393.x/full

Debatin, B., Lovejoy, J. P., Horn, A.-K., & Hughes, B. N. (2009). Facebook and Online Privacy: Attitudes, Behaviors, and Unintended Consequences. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 15, 1, 83–108.

Kušić, S. (2010). Online društvene mreže i društveno umrežavanje kod učenika osnovne škole: navike Facebook generacije. Život i škola : časopis za teoriju i praksu odgoja i obrazovanja, 56, 24, 103-125.

Do Erasmus students have the same rights using library resources studying abroad?

Julija Ingelevič

julija.ingelevic@kf.vu.stud.lt

Vilnius University, Faculty of Communication, Vilnius, Lithuania

Keywords:Library, Democracy, Students, Information, Information Needs

Abstract

The goal of this paper is to investigate whether Erasmus students that are studying in Lithuania have the same rights and possibilities in using library resources in comparison to native students.

The task of the research is to perform empirical study, using surveying method in order to identify whether Erasmus students studying at Vilnius University Faculty of Communication have any difficulties when using libraries during their Erasmus studies and to identify the role of the library for those students. Online survey was designed for this purpose.

The results of the research revealed what kind of importance libraries have when serving students from abroad providing them with adequate information access and service quality. Total 30 respondents were surveyed, both bachelor and master level ones. Survey results demonstrate what kind of difficulties arise to foreign students in using library services in Lithuania as well as the role of library in Erasmus studies overall. Recommendations for libraries serving Erasmus students are prepared based on research results in order to improve library services for foreign students.

Introduction

"The library is a democratic institution, ensuring the continuity of culture and knowledge society..." (Lithuanian librarians' code of ethics, 1999). "Librarian provide quality services to the community and individual consumers, regardless of their ethnic, racial, social, religious, age differences" (Lithuanian librarians' code of ethics, 1999). Both statements illustrate that libraries and librarians are open to diverse society. Libraries are institutions that provide knowledge, ideas and information freely to all citizens. Therefore, libraries have a very important role in democratic cultures.

Till now, research which analyzed the availability of Erasmus students using library resources in Lithuania doesn’t exist. Many scientific articles analyzed that libraries are very important in democratic society, because they collect and give a lot of information to all consumers. Sometimes even native students didn’t know about some of the services provided by the libraries at university there are they study, so what to speak about Erasmus students who gather together in other country university from different parts of the world. Everyone country and university speak in different languages, have different library’s buildings and different resources.

Research problem – Erasmus students don't have the same possibilities using library resources in Lithuania in comparison to native students.

Every year in Lithuania study about 2000 Erasmus students from different countries. Most of them are from Estonia, France, Italy, Latvia, Poland, Denmark, etc [1]. A lot of this students study in Vilnius University and of course they use this university's library services. This research should show are VU library services available for every culture.

Online survey was designed for this purpose. The results of the research revealed how importance libraries are for students. Total 30 respondents were surveyed, both bachelor and master level ones. Survey results demonstrate what kind of difficulties arise to foreign students in using library services in Lithuania as well as the role of library in Erasmus studies overall. Recommendations for libraries serving Erasmus students are prepared based on research results in order to improve library services for foreign students.

The role of library in democracy cultures

As said by Franklin D. Roosevelt "Libraries are essential to the functioning of a democratic society libraries are the great symbols of the freedom of the mind." Libraries ensure the freedom of speech, the freedom to read, the freedom to view. A truly democratic institution, libraries are for everyone, everywhere – no one should be excluded. Libraries are charged with strengthening democracy by facilitating public access to information in all of its forms. They also are the cornerstones of democracy in our communities because they assist the public in locating a diversity of resources and in developing information literacy skills necessary to become responsible, informed citizens and to participate in our democracy [2].

In the information society, knowledge is a critical success factor. The information society opens up new opportunities for prosperity and well-being of life, allows citizens to actively participate in society, but the growing gap between information-rich and information-poor people exposed social tensions and marginalization. Knowledge society replaced the role and functions of the library. One of the main functions of the library is to create a democratic access to all information published. Library supports democracy, reduces social tension and distances which arising between information-rich and information-poor students [3].

In information society library tasks remain the same: to ensure equal and free access to culture, information and knowledge. They are, as the democratic institutions that guarantee citizens' right to know and are seeking to reduce social exclusion. In change and still changing society library is the guarantor of democracy, learning and education pillar of the local information, technology, service center and cultural institution [4].

The methodology and process of research

Everyone who has arrived to Lithuania and studies at the VU have access to library resources, but there arise the question whether library provides the same services to Erasmus students as to native students. In order to investigate and find out the availability of the VU library services for Erasmus students accomplished a study at VU at the Faculty of Communication. An investigation should reveal how was organized and carried out availability of the VU library services for Erasmus students.

The goal of this paper is to investigate whether Erasmus students that are studying in Lithuania at the Vilnius University (VU) have the same rights and possibilities in using library resources in comparison to native students.

The tasks of the research are to:

perform empirical study, using surveying method in order to identify whether Erasmus students studying at VU Faculty of Communication have any difficulties when using libraries during their Erasmus studies;

perform a qualitative and quantitative data analysis;

analyze the level of information availability at VU library;

make recommendations on improving access to services at VU library.

The study was carried out in Lithuania, Vilnius city. In total 30 forms were completed. Respondents test group consisted of 16 women and 14 men.

The study conducted questionnaire survey respondents. The questionnaire consisted of 15 questions. The survey was create in order to collect information about Erasmus students studying at VU, to find out whether they have any difficulties with using library services. The questions were grouped:

Questions, which were intended to gather information related to the students accessibility using library services and indicate the problems and difficulties that arise when searching for information;

The other form of questions related to demographic research information: gender, age, education.

Anonymous survey was carried out in 2015 on 22 November – 10 December. Questionnaires were sent to Erasmus students from Communication Faculty in electronic form using Google Forms application. The study maintained personal privacy, guaranteed anonymity and confidentiality of test results. Received respondents answers were carried out quantitative and qualitative analysis of the answers. Quantitative analysis in this case is the percentage of different answers frequency value calculation and qualitative analysis analyzes the responses own content. Treatment of results was done using Google Forms, Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel programs. The results are presented in the form of charts and tables.

Results of the research

Responses are from different countries (picture 1). Those results give a chance to estimate how different cultures value VU library services and their availability.

Picture 1. Distribution of the respondents by place of residence.

Ranging in ages from 18 to 26 years (picture 2). Most of respondents are 21 – 23 years old. It is normal because all of them are bachelor or master students.

Picture 2. The distribution of respondents by age.

The gender distribution is quite unique, so it will objectively evaluate availability of the VU library for women and men. 53% of them are women and 47% are men (picture 3).

Picture 3. Distribution of respondents by sex.

One more thing that should be stressed is that the respondents are from different specialties. This is an advantage because different professions require different literature; an analysis of the answers will be more objective assessment of the availability of the library for Erasmus students.

According to the obtained data each of the respondents use VU library services. Even 17% of respondents visited VU Library building every day. 40% visit library once a week or more. 30% visit once a month or more. And only 7% visit library several times in six months and 7% of respondents according to the data visit library several times a year. None of the respondents didn't mention that they didn't go to the library or didn't use library services. This results show that library is like a "third place" for Erasmus students.

"Third place" must be accessible; this is one of the attribute of the third location [5]. Survey results show that Lithuanian Erasmus students like and use traditional library services.

A different situation prevails with virtual library services. Even 30% of the respondents indicate that they didn't use virtual library at all. This phenomenon can be explained by the fact that was mentioned before – library as a "third place". Virtual services do not allow socialization, which was very important element of "third place". But situation isn't so bad. 40% of respondents use virtual library services once a week or more and 20% of respondents use virtual library once a month or more.

Analysis of the data obtained revealed why Erasmus students didn't use the library services. Even 35% of respondents indicate that the first reason why they didn't use library services is lack of computerized workplaces for readers. This usually happens during the session. Some of the respondents mentioned that they didn't need to go to a library because they can get everything they need being at home. Another reason that reduces the number of readers is just that students visit other libraries in Lithuania. The reason why such thing happens can be lack of computerized workplaces, inconvenient working hours or lack of e-services availability (picture 4). Inconvenient workings hours can be explained in that VU library have 2 departments. One of this calls National Open Access Scholarly Communication and Information Center (MKIC) and other call Vilnius University Central Library. They all belong to VU students. MKIC work 24/7 and Vilnius University Central Library work 9 – 21 Monday - Friday and 9 - 16 at Saturday. Each reading room have they own working hours. As there are mentioned before respondents are from study different specialties so they use different departments of VU library. This validate that sometimes students didn’t visit library.

Picture 4. Reasons why students didn't visit library

In order to better investigate the availability of VU library services for Erasmus students was analyzed which difficulties most often arise for students using the library services at VU library. Results show that 77% of respondents have no difficulties with using library services. Although such a large percentage of the respondents have no difficulty using library services, however, some of the respondents did mention some difficulties. There are difficulties with connecting to the library's databases (10%), language barrier communicating with library’s personnel (9%), difficulties with subscription to electronic catalog of the library (book order / extension) difficulties with subscription to electronic catalog of the library (book order / extension) (6%) and difficulties with books borrow / return (3%) (picture 5).

Picture 5. Difficulties using VU library services

It is very important to make sure that every Erasmus student knows about main rules about library work and where reader can find information that he need. Study show that most often students learn about that basic library's procedures, structure and services from colleagues (40%). 33% learn about this from library's website and even 18% learn about it from other resources. Most often they learn about it from meeting for international students with a library assistant at the beginning of the semester. (picture 6) Do not forget that not everyone attends this meeting so there needs to be other sources where students can find all this information.

Picture 6. Learn about the library’s procedures, structure and services

An investigation reveals that the most of the Erasmus students have partly enough information about library's services. If they didn't know something they do not hesitate going/write to library’s personnel for help and advice. This shows that students studying in Lithuania in VU feel comfortable when communicating with library staff.

Conclusion

An analysis shows that Erasmus students studying in Lithuania at VU have the same rights in using VU library resources as native students. However, as the investigation showed there are some problems and difficulties when using library services. Difficulties and problems occurrence can be explained by the fact that every student has different English and other language skills. Another reason why Erasmus students are faced with difficulties in using library services abroad is that every student has a different cultural ‘education’ and experience. This explains that some of the students like socializing and communicating with people and other like to do everything themselves and they don’t need any help, they just not tend to communicate. This indicator illustrates that in every culture exist different cultural dimensions which shows differences in communication process.

Recommendations

The respondents did not sign any proposals or recommendations to improve library services for foreigners. However, to investigate the findings some recommendations arise:

Try to do more computerized workplaces for students or prepare stricter rules when student can use computer and when not. Initially, it can be launched during the session.

To improve the skills of library personnel in dealing with representatives of different nations should organize seminars/lectures on intercultural communication theme, etc.

For new groups of foreign students, library can organize mini-tours with an explanation of how to use library’s services ant introduce the opportunities provided by VU library.

This recommendations can be use not only for VU library improving, it can be also use for other countries libraries who want to be more democracy in providing their own services for different cultures. As say Elliot Shelkrot "Democracy depends on an informed population. And where can people get all the information they need? — At the Library". Enough information for population help to build strong democracies. Strong democracies make the world a safer, more peaceful place for all people.

References

Aušra. A. Mokslinė elektroninė biblioteka kaip žinių visuomenės institutas. From: http://elibrary.lt/resursai/Konferencijos/KTU_PI/KNYGA2005%20PDF/straipsniai/Plenarinis/Ausra.pdf.

Elmborg, J. Library as a space between us: recognizing and valuing third place. (2011). Iowa ResearchOnline. From: http://ir.uiowa.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1008&context=slis_pubs.

Erasmus student mobility: home and destination countrie. (2015) European Commission. From: http://ec.europa.eu/education/library/statistics/ay-12-13/annex-2_en.pdf.

Glosienė, A; Petuchovaitė, R. (2006, 39). Biblioteka kaip "trečioji vieta" Informacijos mokslai. From: http://etalpykla.lituanistikadb.lt/fedora/objects/LT-LDB-0001:J.04~2006~1367153957641/datastreams/DS.002.0.01.ARTIC/content

Kranich, N. (2001). Libraries and democracy: the cornerstones of liberty. American Library Association. From: http://library-science.weebly.com/uploads/4/1/3/2/4132239/libraries__democracy.pdf.

Lietuvos bibliotekininkų etikos kodeksas. (1999). Lithuanian Librarians' Association. From: http://old.lbd.lt/lbd/kodeksas.htm.

Montgomery, S; Miller, J. The third place: the library as collaborative and community space in time of fiscal restraint. (2011). Faculty Publications. Paper 32. From: http://scholarship.rollins.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1093&context=as_facpub.

Nacionalinis atviros prieigos mokslinės komunikacijos ir informacijos centras. Vilniaus universitetas. From: http://www.mkic.mb.vu.lt/.

Vilniaus Universiteto biblioteka. From: http://www.mb.vu.lt/.

Notes

[1] Erasmus student mobility: home and destination countrie. European Commission. Retrieved December 7, 2015 from: http://ec.europa.eu/education/library/statistics/ay-12-13/annex-2_en.pdf.

[2] Kranich, N. (2001). Libraries and democracy: the cornerstones of liberty. American Library Association.

[3] Aušra, A. Mokslinė elektroninė biblioteka kaip žinių visuomenės institutas. http://elibrary.lt/resursai/Konferencijos/KTU_PI/KNYGA2005%20PDF/straipsniai/Plenarinis/Ausra.pdf

[4] Aušra. A. Mokslinė elektroninė biblioteka kaip žinių visuomenės institutas. http://elibrary.lt/resursai/Konferencijos/KTU_PI/KNYGA2005%20PDF/straipsniai/Plenarinis/Ausra.pdf

[5] Glosienė, A; Petuchovaitė, R. (2006,39). Biblioteka kaip „trečioji vieta“ Informacijos mokslai. http://etalpykla.lituanistikadb.lt/fedora/objects/LT-LDB-0001:J.04~2006~1367153957641/datastreams/DS.002.0.01.ARTIC/content

Student’s information needs in democratic society and the role of public libraries

Robert Janus, Darko Lacovic

rjanus@ffos.hr, dlacovic@ffos.hr

University of J. J. Strossmayer, Department of Information Sciences, L. Jaegera 9 Osijek, Croatia

Keywords:Information Needs, Students, Public Libraries, Democracy, Civil Rights

Abstract

From the very beginning of their existence, libraries kept safe some of the most important ideals of our society today, one of which is democracy. Kranich (2001) states that the public libraries are the cornerstone of democracy in our communities because they assist the users in locating a diversity of resources and in developing the information literacy skills necessary to become responsible, informed citizens and to participate in our democracy. She continues claiming that libraries participate in every aspect of our information society and disseminate information so the public can engage in self-governance. Libraries should provide democracy development and ensure access to all kinds of community information regarding knowledge and culture (UNESCO Public Library Manifesto). However, some citizens are often not aware of the benefits if they use their right to inform themselves within the libraries free of charge. Furthermore, not only users don’t use their right to inform themselves properly, but sometimes, according to Lor and Britz (2007), governments in various parts of the world see free access to information as a threat, and take measures to control or limit access to the internet (or other channels of informing). The question they raise is whether a knowledge society can evolve in the absence of information freedom and how do student population perceive this issue.

The goal of this research is to examine information needs of students in democratic society with the emphasis on their perception and use of the public library in satisfying democratic and civil rights. Research questions are: What are information needs of students in relation to their democratic and civil rights? What kind of information sources do students use to inform themselves about democracy and civil rights (newspapers, internet, radio, TV)? How do students perceive and use public libraries for purpose of democracy? The sample of research will be students of information sciences in Croatia since it is assumed that they are already aware of their democratic rights to free information access. In the research authors will use quantitative methodology: printed or online questionnaires that will be distributed to the respondents. Results of the research could show the importance of student participation in a democratic society, while the public libraries will get information on library use for the democratic and civil rights which can be useful in evaluation of their collections and services.

Introduction

Democratic and civil rights are the part of main human rights which are first of all described in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (The United Nations, 1948). According to International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights everyone can enjoy freedom of his civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, while every democratic society needs to be supported by the respect for human rights, freedom of expression or opinion, periodic elections, transparency of public administration, independent and pluralistic media etc. (The United Nations, 1994). Lor and Britz (2007) consider that freedom of information requires development of ICT infrastructure and that knowledge society is not possible without free access to information.

Public libraries have an important role in a democratic society. Democracy development is only possible through the free and unlimited access to thought, information, knowledge, culture, education and active participation in the society (UNESCO Public Library Manifesto). Kranich (2001) indicates that public libraries are democratic institutions in several reasons: they offer access to government information, provide information resources in all its forms, disseminate information for the people from the information society and ensure spaces for the public dialogue in order to gain a freedom of speech. As politically neutral institutions public libraries should offer physical and virtual spaces in which community members can exchange ideas related to democracy and civil rights. Kranich (2001) also emphasizes that librarians educate the users to identify and evaluate information for decision making in the different areas of life such as learning and working. Katic(2015) reveals that public libraries should offer information regarding elections, government, local community and to possess books and journals about politics and democracy. As well as Kranich he also claims that library spaces could serve for democratic discussion through organization of lectures, debates, workshops etc. It is important that public libraries encourage citizens to participate in the development of civil society (Katic, 2015). McCook and Phenix (2006) indicate that citizens can make the successful decisions since the public libraries provide access to information and value knowledge, justice, truth, culture and books offering various lifelong services.

In this paper authors will present and discus results of the small study concerning information needs of students for the democracy and civil rights as well as their attitudes about importance and use of public libraries in a Croatian democratic society.

Methodology

The aim of the study was to examine information needs of students in a democratic society and to reveal their perception and use of the public library regarding democratic and civil rights. The study was based on three research questions:

What are information needs of students in relation to their democratic and civil rights?

What kind of information sources do students use to inform themselves about democracy and civil rights (newspapers, internet, radio, TV)?

How do students perceive and use public libraries for purpose of democracy?

The research was conducted with the help of quantitative methodology. Printed questionnaires were distributed during September 2015 to the students of information sciences at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (University of Osijek) in Croatia. In a survey participated 100 students at the undergraduate and graduate level. The questionnaire consisted of 12 questions divided into three groups: background information about the respondents, questions about student’s comprehension and use of the civil and democratic rights and questions related to the recent parliament elections in Croatia which gave a broader picture of how students engaged themselves in a civil and democratic society. The questionnaire had five closed multiple-choice questions with no possibility of providing additional answers; three multiple-choice questions with the possibility of providing additional answers if none of the given options were satisfactory to the respondents; one of Thurstone and Likert scaling question; and two opened questions.

Research results

The questionnaire was completed by 100 respondents of which more females (78%) than males responded (22%). Regarding education level, predominant were undergraduate respondents (79%), while there was less students on graduate level (21%).

According to the results a vast majority of information science students never (41%) or rarely (40%) searched for the information related to the civil and democratic rights in a past year-time period. Less number of students searched for the information occasionally (17%), while only some students searched for the information often (2%) and no one very often.

As expected most covered area in student’s information needs regarding civil and democratic rights was education (42%). Employment (21%), official information (19%) and expression of political views (17%) were next most frequent topics. Somewhat lesser number of students replied that they needed information for the freedom of speech and freedom of opinion expression (14%), healthcare (11%), and law equality (11%). Information about freedom on property (6%) and freedom of assembly (5%) were the least mentioned topics. The results are presented in Table 1.

Information needs | Percentage
education | 42%
employment | 21%
official information | 19%
expression of political views | 17%
freedom of speech and opinion expression | 14%
healthcare | 11%
law equality | 11%
freedom on property | 6%
freedom of assembly | 5%

Table 1. Information needs for democratic and civil rights

Almost all students who rarely, occasionally or often searched for the information related to the civil and democratic rights in a past year (n=56, 93.3%) stated that they used e-sources, while only few respondents looked for those information in printed sources (n=4, 6.67%). The results presented in Table 2showed that more than a half of the respondents used Internet (57%) for informing themselves about civil and democratic rights, while less than a quarter informed themselves on TV (20%), or consulting other people (15%) and newspapers (11%).Public libraries (6%) and radio (4%) were the least frequent used sources when searching for the information regarding civil and democratic rights. The respondents indicated that the main reasons for using information sources were easy accessibility (52%) and simplicity (40%) followed by habit (30%). The least mentioned reasons were: not knowing where to look for the sources (5%), recommendation of colleagues or friends (3%) and other sources (1%).

Information sources | Percentage
Internet | 57%
TV | 20%
other people | 15%
newspapers | 11%
public libraries | 6%
radio | 4%

Table 2. Information sources about democracy and civil rights

For the next question respondents had to assess the importance of civil and democratic rights information to them on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = not important, 5 = very important), and the results revealed that 18% of respondents considered civil and democratic rights information not at all (1 = 5%) or not so important (2 = 13%), while the majority of the respondents (82%) thought that civil and democratic rights were important (3 = 44%, 4 = 23%, 5 = 15%). In average respondents consider that information on democratic and civil rights are mostly important to them (mean 3.28). In the next question respondents had to assess their agreement with 7 statements related to their participation in a democratic society and the role of the public libraries regarding the civil and democratic rights on the scale of 1 to 5 (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree). As can be seen from the Table 3, respondents mainly agreed with the statement that "Public libraries should provide access to the civil and democratic rights information" (mean 4.13), followed by "Public libraries should organize public lectures and workshops about civil and democratic rights" (mean 3.38), "Public libraries are adequate places for discussion on civil and democratic rights" (mean 3.33), "I’m well informed about my civil and democratic rights" (mean 3.01), "In my local community information about civil and democratic rights are heavy accessible" (mean 2.89), "I consider myself to be a proactive citizen of my community" (mean 2.76) and "Public libraries jeopardize their political neutrality by acquisition of civil and democratic rights information sources" (mean 1.9).

Statements | Mean
Public libraries should provide access to the civil and democratic rights information | 4.13
Public libraries should organize public lectures and workshops about civil and democratic rights | 3.38
Public libraries are adequate places for discussion on civil and democratic rights | 3.33
I’m well informed about my civil and democratic rights | 3.01
In my local community information about civil and democratic rights are heavy accessible | 2.89
I consider myself to be a proactive citizen of my community | 2.76
Public libraries jeopardize their political neutrality by acquisition of civil and democratic rights information sources | 1.9

Table 3. Agreement to the statements on democracy and civil rights

Additionally, respondents were asked to propose the ways in which public libraries should contribute to the democratization of population. More than half of those students who answered this question(63%)indicated that public libraries could affect the democratic development of the society by organizing the lectures, workshops, public classes, presentations(informing and education);by preparing brochures, flyers, literature, projects and programs, by population involvement through discussions, meetings, cooperation, and surveys.

In relation to the participation in recent Croatian Parliament elections, results showed that more than a half of the students voted (53%) and the others elaborated that they didn’t voted for further reasons: lack of time to vote (n=19, 42.22%), uninterested or apolitical and uninformed (n=11, 24.44%), undecided (n=4, 8.88%), and lack of confidence or quality choice (n=3, 6.66%).

Concluding discussion

Public libraries should have an important or even central role when it comes to democratization of the society. Being able to inform them should be a basic right of all society’s participants, especially where society claims to be civil and democratic. Active participation in all aspects of civil and democratic activities should be citizens’ responsibility. Students (and other citizens) can acquire civil and democratic rights information often entirely free of charge in public libraries. However, this research indicated that most of them did not use it, or they did use intima rare occasions. In that sense it would be necessary to raise the awareness of civil and democratic rights and responsibilities, and to point out benefits citizens might gain from doing so. All of the respondents were students of the same University attending the information science curriculum, so the data collected may reflect important variables that influence and cause their distinctive behavior when it comes to practicing their civil and democratic rights in the community. These variables might be more of a personal nature and reveal what is that makes students from the same education-background act differently regarding this issue.

The research revealed that students mostly used electronic sources (93%), primarily Internet (57%). In relation to the information sources most of the respondents answered they chose their source regarding simplicity, habit and easy accessibility. Furthermore, respondents mostly had information needs from the education field (42%), which was expected since they are students. Assuming they were obliged to search for academic information, yet another indication implies that respondents were mostly extrinsically motivated. Although the majority of the respondents never or rarely searched for information regarding civil and democratic rights, they are aware that information about civil and democratic rights are important (mean 3.28).Students who didn't voted on the last parliament elections indicated that they were mostly unmotivated or undecided to give their voice.

Even though respondents didn’t show high interest in civil and democratic information rights when they had to take initiative, they gave quite positive assessments to the statements related to access to the civil and democratic rights information within the public libraries (4.13), as well as their role in organization of public lectures, workshops and discussions (3.38). Next research should go in the direction of examining what specific topics would students like to be covered, and what is that would attract them to those events, since motivation turned out to be a crucial factor in such cases.

Reasonable conclusion given collected data would be to encourage both libraries and respondents to be more active regarding democracy and civil rights. Libraries should indeed organize and promote more activities, while students should take responsibility to their civil and democratic rights.

References

De la Peña McCook, K.,Phenix, K. J. (2006). "Public libraries and human rights". Public Library Quarterly 25, 1-2, 57-73. Retrieved September 27, 2015, from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1300/J118v25n01_05.

Democracy and human rights. Retrieved December 3, 2015, from: http://www.un.org/en/globalissues/democracy/human_rights.shtml.

Katić, Miroslav (2015). "Libraries and democracy: the role of librariesin development of a deliberative democracy". In D. M. Gabriel & J.Leščić, Public Libraries as Third Place: Proceedings. Zagreb: National and university library.

Kranich, N. (2001). "Libraries, the Internet, and Democracy". American Library Association. Lor, P. J.; Britz, J. J. (2007). Is a knowledge society possible without freedom of access to information. Journal of Information Science 33, 4, 387-397.

The United Nations (1994). International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Retrieved December 3, 2015, fromhttp://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/undocs/vs41250e.pdf.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Retrieved December 3, 2015, fromhttp://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/index.html 

UNESCO Public Library Manifesto. Retrieved October 3, 2015, from http://www.unesco.org/webworld/libraries/manifestos/libraman.html.

Redesigning the physical space for access and exchange of knowledge:
Tracking the Traffic at the University of Oslo Library

Glenn Karlsen Bjerkenes and Ida Maria Zaborowski

g.k.bjerkenes@ub.uio.no, idamza@ub.uio.no

Oslo and Akershus University College, Department of Archivistics, Library and Information Science, P.O. Box 4 St. Olavs Plass, NO-0130 Oslo, Norway

University of Oslo Library, Humanities and Social Sciences Library, P.O. Box 1009 Blindern, NO-0315 Oslo, Norway

Keywords: Academic Libraries, Observational Studies, Service Design, Education, Knowledge Sharing

Abstract

The background for this study is the planned redesign of the physical space of the Humanities and Social Sciences Library at the University of Oslo. As a preliminary step, the library conducted a study, tracking the patrons’ use of the physical library. The study was executed by having library staff walks pre-arranged routes through the library, registering how many users were engaged in different activities, and where these activities took place. The objective was to gain a better understanding of the actual use of an academic library. By tracking the local use of the space, resources and tools it may be possible to facilitate a redesign of the physical space so as to increase the potential for knowledge sharing and the promotion of an academic public sphere. TTT (Track the Traffic or Tverrgående Trafikktelling) is a standardized tool for tracking local use of library space and resources, developed by associate professor Tord Høivik at the Oslo and Akershus University College in 2005 (Høivik, 2012). A similar method was used by Given and Leckie in a previous study, tracking the use of several public libraries in Canada (2003). These studies have shown that ethnographically based methods can provide an informative set of quantitative data that adds value to the development of the library space for the benefit of the patrons. Our study showed that patrons occupying the reading desks and workspaces of the library were primarily using electronic devices such as laptops, tablets and mobile phones. Tracking the use of study rooms showed that patrons mostly worked in pairs, followed by groups of three. The reading of books as an activity was often combined with the use of electronic devices, indicating a decrease in the use of the library’s physical collections. In order to accommodate the use of electronic devices in the library space, and thus maximizing the use of electronic resources, the physical space needs to be redesigned with this pattern in mind. Our study showed that the patrons are already using the physical library in a digital way, but the library has not changed in response. Our findings indicate that the library may relocate or remove parts of the physical collections to create areas for new types of collaboration, as well as to accommodate easier access to the electronic resources for users with and without personal computer equipment.

The Humanities and Social Sciences Library

The Humanities and Social Sciences Library in Georg Sverdrup’s House (abbreviated to the HumSam Library in this paper) is the main library of the University of Oslo Library, which counts four main branches in all, divided into 22 separate libraries[1]. The HumSam Library is the largest building with a corresponding physical collection, counting 97 employees. The present library consists of four open levels with dedicated reading spaces on each level along a four-storey glass front, 22 group study rooms, 90 stationary PCs and three silent reading areas. There are also two subterranean levels which include semi-open stacks as well as closed stacks. The HumSam Library was designed as a modern library building and has since its construction served as a preferred study space for students from all departments of the University of Oslo, employees and external users. While the library building is rather new, the daily life of an academic library has changed radically since its construction. The increase in non-physical material such as e-journals, e-books and database subscriptions is laying claim to the lion share of the library’s funds. The university has been using VLEs[2] for many years, and the students’ syllabus is packed with electronically available articles and resources. The need to update the physical space to accommodate both present and future needs is evident, not only to cater to the increasingly digital daily life of our patrons, but also to facilitate access and new types of mediation of a fast-growing digital collection.

Employing TTT as a method in the HumSam Library

The Method

TTT (Track the Traffic) is a standardized tool for tracking local use of library space and resources, developed by associate professor Tord Høivik at the Oslo and Akershus University College in 2005 (Høivik, 2012). TTT was developed as a cost-effective alternative that can be carried out by library staff, as such manual methods often require substantial funding. A similar method, known as “Seating Sweeps” was used in several studies of Canadian public libraries, to provide data for library refurbishment. Even though the method resembles TTT, their findings were not transferable due to the different function an academic library serves.

The HumSam Library keeps track of visit- and circulation numbers. By tracking visits we know how many people visit the library each day, but we do not know how they make use of the library or how long they stay. Nor do we know what parts of the library they use, or which resources they prefer. By keeping track of circulation we can tell which books are in demand, and which are rarely used, to help maintain a relevant collection. As the library keeps several reference collections that are not available for loan, even circulation data must prove inconclusive considering the library as a whole. There are also activities which these quantitative methods cannot encompass, such as group work, leisure time, eating or drinking, or talking on the phone. In comparison to automated quantitative methods, TTT as a manual method of collecting data can yield answers to these questions. This is a non-intrusive method of observation, where the patrons are observed with regular intervals and their activities are recorded on a pre-formatted form. The observer follows a fixed route through the library after a set time schedule, recording the different types of activities taking place as well as the number of activities. The data is then immediately collected, and analyzed at the end of the study. There are a number of such studies that have been conducted over the last decade and this type of method appears to be on the increase in LIS[3] (Høivik, 2015).

Planning the study at the HumSam Library

The purpose of the study was to map how the present locale was being used in order to supply the planning process of library refurbishment with data of user behavior. A project team was given a mandate to plan and execute the study. The open areas of the library were divided into meaningful zones according to size, physical collection and services, in order to reflect the different functions and activities of each zone. Certain areas, such as the reference collection on the first level, were singled out as independent zones[4], to establish usage of these particular areas. Trial walks were conducted to make sure that the zones were sensible and logical according to the use of the space. The routes were traced into the zone maps to ensure that the same route would be followed on every occasion. In accordance with the TTT method, each zone was given a meaningful description, such as square meters and number of reading spaces, PCs, chairs and sofas, etc. to ease the interpretation of data. In the interest of comparison with similar studies, the list of sixteen activities defined by Tord Høivik was maintained as closely as possible. A few adjustments were made, such as the inclusion of a new activity termed as MOB which includes talking on mobile phones. Some modifications to Høivik’s original list was done to include the use of tablets as well as laptop computers. The activities were grouped and listed according to whether they occurred alone or in groups. An order of priority was applied to which activity was to be recorded if there were several simultaneous activities taking place. This was done to ensure consistency of data. For instance, in cases where patrons were observed using several media types, they were registered as using laptops. Likewise, a user typing on a laptop with an open book on the desk was registered as a laptop user, as was a student reading a book with a tablet in use. This system of priority does not occur in Høivik’s manual. Lists of activities with corresponding descriptions were produced to be included in the training of staff. For the actual trackings, a shorter version was included for easy reference.

Table 1: Short version of the TTT activity list.

Activity abbreviation | Short description
ALLAP | Sitting or standing alone with portable computer or tablet switched on.
GRLAP | Sitting or standing in group with portable computers or tablets  switched on.
ALUDIG | Sitting or standing alone, working without electronic equipment (Includes reading and/or writing).
GRDIG | Sitting or standing in group, working without electronic equipment (Includes reading and/or writing).
ALPERS | Individual contact with library staff.
GRPERS | Group contact with library staff.
ALFYS | Browsing alone.
GRFYS | Browsing in group.
ALSI | Sitting alone.
GRSI | Sitting in group.
DIV | Other activities. (Covers use of Xerox machine, scanners, using check-out machines, sleeping, etc.).
ALPC | Using stationary computer or online catalogue alone.
GRPC | Using stationary computers or online catalogue in group
KØ | Waiting in line.
MOB | Talking on mobile phones.
ALGÅ | Standing or walking alone.
GRGÅ | Standing or walking in group.

The TTT method is not intended to be a complete registration of activities, but rather a time sampling of the activities within the library. With the funds and resources available, it was decided that the trackings would take place with a six-day durance over two weeks, from Thursday to Wednesday, excluding Sunday when the library is closed. Three separate rounds were conducted, respectively at the beginning, mid-, and end of the semester, in order to get an accurate sampling of the shifting level of activity in the library. The time intervals selected had to be representative for the library, and the rounds were therefore distributed with two-hour intervals.

Conducting the TTT

In all, 44 tracking were conducted during the course of one week. The staff was given training in how to conduct the tracking. A total of 34 employees were involved. In the course of every tracking, activities were marked on a form, according to type and number of activities taking place. Each individual participant would cross off a list after each round to monitor the completion of each tracking. The completed form would then be immediately collected for registration of data, as well as monitoring for any mistakes. The method of compiling the data for analysis was done by using a spreadsheet in Google Sheets, in accordance to the TTT guidelines (Samstat, 2012). The final report was finished in June 2015, and included findings from the tracking’s conducted in February, March and May (HumSam Library, 2015). Additional training sessions were organised to help minimize mistakes during the course of the study. This proved to be effective, as the number of mistakes were relatively few. The main challenge proved to be the order of priority as to which activity should be recorded. Other mistakes were instances where activities taking place in a group of several people were recorded as one group activity, rather than several group activities. These mistakes were easily recognized at the end of each round, and subsequently corrected before the next.

Findings

During our three studies, we observed a total of 39 127 people in the library. In the February study we made 10 685 observations, in March 11 809, and in May, 16 633, our busiest month due to exams. We saw similarities between each study, indicating the following trends: First of all, of the total amount of patrons observed in our library, 44.7%[5] were observed working alone with a laptop. Meanwhile, 26.7 % were observed working alone with physical media, books or journals. Our observations showed that 10.3 % were studying in groups, either with laptops or with physical media only. Approximately 8.3 % were using the library stationary computers. Adding these numbers up, 90 % of the patrons was observed studying actively. The rest of the observations were made of patrons performing other actions, or perhaps no action at all. In more than half of the observations of the patrons, electronic devices were used, even in areas originally intended for reading books.

In the TTT study, we also compared the usage of regular and silent reading desk areas. Our numbers showed that the regular reading areas had, in average, approximately 10 % more patrons, indicating that our patrons prefer the regular reading desk areas. Our regular reading desk areas are generally quiet, however the use of laptops are permitted. The silent reading rooms are meant to be completely silent, and laptops are not permitted. We consider this an indication that the library is in no further need of silent reading areas.

In addition to the three main studies, we performed a parallel study counting people in the library’s group study rooms. This study was performed between the 14th and the 16th of April 2014, at specific times early in the day. The intention was to track how quickly the group study rooms were taken in use, and how many patrons occupied each room. The library regulations states that the group study rooms are for group use only rather than solitary work; however this is not actively enforced by the staff. During this study, these 22 rooms were observed on 9 occasions.

Table 2: Observations of group study rooms.

Number of patrons observed in a room | Number of observations
No patrons | 5
One patron | 21
Two patrons | 111
Three patrons | 41
Four or more patrons | 10

The low amount of empty rooms observed in this study indicates that the library’s group study rooms are popular, even if they can only be accessed on a first-come, first-served basis. Furthermore, the study shows that the most likely patron compositions in the group study rooms are two or three patrons. The group study rooms are big enough to host six patrons, which mean that they usually are unnecessarily big for our patron’s needs.

Discussion

As shown earlier, most of the patrons using group study rooms seem to want work spaces intended for pairs, where they can converse and discuss their subjects. At the moment, the group study rooms that the library offers are needlessly large and take up a lot of space.

Theoretically, the library could deliver work spaces for twice as many student groups of two or three patrons if the group study room size had been cut down by half. While it is not feasible to replace the current group study rooms, when creating a next generation library, offering areas for collaboration and discussion in pairs, or groups of three, is highly warranted. In addition, over half of the patrons were observed working electronically, while most of the library is intended for physical media. These findings indicate a need for collaboration work spaces intended for electronic use, with Wi-Fi access points, power outlets and perhaps also monitors or projectors. We believe that the patrons will interact even more with electronic material if they are given the proper surroundings and tools to do so, which they are not in the current library. This could also suggest that the patrons could benefit from additional opportunities to share and discuss electronic material, both their own work as well as resources available through the library’s subscriptions. This can be achieved by adjusting our physical space with additional access points to the material that are intended for groups, a process we recently began by installing large monitors in some of our group study rooms.

As the situation stands, there is an excess of available resources, course material and tools online intended for students. In order to make use of them, most of the students will have to bring their own equipment to gain access. While the library offers computers, the amount of machines does in no way match the number of patrons the library receives. Our study showed that over half of the studying patrons were using electronic devices, most of them by bringing their own devices to the library. Unfortunately, TTT fails to show us how many of the remaining patrons wanted to use such devices. While this is not possible to prove by using the TTT method, a lack of access points to the electronic material could create links between students’ academic results and their economic situation. For instance, if a student lacks the necessary funds for personal electronic equipment, they can only make use of the library’s physical materials as the number of stationary computers is limited. A possible solution may be for the library to offer tablets or laptops for in-house use, in order to combat such social inequalities and in this way promote a healthy academic environment. This would also allow for portable access points that may increase usage of the increasingly large pool of electronic resources. Such devices may even be of use in areas dedicated to social interaction, for quick access to periodicals or similar material.

Considering that 90 % of the patrons were observed in active work, the function of the library as a workplace is clear. The data show that the quiet reading spaces are preferred to the silent areas, which may indicate that our patrons prefer the social aspect of working together in quiet collaboration, even if the layout of these areas are designed for solitary work. The findings from the group study room observations, where the patrons worked in groups of two or three, can support this theory. Another aspect of this is the fact that these reading areas are placed along a four-storey glass wall, providing ample natural light. Today, the library lacks open areas for group study. The only option is the reception area, where there are round tables and chairs. These are also frequented by students who work together, talk, eat or drink. At present, this area doubles as a presentation space for book launches, lectures and events. In these cases the tables are removed to make room for monitors, loudspeakers and seats, a solution that is more ad hoc than practical. The generous space on the first level could have a dedicated presentation area that could double as a mediation zone to showcase the library’s extensive digital collection. A reduction of the height of the shelves on this level could also provide more natural light, relocating or removing parts of the rather heavy reference collection could give way to more fixed areas for open group work that allows for social interaction, as well as being equipped for electronic devices.

Conclusion

There are great opportunities to make the most of the space of the HumSam Library, both for new forms of mediation (i.e. digital mediation), as an arena for events, debates, exhibitions and other activities. The social aspect should not be ignored in the plans of refurbishment: while the TTT method can indicate which parts of the library are preferred by our patrons, it cannot tell us why. As the library lacks open areas for collaboration, it is not possible to observe the need for such areas. Furthermore, it is important to keep in mind that TTT only supplies a part of the picture, more specifically the where, when and what, but not the why/why not. Like other observational studies, TTT should be complimented by qualitative studies to fill in the gaps.

Cited references

Høivik, T. (2012, 15. march). TTT: Hjem. Retrieved from https://samstat.wordpress.com/ttt/

Høivik, T. (2015). Practical Statistics : TTT Bibliography. Retrieved from https://sites.google.com/site/practicalstatistics/topics/bibliography

Given, L. M., & Leckie, G. J (2003). “Sweeping” the library: Mapping the social activity Space of the public library. Library and Information Science Research, 25(4), 365-385. Doi: 10.1016/S0740-8188(03)00049-5 Samstat. (2012, 27. february). ST 22/12: TTT: fra observasjon til regneark.

Hentet fra https://samstat.wordpress.com/2012/02/27/st-2212-fra-ttt-observasjon-til-regneark/

HumSam Library. (2015). Tverrgående trafikktellinger (TTT) i HumSam-biblioteket i Georg Sverdrups hus : Endelig rapport fra arbeidsgruppe. Unpublished report. University of Oslo, Oslo.

Notes

[1]The four branches are Nature Sciences, Law, Medicine, and Humanities and Social Sciences.

[2]Virtual Learning Environment.

[3]Library and Information Science.

[4]There are reference collections on each of the four levels, the first level collection being the largest. As the first level is the reception area, the use of this part of the collection is of particular interest in respect of new forms of electronic mediation.

[5] All percentages in our findings are calculated as an average across the three individual TTT studies.

Librarian as publisher

Alexander Kouker

alexander.kouker@dbs.ie

Dublin Business School, The Library, 13/14 Aungier St. Dublin 2

Conor Murphy

conor.murphy@dbs.ie

Dublin Business School, School of Arts, 13/14 Aungier St. Dublin 2

Keywords:Reflective Learning, Critical Thinking, Open Access, Libraries and Publishing, Academic Freedom

Abstract

Studies in Arts and Humanities (SAH at sahjournal.com) is a journal project involving the collaborative efforts of emerging and established scholars, as well as academic librarians. Issue #1 was published in June of 2015.

This journal emerges as the by-product of an increasing frustration with the rigid structure and limited scope of the dominant peer-reviewed academic publication tradition. As active teachers and researchers, we seek to establish a place where excellent student work may be aired, acknowledged and interrogated alongside the work of established academics.

SAH is an interdisciplinary collaboration whose enduring concern is with individual, social, political and cultural practices, in the context of mapping transformations in contemporary society. SAH’s contributors oppose forging disciplinary limits and instead combine these foci in an attempt to establish experimental spaces for critical dialogue that can be utilized by agents to shape and form national and international debate. Modes of delivery in higher education are changing and as they change, so also are there subtle changes in content and outcome. Academic publication should reflect these changes and SAH Journal is well positioned to contribute to the reflection of these changes as an online, open access and flexible platform.

Another spark to the ignition of SAH Journal has been a desire to provide a space to highlight the importance of building and maintaining meaningful collaboration between academic librarians and the process of publishing academic research. Librarians have long been considered important members of faculty but too often have been limited to a service-provider role. Librarians are equipped to do so much more than merely assist academic research. Their role can facilitate scholarly freedom. They can work with academic scholars to transcend disciplinary norms and accepted conventions controlling scholarly communication. SAH Journal actively involves academic librarians in the publishing process in close partnership with academic scholars.

Alexander Kouker and Conor Murphy introduce SAH Journal as an open access academic journal project involving the collaborative publishing efforts of emerging and established scholars as well as academic librarians. Conor explains the benefits of collaborating with research librarians through publishing. Alex asserts that librarians (libraries) are perfectly positioned to enter into direct competition with established commercial journal publishers. He explains the mechanics of electronic publishing from conceptional planning to implementation via, in this instance, Open Journal Systems (OJS).

We shall not cease from exploration

And the end of all our exploring

Will be to arrive where we started

And know the place for the first time.

Little Gidding V, Four Quartets. T.S. Eliot (1943)

Academic inquiry has traditionally found one of its modes of expression through the scholarly communication process afforded by journal publications. This diffusion of thought, manifested through carefully crafted argument, adds to a grand body of historical, socio-cultural, political, philosophical and scientific investigation. After successfully surviving the trial of academic review, each and every contribution represents a a new textual prism within the rich kaleidoscope of previously documented knowledge. Each paper offers up new perspectives, interpretations and conversations from the intellectual boiler house of higher education.

The motivations to engage with the complex and demanding process of critical review are many, and may include academic and career progression, as well as securing research funding. Then there is the personal satisfaction gained from communicating the findings of a research study or positing a carefully argued position. Or the pleasure in declaring something strange that you are familiar with for the purpose of offering a more thorough understanding of its real, rather than assumed, character.

Another motivator to get published is the intrinsic need for collective reflective practice, so integral to successful mediation of academic inquiry. While submitted manuscripts are more often than not of an extremely high standard, an element of editing is necessary to satisfy established academic standards. Reviewers place their professional reputations on the line when offering a critique of a submitted paper. The rewards travel in both directions. Deconstruction of a paper at a granular level stimulates personal academic reflection for author and reviewer alike. The scholarly review process may require the author to re-visit a paper several times as s/he engages with the demands of the reviewing completion process. In fact, the cycle of researching and writing for publication is a progressive activity that reinforces critical reflection in all realms of experience.

Collective reflective practice is a complex process and not without its problems. It raises important questions concerning appropriateness, scope, methods and ethics. At its heart are some deep philosophical issues: What does it mean to learn from experience? Whose experience is of most value when applied collectively during the review process? What is really happening when the reviewer’s critical reflection attempts to affect changes to the author’s research output?

These are difficult questions, whose answers might be alluded to by Stephen D. Brookfield’s assertion that within reflective practice are elements of “constructivist phenomenology, in the understanding that identity and experience are culturally and personally sculpted rather than existing in some kind of objectively discoverable limbo.” The dialectic of academic appraisal attempts to fundamentally inform reflective practice. The conscious decision of engaging with a journal publication such as Studies in Arts and Humanities (SAH) – from preparing a manuscript to engaging with the review process – requires courage and the ability to be the subject of in-depth critique. It also relies on the author’s enthusiasm to faithfully render the review and learn from the experience.

As an open access (OA) project, SAH Journal aims to provide a barrier-free platform in terms of full text access,as well as minimizing copyright and licensing requirements. The journal’s goal is to openly share knowledge across a variety of disciplines for the benefit of researchers, educational institutions and the general interest reader. The impact of OA publications has been well researched and documented in other places. SPARC, the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition define OA as “the free, immediate, online availability of research articles, coupled with the rights to use these articles fully in the digital environment”. OA activist Peter Suber has written extensively on the subject identifying benefits for researchers (visibility, enhanced interdisciplinary skills, accelerated pace of output), for educational institutions (increased democratization, access and competitiveness) and for students (enhanced quality and access to education). The open access nature of SAH Journal brings scholarly dialogue into the public sphere.

This journal emerges as the by-product of an increasing frustration with the rigid structure and limited scope of the dominant peer-reviewed academic publication tradition. As active teachers and researchers, we seek to establish a place where excellent student work may be aired, acknowledged and interrogated alongside the work of established academics. The recent proliferation of national and international undergraduate award schemes highlights a level of achievement emerging from the undergraduate space which had little previous possibility of publication. SAH Journal is an open access project and that spirit of openness extends to a willingness to engage with undergraduate, postgraduate and faculty-level submissions. The editorial board of SAH Journal places no barriers when it comes to the provenance of high quality articles for submission. Our interest is in variety, diversity and inclusion. Current discourse in third level education often includes discussion around the notion of blended learning. Modes of delivery in higher education are changing and as they change, so also are there subtle changes in content and outcome. Academic publication should reflect these changes and SAH Journal is well positioned to contribute to the reflection of these changes as an online, open access and flexible platform.

Another spark to the ignition of SAH Journal has been a desire to provide a space to highlight the importance of building and maintaining meaningful collaboration between academic librarians and the process of publishing academic research. Librarians have long been considered important members of faculty but too often have been limited to a service-provider role. Librarians are equipped to do so much more than merely assist academic research. Their role can facilitate scholarly freedom. They can work with academic scholars to transcend disciplinary norms and accepted conventions controlling scholarly communication. SAH Journal actively involves academic librarians in the publishing process in close partnership with academic scholars.

To point out that the third level education in Ireland is currently going through a period of radical and challenging reshaping is hardly newsworthy. Not only in Ireland but across the western world, many commentators in both the academic and public spheres continue to contribute to a robust and ongoing conversation concerning the nature, function and value of higher education in society. Nowhere is this discussion more important than within the area loosely understood to encompass the Arts and Humanities sector. Those of us engaged in this business of higher education as academics or administrators (increasingly we are required to act in both capacities) need to protect the independence of our own research efforts and to ensure that newer generations of emerging scholars can find their way through the academic fog of war towards a place of appropriate publication.

This first issue of SAH Journal contains articles engaging with a wide variety of disciplines ranging from history and literature to psychology and film. Eoin McManus challenges the established myth of the French Resistance during World War Two by identifying the crucial role played by the French Communist Party (PCF) across three distinct phases of the conflict and by analyzing the relationship between the communist resistance and other resistance groupings. Piotr Sadowski offers a subtle re-reading of King Lear by questioning the motivations behind Edmund’s volte-face in calling off the execution of Lear and Cordelia. He argues that such an interpretation functions to maintain dramatic consistency, as well as to sustain the psychological unity of Edmund as stage villain. Laura Green offers an analysis of Elizabeth Bowen’s depiction of the Anglo-Irish in The Last September. She contrasts Bowen’s acute self-awareness of her own membership of this caste with the inability of the Anglo-Irish to properly identify and react to their declining status during the Irish War of Independence. Steven Carey questions whether anxiety and depression can be considered the same disorder. Through an analysis of evidence from behavioral, neural, and biological sources, a discussion of anxiety and depression literature and the neurobiology of anxiety and stress, he argues for a basic and natural anxiety pathology that when excessive, may result in the symptoms representative of anxiety and depressive disorders. June Butler examines the representation of women and the portrayal of femininity in a number of the films of Federico Fellini. She shows how the films chart the personal growth of female characters through their interaction with others on a journey towards increased levels of personal and social autonomy. Jonathan Victory surveys the early patterns of activity arising from the engagement of film-makers with sustainability initiatives designed to minimize the traditionally heavy environmental impact associated with film production. While identifying the challenges to be overcome in re-engineering long established working practices, he highlights the nascent role of the Eco-manager as a significant advance towards more sustainable and environmentally- friendly film production.

These articles showcase the work of emerging and established scholars in Ireland. We also welcome submissions from any and all areas of the broad constituency of Arts and Humanities on an international level. As we launch SAH Journal, we look forward to publishing creative and artistic pieces in future issues. We envision future issues where poetry, photography and fiction will sit comfortably alongside insightful academic contributions. We hope for SAH Journal to become a global multi-disciplinary place of encounter for students and faculty, for academics and librarians, for those within the walls of the university and for those beyond.

T.S. Eliot’s poem is a lyrical recognition of the inexorable quest for knowledge and the perpetual cycle of unknowing and knowing. When knowledge is encountered initially, it is mysterious. When engaged with repeatedly, it becomes possible to "know the place for the first time”. The collective reflective practice offered by critical academic review presents a place of exploration, a place of re-acquaintance. Multi-level interdisciplinary discourse helps provide the possibility of such a place. Open access publication helps provide the possibility of such a place. Digital publishing helps provide the possibility of such a place.

It is in this spirit that we launch the first issue of our journal – Studies in Arts and Humanities.

References

Brookfield, S. (1995). Becoming a critically reflective teacher. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Eliot, T. (1943). Four quartets. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co.

Legacy.earlham.edu. (2015). Peter Suber, Open Access Overview (definition, introduction). Retrieved 4 December, 2015 from http://legacy.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/overview.htm.

Sparc.arl.org. (2015). Why Open Access? | SPARC. Retrieved 30 July, 2015 from http://www.sparc.arl.org/resources/open-access/why-oa.

Librarian's Code of Ethics - Does It Help?

Andris Krumins, Elina Sniedze, and Linda Voropajeva

krumins.andris@yahoo.com, elina.sniedze@gmail.com, linda.voropajeva@gmail.com

University of Latvia – Latvia

Abstract

Society is talking more and more about the protection of personal data. Personal data is now almost everywhere: banks, educational institutions, State bodies, online shops, etc., at all places where it is necessary to verify your identity. Nowadays their identity must be confirmed even at the library. Also there are people that obtain these data in illegal ways to gain themselves some advantage at the expense of other people. Librarian's code of ethics outlines the moral standards of the library field at the workplace. One paragraph of the code of ethics forbids librarians to reveal the personal information of the reader, this also applies to the reader's usage of the information sources. These data are protected by the data protection act in Latvia and there is one point from the Latvian

Librarians Association code of ethics that librarians should not to use the available sources of information and technical resources for selfish purposes.

Since the transition to the electronic library information systems, user's personal data have become available to a wider circle of staff. Therefore, there is a reason to believe that personal data may be at risk and some persons may use it for selfish purposes. Although librarians code of ethics says not to reveal this information, sometimes there are situations in which such data should be disclosed. There are situations when librarian gets into dilemma.

There are studies proving that the code of ethics is an important conflict resolution. Professor of the University of Latvia Baiba Sporane has done case study presented at 2011 in Liepaja. The aim of the study was to find out the views of librarians on the professional code of ethics. The survey had also questions and answer options that affect the protection of personal data. For example, what moral principles code of ethics should contain - 10% of the 42 respondents noted that the code must draw attention to the confidentiality of personal data.

Research will be done to observe the situation in Latvia with the user's information that comes into the library information system and how librarian is dealing in situations when other people need to disclose such data, how and whether this situation is going. Research will be performed by the students of Library and Information Science Department at the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Latvia.

The research team will lead focus group discussion, which is a qualitative research method.

Potential participants will represent the various library types. To be able to judge the situation in Latvia as whole respondents will represent different regions of Latvia's population.

Aware that Latvia gained independence from the Soviet Union 25 years ago at the focus group discussion participants will represent librarians who worked in the library during the Soviet Union and after its breakup.

The authors of the study sets the hypothesis that the Latvian librarians use a code of ethics and this can solve various conflicts, to ensure libraries provide the personal data protection.

The library as a stronghold of privacy in the digital age :
a three-tier framework

Katharina Leyrer

katharina.leyrer@hu-berlin.de

Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Institut für Bibliotheks- und Informationswissenschaft, Dorotheenstr. 26, Berlin

Keywords: Privacy, Library, Data Security, Information Literacy, Intellectual Freedom

Abstract

In the current environment of mass surveillance and encroachment of digital services on every aspect of our lives, the library must become a stronghold for the protection of privacy. This paper expands on three domains where librarians can take action to reach this goal.

1. Digital services offered by libraries – from online catalogs to library 2.0 platforms – have to embody Best Practices concerning the sensitive handling of users' data and the protection of privacy. When signing contracts with third party suppliers – from database vendors to cloud service and DRM providers – , libraries have to negotiate explicit privacy protection regulations and ensure transparency concerning the compliance with these rules.

2. As an advocate for media and information literacy, the library has to counteract the danger of “massive digital illiteracy“ (Ertzscheid, 2015): librarians have to provide information and support the development of capacities that enable citizens to reflect critically on privacy and make informed choices on their behavior in the web. Furthermore, libraries should provide training in protecting personal data, searching for information anonymously and communicating safely.

3. Thirdly, libraries ought to contribute to the development of privacy-enhancing infrastructures by implementing, promoting and advancing Open Source software and supporting projects like the anonymous web browsing protocol Tor.

To sustain democratic principles in the digital age, freedom of opinion and information must not be jeopardized by either the fear of being surveyed or by the lack of knowledge of the extent and the dangers of this surveillance. Privacy has to be preserved as a valuable asset in the digital environment. Libraries – as proponents of media and information literacy and as institutions granting access to information – have to make a contribution to achieve this goal.

Introduction: What is the problem?

Imagine you want to get a loan from a bank, but they turn you down because you liked the wrong things on Facebook three years ago. Imagine you downloaded an app to assess your daily nutrition and movement. A year later, your health insurance fees increase; the insurance company having estimated your risk factor as higher-than-average because you ate too much chocolate and didn't take enough walks. Imagine you've discussed any political topic – for example gentrification – with a friend via email; as a consequence, every conversation you have is being recorded and analyzed by an intelligence agency. Imagine you've attended a political demonstration against mass surveillance; when you are applying for a job in public service two months later, you don't get it because your digital equivalent of a certificate of conduct isn't immaculate.

What sounds like a dystopian novel by George Orwell might soon become reality. Globally, 4 billion people are using the internet, leaving behind a trail of information with every activity: which websites they visited and for how long, with whom they emailed or chatted, what they downloaded and where they are located (Macrina & Glaser, 2014). Governments and corporations are collecting this personal data, recording our financial transactions, the products we buy and the blogs and books we read online, to name just a few examples (Solove, 2008). As it has become nearly impossible to control who is producing, compiling and evaluating which information, we are experiencing an unprecedented loss of control over our personal data on the internet (Seemann 2014). This entails a massive menace to our individual privacy: it is impossible to hide from the algorithms the nature of our patterns and preferences – whether political, religious, sexual or consumer (Ertzscheid, 2015). At the same time, the atmosphere of surveillance changes our conduct in general, generating the so-called Chilling Effect: scholarly studies have shown that as a consequence of surveillance, people are censoring themselves in an insidious process to avoid conflicts in the future. For example, they restrict their online searches, avoid delicate phone calls or talking about specific topics. A survey conducted by the writers' association PEN in 2013 found that one out of six authors avoids speaking or writing about specific topics because they fear becoming a target of surveillance („Chilling Effect“, 2013). As Macrina and Glaser put it, „when you know that people are recording what you are doing online […] chances are you are not going to say or research what you might otherwise. Self-censorship ensues because surveillance chills speech“ (2014).

What is privacy and why is it important?

In light of technology facilitating the unlimited recording, storage and evaluation of data, what does privacy mean and why should we care about it? According to Waldo and Lin, the term „privacy“ refers to „the types of information available about an individual, whether they are primary or derived from analysis. These types of information include behavioral, financial, medical, biometric, consumer, and biographical. Privacy interests also attach to the gathering, control, protection and use of information about individuals.“ (2007, p.22). Privacy therefore implies the ability to keep personal information and electronic communications confidential as well as freedom from surveillance (Waldo & Lin, 2007) – or, as the CryptoParty handbook puts it, „privacy is the border where we draw the line between how far a society can intrude into our personal lives“ (2013, p.18). Regarding libraries, the American Library Association (ALA) defined privacy as „the right of a person to inquire about a subject of interest without being monitored or investigated by others“ (Noh, 2014, p.301).

Privacy advocates describe privacy as a „fundamental human right“ („CryptoParty handbook“, 2013, p.18) that is essential for the exercise of free speech and free thought („Choose Privacy Week“, 2009). The freedom to receive information anonymously is an essential precondition of gaining knowledge and forming opinions – and thus of participating in a democratic society (Solove, 2008).

Nothing to hide?

A widespread fallacy concerning privacy is the notion: „I have nothing to hide“ or „No one will be interested in the boring stuff I'm doing“. This argumentation couldn't be more wrong: privacy isn't only about keeping secrets. It is about exercising control over our information and limiting the way others use our data (Solove, 2008). Firstly, as we don't control which kind of data about us is recorded, by whom it is compiled, and how it is evaluated, there might be information revealed that we would have never thought of on our own – and that, in the end, we would have rather kept secret (Seemann, 2014). Secondly, the Chilling Effect described above chronicly influences the behavior of people in an environment of surveillance, as they censor their searches for information or expression of particular thoughts – whether they consciously want to „hide“ something or not. Thirdly, although you might not have something to hide just now, you may very well in the future – whether from an obsessed stalker or a government that has completely changed in a way that is totally unforeseeable at the present. Finally, your privacy also affects the privacy of everyone you are in contact with: if a third party reads your emails, this will also violate the privacy of everyone in your address book; a problem that is even more severe concerning social networking sites („CryptoParty handbook“, 2013).

Why libraries?

So, why does privacy concern libraries? To begin with, libraries can't avoid collecting data about their patrons in order to organize the lending process. Thus, they have to make decisions on which data to collect, what to do with it and how to keep it secure (Solove, 2008). But far more than that: in the current environment of the individuals' loss of control over their data and of various stakeholders pursuing specific interests by collecting, analyzing and using it, the library plays – perhaps more than ever – a unique and vital role in the information landscape. Libraries facilitate access to a broad range of information „while embracing the ethical principle that [their] users' personal information is not a commodity to be traded or sold“ (Magi, 2013, p.40). Libraries make sure their patrons can search for information without having to fear examination or judgment by others: as privacy is a necessary condition for intellectual freedom, it is a compelling concern for every library (Maycock, 2013). Today, privacy has also become a vital part of information literacy. For that reason, the mission of libraries includes making information on privacy issues available and educating patrons about responsible internet use (Maycock, 2013; Koyle 2002). In short: it is part of every library's mission to campaign for privacy in order to sustain democratic principles in the digital age.

Where do privacy issues affect the library? What should librarians do about it?

As library systems are managed in machine-readable form today, the data they contain could potentially be misused to violate the privacy of users – for example with the objective of obtaining personal information like phone numbers and addresses or of tracking reading habits. Therefore, librarians have to actively protect their patrons' data. To do so, Koyle suggests several basic rules: firstly, librarians should know exactly which data their systems are collecting, record the minimum information necessary and keep it only as long as they must. Access to the information should be restricted. Furthermore, patrons have to be told what information the library keeps and for which reason. Finally, library contracts with third party vendors must specify that the users' privacy isn't infringed on by the vendor in question (2002).

Privacy Policies and Privacy Officer

To guarantee the protection of patrons' privacy, a written Privacy Policy is a powerful tool that serves several purposes at once: it informs users about how their data is handled and ensures equitable treatment of all users. Privacy Policies also serve as a „behavior guide“ (Noh, 2013, p.302) for librarians and as guidelines in training new staff. When communicating with third party vendors or law enforcement, librarians can use their Privacy Policy as a reference. To make patrons aware that the library states its commitment to the protection of their privacy, the policy should be promoted and made available at as many contact points as possible, for example on the website, as leaflets and on bulletin boards (Koyle, 2002).

To ensure the compliance with the Privacy Policy, a Privacy Officer should be designated, giving a staff member the mission of staying informed about current privacy issues, initiating any revisions of the library's Privacy Policy and managing regular privacy audits. Moreover, the library's Privacy Officer has the task of organizing events, workshops and trainings addressing privacy issues for the staff as well as for the public (Koyle, 2002).

New technologies

Though the protection of their patrons' privacy is not a new issue for libraries, several technological developments have led to new concerns and challenges. The implementation of RFID systems, for example, creates weak points that could provide unauthorized access to users' data (Noh, 2013). Moreover, in the current information ecosystem, libraries increasingly integrate services of third-party suppliers, whether e-book vendors, providers of databases or automated library systems. As mentioned above, this raises sincere concerns regarding patrons' privacy, as the library has little or no control over the providers' handling of the users' data (Waldo & Lin, 2007).

In this context, providers of DRM (digital rights management) software have especially been a source of controversies: as the objective of these technologies is „to ensure that digital content is not copied and distributed without the knowledge and consent of the providers of that content“ (Waldo & Lin, 2007, S.244), they envision tracking every use of the content. Adobe Digital Editions (ADE), a standard for DRM that is used worldwide and by a large number of libraries, created a scandal when it was revealed that Adobe collected and transmitted patron data without encryption, making it easy for corporations, governments and hackers to intercept personal data and information about reading habits (Glaser & Macrina, 2014). Not only this, the amount of data ADE collects far exceeds the data necessary for assuring DRM: besides user ID and e-book metadata, Abobe also recorded IP addresses, dates of purchase, duration of reading sessions and reading progress (Stegner, 2015). This example shows that it is vital for libraries to negotiate clear privacy-protection guidelines when signing contracts with third-party suppliers, including explicit regulations about which data is collected and demanding transparency to ensure these guidelines are adhered to (Waldo & Lin, 2007).

Libraries 2.0

Furthermore, new library services based on cloud computing solutions raise questions concerning privacy. Libraries increasingly add web-based, interactive, user-centered and collaborative features to their traditional collections and services, creating a „Library 2.0“: they give patrons the possibility to evaluate or comment on specific items available at the library, offer personalized recommendation systems and link library services and collections to Web 2.0 platforms like GoodReads, Wikipedia or Facebook. As these cloud services are based upon tracking and aggregating data about patrons' activities, libraries will also have to assent to the collection of their users' personal information to be able to deliver Web 2.0 services. At the same time, it is generally third party suppliers that provide the technology for these services (Zimmer, 2015).

This leads to a problem that Zimmer describes as a „modern-day Faustian bargain“: „these powerful Web 2.0-based tools hold the promise to enhance traditional library services with innovative and personalized features, while at the same time, they pose a potential threat to the library's traditional protection of patron privacy“ (Zimmer, 2015). In order to find a way to handle this paradox, it is crucial to increase scholarly research on privacy concerns raised by Library 2.0 services and on strategies for how to address them (Zimmer, 2013). A broad discussion of these issues and the elaboration of best practices for the implementation of cloud services within libraries would enable adherence to the protection of patron privacy, „while promoting the innovative use of technology to facilitate discovery of knowledge“ (Zimmer, 2015).

Privacy literacy: What should libraries convey to their patrons?

But the obligation of libraries in this context isn't limited to the responsible handling of their patrons' data. On the contrary: as information providers, libraries also have the mission to make sure the members of their communities have access to the information they need to make informed decisions about their privacy (Magi, 2013). In today's omnipresence of the internet and social media, it is a vital part of information literacy to be aware of what happens to your data on the web, where your privacy is at stake and what you can do about it. It's the library's task to convey this privacy literacy to its users.

To begin with, libraries ought to initiate and host discussions about privacy in their communities, encouraging everyone to participate. It's to that purpose that the American Library Association has launched Choose Privacy Week in 2009, developing resources for libraries to campaign for privacy rights and to educate users. Among others, the CPW Resource Guide suggests organizing deliberative forums and film discussion series, as well as games and quizzes on privacy issues. Initiating reading circles allows for engaging patrons in a dialogue about privacy; for example, by discussing dystopian tales from authors like Orwell or Kafka, or recent publications about privacy in the digital age (Weihmouth, 2009; Kranich, 2009).

In workshops, patrons can learn how to actively protect their privacy on the internet; the spectrum ranging from considerations on what to make public on social networking sites and privacy settings to using anti-spysoftware, safe wireless networking practices, alternatives to privacy-infringing service providers and encryption (Weymouth, 2009). To implement these offerings, it is very enriching for libraries to cooperate with local hackerspaces, schools and associations, thereby tapping the expertise of internet specialists as well as reaching out to the broader public.

Of course, myriad libraries already offer trainings on how to use services on the internet, from searching for information and setting up a mail account to using cloud services and social networks. Even though privacy isn't the focus of these trainings, it is crucial that librarians are aware of the privacy issues implicated by the services they discuss and take care to convey these issues to users. For example, it's alarming that Dropbox is still the file-sharing service predominantly conveyed by libraries, despite being known to be privacy-hostile (Pohl, 2014).

The activities described above should be based upon and supported by a special collection on privacy available at the library and online, preferably presented in a prominent position. This collection can contain literature on current privacy issues, fiction related to the topic as well as toolkits of privacy protection software and online tutorials on how to implement them on your own computer.

Beyond the library universe : how can libraries contribute to the development of privacy-enhancing infrastructures?

Finally, libraries ought to support infrastructures and software that improve the protection of privacy. The majority of software used today is proprietary software, characterized by the fact that its source code is not accessible so that you have no means of controlling how it works or knowing whether it's doing anything you might object to („What is Open Source?“, 2015). Open Source Software, on the contrary, permits both viewing and modifying the code and thus ensures „open, decentralized security auditing by the community“ („CryptoParty handbook“, 2013). In addition to several other striking advantages – it's usually free, customizable and vendor-independent –, users of Open Source software can consequently be sure their privacy isn't infringed.

For that reason, libraries should implement, promote and support Open Source software: from installing open source operating systems like Ubuntu as an alternative to Windows or MacOS on library computers to using and conveying open source office, email and web publishing solutions like OpenOffice, Thunderbird or Drupal and implementing open Integrated Library Systems like Koha or Evergreen. With the money saved by not having to pay for proprietary software, libraries can hire staff to modify the software according to their needs, support and advance it – and thus contribute to the further development of Open Source software and its benefits for privacy.

In 2015, US-American libraries have shown that the dedication to privacy-enhancing infrastructures can go even further: as the anonymous web browsing protocol Tor sought partners to render the network faster and more secure, the Kilton Public Library in New Hampshire was the first library to operate a Tor node and to contribute bandwidth to the protocol (Koebler, 2015). The Tor network distributes traffic through a series of virtual tunnels instead of using a direct connection; the more different nodes (also known as „exit relays“) there are, the safer it is to disguise the connection's origin and to protect the network users' privacy (Koebler, 2015a). Supporting the Tor network aligns with the mission of libraries, as the Tor project points out: „libraries are (...) protecting our intellectual freedom, privacy, and unfettered access to information, and Tor Project creates software that allows all people to have these rights on the internet“ („Tor exit nodes in libraries“, 2015).

Conclusion

To conclude, let's return to the dystopian scenario we outlined at the beginning. Having described the huge quantity of data we leave behind as we use the internet, the loss of control over our personal data and the fact that various stakeholders are collecting and analyzing this information, it has become clear that our privacy is in great danger. At the same time, privacy is an essential condition for intellectual freedom, the exercise of free speech and participation in a democratic society. If privacy isn't acknowledged as a fundamental right that has to be defended, the dystopian idea of a society that is dominated by an atmosphere of surveillance and by intransparent aggregation of our personal data deeply influencing our lives will soon become reality.

To avert that outcome, libraries must become a stronghold for the protection of privacy: as outlined in this paper, libraries have to protect their patrons' data by complying with a clear Privacy Policy, designating a Privacy Officer and negotiating distinct privacy protection regulations when signing contracts with third-party suppliers, from database vendors to cloud service and DRM providers. Furthermore, patrons need to be able to acquire privacy literacy at the library: libraries have to provide access to information necessary to make informed decisions about privacy and trainings on how to protect personal data on the internet, search for information anonymously and communicate safely. Finally, the dedication of libraries to privacy ought to include contributing to the development of privacy-enhancing infrastructures, for example by promoting and advancing Open Source software.

To render the construction of this stronghold for privacy possible, it is vital that its architects – i.e. librarians – are aware that privacy is of utmost importance and that they know which tiers to erect and what methods to use. For that reason, scholarly research and discussion on the topic as well as training for library staff have to be increased, and privacy issues have to become an integral part of Library and Information Science (LIS) curricula.

References

Chilling effects: NSA surveillance drives writers to self-censor (2013). Retrieved December 2, 2015, from http://www.pen-international.org/read-pen-american-centres-report-chilling-effects-nsa-surveillance-drives-writers-to-self-censor/

Choose Privacy Week ressource guide (2009). Chicago : American Library Association.

The CryptoParty Handbook (2013). Retrieved Retrieved December 2, 2015, from https://www.cryptoparty.in/learn/handbook

Ertzscheid, O. (2015, May 5): Surveillance – pour une autre politique des algorithmes. La Libération. Retrieved from http://ecrans.liberation.fr/ecrans/2015/05/09/surveillance-pour-une-autre- politique-des-algorithmes_1302062

Glaser, A. & Macrina, A. (2014, October 20). Librarians are dedicated to user privacy. The tech they have to use is not [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2014/10/20/adobe_s_digital_editions_e_book_software_and_library_patron_privacy.html

Koebler, J. (2015, September 17). A dozen libraries want to host Tor nodes to protest government fearmongering [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://motherboard.vice.com/read/a-dozen-libraries-want-to-host-tor-nodes-to-protest-government-fearmongering

Koebler, J. (2015a, July 30). Public libraries will operate Tor exit nodes to make the service more secure [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://motherboard.vice.com/read/public-libraries-will-operate-tor-exit-nodes-to-make-the-service-more-secure

Kranich, N. (2009). Civic Engagement. In Choose Privacy Week ressource guide (pp. 8-10). Chicago : American Library Association.

Macrina, A. & Glaser, A. (2014, September 13). Radical Librarianship: how ninja librarians are ensuring patrons' electronic privacy [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://boingboing.net/2014/09/13/radical-librarianship-how-nin.html#

Magi, T. J. (2013). A fresh look at privacy – why does it matter, who cares, and what should librarians do about it?. Indiana Libraries, 32(1), 37-41.

Maycock, A. (2013). Privacy, Libraries, and Engaging the Public: ALA's Choose Privacy Week Initiative. Indiana Libraries, 32(1), 34-36.

Noh, Y. (2014). Digital library user privacy: changing librarian viewpoints through education. Library Hi Tech, 32(2), 300-317. doi:10.1108/LHT-08-2013-0103

Pohl, E. (2014, July 18). Snowden im Guardian-Interview [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://netzpolitik.org/2014/snowden-interview-mit-dem-guardian-die-regierung-faengt-eure-intimsten-lebensausschnitte-ab/

Seemann, M. (2015). Digital Tailspin. Amsterdam: Institute of Network Cultures.

Solove, D. J. (2008, September). The Future of Privacy. American Libraries. pp. 56-59.

Stegner, C. (2015, September 17). Datenschutz bei Adobe Digital Editions 4 [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://blog.torproject.org/blog/tor-exit-nodes-libraries-pilot-phase-one

Waldo, J., & Lin, H. (2007). Engaging privacy and information technology in a digital age. Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press.

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Zimmer, M. (2013). Assessing the Treatment of Patron Privacy in Library 2.0 Literature. Information Technology & Libraries,32(2), 29-41.

Analysis of cultural events in the library with the aim of promoting literature

Katarina Mandić, Maja Stazić, Drahomira Cupar and Martina Dragija Ivanović

katarinamandic3@gmail.com, majastazic@yahoo.com, dgavrano@unizd.hr, mdragija@unizd.hr

University of Zadar, Department of Information Sciences, FranjeTuđmana 24 i, 23000 Zadar

Keywords: Cultural Event, Library, Public Libraries, Literature

Abstract

In an effort to make library better and more welcoming place, librarians organize exhibits and events in order to attract a diverse group of users and make them visit the library. By creating exhibits, workshops etc. libraries are trying to reach out to their patrons and encourage them to learn more about their communities, photographic technique, favorite writer and number of other stuff that could be their object of interest and draw them to the library. There is also a more extensive body of literature that highlights exhibition areas and gallery spaces as desirable features of a good library, and highlights the library as a place whose importance lies in bringing users into their physical spaces. Some studies have shown that exhibits and related events can change users perceptions of the library (in a positive way mostly) and that some topics, by their nature, will draw in more people. Also, undertaking exhibit and event planning requires a lot of time and involves contacting all individuals, groups and organizations that may be involved in the work and whose cooperation could be of great importance for the library in the future.

Libraries in Croatia have also been trying to draw their patrons into library's physical spaces in various ways, especially in these hard times when modern technology rapidly reduces number of people that read books and visit libraries. Therefore, the aim of this study is to analyze what literary cultural events are organized in public libraries of major Croatian cities, with the aim of promoting literature, and how successful are they in it. The paper will be based on analysis of the annual reports of the The Marko Marulic City Library of Split, Zadar Public Library, City and University Library Osijek (GISKO) and Rijeka Public Library.

Introduction

It is known that public libraries have strong influence on the local community. According to IFLA (2014), public library is the local center of information that is making all kinds of knowledge and information available to its users. It's services are provided on the basis of equality of access for all, regardless of age, race, sex, religion, nationality, language or social status, and specific services and materials must be provided for those users who cannot for some reasons use the regular services and materials (such as linguistic minorities, people with disabilities or people in hospital or in prison). Also, it should be free of charge (IFLA, 2014). Undoubtedly, the increased interest in the book, reading and understanding of the text leads to better success in school, which can result in better employment later in life. Also, good program made to promote reading activities can affect the reading habits of children in way that can improve their reading technique and help them adopt positive attitude towards the book. The role of the public library is particularly important nowadays when society is globally affected by problems caused by the recession (Dragija Ivanović, 2012). This is also corroborated by the annual reports of the American Library Association, which indicate the importance of public libraries in times of crisis (ALA, 2011).

Marcum (1996) wrote that in the increasingly digital world, some people fear that libraries might be at risk of being overlooked or taken for granted, although surveys show that within most communities citizens refer to the local public library as “their library” and place value on the role that library plays in their community. Reich (2002) indicates that “new information technologies have transformed the library in many ways, but rather than fearing new technologies or going to the extreme of completely virtual libraries, libraries can best serve their communities by intelligently combining their strengths in both the physical and technological areas to provide services, create public spaces online and off, and encourage community building and dialogue.”

Libraries as a center of cultural events

In its guidelines for public libraries, IFLA states that the public library has an important role of ensuring cultural and artistic development of the community and developing its cultural identity. This can be achieved in cooperation with the local and regional organizations, in providing space for cultural activity and in organizing various cultural programs. As for the social role of public libraries, they have an important role as a public space and place of assembly. This is particularly important in communities with very few other places where people can meet. Therefore, public libraries are sometimes called “the living room of the community“, and they need to be built and equipped in way to encourage social and cultural activities that support the interests of the community (IFLA, 2011).

Effective communication is the central place of library management, and technological advances in the late 20th and early 21st century has changed the paradigm of librarianship. Libraries as cultural institutions must actively promote encounters of their patrons with literature, art and music and act as a place where the communication takes place between different generations, cultures and interest groups. The role of the library as communications center is reflected in the organization of various exhibitions, concerts, theater performances and many other events in collaboration with other institutions, associations and artists (Meić and Sviben, 2012). Events by size can be categorized as follows:

mega events – the largest event that faces the international market (e.g. The Olympic Games, World Cup, Super Bowl, etc.);

regional events – events that are aimed at increasing demand of tourists for a specific site or region (e.g. Fan Fair, the largest country music festival in the world):

significant events – events that arouse great interest among the community and attract a large number of participants and generate significant income from tourism, and

smaller events – events in which most of the organizers gain experience; the largest number of events falls right into this category (Van der Wagen, 2008).

Events can also be categorized by the type, so we distinguish between sports events that attract athletes from all around the world, cultural events, which usually attract large numbers of visitors (e.g., concerts, local art shows, music festivals etc.) and commercial marketing and promotional events – events on which are spend large budgets and they are designed to launch new products (mainly computers etc.); these events are usually followed up by the media (Van der Wagen, 2008). This paper focuses only on cultural events. “Cultural events usually focus on artistic and community elements expressed through its content. They contain a number of activities, have a limited duration, occur regularly, normally are celebrations, occur in specific places and at certain times, have a significant public and mobilize an important number of stakeholders“(Ferreira, 2015, p. 95). They can improve the quality of life in a city, in a way to provide more creative activities, increase the number of visitors, create new partnerships and educational opportunities, lead to social benefits etc. (Graham, 2001). Cultural events might also function as a complement to cultural facilities – in this case, libraries. According to Auten et al. (2013), when exploring the usage of NLM (National Library of Medicine) exhibits and events to engage library users and reach the community, exhibits and related events really do bring more people into the library. They can even change perceptions of the library, mostly in a positive way. Also, by organizing a number of activities such as literary evenings, lectures and various exhibitions and thematic workshops, library becomes more than just a place where you can borrow books; it becomes a place that promotes and develops cultural and artistic development of the communities in which it operates (Ciceran, 2010). Libraries become as Oldenburg (1999) would say “third place”, welcoming place where people can meet other people, see old friends, discuss important issues and temporarily escape from their work. Toivonen (2002) points out that libraries can also serve as public community spaces and are in fact one of the few remaining truly public spaces and institutions that we have. As Reich (2002, p. 5) also says, “the presence of a library itself in a community reflects social capital because it requires community members to work together for a common good”.

Croatian public libraries as promoters and providers of cultural activities: focus on literature and reading promotion

In order for libraries to be perceived as places with competent and creative professionals, they should offer their users diverse and richer content to keep them interested and to meet their expectations. Considering crisis and recent development in closing libraries all over the world (Leščić, 2015), Croatian libraries are still standing; annually they host more than 400 programs, such as exhibitions, cultural events, workshops, festivals etc., which are usually very well attended.

In addition to quality and professional implementation of library services, organization of the activities that contribute to the cultural life of the community is important, especially when it comes to smaller communities that do not have a lot of cultural institutions (Ciceran, 2010). One example of such community engaging activities is Harry Potter Week organized in Zadar Public Library, Croatia. Harry Potter Week has become annual event organized by students of Department of Information Sciences in Zadar. It is usually held in spring and it lasts for six days. Also, it draws people of all ages and interests to the Zadar Public Library – from children (with their parents) to teenagers and students as well. It is organized annually since 2014 (Mandić and Cupar, 2015). In 2016 The Harry Potter Week is going to be organized in Split, Croatia – the hometown of Emperor Diocletian. The Harry Potter Week is good example of the event that can attract people of different age groups, members and non-members of the library and enables the library to contribute to the cultural life of the community.

Methodology

Libraries in Croatian communities represent everything stated above. This paper shows results of a research of organized cultural events in chosen Croatian public libraries, with the special attention given to events promoting reading and literature. For the purpose of the analysis, libraries of the four biggest cities in Croatia (excluding libraries from Zagreb, capital of Croatia) were selected: The Marko Marulic City Library of Split, Zadar Public Library, City and University Library Osijek (GISKO) and Rijeka Public Library. Information about cultural events was collected from the official annual reports, library websites and via direct emails to libraries. Data from five year period (2010-2014) was analyzed. All data was grouped in different categories in order to enable analysis by types of cultural events held in libraries. Events were categorized and put in Excel spreadsheet in following categories: library, year, name of the event, type of the event, organizer(s), duration, targeted audience (user group(s)). Detailed analysis was made only on events closely connected to reading and literature promotion, e.g. reading workshops, poetry evenings, book promotions, lectures etc.

There were several difficulties during analysis. Not all libraries have their activities well organized and documented. Sometimes the biggest challenge was to decide in which category certain event belongs, because there was only part of information who organized it or what type of event it was. This is the main reason why some of the events needed to be excluded from this analysis in order to keep data clean and accurate.

Results and discussion

This research shows types of cultural and other events organized by the libraries, with the libraries and/or in the libraries. Events connected to reading and literature promotion were extracted and were analyzed separately within the period of five years (2010-2014). Results are shown in the text below.

Table 1. Summarized number of all events organized in the library and events with reading and literature in focus

Name of the library
Year
Number of events
Events promoting reading and literature

The Marko Marulic City Library of Split
2010
157
92

2011
255
42

2012
258
69

2013
327
70

2014
340
92

Sum
1337
365

Zadar Public Library
2010
226
43

2011
267
90

2012
329
77

2013
332
67

2014
398
97

Sum
1552
374

Rijeka Public Library
2010
114
62

2011
123
54

2012
99
58

2013
148
43

2014
142
44

Sum
626
261

City and University Library Osijek (GISKO)
2010
99
18

2011
137
40

2012
139
32

2013
134
36

2014
138
16

Sum
647
142

In summarized results, we can see that two libraries from the sample have about 1500 events held in the library during a five year period (Split 1337, Zadar 1552), and Rijeka had 626 events and Osijek 647 events during a five year period. According to annual reports, it is evident that Rijeka Public Library does not record its events as thoroughly and in as many details as libraries in Split and Zadar. On the other hand, City and University Library Osijek has dual function and does not have as much time and resources to have such a broad range of activities and events as other public libraries. It is also evident that in each library a majority of events are somehow connected to reading and literary promotion. In graph 1 it is more evident the number of literary events organized in libraries in the examined period.

Graph 1. Number of events vs. number of literary events during five year period (2010-2014) in public libraries of Split, Zadar, Rijeka and Osijek

The graph 1 shows percentage of events connected to reading and literature promotions. Most events all together and most literary events had Zadar Public Library (24,09%). The Marko Marulic City Library of Split had 27,29% of all events connected to reading and literature promotion. Rijeka Public Library had 41,69% events connected to literature and reading and City and University Library Osijek had 21,94% of all events that promoted reading and literature. In the following graphs literary events are shown by types and by libraries.

Graph 2. Types of literary events in the City and University Library Osijek (GISKO) organized during five year period (2010-2014)

Graph 2 shows all types of literary events which were held in the City and University Library Osijek (GISKO) during a 5 year period (2010-2014). Graph also shows regularity and how many times they were organized per each year from the sampled period. Most generic term used for the event is “happening”. Reason why all events categorized as happening ended up in this sample is because in the name of the event it was evident that it has something to do with reading or literature promotion. Other events included in this graph are book promotion, workshop and literary meeting. Most often City and University Library Osijek (GISKO) organized book promotions, although we can see a visible decline in the organization of such events in the last two years. It is also important to note how under the term “happening”, one can find events which can also be categorized under the term “book promotion”. Different categorization of events can explain declining in the numbers.

Data presented in graph 3 show literary events organized in Rijeka Public Library in the sampled period of time (2010-2014). Events showed in graph 3include more types of events than identified in previous sample library. It includes book club and literary evenings as well as happening, book promotion, workshop and literary meeting. Most active year was 2010, with 63 organized events. Next on the list is year 2014 with 44 organized events, followed by years 2011 and 2013 with 43 organized events. Most often library organizes book promotions, as it is evident on graph 3, with the highly concentrated columns. Literary evenings were popular in year 2010, but there is evident rapid decline in the following years. Book clubs are also very popular, with steady numbers throughout all examined years.

Graph 3. Types of literary events in the Rijeka Public Library organized during five year period (2010-2014)

Graph 4. Types of literary events in the The Marko Marulic City Library of Split organized during five year period (2010-2014)

In the graph 4 literary events in The Marko Marulic City Library of Split include lectures and debate, apart from book promotion, workshops, book club, literary meeting and literary evening which were also mentioned in previous libraries from the sample – Osijek and Rijeka. The Marko Marulic City Library of Split has a high number of book promotion events; with high numbers ranging on the whole examined scale. Debates are also popular with the users of the library, growing higher in numbers ever since 2011. The year with most organized events is year 2014 with 95 organized events, with years 2013, 2012, 2011 and 2010 following, respectively. Here we can see a positive, gradual trend in developing more and more organized events in each consecutive year.

Last graph 5 shows literary events organized in Zadar Public library, in the same sample period (2010-2014). It was already shown that Zadar Public Library has most events organized during researched years. It is also evident that the same library records its events in most detailed way (it is possible to see who was co-organizing the event, its duration, periodicity etc.). Besides usual events, Zadar Public Library organizes exhibitions dedicated to books and literary heroes.

Graph 5. Types of literary events in the Zadar Public library organized during five year period (2010-2014)

Previous results are somehow incomplete without in-depth analysis about impact of the literary events in the libraries. It stays open to research the outcomes of the libraries and its impact to the local community. Also, during analysis several types of events were excluded (such as play, book club blog, reading aloud one-time-events etc.) because they were carried out (in most cases) just once in five year period.

In conclusion

The public libraries in Croatia chosen for this study overall have a large number of events per year. The most common types of events that are carried out are exhibitions, workshops and lectures, while the literary meetings are conducted to a lesser extent. The library or its patrons sometimes organize event that lasts for couple of days (example are the Harry Potter and Sherlock Holmes Weeks in Zadar Public Library), which abounds with lectures, workshops or games that are related to the event. During the analysis of the events of aforementioned libraries, we came to conclusion that libraries are lacking of literary meetings. Although literary meetings are held in a certain number, it is still not enough to satisfy bookworms or to attract certain number of users. Even if events dedicated to certain book or author “save the day” (such as Tolkien's days etc.), they still manage to satisfy needs of some users, but not all of them. Speaking from personal experience and with what literature has also shown, literary events in any library can succeed in attracting and bringing children, teenagers and other users in the local library, but the question always stays whether it is enough to keep them interested in literature and to help them enhance their reading experience.

References

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Ciceran, I. (2010). Gradskaknjižnica – dnevniboravakgrada. VjesnikbibliotekaraHrvatske 53 (3/4), 172-176.

Dragija Ivanović, M. (2012). Vrednovanjeutjecajanarodnihknjižnicanalokalnuzajednicu. VjesnikbibliotekaraHrvatske 55(1), 83-100.

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A Comparative Analysis of the State of Intellectual Freedom in the United States and Israel as Judged Against IFLA’s FAIFE Committee Standards

Emily Metcalf

metcal.e1@gmail.com

University of Illinois, Graduate School of Library and Information Science

Keywords: Intellectual Freedom, FAIFE, Censorship

Abstract

This paper functions as a comparative analysis of the state of intellectual freedom in the United States of America and Israel. Issues discussed include freedom of expression, access to materials, and legislation that affects library users’ intellectual freedom, both positively and negatively. The United States and Israel will be examined in light of the Principles of Freedom of Expression and Good Librarianship set forth by IFLA’s FAIFE(Committee on Freedom of Access to Information and Freedom of Expression).

Introduction

Since the September 11, 2001, intellectual freedom in the United States has become a hotly debated issue. National security has taken precedence over intellectual freedom, and the result is often an infringement upon the intellectual freedom of citizens in their homes and local libraries. Israel’s laws on censorship in the media and the culturally acceptable acquisition censorship in Israeli libraries makes these two nations high profile countries whose citizens’ intellectual freedoms are at great risk. As IFLA works to ensure intellectual freedom is maintained at a high level worldwide, these two countries continue to struggle with intellectual freedom and privacy issues in the 21st century.

FAIFE World Reports

IFLA’s stance on issues of intellectual freedom is drawn directly from Article 19 of the United Nation’s 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states, “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers” (“The Universal Declaration of Human Rights | United Nations,” n.d.). This statement informs the position of IFLA’s Committee on Freedom of Access to Information and Freedom of Expression (FAIFE), which echoes the sentiment of the Declaration while incorporating the mission of librarianship. FAIFE asserts, “Intellectual freedom is the right of every individual to both hold and express opinions and to seek and receive information. Intellectual freedom is the basis of democracy. Intellectual freedom is the core of the library concept” (“IFLA -- About FAIFE,” n.d.). FAIFE elaborates, stating specific rights and requirements of librarians, ensuring that all forms of censorship are opposed, and users have the right to personal privacy (“IFLA -- About FAIFE,” n.d.). These rights represent FAIFE’s primary objective: to ensure that all libraries are able to protect their users’ intellectual freedom. Embedded in intellectual freedom are issues of privacy, access, and freedom of expression, all of which FAIFE strives to protect on a global level.

Since 2001, FAIFE has collected statistics and reports from libraries across the globe to create a snapshot of the state of intellectual freedom. The result of these efforts is the World Report series. Contributors to the Reports included national library associations, ministries of libraries or education, and individual libraries and citizens. All contributors, except those acknowledged as a national representative, were kept anonymous to ensure honest reports without fear of government retribution. Contributors reported violations of intellectual freedom, relevant legislation, and the nations’ libraries’ codes of ethics(Frederiksen, 2001). In the first World Report in 2001, the primary concerns were censorship in library spaces, freedom of information, access to the Internet, and the digital divide (World Report Intro, 2001). Since 2005, the World Reports have focused on national anti-terrorism laws that affect libraries, freedom of access to information, and library activities that address social responsibilities (World Report Intro, 2005; IFLA/FAIFE, 2010). Though the World Reports cover these issues and more, this paper will focus on those related to intellectual freedom as it affects libraries and library users.

Legislation Protecting Intellectual Freedom

The United States of America has a long and proud tradition of protecting freedom of speech. The First Amendment to the Constitution guarantees that, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances (U.S. Const. amend. I). This amendment is the basis of the nation’s political rhetoric and, as such, is seen as entirely unalienable. This amendment protects all libraries from many cases of censorship, as well as protecting citizens’ freedom of expression.

Though Israel gained independence in 1948, many of its laws are still influenced by the British legal code (IFLA/FAIFE, 2001). Though it has no formal constitution, Israel has a series of Basic Laws that “have the force of constitutional principles” (IFLA/FAIFE, 2001, p. 120). The seventh Basic Law is designated to protect the privacy of Israeli citizens, and this law is expanded upon in the Protection of Privacy Law of 1981. Together these laws guarantee Israeli citizens the right to their privacy without fear of infringement not only in one’s private home, but also in digital environments (“Israel: Protection of Privacy Law, 5741-1981,” n.d.). Though these laws seem comprehensive in securing citizens’ rights to privacy, they do nothing to guarantee citizens the right to freedom of expression or access to information. Indeed, the 2001 World Report states that, “the culture of secrecy is prevalent in all branches and levels of government” (IFLA/FAIFE, 2001, p.120).

A Freedom of Information Law also exists in Israel. This law was passed by the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, in 1998 and enacted one year later. It granted citizens the right to request documents, excepting those relating to the Israeli military, be made publicly available (“Freedom of Information Law,” 2013). Since its enactment, FAIFE reports that court cases have upheld this Freedom of Information Law and even “widened the scope of documents that will be made available to the public,” (IFLA/FAIFE, 2001, p. 121). While the law may protect citizens’ privacy, there are still other rights, including freedom from censorship, that have yet to be guaranteed by Israel’s governing body.

National Library Associations

While both the United States and Israel have national library associations, those in Israel tend to deal more with the development of librarianship as a profession than with issues of intellectual freedom. The American Library Association (ALA), on the other hand is in a secure place professionally, having already been established as a credible profession for many decades. As such, libraries in the U.S. can afford to spend more time dealing with issues of intellectual freedom. ALA has put forth several documents regarding the role of librarians in maintaining library users’ privacy and freedom of expression. The ALA Code of Ethics states, “we uphold the principles of intellectual freedom and resist all efforts to censor library resources,” and uphold the “library user’s right to privacy and confidentiality” (American Library Association, 2006). The Library Bill of Rights is another document authored by ALA that focuses almost exclusively on intellectual freedom in libraries. The Library Bill of Rights states that, “materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation,” and “libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment” (“Library Bill of Rights,” 2006). While ALA has standards that comply with IFLA/FAIFE’s own recommendations, they have little ability in enforcing their positions on libraries. Communities, State governments, and national legislature all affect libraries with or without ALA’s consent.

While Israel has many library organizations, the only association with a code of ethics readily available was the Israeli Center for Libraries, which originated in 1965. The Center is a non-profit organization supported financially by the Ministry of Science, Culture, and Sport and by private donors, and while the other professional organizations take it upon themselves to promote the field of librarianship, the Israeli Center for Libraries does give a nod to intellectual freedom in their Code of Ethics (“Library Associations in Israel,” n.d.; “תוירפסהורפסהזכרמ | ICL |  תוירפסהורפסהזכרמ,” n.d.) . The Center’s Code of Ethics has several provisions ensuring the preservation of intellectual freedom be carried out by librarians. Firstly, the Code states, “ the librarian belongs to a profession that has an obligation to intellectual freedom based on free access to information.” Secondly, “the librarian chooses and makes use of literature without censoring materials….” And finally, “the librarian does not disclose the information which a user has requested or received…” (Israeli Librarians Association, n.d.). These rules function as guidelines for Israeli librarians to uphold the integrity of intellectual freedom in Israeli libraries, however, as discussed below, the high standards are not consistently met.

Legislation Impacting Intellectual Freedom

While these laws and organizations are in place to prevent infringement upon the rights or library users, there are many more in place to counteract the established safeguards. The United States has a long history of infringing on the rights of library users. During the First and Second World Wars, librarians were called upon to act as surveillance agents, reporting on suspicious activity within their libraries. This role was seen as a patriotic duty, rather than a betrayal of user’s privacy, as it would perhaps be viewed today (Lampson, 2005, p. 18).

Without librarians acting as surveillance agents, the U.S. government took the task upon itself. In 1970, the IRS requested circulation records from several libraries with the intent of intimidating anti-Vietnam War and civil rights activists (Lampson, 2005, p. 17). In the 1980’s, the Library Awareness Program, which allowed FBI agents to question library workers about “suspicious looking foreigners” and make “requests for library circulation records,” came to light (Lampson, 2005, p. 17). These actions prompted the ALA to take a stronger stance on issues of intellectual freedom and thus become a leading figure in the fight for intellectual freedoms.

Despite the ALA’s hard line on intellectual freedom, it has no authority to enforce its standards, and the U.S. government continues to pass anti-intellectual freedom legislature. Perhaps the most infamous piece of legislature passed by the U.S. government was the USA PATRIOT Act (Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism). The Act was enacted following the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, and was used as a tool with which to acquire records of American citizens, foreign nationals, and aliens. Section 215 of this act impacted libraries in particular, as it allowed government agents to access patron records while silencing the employee to whom the agent spoke. The USA PATRIOT Act allowed the FBI to seize all “’tangible things,’ including books, records, papers, and documents,” and even Internet usage logs from public computers (Lampson, 2005, p. 15). This section was sunset this year when the Act was replaced by the USA FREEDOM ACT (Uniting and Strengthening America by Fulfilling Rights and Ensuring Effective Discipline Over Monitoring Act). Though the Act serves effectively the same purpose of the USA PATRIOT Act, the new act allows the NSA to only obtain information from phone companies on certain individuals with permission from a federal court (Sensenbrenner, 2015; “Senate approves USA Freedom Act,” 2015). Though a small concession, the change in the USA FREEDOM Act shows that the American public is alarmed by the government surveillance brought to light in the 2013 wikileaks.

Finally, the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) censors Internet access in school and public libraries. CIPA requires school and public libraries that receive a certain amount of federal funding for information technology to install filters on the Internet services they provide. Filtering Internet in schools is not just a federal issue. As of 2007, 21 states in America required public and school libraries to implement restrictions on children’s access to materials that could be considered “harmful to minors” (IFLA/FAIFE, 2007). While this sort of restriction seems to some a common sense form of monitoring, CIPA and the state regulations on minors’ access to the Internet are forms of government censorship, limiting access to information and materials based on age. As such, the ALA and IFLA/FAIFE oppose such acts as CIPA and encourage the U.S. government to reconsider their stance on the issue.

In Israel, the infringements on intellectual freedom seem dominated by censorship challenges. As reported in the World Report, a “great amount of self-imposed censorship occurs in acquisition and selection of new materials” (IFLA/FAIFE, 2001a, p. 122). Librarians see it as a privilege of their career to select the books most appropriate for their community. It is not seen as censorship so much as it is as way of tailoring a library’s collection to the library’s community. In this light, it is difficult to argue that librarians should not censor their acquisitions, but IFLA has made clear their denouncement of any intentional censorship in libraries.

Censorship in Israel is not limited to libraries, of course. The 1945 Defense (Emergency) Regulations awarded the Military Censor the power to shut down a newspaper that published articles that endanger national security. The Censor is also able to punish a newspaper, stop the printing of that newspaper, and confiscate the printing machines that belong to the newspaper. Though the Censor’s powers are “rarely exercised” (IFLA/FAIFE, 2001, p. 122), it is a possibility that while this regulation exists, freedom of speech and freedom of press may be suppressed.

Along a similar vein of media censorship, The Censorship Agreement has been in place to control the Israeli media for decades. This agreement is between the Military Censor and the editors of major newspapers wherein a meeting is called if something related to national security would have detrimental effects if it were to become public knowledge. The Editors agree not to mention the event for the sake of national security, and continue to publish their newspapers as usual (IFLA/FAIFE, 2001a). It is important to keep in mind that the only issues related to intellectual freedom in Israeli libraries that are discussed in this paper are those reported by the Ministry of Culture, Science and Sport for FAIFE’s World Reports, and as such, may in themselves be self-censored so as to provide a more positive view of Israeli libraries.

Conclusion

In all of FAIFE’s World Reports, a conclusion is made to the same effect: all is not well in the world of intellectual freedom. There are increasing discrepancies between IFLA standards for libraries and the libraries’ abilities to comply. By far the greatest problem facing libraries in both the United States and Israel are those coming out of anti-terrorism and national security legislation. The rights of library users are being traded in for security, and it is a difficult point to argue. Can any government or individual say that their right to privacy is more important than their country’s safety? Unfortunately, the issue of privacy versus is security is often presented as just that—a dichotomy where one must choose one side or the other and take great risks in losing what they give up. While libraries around the world work to restore their users’ intellectual freedoms, funding, political rhetoric, and fear come together in such a way that makes the preservation of such freedoms increasingly difficult. Though neither the United States nor Israel meet IFLA’s Principles of Freedom of Expression and Good Librarianship standards for intellectual freedom, there is hope that with the growing profession comes a growth in faith of the ideals of intellectual freedom.

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Byrne, A.&Seidelin, S. (2001). Analysis and Conclusions: Introduction. In Libraries and Intellectual Freedom (Vol. 1, pp. 9–18). IFLA/FAIFE.

Deschamp, C. (2001). Preface. In Libraries and Intellectual Freedom (Vol. 1, pp. 5–6). IFLA/FAIFE.

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Democracy in the works council libraries.
A case study: The Social Welfare Institutions for staff in the electrical and gas industries (CCAS - France)

Giovanna Montano

montano.giovanna@gmail.com

Enssib, Lyon, France

Keywords:Civic Engagement, Cultural Democratization, Mediation, Social Justice, Access to Culture and Information

Abstract

From the meaning of the word "democracy", the study aims to analyze the phenomenon of birth of Social Welfare Institutions of works councils in France marking the second war world post period; that experience brought awareness to a majority of citizens of the importance of democratizing the management of companies and the country by giving employees the rights of intervention. This type of organization is closely linked to the values of social justice and solidarity espoused by the National Resistance Council (CNR). Archival documents and actions show the existence of a singular cultural policy in which “reading” was part of the privileged axe from the beginnings. The struggle for the emancipation of workers includes the right to have culture and good education as necessary to enable the citizen to integrate himself into the society debate and to play an active role of responsibility. At the Central Social Activities Fund of the electrical and gas industries (CCAS) the installation of libraries in holiday centers from 1965 and the interventions of authors in the young and adult centers represent the desire to cut the distance and to place books closer to workers, but also to give them the keys to understanding. The library inside a highly developed network become a mediation space, faithful to the principles of origins but also mirror of the socio-economic developments and changes in practices and cultural needs. The evidence that the book is no longer the only way to transmit knowledge doesn’t prevent to continue to promote the library, now named as mediathèque (multimedia library), like a model to access to the culture for all, a tool essential for the transmission of certain fundamental values. The ambition of cultural extension becomes apparent when, faced with budget cuts, the Central Social Activities Fund continue to expand the access to reading and writing. Were the latest projects “The adventure of reading” (L’aventure de la lecture) or “Talking” (Parle) the desire to succeed the democratization of reading by approving the institutionalization of libraries and thinking this institutionalization as a fundamental pole of the public reading network? Is the commonly invoked failure of the democratization of culture and reading in works councils libraries an exception for this study case? All the resources of the so-called backbone of the cultural policy of the CCAS, the book and the access to reading, seem conceived for a cultural offer that would concern all citizens considered in the diversity of their stories and their cultural, individual and collective practices. However, beside these actions, limits are presents and deserved to be analyze.

The metaphor of democracy

The definition of democracy is capable of different interpretations, as well as to the concrete meaning of popular sovereignty or to its practical application which is clear seeing the diversity of political regimes that claim to be democratic. Thus, even today, there is no agreed definition of what is or should be democracy.

If talking about "democracy" is not easy it’s imperative to take into account its etymology. Thucydides in The Peloponnesian War outlines a democracy that reflects a form of government in which sovereignty comes from the people. The term comes from the Greek word "demokratia" comprised of "demos", the "people" as opposed to the king, and "kratos", the one who is strong, powerful, the king. The fundamental role of the "people" mark the contemporary age, an era that is rooted in the profound economic and social changes initiated by the Industrial Revolution. That time is central because of the historical rupture related to economic and organizational conditions of labor. The "king" of this democracy is well represented by big patronage, which quickly seized the opportunity to present himself as the rescuer of his own aggression. The development of paternalism will hide his responsibility with ostentatious philanthropy, but mainly to channel the protest by passing under its control the sphere of time not worked.

Corporate libraries: a democratic history memory

Confiscate the cultural dimension to workers represents a formidable weapon and the workers aim for culture is very strong. Reading in the company at the time of the worker emancipation lie the unitary notion of "people" in the center. Before the incursion of the concept of "proletarian", the democracy of some philosophers of the nineteenth century (like Hegel and Marx) speaks about a "people" figure of unity, totality, an homogeneous body with its own will and rationality [1]. The evidence of workers' consciousness from the progressive limitation of hours of work and the schooling for child laborers let for the penetration of the book begin in the factories alongside paternalistic moralizing libraries [2] initiated especially by worries and the will of social control of those that appear very early as the new dangerous classes. Still far from the democratization of culture management, this approach used reading as a means of ideological integration into the capitalist system. But the impulse for reflection about the place of reading and libraries in the company comes up with the affirmation of the labor union movement, notably in France with the creation in 1895 of the General Confederation of Labor (CGT)[3] , which later in November 1937 opened a librarian evening school for responsible and librarians working in companies. The library of the « people » claims more and more its place and it’s ready to provide staff the means to access the fields of science, arts and letters. However it was the invention of works councils in 1946 [4], which shows a real alternative by giving the employees elected a full management of social works. Another step towards "democracy" marking a new milestone in the struggle of the working world for emancipation with the recognition that paternalistic practices in social work must stop [5]. The idea that the workman, dominant figure in post-war, could, through reading, achieve the conditions of its emancipation by breaking the bonds of subordination that binds to the mechanisms of the economic, social and cultural exploitation prevails. Access to the book becomes a condition of freedom, libraries grow and it become very quickly the main cultural place within the company. On the threshold of the Fifties these libraries allow to play a decisive role in the construction of a personal and social identity, complementary to that offered by the company as a professional and economic expression.

First of all this "democracy" wishes fight against all forms of cultural inequality: stand out from the old paternalistic management means carefully study the funds; the renewal of libraries will be the occasion of opening to new kinds of books or vectors recognized as essentials for the development of sensitivity and intelligence, but before banned from shelves [6]. The reading committee wanted to prove that a library should be the image of a real democracy where everyone has to find a wide selection of works, a fraternal cultural center where people could meet, where the ideas are exchanged, where it’s possible to learn to know and to discuss about. The library should not be a simple place of passage.

Probably we can talk of a golden age [7] of those libraries that correspond to the Seventies [8]. They were numerous, about 3,000, well established in regions and often making figure of public libraries [9]. In this context of vacuum and delay by the shortcomings of the State, the Eightys represents the age of the studies that show us the interest of the authorities to the reality of cultural practices in enterprises. Corporate libraries fit into a reflection on the development of public reading. The dynamism of these institutions and the public interest still continue over the next decade and in 1992 the five representative trade union confederations in cooperation with the Association of Librarians of France, develop a reference document, the Charter for the development of reading in the company. In this text it is mentioned that the library is the real cultural center of the business, that the book is alongside other technological vectors an indispensable tool for thinking, communicate a critical spirit, and that any decline in reading hinders the ability of citizens to have their word in the affairs of society.

The specificity of the CCAS

The story of works councils shows that their actions in this area were many and varied. To enter to the original analysis of a specific case it was selected CCAS (Social Activies Caisse Centrale), an organization designed as a satisfaction of needs and desires tool of the social agents of the electricity and gas industries in France, "democratic organization with multiple social achievements, managed by staff representatives of Electrical and Gas industries"[10] said in 1969 its former President René Le Guen. Moreover it’s considered "the biggest and richest works council in France". Culturally its action is perfectly inside in the cultural history of unionism works councils. Initially Central Council of Social Work (CCOS) created in 1947 and chaired by Marcel Paul [11], becoming CCAS in 1955. As a evidence of recognition of the importance covered by the library like answer to the thirst for progress and desire to educate, the archives preserve the CCOS libraries and their sections Regulation for readers from 1948.

The importance of his action takes a new turn with the opening of holiday centers to families in 1965 and the introduction of the first libraries in family homes. From that moment CCAS organizes artistic tours inside its holiday centers allowed company employees to meet a great number of artists. The democratization of culture passes through the library and asserts a difference by becoming the true cultural center, but with a place that is no longer exclusive to the book. Libraries build bridges with other cultural elements and holiday centers provide fertile breeding ground: here vacationers, our "demos", have a different relationship to time than during the rest of the year, they are more available. Libraries are updated in holiday centers with the aim to love the book as a leisure activity to conquer, not only as a development and training tool. During the Seventies, the book is declared as an economic but also a social luxury: "How to read when housing conditions don’t allow any isolation, how to read when you have to rest to start again the next day? especially who thinks to read in this society, where from childhood, someone disgusts you reading instead of making you know its joys and richness? "[12].

If workers don’t go to the culture it’s the culture that will come to them, and the company becomes a space of mediation between the works and workers. Shorten the distance is to place books closer to the workers. The mediation space becomes also educational space because it is necessary to give the keys to understanding. Beyond this cultural expansion path there is the deeper purpose to enable the citizen to be integrated in the debates of society and to play an active role to become aware of the challenges and responsibilities. If in 1970 "as a social organization, CCAS claims the extension of the culture at all"[13], it continues to develop this spirit by declaring in 1994 that "developing cultural action is to contribute to give anyone the ways to build and analyze membership of a social and cultural community, in other words the citizenship "[14].

In contrast the surrounding context reveals great difficulties for certain libraries weakened by the changing world. On one side there is a crisis of militancy. On the other many cultural activities of the works council are today no more specific to them. The cultural environment has changed dramatically and this trend doesn’t seem to be stabilizing. Cultural issues facing today differently and the monolith of traditionally conceived public workers readers doesn't exists no more. This general crisis led in 2005 to the decision of the majority of the works council of the french company Renault Le Mans to close the library: a case that carries a strong symbolic meaning. But the concrete image of the CCAS face the flagrant absence of cultural policy from the union confederations and the lack of organization about the annual statistical surveys by the Ministry of Culture [15] is one of an institution that show an audacity in its fragility. Following the controversy over the failure of the democratization of culture and reading often cited and taken for granted [16] CCAS indicate a reaction with a dossier presented in 2010 with the title Culture, this common good. Faced with the political discourse of failure and inefficiency, the works council still uses with confidence the terms "cultural democracy" and "fight" with a similar spirit to the original one. We still find there the idea of ​​giving to beneficiaries in holiday centers and closer to the workplace, the taste of the artistic diversity and love of reading. The official response to the announced crisis is clear: "The culture for all is not a utopia, it’s a societal choice. [17]

New projects: the construction of a cultural universe, self construction

The consciousness of the contemporary problem is not hidden and to halt the slow erosion of readership CCAS offers entertainment around reading and writing, with a pilot holiday center in Kaysersberg (Alsace). An ambitious laboratory The écriStoire, created by an association and made available for 23 territories of the CCAS, seeks to link with individuals, to change the relationship with the book and consider reading not as a constraint but as an entertainment that could awaken the critical and open new horizons. Here the contemporary weakening factor is represented by the passage of "they read too much"[18] to "they don’t read"[19]. The direction of the CCAS refused to submit to the inevitable yet announced by a Ministry of Culture and Communication study in 2009 [20]. The écriStoire promotes writing projects that are set according to the desires, and writing becomes a play, a poem, a book, etc. The project's interest lies in sharing and transmission.

Besides, in 2009, the CCAS decided to support a new project, Parle (speaks). This is an interactive blog which is defined as "a space for free expression," but especially a "political will". Here again political democracy is officially associated with cultural policy. But we also find other elements specific to the golden age of the works council, as the fight. Indeed Parle "is to fight, by the multiplication of questions, the danger of uniformity of thought". Read and write to flourish individually and collectively, to develop their understanding of the world, its problems but also its pleasures. To reading allows self-construction, when the symbolic landmarks disappear and people feel lost, without space or future, without any transmission. In these times of the end of ideology, the experience of reading can transmit answers or be a mean of resistance [21]. This form of intervention is towards changes in society and new cultural issues. The blog, contemporary mediation tool is still alive today, rich in many texts in testimony of a "democratic" success. For the occasion of the launch of the project, the philosopher Jean-Paul Jouary pointed out that "words shape our social life" and "democracy must allow access by all to the words [22]. The world of digital crossed the border: in 2015 Is the electricity soluble in literature? it’s the first digital book published by CCAS and available on the blog Parle. This is important an important step because real development towards the diversification of media, but also as continuation of a variety of events: in fact this little book is the result of a collective effort involving agents in connection with a residence of writers in collaboration with the Ile-de-France region. This approach is also a breaking experience with isolation and a partnership effort with the institutional network. In this regard, youth partnerships based on common interest were built with the association "Lire et faire lire", the Ministry of Culture for the event Read in shorts, the cultural department of the Sorbonne University, fairs Children's Book of Cherbourg, Rouen and Montreuil; for adults Arras Book Fair or the Spring of Poets, Jack Lang and Emmanuel Hoog initiative supported by the Ministry of Culture, through the National Book Center, the Ministry of Education and the Council Regional d'Ile-de-France.

Show the pleasure of reading and the importance of finding common word in those times was the target of a new exhibition, The adventure of reading: the project was carried out in 2014 in collaboration with Vincent Roy (author) and Laetitia Queste (graphic) as a mediation tool that opens up opportunities. CCAS declares its aim to continue its cultural policy towards access to reading to explain the decision to promote this exhibition about the theme "why read" today. The success of the initiative is demonstrated because the exposure is still turned in some French municipal libraries.

2015 is the year in which the CCAS dedicating another study on reading, A livre ouvert (Open book). The editorial, signed by president Michael Fieschi, opens with the phrase "Let us live democracy!" and though focused towards local elections, it aims to build a democratic living space where reading and writing are pillars in providing recreational and cultural activities. With this works we provided updates data: in 2015 we find 467 existing libraries in the network and an endowment that benefits from 26,375 new books (novels, detective, poetry, documentaries, sports, etc.) developed by a committee of reading. In addition to animate the network this year, forty authors (or loud reader) organized holiday camp meetings: 207 interventions, supported locally by cultural workers [23].

Limits in construction: conclusion and future

With a history that take more than 60 years, the works council, conscious of contemporary constraints, is trying to gain its anchoring in the world of work, as strength pole. On 8 July 2015 the main question posed by the CCAS in Avignon and Vaucluse university was: "What role for works councils in the cultural field?". A willingness that desire to invest in a program that is both accessible and challenging relayed by a friendly mediation also in response to another very contemporary question: "Is this reasonable?". The summer of 2015 was still marked by making contact with people in summer holidays centers all equipped with large libraries and shelves full and a very varied selection that are borrowed in abundance... These libraries are a place of passage for each beneficiary because core of activities. People voluntarily participate in meetings remaining attentive to others. The response to the initial reflection consequently is: "So yes, it is very reasonable and even well suited."With the arrival of vacationers, agents show the position of the library and signage plays the same role. In the plan of the center, the building is highlighted and placed in a strategic position. Duty schedules and open hours are clearly displayed and they largely cover the needs of who wants to relax, go to the beach, take an excursion or a walk. From the outset the priority that CCAS gives to libraries holiday centers is obvious, without denying the worker the relationship between various leisures and reading in daily life, essential elements to ensure its mission. However, in urban areas the development of public reading network in recent decades questions the utility of investment in library near the enterprise. The lack of institutional competition with the public reading network is often not formalized with a convention but which may take the form of a repayment of part of the registration fee. If we decide to use as a necessary tool for our critical and analytical thinking the Charter of 1992, we can say that the CCAS is still committed to meet its manifesto by placing "the book in the heart of cultural activities" by "supporting literary creation" and "intensify their actions for the promotion of culture and particularly of reading." However only two of the three pillars identified as necessary for correct dynamism find their place: "the budget", within the limits of financial cuts always presents; "suitable housing" integrated into centers renovation’s projects nationwide, sometimes also able to follow a different spatial logic less identical to traditional structures; but the presence of a permanent "qualified staff" may be the major difference in the current resistance process. Yet in early 2008, the ABF wrote to works councils with media libraries to invite them to create librarians jobs, but the holiday centers of the CCAS are run by volunteers, energetic committed but who are in difficulty in way to establish good service. It’s necessary to recruit librarians as a contrary decision cannot be without effect on the quality of the social movement. The charter underlines the special status of the librarian profession, a functional competence which "covers the establishment, organization, enhancement and exploitation of collections, that is to say all the decisions concerning the regular library’s activity." In addition, the huge librarian network lacks of standardization and organization and often doesn’t correspond to the principles and laws of library. Each institute is managed differently depending on availability and skills of volunteers. The range of entities brings us back to situations where the loan is either self-managed or by teams sometimes unable to correctly complete loan records; the organization and classification are often absent as the catalog of documentary heritage. Faced with a cultural policy that has been able to redefine despite the budget constraints, this reflection is obliged to observe the lack of support and professionalization logic.

In conclusion weakened libraries or even their disappearance, is undoubtedly a sign of crisis product of economic globalization on the same part of the company and its management staff. Moreover, this reflection about the CCAS confirms the legitimacy of the current libraries and media centers now able to break some solitude, especially in relation to the worker, where the book remains as a fundamental factor of personal emancipation in the group. Beyond the flaws that still seem difficult to overcome, thinking the cooperation meets the overall demand for living space creation without questioning the essential identity of the library of the works council. It can no longer afford to occupy a marginal position and offer several approaches according to its democratic principles. The development of gateways is important in the perspective of an effective democratization of cultural practices and since the Sixties we noticed efforts towards this direction. However, the need for professional librarians must become a priority, especially knowing that where professional librarians were hired, progress has been made.

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Saint Pulgent, M. (2009). Culture et Communication : les missions d'un grand ministère, Paris : Gallimard

Tomasello, F . « Dal popolo al proletariato. Marx e la costruzione del soggetto rivoluzionario », in Scuccimarra, L., Ruocco, G. (2012.), Il governo del popolo, volume 2, Rome: Viella.

Notes

[1] The philosopher Miguel Abensour prefers to define this set as a "total demos" in his book Democracy Against the State, a cosmopolitan universalism of liberal economic thinking which also leads to the development of labor and thus the worker.

[2] We find the same concepts in the tradition of popular libraries.

[3] Born from the fusion of the Federations of trades and the National Federation of Labour Exchanges.

[4] Law imposed by the Minister of Labour Ambroise Croizat for more than 49 employees businesses.

[5] Employers seek by all means to hinder the development of cultural activities implemented by playing it the resources. Letennier, J-M (1991). La culture au travail. Essai de politique culturelle à l’entreprise. Paris : Messidor, (p. 93).

[6]"If there is already a library, then do not have too many illusions. If it's the boss who put in place, there are great chances that the library reflects his state of mind. It includes books retrograde or reactionary, hence the need for a serious sort. " Idem.

[7] Expression used by Philippe Pineau (2004) in « Les médiathèques de comités d'entreprise en leurs jardins. » Bulletin des bibliothèques de France, n° 2, from: http://bbf.enssib.fr/consulter/bbf-2004-02-0030-005

[8] Librarians are welcomed into the profession in 1975 by the Association of French librarians when they are organized in a sub-section of corporate libraries within the section of public libraries.

[9] This dimension is present mainly in the north and east of France, where public libraries did not exist.

[10] CCAS Information, n. 4, october 1969

[11] Former Communist minister of Industrial Production from 1945 to 1946. He proposed the law of nationalization of electricity and gas.

[12] CCAS Information, n. 43, june 1977

[13] Idem, n. 7, 1970.

[14] Action Culturelle, 1994, p. 25.

[15] The Charter for the development of reading in company of 1992 opened the field to the emergence of a single cultural policy succeeding one that each union confederation proposed before; but since that document, initiated by the ministry of culture, no national plan came restart movement and counteract the decline of militancy (union and associative) and the evolution increasingly marked of works councils to service and leisure.

[16] The problem is hit by Philippe Pineau saying that the strategies adopted to try the democratization of culture suffered from contradictory process. The absence of a strong policy, of a law for libraries, of works councils support have prevented a real public service and a coherent and rational development of structures on the entire national territory. « Les médiathèques de comités d’entreprise à l’horizon 2010 » Bulletin des bibliothèques de France n° 5, 2008. From http://bbf.enssib.fr/consulter/bbf-2008-05-0008-002.

[17]CCAS infos, n. 312, mai 2010. This response refers us to the keynote speech that speaks of cultural democratization as a simple belief. FLEURY, L., Op. Cit.

[18] Term used in relation to the danger of bad reading denounced by the moral and intellectual authorities of the past century.

[19] For years increasingly alarmist statistics and widely disseminated by the press indicate an increasing proportion of non-reader, but the key is not in the numbers that vary and swell flowing. To such a view about Detrez, C. (1999), Et pourtant, ils lisent…, Paris : Ed. du Seuil. Even the Charter for the development of reading in company touches the problem of illiteracy. Moreover this decline is interpreted as the result of a transformation of reading acts. The French would not read less, but would develop new uses of book and print.

[20] Donnat, O. (2009), Les pratiques culturelles des Français à l’ère numérique, Paris : Ed. La découverte.

[21] Petit, M. (2003), Eloge de la lecture. La construction de soi, Paris : Belin ; Petit, M. (2008), L’art du lire ou comment résister à l’adversité, Paris, Belin

[22] Le journal, mensuel des Activités Sociales de l’énergie, n. 366, juillet-aout 2015

[23] Idem

Legal deposit at the Sultanate of Oman: the Law of Press and Publications and its role in building Omani culture democracy

Dr. Naifa Eid Saleem, Dr. Abdullah Khamis Al Kindi, Khalifah Marhoon Al-Rahbi

naifa@squ.edu.om, kindik@squ.edu.om, rahbi.lawyers@gmail.com

Sultan Qaboos University, Department of Information Studies, College of Arts and Social Sciences, Sultanate Of Oman

Sultan Qaboos University, Department of Mass Communication, College of Arts and Social Sciences, Sultanate Of Oman

Sultanate Of Oman – Muscat, P.O Box: 180 Postal Code: 134

Keywords:Law of Press and Publications, Legal Deposit, Omani Culture Democracy Sultanate of Oman, Printers, Publishers

Abstract

Omani citizen participated in the making of the culture democracy in Oman through the implementation of the legal deposit or the law of Press and Publications. Legal deposit is the law that requires the meant intended, whether they are publishers, printers or authors, to submit certain copies of their work or publications to a repository, usually a library. The current study aims to explore the reality of the Omani law of Press and Publications as well as to discover how the law of Press and Publications defined the term "publications." In addition to the role of this law in building the Omani culture democracy, the study used interpretive research paradigm; applied unstructured interview and content analysis: four printers were interviewed. With regard to the findings the study reached to that definition of the term "publications" according to the law is general and covers different items, and the law of Press and Publications plays essential role in the building of the Omani culture democracy. Also the study found that four of the printers participated in creating the Omani culture through depositing the requested copies, although one of them not happy to do this.

Introduction

Culture and democracy are two faces of the same coin. This is so because democracy depends on the development of culture; culture in this way, as Cincotta (1998) argues, is more than a reference to art, literature, or music, but it also refers to "the behaviors, practices, and norms that define the ability of a people to govern themselves." Cultural democracy is very important for citizens as it protects and promotes cultural diversity, encourages citizens to participate in public cultural life and it helps citizens participate in policy making. Skoric & Park (2014) view culture as characterizing the structure of communication systems; consequently, it has an impact on the flow of information within a society. Therefore, one of the missions that libraries and information centers have to look after is to educate citizens about cultural democracy. One way for libraries and information centers to do this is through implementing the law of legal deposit. Legal deposit is the law that requires the meant intended, whether they are publishers, printers or authors, to submit certain copies of their work or publications to a repository, usually a library. The law usually concerns books and journals; however, nowadays the law includes digital materials. Legal deposit was first enacted in France in 1537 and now exists in many countries. Rabina (2009) believes that legal deposit has long been recognized by librarians as an indispensable link in the chain allowing bibliographic control. Because of the critical role of legal deposit, Lajeunesse and Sẻne (2004) accept that national libraries and document centers were created by legislative acts, including legal deposit and bibliographical control. In addition, effective legal deposit legislation guarantees, to citizens and researchers within the country and abroad, access to a research collection of the country’s published materials (Larivihre, 2000).

In fact, the implementation of the law of legal deposit can play a major role in the building of a culture democracy for countries. This is so because through the collections the law requests, citizens can know about their intellectual heritage, especially if the collection includes political materials, which means that they can get access to all types of information that the law covers.

Study Background

Since His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said took the reins of government in 1970, he had the government of Oman share democracy with his people; the government did so through the interest that it showed in the intellectual heritage of the nation which it worked to protect. This later reflected in the issuance of the "Law of Press and Publications" in 1975, also known as the law of legal deposit. Later, in 1984, the Omani government revised and made critical changes to this law; the law of 1984 superseded the law of 1975. Since 1984, the Omani government has not issued a new law and has not made further changes to this law.

The Omani law of Press and Publications focuses on collecting publications that are central to the intellectual and scientific contributions of the country. This law is a legal mandate includes requesting copies of any new publication that is published in the country. Due to the large role of this law, it can enable the Ministry of Information and the Department of Press and Publications to develop a comprehensive national collection; these collections can be created from a variety of library services such as bibliographies, standardized lists and indexes. However, the success of these services depends on the activation and application of "the law of Press and Publications." The law requests that all printers or publishers submit five copies of their publication to the Department of Press and Publications at the Ministry of Information. If the printers or publishers violate the law and do not submit the requested copies, there is a penalty of either imprisonment for a period of less than one year or a fine not exceeding five hundred RO, or both. There is also the possibility that the printer will be shut down or lose its permit.

Acutely, His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said through issuing the Law of Press and Publications sent a message to Omani citizens that they have the right to know about the Omani intellectual heritage and that they can get access to it as well as they can participate in making decisions about their political and social lives. Issuing the law is one of the democratic rights that Omani citizens have.

The Problem of the Study

The researchers believe that Omani citizens participate in making and creating the Omani culture democracy through different ways; one example is the participation in Al-Shura voting, where Omani citizens have the right to nominate their candidates. In addition, the researchers think the implementation of the law of Press and Publications is another method for Omani citizens to participate in decision making at the political, social and intellectual Omani lives. However, during a conversation with some staff members from the Department of Press and Publications, Ministry of Information, the researchers concluded that despite the importance of "the law of Press and Publications" and its role in protecting the cultural heritage of the nation and protecting authors’ copyrights, the educated people, the main intended or the main players in the Sultanate of Oman, are unaware of this important law. That is, what makes the situation harder is that the educated people and the citizens do not know about this law and it is importance in their culture democracy life.

Aims and Questions of the Study

In light of the above, and to shed a light of the role of law of Press and Publication at the Omani culture democracy, this study aims to:

Explore the reality of the Omani law of Press and Publications.

Discover how the law of Press and Publications defined the term "publications."

Discover the attitudes of the meant intended toward the law of Press and Publications.

Explore the important of this law at building the Omani culture democracy.

Therefore, the questions that emerged from these aims are:

What is the reality of the Omani law of Press and Publications?

How does the law of Press and Publications define the term "publications"?

What are the beliefs of the meant intended about the "law of Press and Publications"?

What are the attitudes of the meant intended toward the "law of Press and Publications"?

From view point of the Department of Press and Publications, Ministry of Information, what is the role of law of Press and Publications in the building of the Omani culture democracy.

Value of the Study

This study is important because it is the first study about the Omani law of Press and Publications.

This study is valuable because it will explain the exact meaning of the term "publications."

This study is valuable because it will identify the key players in the application of the law of Press and Publications.

This study is important because it will inform the Omani citizen about the role of law of Press and Publications in building the building the Omani culture democracy.

Literature Review

There are many studies that discuss the legal deposit (Jasion, 1991; Muir, 2001; Borbinha et al., 2000; Stephens & Gibby, 2011); however, no study connects legal deposit with culture democracy. The previous studies agree that the most essential mission of national libraries, and the one that more than any other makes them what they are, is that they are responsible for acquiring, preserving and making accessible all the country’s publications. These studies also agreed that there are different levels of the legal deposit law; for example, in some countries, legal deposit is passed on a national level. In others, it exists on both a national and a local level. For example, Canada has national and regional deposit laws (Bibliothèque national du Québec, 2000; National Library of Canada, 2000). Germany has national and federal laws; Switzerland has no national deposit law, but the cantons have their own laws; in the Netherlands there is no legal deposit system – all deposits of print and non-print materials are carried out on a voluntary contractual basis (Jasion, 1991; Hoare, 1997). This geographic basis for legal deposit is problematic in a networked environment because networks transcend national borders.

With regard to the reality and implementation of the legal deposit, the studies reached the conclusion that the terms "legal deposit" and "publication" are not clear. For instance, Penzhorn et al. (2008), in their study about implementing and managing legal deposit in South Africa, found that the publishers and libraries faced a problem with the understanding and wording of the legal deposit act, this was the question of what constitutes a "publication" with specific reference to the legal deposit of ephemera and similar types of material.

The IFLANET (2009) believes that in a print environment it has been relatively easy to define what should be considered a "publication" for legal deposit purposes; when including material such as compilations, the definition becomes a bit more complex in a digital environment. A publication is generally defined as a document consisting of sequential text and/or other data, such as images, sound, etc., that is structured or organized and edited as an independent unit. It exists on a physical place that is made available to the public in multiple copies and can be acquired by anyone. Within a digital environment, a publication is a document that is produced, distributed and stored in electronic form. Available either in a tangible format, such as a diskette or a CD-ROM, or in an online format, such as databases or Internet documents, a combination of information content and software provides search capabilities not available within a print environment. Chisita (2010) observed that the legal deposit of online resources presents serious challenges regarding copyrights, authentication, preservation, and the legal and technical expertise needed to ensure the ultimate success of projects. Oltemans (2003) notes that handling and maintaining electronic resources requires new skills and different infrastructures than those of printed publications, and currently there are no best practices pertaining to the legal deposit of electronic resources.

With regard to the attitudes of the meant intended (authors, publishers, printers, etc.) and other producers of publications toward legal deposit, Penzhorn et al. (2008) found that, although nearly all the publishers interviewed for their study regularly deposit their publications, only 30% of them feel positive about the principle of preservation and very few could see any benefits from the system of legal deposit for them as publishers. Also, they concluded that there is a need for creating awareness of the value of the legal deposit system for publishers and the general public. This agreed with Fenerci (2008), who found that messages about the importance of legal deposit in Turkey could not be carried to printers, publishers and public libraries as important stakeholders in implementation. With regard to communication between the key players and the legal deposit libraries, Penzhorn et al. (2008) found that there is a lack of communication between libraries and publishers, between legal deposit libraries, and between libraries and legal deposit committees.

Methodology

Because this research aims to understand the reality of legal deposit in the Sultanate of Oman and the role of law in building the Omani culture democratic, the most suitable paradigm is the interpretive research paradigm; therefore, this is a qualitative study that is descriptive in nature.

Methods of the study

To apply a more flexible method and to achieve the study aims, two methods were applied:

Unstructured interview: The researchers had an informal interview with staff members from the Department of Press and Publications to access their experiences and inner perceptions of the reality of the legal deposit law. The meant intended in this study included four printers who also act as publishers.

Interviews were conducted face-to-face. The researchers met with each of the meant intended four times. However, she had permission to contact the four meant intended by telephone and to text them via WhatsApp any time.

Content analysis (CA): The second method applied in this study was content analysis. Using this tool the researchers analyzed the law of Press and Publications to discover how the law defined the term "publication." The researchers also visited the website of the Ministry of Information and analyzed the information related to the publications.

Study Population and Study Sample:

The study involved two kinds of samples: a formal sample, which was the staff from the Department of Press and Publications, and an informal sample, made up of four printers. To gain access to the printers, the Department of Press and Publications provided the researcher with a list of the printers in the Sultanate of Oman. The total number of printers from that list was 120, and from this number the researchers chose 30% of the total; therefore the sample was four printers to represent the attitudes and beliefs of the meant intended concerning the law of Press and Publications.

Attachment (1) table 1, below, shows the names of the printers and their locations. For ethical reasons the names of the printers were changed to avoid any harm that they may face. The study sample was randomly selected. Attachment (1) table 1 shows that the sample represents the geographical distribution of the printers in the Sultanate of Oman. Modern Muscat represents the Muscat governorate while Creative represents the south province, Public the eastern province, and Blue Vision the Al Burymi governorate. Modern Muscat was the first printer from the sample to get approval from the Department of Press and Publications to practice publishing (in 1999), while Public was the last to get approval (in 2013).

Study analysis

See attachment (2) table 2 (below): the role of law of Press and Publications at building the Omani culture democracy.

Discussion

This study aimed to explore the role of the law of Press and Publications at building the Omani culture democracy. To explore this, the study has to explore the reality of the legal deposit in Oman. To explore this, the study starts by identifying the meaning of the term "publications", according to the Omani Law of Press and Publications. Attachment (2) table 2: the role of law of Press and Publications at building the Omani culture democracy.

Attachment (2) table 2 showed that the definition of the term "publications" according to the law is general, the researchers think perhaps the Omani lawmakers meant for the generality of the law to cover all the materials that exist as well as the new kinds that will appear in the future. This agreed with Matovu & Musoke (2012), who found that the term "publication" in legal deposit is used in the widest sense possible to include traditional printed text materials as well as non-printed materials that include maps and music, and a wide range of non-book materials or audiovisual materials, which include sound recordings, videotapes, learning kits, jigsaw puzzles, cassettes, globes, and machine-readable files. Also this result of the general definition of the term "publications" in the Omani law of Press and Publications agrees with Chisita (2010), who found that South Africa has had legal deposit legislation since 1842 that was revised in 1997 to extend the legal deposit to audiovisual and broadcast electronic media; this was achieved through avoiding the definition and enumeration of various media through the use of generic terms like "document" and "media."

The researchers think the beliefs and attitudes of the meant intended towards the law is an application of their participation on the Omani culture democracy, this achieved through their application to take the responsibility as a citizen and as they inform by the law. To explore the meant intendent take the responsibility toward the application of the law, the printers’ views of legal deposit have been studied. The researchers believe there is a relationship between beliefs and attitudes, which is why the study sought to reveal the printers’ views and beliefs. Table 2 and the interviews showed that there were two groups of printers. The first group believes in the law of Press and Publications, and the views of this group were positive, especially those who already deal with the law in running their businesses. The second group do not believe in the law of Press and Publications; this was the newer printer who has not yet started their real businesses (Public). The newer printers have not realized the aim of this law and its importance in creating the Omani national bibliography. The new printer believes that this law has to be voluntary. It will deposit the requested copies only if they want. The researchers think public printer call for the law to be voluntary because it thinks it has to do all the work from receiving the script from the authors to depositing it at the Department of Press and Publications. However, Bell (2000) and Lariviere (2000) disagreed with the voluntary route for the law; they believe if the country decides to go with the voluntary route it will have to put penalties on the printers to ensure enforcement of the law. In addition, Chisita (2010) comments that it is quite a challenge to rely on goodwill to ensure the comprehensiveness of deposit collections, which should call for sufficient mechanisms to facilitate enforcement. The researchers think if the Omani law of Press and Publications were voluntary it is not certain that the printers will follow the rules, especially the new printers who think this law does not play a role in creating the national bibliography.

With regard to the printers attitude towards the law of Press and Publications the interviews with the four printers showed that their beliefs matches with their attitudes toward the law of Press and Publications. Where Modern Muscat that started the business in 1999 and the Creative printer who got the approval to start the printing job in 2007 showed good attitudes, and their beliefs were positive. The explanation of their attitude was that they understood their role, and in practice who has to submit the five copies. The newer printer (Public) was approved by the Department of Press and Publications to start the job, but due to financial and administration circumstances did not yet practiced the law. The researchers think the Department of Press and Publications has to create awareness about the legal deposit and the regulation of this deposit and the actual practice of this law; this agrees with Nwagwu et al. (2011), who found that the authors and publishers in Nigeria who have awareness about the legal deposit were the most compliant. If the people understand their role they will not panic or be unhappy about the application of the law of Press and Publications. The Ministry of Information has to communicate with this people, and the researcher does not want the printers to feel there is miscommunication between them and the ministry, and it does not want them to think they have to obey and deposit the five copies, they have to understand why they have to deposit and what it means for the country. The researcher would like them to believe in the law; this agrees with Gordon (2005), who thinks that any library, including a legal deposit library/institution, that does not identify the importance of freely flowing communication will result in failure in what it is has set out to achieve. Penzhorn (2007) says that good communication between all the main parties is therefore fundamental if legal deposit is to be successfully implemented.

In addition, the interview with the staff member from the Department of Press and Publications showed that, in terms of printers’ attitudes, most of the printers obeyed the law and submitted the requested copies to the department, whether they submitted the copies by themselves or the copies were submitted by the authors. The researchers believe that the printers obeyed the law because there is awareness about the important of the law and because they would like to share in the building of the Omani culture democracy.

As we explained previously that culture is not just about art, music and literature it is more about the behaviors, practices, and norms that define the ability of a people to govern themselves. Culture democracy is very important for citizen as it is protecting and promoting culture diversity because of this, table 2 and the above result showed that the law of Press and Publication play very important role at building the Omani culture democracy this because first of all, although it is a compulsory law but the Omani meant intended behave and take the responsibility of obeying the law and this show a high awareness and understating of the important of the law. Second the researches think the meant intendent following the law of Press and Publication because Islam asks us as a Muslim to obedience of the ruler. Although the law is compulsory and the Islam guaranty the right for each Muslim to say no however, the Omani intendent believe that law is issued for their benefit and for the country benefits. Through the law of Press and Publication the Oman citizen can learn about their culture and their heritage and their intellectual. The Department of Press and Publications as responsible for creating awareness about the law has to education the Omani citizen about the importance of the law so the citizen can participate more in creating the Omani culture democracy.

Conclusion

The aim of this study was to explore the role of law of Press and Publication at the Omani culture democracy, to explore this the reality of the law of Press and Publications examined . the study showed the implementation of the law through the meant intended obeyed is kind of building Omani culture democracy.

Acknowledgments

The authors cannot express enough thanks to the Ministry of Information specially the people at the Department of Press and Publications for their continued support and encouragement.

Attachment (1)

N | Name of the printers | Place | Date of approval
1 | Modern Muscat | Muscat | 1999
2 | Creative | Salalah | 2007
3 | Blue Vision | Jalan Bani Bo Hussan | 2012
4 | Public | Al Burymi | 2013

Table 1. Printers' samples.

Attachment (2)

Definition of the term "publications"
Beliefs and attitudes of the meant intended
The role of law at building the Omani culture democracy

> all writings, drawings, photographs and the like that were copied by any means and that have been made accessible, except personal publications or any other publication related to commercial businesses whose contents do not breach the provisions of this or any other law

Beliefs:
> the law is important in the compilation of the resources that will help in the creation of the national bibliography." (Modern Muscat)
> the law of Press and Publications aims to protect the authors’ rights." (Creative)
> beliefs about the advantages of the law of Press and Publications. (Blue Vision)
> this law will not play a role in the country’s development, and it has not to be compulsory". (Public)
Attitudes:
> most of the printers obeyed the law and submitted the requested copies to the department.

> every mean intended take the responsibility seriousness to submit the requested numbers of the copies.

> The Omani citizens know about their heritage, history.
> The Omani citizens can access to the publications that collect through the law.
> They can benefit from these publications and learn and participate in change their lives to better.
> They can know how to behave as a right citizen.

Table 2.  The role of law of Press and Publications at building the Omani culture democracy.

References

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Libraries on the Semantic Web:
Finding new professional ways and implement them to the benefits of citizens

Márton Németh

nemethm@gmail.com

PhD-student, Faculty of Informatics, University of Debrecen, Hungary. Content manager at Monguz Ltd.

Keywords: Semantic Web, Library, Data Exchange Formats, Internet Development, Social Aspects

Abstract

Background: The appearance of semantic ontologies, new type of namespaces based on RDF/XML metadata description and the several types of application that based on it (in connection with the Linked Open Data conception) are appearing as a gateway for libraries to the semantic web universe. It also means the introduction of some new ways in information search and retrieval, and digital document management. The harmonization of the traditional data exchange standards with the new semantic web-compatible environment seems to be an essential task.

Focus: I would like to describe some interesting experiments that appear in many European countries. Firstly, I will refer shortly to the first steps into the implementation of the BIBFRAME standard conception (developed by the Library of Congress in the US). Secondly, the Swedish National Library started to convert its national catalog to Linked Open Data and semantic web compatible structure. The Oslo Public Library has also built up a service model based on linked open catalog data. The National Széchényi Library in Hungary also made projects in this field. Thirdly, the Hungarian Museum of Fine Arts is a main partner of the ALIADA project that offers simple tools for cultural heritage institutions to convert and share their data to semantic web and linked open data compatible format. I would like to introduce the initial idea of a Hungarian research and development project plan (the contributors currently applying for EU-funds) that includes the combination of a semantic data editor and converter tool, an advanced OPAC with semantic based elements and a data visualization tool that can describe the semantic graph in a 3D development.

I would like to realize the main ways and challenges to introduce and implement new semantic paradigms through data exchange formats and other tools, and in connection with it, showing some ways we can re-establish the traditional structures. Transition from MARC to the new semantic-web based structures also means a paradigmatic change of professional mind.

Institutional and Social Context: The appearance of new standard environments also opens the way of closer collaboration within the cultural heritage sector among libraries, museums, archives. A key challenge is that data must be set beyond their traditional institutional environment to a global semantic cloud. The new set of practices can be an essential part of the daily work flow in any kind of cultural heritage institutions. The different kind of institutional traditions, the status of openness, the copyright challenges make difficult to answer to the current challenges. The professional debates on the semantic web are mainly focusing on the technical issues highlighting the machine-to-machine communication; I would like to refer also to some challenging social points of the current issues of the internet development. The power of the internet monopolies, in the light of the Big Data issues can make a real threat to traditional state administration monopolies in a longer term. The libraries through semantic services and their engagement with Linked Open Data can be major actors to ensure the freedom of information access and ensure the availability of advanced non-profit information services to all segments of the society. In this way, we can focus on a social socio-technological challenge with multiple aspects. We should talk about the current results in the semantic web related library field, describe its social context and build-up some possible future scenarios as well.

Introduction

The appearance of semantic web related to libraries museums and archives can lead to a paradigm-shift in the fields of information search and retrieval and digital document management The presence of semantic ontologies, new type of namespaces based on RDF/XML metadata description and the several types of application that based on it (in connection with the Linked Open Data conception) are appearing as a gateway for libraries to the semantic web universe. The harmonization of the traditional data exchange standards with the new semantic web-compatible environment seems to be an essential task.

Following the replacement of AACR2 standard by RDA, BIBFRAME is widely viewed as the replacement for MARC as a data exchange standard framework. Much like MARC, the Library of Congress initiated it. BIBFRAME is an abbreviation - not an acronym despite the capitalization - for the BIBliographic FRAMEwork Initiative.(Meehan, 2014). The new bibliographic framework project is focusing on the Web environment, Linked Data principles and mechanisms, and the Resource Description Framework (RDF) as a basic data model.(“A Bibliographic Framework for the Digital Age,” 2011). The implementation of BIBFRAME to library environment has just started, the first results expected to appear soon. In this paper, I would like to present later some basic results that have become available already in libraries in Open Linked Data field.

Linked data is not a properly defined technical standard but an approach and set of technologies that aim to bring the benefits of the web to data, not just to documents. Linked data gives us a web of data rather than a web of documents, and it is RDF that gives linked data its basic shape (Meehan, 2014). RDF is a standard model for data interchange on the Web. RDF has features that facilitate data merging even if the underlying schemas differ, and it specifically supports the evolution of schemas over time without requiring all the data consumers to be changed. RDF extends the linking structure of the Web to use URIs to name the relationship between things as well as the two ends of the link (it is referred to as a “triple”). Using this simple model, it allows structured and semi-structured data to be mixed, exposed, and shared across different applications. (“Resource Description Framework (RDF),” 2014).

Linked data and libraries

In the following, I will make a short overview about some projects that focusing on the usage of Linked Data in library cataloging.

In the new public library in Oslo that is currently under construction the presentation of the physical collection will merge with digital content and user generated content. They want to find new ways of describing both physical and digital content, and seeking for new opportunities of working with cataloging in the library. To get there, the library has decided to drop their integrated library system and to drop MARC as cataloging format. Instead of it they use RDF linked data as the primary cataloging format, starting already in 2015.(Rekkavik, 2014). The staff at Oslo Public Library has worked with catalog data as linked data since 2010. The first experiments were focusing on FRBR, in a way to identify works and expressions represented in the library catalog and using the FRBR model to link the manifestations in the library collection to those works and expressions. Later the library developed the tool MARC2RDF for harvesting catalog records from the library catalog and converting them to RDF linked data. They are running scripts for adding a FRBR-like structure to the catalog and enriching bibliographic catalog data with information harvested from external online sources. Since 2011, the library has maintained a full linked data version of the catalog, data.deichman.no, where RDF data have been exposed and made available for querying. This linked data based catalog has been vital for the creation of two new digital end-user services, developed from 2012 to 2013: The first service collects book reviews from Norwegian libraries in one database, describe them with metadata and link them to works and manifestations in the linked data catalog. In this way the users can look up reviews by using metadata that describe books (e.g. “10 latest reviews of fantasy books for kids” or “10 latest reviews of books about sports”). The second service, the “Active shelf” is a physical device. The patrons can use it in order to look up information about books collected from multiple online sources. The service includes features like “Similar books” and “More books by the same author”. The users can browse in a touchscreen interface to discover new books they might be interested in. Both these services are fueled by library metadata in the linked data format, and none of them would have been possible to make by the use of ordinary MARC records (Rekkavik, 2014). One of their strongest incentives for switching formats and changing cataloging practice is that they can do it! As a public library, their main task is to offer content that is of current interest, rather than conserving an existing historical collection. The library’s content policy states that the library’s focus on content should be based on a “just in time” principle, rather than on a “just in case” principle: Instead of letting the collection to formulate the main profile of the library, they let the kind of library they want and decide what their collection should be like. They are using the similar approach by thinking to their catalog data: Instead of letting the nature of their old data dictate their format choices and cataloging practice, they can focus on how they ideally would like to register metadata, and then let that dictate their choices of formats and data models. The old data can be converted and adjusted to fit their models as well as possible, and will gradually make up a smaller and less significant part of the catalog (Rekkavik, 2014).

The Swedish National Library was among the firsts that released its whole catalog called LIBRIS as linked data including authority data, describing persons, organizations and subject headings. Links were added to external resources such as those described by Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH), Wikipedia and the Virtual International Authority File (VIAF). An important development step is that LIBRIS has become a part of quickly expanding graph of metadata generated by a number of entities, mostly outside the GLAM (Galleries, Archives, Museums, and Libraries) sector. This move inspired a lot of interest especially from other government entities and other organizations that wanted to either link to or download parts of the authority data. It have become clear for all the relevant partners that an identifier for, e.g., a famous author is useful for both libraries, archives and other cultural heritage institutions. (Malmsten, 2013).

The next major phase started September 2011 when the National Bibliography and Swedish Authority file, two subsets of the LIBRIS database, have become available in the same format that they are being created (MARC21). This decision is strategic one in a sense to expose Resource Description Framework (RDF)/linked data derived from the records, and the records in their original form. By doing this step, anyone can see evaluate reference and contribute to the work done by the Swedish National Library. Their assumption is that visibility and openness will lead to higher quality data. Data has published under the Creative Commons Zero license terms. The next main goal is to publish the whole catalog dataset according to these license terms. The main challenge in this field to handle the non-LIBRIS origin records (comes from other libraries, data aggregators) according to the same license rules as the native ones (Malmsten, 2013).

Following the model of the Swedish National Library, some other national libraries (such as the National Széchényi Library in Hungary) has started to publish their catalog and authority data as linked open data. In this way, these data sources have also become an integral part of the large semantic data network. Following the first steps by large national and university libraries, an idea was born in order to help smaller GLAM institutions to publish their data in linked open data format and put them on the semantic web. The international ALIADA project, financed by the EU, just focused on this issue. The project partners came from different European countries and different sectors (software developing industry, library, museums, and archives). The starting point is easy in a sense that GLAM institutions have usually rich metadata related to their collections. Through the ALIADA framework, various metadata subsets from library, archives, gallery museum management systems (GLAM catalog data, bibliographic data and authority data) can be converted from standard metadata input forms (e.g. MARC, LIDO, DUBLIN CORE) into RDF based semantic compatible format according to the ALIADA ontology. The conversion process is being made with an open source Java software. Data subsets are being stored in a Virtuoso database and exported to a data dump file that is publicly available online. All the semantic data subsets through a SPARQL endpoint are being registered in the datahub.io database with standard descriptions, links to the subsets and the address of the semantic Virtuoso database. Even before the automatic publication of semantic datasets in the semantic cloud, these can be linked to other datasets. The ALIADA software also automatizes the whole conversion and publication process. The partner institutions have to provide only standard metadata input subsets; the public collection experts do not need deep expertise on semantic web technologies. The project just finished in October 2015. The ALIADA software tool is publicly available to all the interested parties. (Ádám Horváth, 2014; Aliada Project, 2015).

Based on the results of the ALIADA project, the Central-European LMS vendor Qulto has applied with a new project and applied to get EU funds. The project plan based on the results of the ALIADA project. QULTO wants to help its library and museum partners to convert their metadata from MARC to BIBFRAME format and create an environment to release the datasets and publish them on the semantic web through ALIADA tools. The efficiency of ALIADA software tool can be further developed with a data editor that can help to provide more customized data input for semantic conversion as its currently available. It makes the conversion process easier and reflects better to the local institutional needs. The semantic web-based data enrichment is also appearing as a relevant opportunity for libraries, museums and archives to develop their services further and QULTO wants to be a partner in this field also.

Semantic services can be introduced effectively also to the new OPAC interfaces of the latest generations of library management systems (like OCLC WorldShare or ExLibris ALMA). These are not traditional OPAC systems anymore but work more like a discovery interface from various kind of data sources. The interlinking of semantic datasets can be used effectively through such kind of interfaces. The appearance of Linked Open Data in public libraries eliminates the difference in major sense among internal and external data sources. You can combine tons of datasets easily to offer even more comprehensive and effective information services for the users. On the other hand, the new generation of library management systems can integrate also external data sources more effectively than before. The different activities based on different customizable workflows rather than traditional LMS modules in a highly customizable way. The cataloging functions can be based on linked data principles BIBFRAME can be implemented easier in a combination of a central cataloging system and a customized local cataloging interface. Most of the data types are appearing in a central database on the cloud but you can link local elements also that is relevant only to the local institution. The essence of linking data is appearing in the daily workflow practice in an essential way. As these systems are running and administered in the cloud, the library staff can focus more on the service side: the kind of services they can develop for a more customized user experience.

Epilogue: Institutional and Social Context of Linked Open Data

The appearance of new standard environments based on linked open data opens the way of closer collaboration within the cultural heritage sector among libraries, museums, archives, galleries. As I previously described, a key challenge is that data must be set beyond their traditional institutional environment to a global semantic cloud. The new set of practices can be an essential part of the daily workflow in any kind of cultural heritage institutions. The different kind of institutional traditions, the status of openness, the copyright challenges makes difficult to answer to the current challenges. We have to realize that these cultural domains historically developed mainly independently from each other. Now they find themselves in a new professional environment that needs standard workflows and practices even more harmonized than never before. It has a kind of human effect; the power of professional traditions in each field cannot be underestimated. We have to make huge efforts to maintain dialogue in an effective way within each sector and among different sectors as well to manage current challenges.

The professional debates on the semantic web are mainly focusing on the technical issues highlighting the machine-to-machine communication; I would like to refer also to some challenging social points of the current issues of the internet development. The power of the internet monopolies, in the light of the Big Data issues can make a real threat to traditional state administration monopolies in a longer term. The libraries through semantic services and their engagement with Linked Open Data can be major actors to ensure the freedom of information access and ensure the availability of advanced non-profit information services to all segments of the society. In this way, we can focus on a social socio-technological challenge with multiple aspects. For example, just I am mentioning some key areas: Who can manage and serve public information? Libraries and other public collections collaborate with the government sector via open interfaces or just let all the public services operate by private monopolistic stakeholders? How the raw scientific big datasets will be licensed and provided? In the current copyright environment seems to be almost impossible to develop new effective information services focusing on scientific publications that based on public funded activities but copyrighted to publisher monopolies. How can we help to promote open access by describing new opportunities to share our knowledge?

In a summary, we should talk about the current IT development results in the semantic web related library field, describe its social context and build-up some possible future scenarios as well.

Bibliography of References

A Bibliographic Framework for the Digital Age. (2011). Retrieved December 16, 2015, from http://www.loc.gov/bibframe/news/framework-103111.html

Ádám Horváth. (2014). The European ALIADA project (pp. 1–20). Rome: 33rd ADLUG Annual Meeting. Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/aliadaproject/aliada-intro-adamhorvath03

Aliada Project. (2015). Introduction to ALIADA webinar. Retrieved December 17, 2015, from http://www.slideshare.net/aliadaproject/introduction-to-aliada-webinar

Malmsten, M. (2013). Cataloguing in the open: the disintegration and distribution of the record. Italian Journal of Library & Information Science, 4(1), 417–423. Retrieved from 10.4403/jlis.it-5512

Meehan, T. (2014). The impact of Bibframe. Catalogue & Index, (177), 2–16. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lih&AN=110055753&site=ehost-live

Rekkavik, A. (2014). RDF Linked data cataloguing at Oslo Public Library. Retrieved December 16, 2015, from http://digital.deichman.no/blog/2014/07/06/rdf-linked-data-cataloguing-at-oslo-public-library/

Resource Description Framework (RDF). (2014). Retrieved December 16, 2015, from http://www.w3.org/RDF/

Is the library a true reflection of information's democracy?

Patricia Boubaker Nobilet

patricia.nobilet@free.fr

Ecole doctorale Cognition, Langage, Interaction

Laboratoire Paragraphe

Université Paris 8, 2, rue de la Liberté, 93526 Saint-Denis CEDEX - France

Keywords:Library, Information Literacy, Digital Literacy, Access, E-government, Economics and Technology

Abstract

Economics, social and cultural capitals are unequal regarding humans and territories, creating differences in access to and use of digital and/or printed information. Those informational inequalities were studied, starting from the 70's, in particular through the works of E. Chatman, and her concept of "information poverty": this one describes, on the one hand, the conditions of information's access linked to economic poverty, as well as, on the other hand, information's seeking practices of poor people compared with the dominant's one. (Chatman, 1991), (Chatman, 1996), (Chatman, 1999). According to Chatman's theory, the affiliations to a social group would generate "information poverty" or "information richness". Despite that cleavage of "information rich" / "information poor", the fact is that economics, social and digital inequalities between people and regions in a country, and also between countries, create, as the studies in anthropology of use have demonstrated it, inequalities face to information, between isolation, deprivation and high technology conspicuous consumption to follow the digital evolution, wished and forced by the public institutions. It is paradoxical to note that the concentration and fusion of local libraries to offer greater services is parallel to the desertion of villages and to limited opening hours during the week, that the proximity is replaced by the distance. In this way, as totem of information’s democracy, libraries should allow all of us to enhance the informational experience, i.e., transformation of information in knowledge, development of information's practices, language's learning, discover and use of e-administration services. Personalized and private library for ones, public and common library for others, if the libraries have a greater role and a real willingness to reach the ideal of equality of access, they often do not possess the economics and human forces required. Technology's use under control and restraint, free enrollment called into question, limited assistance in digital information's use, the library, in the numeric age, are limiting the lack without filling it because of capabilities at half-mast or to encourage the private possession...

Introduction

The french public library here highlight is a place of safe, of travel through reading, a comfortable place providing mainstream information where time seems to stop. For the arrival of the World Wide Web, it is also a free source of communication with others, especially when no access is available at home. This consciousness of the major role of the public institution in the universal instruction and entertainment is shared by the staff of libraries, like by the patrons, but not by the local and national governments, who are responsible of it. For economic reasons, under cover of the global economic recession, local libraries have disappeared to form meta-libraries, in the way to purpose better services to patrons but offering, in fact, equal opportunities, with the addition of some computers. Recruitment frozen, decrease of state support to the regions, increase of the region's size and territories, public libraries are doing with and perceive less and less. Rural deserts, i.e., library, shops, swimming pool or school closing, is coupled for the patrons to move always furthest to access public services. For those reasons, can we currently speak of information's democracy or of information's aristocracy? Is the information available in public libraries not thought in terms of technology consumerism?

Information democracy or information aristocracy

Tell me where you live, I will tell you how you can inform

Information's democracy, it would be the same information resources available in terms of quantity and quality in all the public libraries. It would be also the same opening times, the same services purposed, the same rules of working, and the same registration requirements. Everyone knows that this is not real and nobody knows because each of us perceives only what is existing where he/she lives, where he/she works or where he/she studies. So it is for the government's representatives. Illusion is worked through the construction of some public meta-libraries serving a higher volume of patrons. In fact, regarding the situation in France, the place of residence has an essential impact to access easily or hardly to information. Based on the criteria of population's density, the capital (city) like regions’ capitals benefit from a developed infostructure where numerous libraries are coexisting, allowing patrons to access to higher collections, services and web opportunities. Conversely, in the provinces, the meta-library centralizes public collections and access of a myriad of small provincial towns grouped in town's community. Economic and de facto human means necessary to library's working and opening, even so limited, are not comparable with metropolis ones and for that reason, neither the purposed services. Territory's richness has a great influence on information's means offered to people, in the place of the library and from afar, through the delivery directly to patron's cities and homes (Library's bus, delivery at home for the elderly) or through digitized collections. In this way, behind the hypocrisy of an equal access, indeed furthered access, territories economic inequalities shape a stratification of the information provision. Also, within a territory or region, differences are obvious from a city to another, and in a city, from a district to another. Place of life is cardinal relating the public information's environment between isolation, privation and over-exposition to information. Because of merging realized these last years through libraries network and public services desertification in rural areas, it is incumbent upon people to move in order to reach public services they may need or to connect on websites. The development of government's online services correspond, in a scale of time, with the disappearance of physical public services and means, coupled with a substantial gain of working's costs. In this way, there's no consideration for people isolated, neither for those who are not possessing private connected equipment, nor for those who can simply not afford going further. The information's "arithmetic equality» (same for all) does not exist and has never existed. (A. S. Duff, 2012). In the same way, there's no legitimate inequality just justified by population's density. Consequently, "information richness" or "information poverty" does not seem to be linked to the individual and its social class, like E. Chatman indicated, but to the poverty or richness of the place of life in a given region. This local social condition, as the result of the presence of economic components, supported partially by State's financial aids, constitutes the economic and social capital. This one, depending on the political orientation, is shared in a dimension of social justice or not, and in favor or not of cultural institutions: libraries but also music schools, theaters, cinemas, and so on; among these ones, it is necessary to keep in mind that libraries, because of free registration, are alone not to create profits. Consequently, libraries cost but do not bring economic benefits; it's probably one of the reason explaining that they are less receiving than their counterparts: free culture suffers from indigence where culture with a charge for admission, like art galleries, becomes more and more attractive. A library does not allow a well maked-up image of the region, like a new museum can do it. Economic interest and region's economic capital are defining priorities, and here is the information's aristocracy, in a spatial dimension, made of competitions. In this framework, public libraries have to fulfill their missions of culture, education, information, Internet's access, for all, with unequal economic and human resources between and inside regions. As a result, financial cuts threaten employment, the opening time is reduced, and patron’s training, like services are limited, web's navigation is restricted and e-governement requirements widely ignored. Libraries, as public institutions, do not allow citizens to process virtually, as requested by government, even if it could be considered as an informal right: […] as local and national government processes go virtual, in the whole domain of e-government, citizens must be guaranteed the wherewithal to make use of them" (A.S. Duff, 2012, p. 71). Therefore, if people are not correctly equipped at home and/or if they do not know how to proceed with complex operations, they are unable to follow the numeric metamorphosis engaged from the top of the pyramid. The idea of an unfair distribution of information, through the concept of "digital divide" was the core subject of numerous researches: Norris (Norris, 2001), Van Dijk (Van Dijk, 2005), Warschauer (Warschauer, 2003) or Mossberger (Mossberger, 2003) and the purpose of official reports: S. Nora et A. Minc "Computerization of Society, a report to the President of France" (1981), N. Selwyn and K. Facer "Beyond the digital Divide: Rethinking digital Inclusion for the 21st Century" (2007) for the United-Kingdom or the report of NTIA (National Telecommunications and Information Authority) "Falling through the Net" (1999) for the United States. Ten years later, despite of these works, it is clear that nothing has been undertaken, or even attempted in public institutions, to give users the opportunity to follow the information's dematerialization and the government willingness to to impose use of e-government's services. On the contrary, as patrons are not free in public libraries, it is expected that normalization's process takes place, that digital and information's inequalities naturally come to an end through the decision of people to invest in order to be able to do what is necessary (support + web's connection + printer/scan).

Mitigate the lack without filling him, such is the public information's policy, executed in public libraries, in order to encourage the private possession of web's access and not hinder economic gains and growth of the numeric market; all that without any support to people which place the poorer in a forced technological conformism that they pained to follow or that they simply cannot follow. With the e-government implementation corresponding with physical public spaces closing or under-working, for all of everyday life information seeking (ELIS), the poorer are clearly more and more excluded from the democratic process. Without any other choice, they are fully dependent of the information's potential of the public library and have to content themselves with what is provided and allowed.

Informative austerity policy is not a french case, as mentioned by Goldberg and the closing of Colton's library (California) (Goldberg, 2009), Battistella and Jackson County's libraries closing (Oregon) (Battistella, 2010). Like La Rue indicates, American government has invited public libraries to reduce costs in budget cuts, in staff and opening times and/or to seek for private funds (LaRue, 2009).

Price to pay for first-class information provision

Information needs satisfaction is radically else in private or university libraries where human and material resources are present to show, to guide or to help to locate. Librarians are tuned in to the slightest need and are making all the efforts to satisfy patron's requirements. The "you will also like" used by the Net's industrials, constitutes the adage of a good patron's service. This one could appeal to librarians on any questions in professional or private way. In case of permanent disability for any reason, information required is scanned, sent at home per mail or per post. Here, there is no limitation of time for the use of Internet, no constraint to record or to print, opening scheduled more and more extended, the opportunity for the patrons to get a notebook for a rent. Patron's service is personalized and could, if necessary, be extended. So it is for the rules applied that could be adapted to patron's needs and difficulties. From this real trust and empathy appear genuine human relationships, on whom the patron can count to resolve an informational problem. Similarly, in these charged libraries, training to information research, printed or electronic, are executed in mass and could be individualized on demand. E-learning is possible and human's physical barriers are taken into account leading to an effective care. Library’s user is guided in physical and virtual space like from a cognitive aspect with material's use instructions, tutorials, webography, referent librarian for a give knowledge domain. At last, libraries to be paid, often dedicated to a target public, provide updated collections, are working in network to enhance acquisitions and information available, are joined with the local, national, even international environment.

In this way, it appears quite clearly that the economic criteria (after the region, library's paying registration), has a significant influence on information not only put on disposal but also furnished, and in fact on information's democracy, considering the collections, Internet's potential use like services offered to patron's, a reality already observed by K. Thompson, et al.: "In many places, public libraries that rely on government support are much less funded, staffed, and maintained and open fewer hours than libraries with private fundings" (K. M. Thompson, Paul T. Jaeger, N. G. Taylor, et al., 2014).

To summarize, information needs satisfaction in libraries is linked to the payment, included in the inscription cost for the university libraries or to pay annually for private's ones. At the opposite, public libraries, free of charges, have to be appreciated, for this reason, as they are, with no complain. Collections are large and diverse, renewed with parsimony and user has to adapt to what is purposed and not the contrary. User is inseparable from the public, viewed as a whole population. Therefore, there's no place for the consideration of a person as an addition of single persons, a "pluralité d'individus uniques" (H. Arendt). Nevertheless, yet, it got to be done in order to match the reality of life and the increasing needs of finding alone the necessary information. In this way, like N. Harris and A. Simon Loskowitz have written it, in their research on public libraries in the Welsh, rules and services have to be suited to fulfill the current needs of information, taking into account the local economic and social context of life. The human dimension, core of librarians’ ethic, has to be recovered, by giving up indifference and assisting the most those who have the greatest needs, considering isolation, lack of financial means, or every other barrier which could threaten the information's contact. It must be kept in mind, that for an increasing number of people, in this information and technological time, the public library represents the only contact with information.

Poor people, public libraries regular users

Which contact with information?

Like we have seen it before, "information richness" or "information poverty" depends on regions economic capital modeling the contact with information which can be, function of the person social situation, completely based on place of life. It depends also of the information's experience, at a X moment, which corresponds with the past and present real-life with information, viewed as all elements providing the person the deciphering and understanding keys of the world in he/she is embedded. The more a person is socially and/or spatially isolated (unemployed, retired, desert regions inhabitants,...) the more its contact with information is uniform and the less its information's experience will develop. On the other hand, someone socially linked benefits from a diversified infostructure, source of development of information's experience as the person is in permanent contact with information, even if he/she does not wish it at all. Isolation, whether social and/or spatial, coupled with low economic resources, moulds information's contact, which is, contrary to E. Chatman's concept, strongly sought, that probably explains why libraries are so much frequented by poor people. These ones need, in fact, to maintain a contact with information they have lost in their social life. Printed information is often privileged in public libraries as known, overcome, simple to access and to be borrowed. Information and communication technologies and digitized information so available are often seen as complicated, (excepted for plays and mail), the pertinent information difficult to find and the impossibility of printing or recording perceived as a burden because no trace of information can be kept. If a medium connected is present at home, the information's experience is fed by a daily free practical, made of tests, of discovers and so alive. If the equipment is the public one, in the library, information's experience is deadly, restricted, in the potential, in the time (library's closing) like in the duration (X hours per week). In this way, users requires a listening of the problems they meet, indeed assistance, which is accorded quickly by librarians, not enough numerous to take the time. Computers connected available in public libraries are, in no way, bearer of a new inform's art or way but humans are. The current information's experience, especially with web's applications, must, consequently, be as rich as possible in public libraries, particularly for the public who counts on the library to inform, in order to take part efficiently to social as well as e-inclusion. Despite of the fact that digital movement is engaged by governments, i.e mass adoption of numeric tools leading e-government, e-commerce or e-learning, it remains to guarantee to users who not know or who cannot afford it, to can do so in public libraries. At this day, users dependent from the public library do not benefit from the same information's opportunities, the same volume, the same experience than those who dispose from the luxury of the "at home". In brief, information's democracy could but does not exist in public libraries, although they are, in a ready-to-think approach, the place dedicated to I(e)nformation available for all.

Primacy of economic interest

But the economic interest cannot be translated in terms of equality in access. Actually, if everybody can freely, in public library, proceed to e-steps, communicate, submit for a job, seek a house, record or print the information required, without restrictions of material, time, duration, or content, the personal possession of technological supports does not make sense any more. What forces people to invest regarding digitized information, is the freedom, the independence so obtained. "Home access to ICT's offers more freedom to use and to develop digital skills through informal learning than access in other locations" (Helsper, 2012). The influence of government to encourage private possession appears also through diverse advantages of delay, prices, and even through the obligation of exclusive use of the web. For instance, teachers request Internet works but without the opportunity to print in public libraries and the restricted opening schedules, after consideration of the high price of printing in cyber coffee, parents feel obliged to invest in order to allow their children to do what is expected. The same process is used for the mobility; i.e if you possess a car, you freely travel in time and space but if you need public transportation, you are submitted to constraints of time, way, and it is the reason why personal car's possession is so common.

The dependence of a disadvantaged public to the free use of the web's services in public library is consciousness ignored. The purpose of the minimum allowed is to encourage personal equipment favoring purchase and so economic expansion and profit, promised by ICT's. Public good must not surpass private ones but create the desire to go further, it does exist only to maintain freedom and equality's illusion, face to information.

The web is not an egalitarian medium and digitized information so accessible is not profitable for all. In a real dimension of justice and solidarity, two different act's power can be brought by public policies in order to curb discrimination by the digital technology: first, supply financial means to libraries, not only based on the criteria of population’ density but also, on the aspect of economic capital of the territory (allow more to those who have less) in the purpose of the technological and information revolution (remind us that ICT's were first thought by governments as a solution of social inclusion), i.e., supply a maximal access and use potential to information or secondly, the act could be oriented toward the person and, like in United-States, support the additional financial cost that digitized information generates, specially for people with low financial resources: "The Link-Up America program was designed to help low-income households pay for the installation costs required to initiate telecommunications services, and the parallel Lifeline Assistance program was designed to help low-income households pay monthly telecommunications bills" (K. Thompson, 2014, p 55). In any case, it is the responsibility of the state (Luke, 2000) to make all efforts to accompany the wished metamorphosis in taking into account present-day rough realities, which means constraints to inform through ICT's.

References

Battistella, E. (2010). What a library closure taught me. Library Journalhttp://www.libraryjournal.com.

Case, D. (2002). Looking for Information: a Survey of Research on Information Seeking, Needs and Behaviour. Waltham, MA: Academic Press.

Chatman, E.A. (1991). Life in a small-world: applicability of gratification, theory to information-seeking behavior. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 42, 438-449.

Chatman, E.A. (1996). The impoverished life-world of outsiders. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 47, 193-206.

Chatman, E.A. (1999). A theory of life in the round. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 50, 207-217.

Duff, A.S. (2012). A normative Theory of the Information Society. New York, NY: Routledge.

Goldberg, B. (2009). Board president denounces closing of Colton Libraries. American Libraries, November 17. http://www.americanlibrariesmagazine.org.

Harris, N. and Simon, A. (2009). Still barriers to overcome. Public Library Journal, 24 (4), 25‐27.

Hayter, S. (2006). Exploring information worlds in a disadvantaged community: a UK perspective. The Canadian Journal of Information and Library Science, 30, 22-35.

Helsper, E. (2012). A corresponding fields model for the links between social and digital exclusion, Communication theory, 22 (4), 403-426.

Hersberger, J.A. (2002). Are the economically poor information poor? Does the digital divide affect the homeless and access to information? The Canadian Journal of Information and Library Science, 27(3), 44-63.

LaRue, J. (2009). Tough times and eight ways to deal with them. American Librarieshttp://www.americanlibrariesmagazine.org.

Luke, T. (2000). Dealing with the digital Divide: The rough realities of cyberspace. Telos, 118 (Winter), 3-23.

Mossberger, K. Tolbert, C.J. Stansbury, M. (2003). Virtual Inequality: Beyond the Digital Divide, Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.

Nora, S. Minc, A. (1981 [1979]). The Computerization of Society: A Report to the President of France, Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

Norris, P. (2001). Digital Divide: Civic Engagement, Information Poverty, and the Internet Worldwide, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Selwyn, N. Facer, K. (2007). Beyond the Digital Divide: Rethinking Digital Inclusion for the 21st Century, Bristol: Futurelab.

Thompson, K.M. (2007). Furthering understanding of information literacy through the social study of information poverty. The Canadian Journal of Information and Library Science, 31(1), 87-115.

Thompson, KM. Jaeger, P.T. Greene Talyor, N. et al. (2014). Digital Literacy and digital Inclusion: Information Policy and the public Library, Lanham, MAR: Rowman & Littlefiel.

Van Dijk, J.A.G.M. (2005). The Deepening Divide: Inequality in the Information Society, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Warschauer, M. (2003). Technology and Social Inclusion: Rethinking the Digital Divide, Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

Social Networking: Information Sharing, Archiving and Privacy

Benedicta Obodoruku, BSc, M.A, Ph.D.

benedicta.obodoruku@my.liu.edu

Long Island University-Post Campus, Palmer School of Library and Information Science, Northern Blvd., Brookville, New York, USA.

Keywords:Social Networking, Information Sharing, Archiving, Privacy, Trust, Threat

Abstract

Scholars in the information studies domain have extensively defined Social Networking from a theoretical standpoint as “web-based services which allow individuals to construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection and view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system.” [1] The above definition of Social Networking is applicable to this study and will be utilized as a framework to analyze the various Social Networking Sites (SNS), such as Facebook, Friendster and Myspace. Over the years, SNS have become trendy, changing the way people communicate, as well as access, share and archive information. It is fundamental to indicate from an epistemological standpoint that the main purpose of this study is to establish a clear definition of Social Networking and to briefly explain some of the SNS’ purposes. This study also discussed issues relating to Social Networking, such as information sharing systems, representation of social relations, social network analysis for information sharing and privacy issues. The methodologies utilized in this study are observation and content analysis. Information representations on privacy, archive and information sharing on various SNS were analyzed. This research utilized concept maps and information visualization. This study found out that the biggest issue that lies in the future of SNS is the issue of privacy. Users are the victims of impersonation and their information is being exposed to the public, creating more threats to privacy.

Introduction

The term Social Networking means "web-based services which allow individuals to construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection and view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system" (Boyd & Ellison, 2007 & Luo, 2010, & Steinfield et al 2008). Throughout the years, SNS have become trendy, changing the way people communicate, access information, share information and archive information. It is vital to indicate from epistemological standpoint that the main purpose of this study is to institute a clear definition of Social Networking and to concisely explain some of the SNS’ purposes.

Social Networking consists of various Social Networking sites, which include Facebook, Friendster and Myspace, just to mention a few. These Social Networking sites are emerging tools and sites, which allow users to construct web content faster and distribute personal information (Boyd, Ellison, Mori, Shin, et al). Social Networking Sites (SNS) permit users to keep an online network of friends and associates or business functions going. It is exclusive because it allows people to connect, including "strangers based on shared interests, political views or activities," and communicate with one another, which creates visible social networking, enabling users to "share offline connections" (Boyd & Ellison, 2008). Social Networking Sites operate with rules that insure that after users join the SNS, they are required to make available for viewing their age, location, interest, and section describing themselves. Some Social Networking sites require the users or request the users to download pictures of themselves (Boyd & Ellison, 2007). In addition, there are also various sites, which permit users to add multimedia applications or adjust their profile to "look and feel" the way that they prefer, and many more (Boyd & Ellison, 2007).

SNS such as Facebook permit users to add modules (applications) that improve their profile (Boyd & Ellison, 2008). Additionally, SNS allow users to distribute numerous sorts of information, which allow the users to create Weblogs, which are diary-like sites that are comprised of numerous types of public, and private information (Mori, Sugiyama & Matsuo 2005). Concerning the operation of Friendster, it is considered a gigantic social networking site because, it provides numerous levels of control from "public information" to "only for friends" information. On the other hand, Friendster offers only limited "assistance for access control" to its users (Mori, Sugiyama & Matsuo, 2005). Friendster was launched in 2002 as a social complement to Ryze, a business networking site, particularly intended for new entrepreneurship. This is compared to Facebook and Myspace, which have a tool which enables users to avoid others "hacking their profiles," by using a feature used to hide the section called friend display (Boyd & Ellison, 2007).

Having defined Social Networking and elaborated on some examples of SNS and its functions, this paper will go on to discuss some circumstances concerning additional usage of SNS. This paper will also discuss SNS as information sharing; social network analyzing for information sharing and peer communication; privacy; suggest future research; and provide a conclusion.

Background

Social Network Sites/Circumstances and Concerns

Facebook

It is fundamental to specify that Facebook is a social networking site which enables peers to collect information from multiple sources (Lahti, 2008). Facebook is used as a communication avenue for peers who are socializing (Luo, 2010, see appendix 1). However, social networking websites were considered the second, most popular venue for a peer’s social networking among students (Luo, 2010). Nevertheless, the evidence stated in Luo’s finding that SNS are a popular avenue for communicating with peers (2010). Facebook allows users to create an online profile as well as add friends who could stake comments on one another’s pages and view individuals’ profiles. Friends can also connect to visual groups that are based on shared interest, romantic relationship status and musical interests. Its products comprise of Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp. Facebook’s website and mobile apps allow individuals to connect, share, discover and communicate with one another on computers or mobile devices. It is empirical to indicate that Facebook Messenger is a mobile-to-mobile messaging application, which is available on iOS and Android phones. While Instagram is considered a mobile application and website which allows individuals to shoot video or take pictures and distribute them with friends and followers, WhatsApp Messenger is considered a cross-platform mobile messaging application, which enables a person to exchange messages on iOS, BlackBerry, Android or Windows Phone or Nokia devices (Zuckerberg, 2015).

In 2004, Mark Zuckerberg, a student at Harvard University, constructed Facebook in order to identify students from other dormitories (Moyle, 2004). In 2006, there were over 7.5 million people who had registered at more than 2,000 universities in the United States of America and it ranked the seventh, trendiest site on the Internet with regards to the overall pages that users view (Cassidy, 2006).

The Facebook’s website is compactly incorporated into the day-to-day media practices of its users: the regular user spends approximately 20 minutes daily on the website and approximately two-thirds of the users log in at least once daily (Cassidy, 2006). In 2006, Facebook introduced communities for business organizations such as Amazon, PepsiCo and Microsoft (Barton, 2006). In 2006, there were more than 4,000 organizations that had constructed Facebook directories (Smith, 2006). While students’ acceptance to the affordances of Facebook has been keen, prevalent media report have focused entirely on the undesirable consequences of Facebook usage. A number of these glitches prevent associations between users’ insights concerning the spectators for their profile and the real audience. Students have been scolded for incorporating racist or problematic content in their profiles as well as posting items and incorporating unsuitable information; that could be reachable by potential employers. While there has been considerable media reporting of Facebook, there has been slight academic work done on these occurrences, and most of the current rationale is grounded on circumstantial evidence, as opposed to experimental data. Because of these circumstances, the large numbers of exceedingly embedded users, an exclusive geographically unavoidable target audience, high visibility, and widespread public concern combined with a few academic studies of the website inspired our inquiry.

Friendster

This study also discussed Friendster, which is an extremely large social networking site that enables people to unequivocally communicate to their social network, post attesting testimonial declarations of themselves, present themselves via dating-focus profile (based on interest and demographics) as well as browse a network of persons in search of possible dates or spouses. Friendster was launched in 2002 as a social complement to Ryze (Boyd & Ellison, 2007, see Appendices 2, 3 and 4) as described above. Friendster was created in 2002 and, by mid-August 2013, the website had 1.5 million users. It is important to note that the media had covered Friendster, but the site was flooded with people because of word of mouth (Boyd, 2003). But unfortunately, Friendster was swiftly "taken by Facebook" (Pew Research Center, 2014).

Friendster was constructed based on the presumption that friends of friends are probably more suitable dates compared to strangers (Boyd, 2003). Theorists, scholars and philosophers have made various arguments on the construction and purpose of Friendster. Boyd (2003) argued that Friendster was constructed in order to "compete with Match.com and other online dating sites". Boyd further argued that Friendster only allowed its users to communicate or see persons that are "within 4 degrees". Boyd supported his arguments by quoting Stanley Milgram’s psychological study on mutual acquaintances with people, which he argues that everybody is connected with six degrees. Friendster offers various levels of control from "public information" to "only for friends". Conversely, it offers only limited assistance for access control (Mori, Sugiyama & Matsuo, 2005). From an epistemological stance it is vital to briefly define the meaning of a Friend. A Friend is "a person with whom one enjoys mutual affections and regard" (Allen, 1929); therefore, it is misleading that in Friendster people are specified as "Friends even though the user does not particularly know or trust the person" (Boyd 2003, 2) of whom they are communicating with. People desire to connect broadly in order for them to view a greater percentage of the network, but "users can only browse 4 degree of themselves" (Boyd 2003, 2). It is vital to indicate that individuals have different mechanisms for assessing who is considered a friend. It is difficult to broadly assess the "meaning or type of relationship between connections within the system" (Boyd 2003, 2).

Myspace

In August 2006, Myspace was one of the biggest SNS sites for users, because 100 million users signed in a day, breaking the world record on SNS (see appendix 5). When Myspace was created in 2006, this was a huge trend in the international community. In 2007, some 100 million accounts were created on Myspace; by August, it was recognized as the sixth most recognized website, and it attracted more than 230 million users in a day. Myspace started in Britain and then expended its networking sites in Europe. Myspace was able to gain popularity because they had 29 local languages transmitting in 25 countries worldwide. By introducing these local dialects, Myspace was able to expand its networking in countries such as India, Russia, and South Korea. Myspace expanded its networking to the above countries and overseas and this was a powerful move because these countries have a growing population with a demand for information sharing and the need or the desire to connect with the western world. On the other hand, Myspace, with 110 million users on a monthly basis, was losing ground. These losses were due to the neglect to translate into the global market (Shin, 2009). One of the major successes of Myspace was the "full screen wall post" which made it easier for users to navigate through the main page in creating profiles and in changing the content on their profiles. This is one of the attributes that users demand from SNS in order to derive the information that they wanted and this helped them feel connected (Boyd, Ellison, 2007, Shin, 2009).

Literature Review

Social Network Sites as Information Sharing Systems

This section discusses the availability of sharing information, which is guarded and shared only within one’s own defined social relationships. However, there are also confidential documents, which have limited distribution within a division of users of the site. Information might be available for other colleagues who are in the corporate entity who could share projects or private family photos among themselves. This can be done with relatives as well as close friends or even business associates. On the other hand, a professor might also access a private research report of his/her students. In this regard, the use of social networks plays an important role in the dissemination and receiving of information. This is because it allows users to control the information that they disseminated (Mori, Sugiyama & Matsuo, 2005). There are various views that social networking sites are not just for sharing information. On the one hand, people’s well-being is associated with how they use SNS. It was noted that social networking is considered to some people as a "meditation of a face-to face-communication and information sharing rather than communication with the network" (Churchill & Halverson, 2005). However, "meditation" could be considered information sharing, but not with SNS. It should be noted that social networking is also practiced by non-profit organizations, which is used to promote the organizations’ agendas. It increases awareness and cooperation and builds relationships with stakeholders. There are some 68 million dynamic users globally (Waters, Burnett, Lammb, & Lucas, et al 2008). These demographics show that SNS are growing rapidly. This also demonstrates that the future of Facebook is growing and more and more people are sharing information globally (DiMicco & Miller, 2007).

Representation of Social Relations

Also discussed was the variety of social relationships that happen in the real world. Nevertheless, a salient problem has surfaced, such as integrating and consolidating on a semantic basis. There are needs for the representation of social relationships, which must be sufficiently fine-grained that will enable users to capture all detail from individual sources of information in a method that can be recombined later and obtained as evidence of definite relationships. Nevertheless, there were several agents of social relations. Social networking frequently simplifies the relationship as "friend or acquaintance". Alternatively, many kinds of relationships were simplified as "know" relations. It could be said that a rich ontological consideration of social relations is needed for characterization and analysis of individual social networks. In addition, there are two kinds of relationships. The first is the common property relationship and the second is the event relationship. However, the first basic structure of relationships could be considered a situation when a user or users partake in an event (Mori, Sugiyama & Matsuo, 2005).

Methodology

This research study utilized observation and content analysis methods. Informational representations on privacy, archive and information sharing on numerous SNS were analyzed. Data was collected from various research studies on SNS and the data was analyzed based on the trend and the use of Facebook, Myspace and Friendster. This research study also analyzed various interdisciplinary scholarship, articles and research studies around SNS, a methodology that was applied by Boyd and Ellison (2007). Microsoft Excel was used to calculate the statistical data of the users on SNS. This study used concept maps and informational visualizations. This study aimed to answer the research question: is information sharing or archiving on social media a threat to privacy? This study utilized an online free text search of the word Facebook, Friendster and Myspace as was employed by Jank (2010).

Results/Findings

Social Network Analysis for Information Sharing

The systems enable users to analyze their social network activities to provide awareness of the information dissemination process with the social network. It enables users to have better access to information, resources and social support (Mori, Sugiyama & Matsuo, 2005).

All Internet users | 74%
Men | 72%
Women | 76%
18-29 | 89%
30-49 | 82%
50-64 | 65%
60+ | 49%
High school graduate or less | 72%
Some college | 78%
College+ | 73%
Less than $30,000/year | 79%
$30,000-$49,999 | 73%
$50,000-$74,999 | 70%
$75,000+ | 78%

Table 1. Percentage of Internet users in each group who utilize social networking sites
(Table 1 was constructed based on date from Pew Research Center Internet survey).

It is vital to indicate that in January 2014, there were 74 percent of adults who used social networking sites (see Table 1 above). On a group basis, women used social networking more than men; as depicted on Table 1, 76 percent of women used social networking sites, compared with 72 percent of men. Table 1 shows the number of people who earn less than $30,000 a year tend to use SNS more, compared to those that made $75,000 and more. Based on the literature reviewed and the various data reviewed, it should be said from the data on Table 1 indicated that users of SNS could not be evaluated based on an individual income because SNS is derived by people’s need to seek and use information. It is vital to indicate that users also seek information from “authoritative sources” (Obodoruku, 2013, pp. 80-95) in order for the information that they seek to meet their needs. Individuals seek information from authoritative sources such as organizations, government and person-to-person information because, in some cases, they trust that the information that they seek will meet their needs (Obodoruku, 2013).

Figure 1. All Users of Social Networking Sites
(Figure 1 was constructed based on data analyzed Pew Research Center).

Figure 1 clearly indicated the percentages of all users of SNS in 2013 and in 2014. In 2013, there were 76% of women who dominated the use of SNS compared to 74% in 2014. The data also shows that women’s use of SNS fell in 2014, while men’s use of SNS rose from 62% in 2013 to 72% in 2014.

Figure 2. Ages of all users of social networking sites, September 2015
(Figure 2 was constructed based on the data analyzed).

Figure 2 depicts the ages of the users of SNS in September 2014. There are noticeable differences, as adult users from ages 18-29 tend to utilize social networking sites compared to adults ages 50 and older. It is vital to see that those who made less than $30,000 a year used 79 percent of social networking sites than those who made $75,000 and more.

Social Media a Mechanism for Voting

Social media is a major aspect of the process, which utilizes voters to discuss their ballot choice, particularly for young voters. Rainie Lee (2012), the director of Internet, Science and Technology at the Pew Research Center, argued that 22% of registered voters have informed “others on how they voted on a social networking site such as Facebook or Twitter”. Rainie (2012) further argued that, during the 2012 presidential elections, 25% of voters posted that Barack Obama was their presidential preference and 20% of Romney’s supporters did so as well.

Voters' Medium of Communications | Barack Obama | Mitt Romney
Face-to Face-Communication | 29% | 35%
Post on SNS/Twitter | 25% | 25%
Phone Calls | 17% | 18%
Emails | 12% | 15%
Texts | 6% | 7%

Table 2. Medium of communication on Social Networking Sites During Voting
(Table 2 was constructed based on the data analyzed on Pew Research Center/Lee Rainie).

When it comes to voting, there are no partisan differences from what individuals are hearing from their families or friends with various mediums of communications (Raine 2012) (see Table 2). Rainie argued that there was an equal share of registered voters who were “encouraged by their families and friends to vote for each of the candidate” with each medium of communication. Table 2 illustrates voters’ channels of communication during the 2012 presidential elections between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. Table 2 demonstrates that face-to-face was the dominant medium of communication during the elections and the latter form of communication was texting. Figure 3 below gave a clearer trend of the various medium of communications used by voters.

Figure 3. Percentage of people who heard from family and friends on how to vote
(Figure 3 was constructed based on the data analyzed by Pew Research Center/Lee Rainie).

From an epistemological stance, it is fundamental to clearly indicate that registered voters who heard from their families and friends via SNS on how to vote was 25% for both presidential candidates as depicted on Figure 3. Social media played a vital role in the 2012 presidential elections. Texting was 6% for Obama and 7% for Romney; despite this low trend of face-to-face communication for both candidates, texting did contribute as the medium of communication that facilitates the election between users of SNS. It should be noted from an empirical stance that phone call also plays a big role in encouraging persons to vote for both candidates. Obama had 17% and Romney had 18% of those who informed their family or friends to vote for each of the candidates as showed in Figure 3 above. Having explored the importance of SNS during elections, it now vital to examine the issues that are associated with users’ privacy on SNS and the threats associated with it.

Privacy

With the growing popularity and expansion of SNS, there have been numerous concerns about the privacy of the users (Hargittai & Ellison, 2007) and with the safety of users. Over the years, there had been various research and investigations of probable threats related to SNS. However, these threats to users’ privacy include the ability to fabricate users’ Social Security numbers by making use of users’ information found in their profile (Hargittai, 2007). Concerning the amount of information put in on the SNS, it was argued that Facebook users feel they are protected in contrast to Myspace users. On the other hand, Facebook users are more eager to share information (Ellison, 2007). The issues of privacy between SNS were addressed; however, the solution was not fully addressed by Hargittai & Ellison (2007). Ellison noted that SNS confront legal formulations of privacy referring to the U.S. Constitution and legal decisions were not formulated to address the issues of privacy in SNS. On the contrary, Hargittai’s view of privacy did not specify or indicate any solution on the way forward to protect users’ privacy, which is fascinating because the issue of user protection was mentioned in the opening without any future reference or suggestions. Various users of SNS had the notion that their privacy is protected by the SNS they access, but only to find out that they are not protected. On the other hand, users knowing that their privacy is important still are not vigilant to protect their profile (Dwyer, Passerini & Hiltz, 2007). There have been various men and women whose names are in their SNS profiles and are not secured again; users feel safer on Facebook, compared to Myspace, with no reason identified (Nehmad & Fogel, 2008). There are numerous examples of a user’s information that are threatened and need privacy. Table 2 below shows some of the information that users disclosed on SNS. It is fascinating that all three social networking sites have similar identities that requested users to disclose their identities (see Table 3 below).

Identical Elements | Facebook | Myspace | Friendster
Name | Yes | Yes | Yes
Email Address | Yes | Yes | Yes
Physical Address | Yes | No | No
Phone Numbers | Yes | No | No
Academic Classification | Yes | No | No
Major | Yes | No | No
Website/RSS | Yes | No | Yes
Academic Status | Yes | No | No
Gender | Yes | Yes | Yes
Hometown | Yes | Yes | Yes
Birthday | Yes | Yes | Yes
Photos | Yes | Yes | Yes
Friend Network | Yes | Yes | Yes
Group Affiliation | Yes | Yes | Yes
Sexual Orientation | Yes | Yes | Yes
Relationship Status | Yes | Yes | Yes
Interests | Yes | Yes | Yes
Job/Occupation | Yes | Yes | Yes
Favorite Music | Yes | Yes | Yes
Favorite Book | Yes | Yes | Yes
Favorite Movies | Yes | Yes | Yes
Personal Statement | Yes | Yes | Yes
Favorite TV Shows | No | Yes | Yes
School Information | Yes | Yes | Yes
Zip Code | Yes | Yes | Yes
Country | No | Yes | Yes

Table 3. Identify Elements Disclosed by Users on Three Social Networking Sites
(Table 3 was constructed/adapted based on data analyzed from Stutzman’s 2006 pilot study).

It is important to note that users could again gain easy access to profiles of friends, and strangers as well. Nevertheless, some users are not aware of the threats to their profile information such as age, name, grades, photos, countries, and many more (Hasib, 2009 & Nair, 2007). These threats to users are due to the exposure of their personal information such as their names, physical address and many more (see Table 3 above) that could be considered vulnerable to the fabricator. Face recognition poses a threat because users’ faces could be connected with images across the web. An example is called "pseudo-anonymous dating," which is used in collecting more information about the user (Hasib, 2009; Rachter Strater, 2007). The majority of SNS did not have the protecting tools such as the "Content Based Image Retrieval (CBIR)" which "is an emerging technology which is able to match features, such as identifying aspects of a room (e.g., a painting) in very large databases of images and thus increases the possibilities of locating the users" (Hasib, 2009). Until this system is implemented by numerous SNS, the threat to privacy will continue, thereby exposing users to more breaches of security. There is another major problem users confront, which is the inability to permanently delete information from SNS. This means that, once the information is out there, it cannot be taken back. Users lose the ability to manage their information. The lost information could possibly be used as "digital dossiers" (Hasib, 2009).

Archiving of Information by Government/Trust

Americans are concerned about the information that is made public and the information collected and archived by the U.S government, to be precise. In 2014, Mary Madden and Lee Rainie (2015) carried out a survey to find out if the public trusts their information that has been archived by government agencies. Rainie consulted eleven entities, including credit card companies, government agencies and social media sites. According to the findings, only 6% of individuals noted that they were "very confident" that the information to be archived and maintained by the government was secure and 25% said that they were somewhat confident. There were 76% of adults that indicated "they are not confident or not at all confident" that the documentation of their activities archived by "online advertiser who place ads on the websites they visit" would stay private and secure. Sixty percent of adults indicated that they had no confidence that their records preserved by "search engine providers will remain private and secure" (Madden and Rainie, 2015, 2). There were 66% of adults who said that they were "confident that their activities collected by online video sites" will be archived and stay private.

Corporate Espionage

As the growing threat on social networking sites continues, organizations are faced with the vulnerability of social engineering attacks on corporate Information Technology (IT) infrastructure. Hasib (2009) argues that corporations face the risk of losing their intellectual property, and that obtaining insider information can likewise be an element in a "broader range of other crimes, such as hacking to damage, blackmailing" (Hasib 2009, p. 291) of staff to disclose sensitive customer information and even to gain admittance to physical assets.

Conclusion

Based on reviewing various literature on Social Networking and SNS, there has been a growing trend in using SNS for sharing information, communicating with peers and in both corporate and private lives. However, the biggest issues that lie for the future of SNS is the issue of privacy. Users are the victims of impersonation and their information is being exposed to the public, creating more threats to privacy. On the other hand, users should also bear the responsibility of reading the policies and privacy settings while accessing, sharing or detecting information. Organizations are also threatened with the issue of privacy and security breaches to their staff, customers’ information being hacked and risk of losing their intellectual property through hacking to damage or blackmailing of their staff (Hasib 2009, 291). SNS have not implemented security measures, and as such, users should do so because users need to be protected while accessing or using SNS. For this venue to go on as an asset to users’ lives, users should be able to trust the sites to protect their privacy. This pertains especially to large and much - used sites such as Facebook, Friendster and Myspace.

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Luo, Lili. (2010). “Social Networking Websites: An Exploratory Study of Student Peer Socializing in an Online LIS.”

Secker, J. (2007). “Social Software, Libraries and distance learners: literature review.” Available at: http://clt.lse.ac.uk/Projects/LASSIE_lit_review_draft.pdf (Assessed 18th September 2010).

Stutzman, F. (2006). “An Evaluation of Identity-Sharing Behavior in Social Network Communities.” Journal of the International Digital Media and Arts Association, 3 (1), 10-18.

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Hargittai, E. (2007). “Whose space? Differences among users and non-users of social network sites.” Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13(1), article 14. http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol13/issue1/hargittai.htm.

Jank, David. 2010. “Toward a unifying ontology for human information interaction.” Canadian Journal of Information and Library Science, 34(4): 403–432.

Dwyer, C; Passerini, K & Hiltz, S. R (2007). “Trust and privacy concern within social networking sites: A comparison of Facebook and Myspace.” Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS) AMCIS 2007 Proceedings.

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Appendices

Appendix 1 – Facebook Website https://www.facebook.com/ (Last accessed December 29, 2015).

Appendix 2 – Friendster Website (Former website) https://www.facebook.com/friendster/photos/a.10150320063435646.564057.68585185645/68585280645/?type=3&theater (Last accessed December 29, 2015).

Appendix 3 – Friendster Website http://www.friendster.com/ (Last accessed December 29, 2015).

Appendix 4 – Friendster Website http://www.pewinternet.org/2014/03/11/world-wide-web-timeline/ (Accessed December 30, 2015).

Appendix 5 – Myspace Website https://myspace.com/myspace/ (Last accessed December 29, 2015).

Notes

[1] Boyd & Ellison (2007), Luo (2010), & Steinfield et al (2008).

Censorship in the School Library: four reasons to consider and some ideas to promote Intellectual Freedom

Carla Ollé Vera

carla_olle@hotmail.com

University of Barcelona

Keywords:School Library, Collection Development, Censorship, Intellectual Freedom, Information Society

Abstract

The School Library is a center that provides free access to knowledge to all students in the school community. For this reason, is essential that a School Library has materials, which cover all the areas of knowledge, in addition to offering educational resources and activities to encourage reading. However, there are many differences and opinions when it comes to choosing what material formed the collection of the School Library. In contrast to a Public Library, the selection criterion and collection development of a School Library is based on a more disorganized base, unbalanced and with less budget available, a fact that inadvertently leads to the lack of relevant documents, and consequently to less Intellectual Freedom.

In order to carry out this article we will summarize these differences in four basic ideas that will help librarians to find what they can do to promote information without limits. The first reason is that many school libraries do not receive the necessary attention and are completed without following any criteria whether quantitative (remove duplicate or expand sections) or qualitative (deliver current and attractive books, that call the attention and fit the profile of users).

Consecutively, an obstacle that hinders the good balance of the fund is usually the lack of budget. This leads that many School Libraries have to complete the library collection with cheaper methods, like donations, exchanges or own development funds.

On the other hand, the promotion of independent and collaborative learning through ICT (information and communications technology) has been a process underdeveloped in the School Library, despite knowing that using ICT is easier to promote the development of the information society and create strategies that promote access to democracy and support for education. Once again, the lack of budget and time in the School Library prevents that, today, there is not yet a complete, structured and democratic access to information in some School Libraries, which has the paper to promote the principles of Intellectual Freedom and provide unrestricted access.

Last but not least, the objectivity and neutrality are extremely important in procurement policies. In 2001 Reichman pointed that is difficult to carry out a task of selection when work not only lies with the responsible person of the school library, but are also valued the opinions of other members of the educational community: teachers, parents, and especially users the library itself. According to Yáguez (2006) this implies a conflict of ideas and values, as well as a greater number of perceptions and convictions (religious, political, moral, etc) that hinder the task of selection and acquisition, leading to censorship.

On balance, these are the main points that cause tension and distortion in a School Library as regards the aspects to equal opportunity of access to information and culture. Although every document must take place in a Library by the principle of Intellectual Freedom, we know that in many cases this it is not and for this reason, in this article, we will show a sample of examples to support and promote Intellectual Freedom.

Introduction

Education is one of the most important tools in a society because it allows to transmit the knowledge to live together in democracy and respect, it promotes culture, promotes social cohesion and creates wealth in the country. Getting develop a successful education is the biggest advantage that a country can get and, therefore, their citizens. A successful country is a reflection of a good education, free and respectful, living side by side in diversity and equality. So, ensure that all citizens receive a quality education and the access to culture must be affordable service to everyone, without any kind of distinction.

On the other hand, as the Manifesto UNESCO / IFLA School Library says, when librarians and teachers work together, students achieve higher levels in skills to read, learn, solving problems and basic computer skills of technology Information and communication. However, many school boards decree censor books in your library to "protect students" and they make restrictive and authoritarian decisions in the selection of materials for their students, violating democratic principles of education.

Accordingly, the school library plays an important role in the education system, meaning that the school library is the place where they contribute to promote reading and where students access to information and other resources for learning different areas and subjects.

Thus, a library has to provide access to information in a transparent manner without undergoing any kind of ideological, political or religious censorship, and without commercial pressures. Similarly, the services provided in the school library must also provide access to all members of the school community equally, without any type of distinction which hinders learning and / or knowledge.

The school library is one of the centers to access to knowledge that children have at their fingertips. If we get that this center guarantees equal opportunity of access to information and culture, this will be a first step to defend intellectual freedom. That's why in a school library is essential that there are materials that cover different areas of knowledge, in addition to offering educational resources and activities to encourage reading. However, there are many differences and opinions when it comes to choosing what material will form the collection of the school library. This article will summarize these differences and will provide ideas to promote the solution to the problems of freedom and ideological censorship.

Submission of ideas

There is a set of issues that cause tension and distortion at the time of organize a school library and therefore, these contribute to impede and obstruct equal opportunity to access to information and culture. Each of these aspects can be summarized in four basic ideas:

First idea: the fund management

One of the first ideas that bring us to an example of this type is born in the fund management of the library. It should be noted that many school libraries do not receive the necessary attention from professionals or dynamic teams between parents and teachers. Consequently, these libraries are completed without following any criteria. Whether quantitative, such us eliminate the duplicate copies or, conversely, duplicate copies that everybody knows that will be required reading and will have greater impairment. Also, expand sections so that users can relate to a literary genre. On the other hand, the qualitative criterions, like for example, offer current books that draw attention and adapt to the profile of our users.

Although every document must take place in a library by the principle of intellectual freedom, we know that in many cases this is not the case. A library must not only be provided with a lot of materials, but also that they are varied and provide open access to ideas. These materials must bring different opposing views and have to be chosen without any screening that violates the fundamental rights of intellectual freedom recognized in the universal Declaration of Human Rights.

If the library is run and managed by a librarian and not a teacher, it will be an advantage for everyone. For the profession, as it will undoubtedly create a workplace. For school, as it will improve the functionality of this service and renew the vision of the school as long as the library is used as a space for dissemination of activities, culture and democracy. For the students, as they will have a place of permanent access to information throughout the school hours. For teachers, who will receive another professional between them that will help convey the importance of the library to the whole school community. Finally, it will also be an advantage for parents, which will have another figure in the school whom to contact when they need reading programs to promote in their children or when they need books and cannot afford the cost of buying.

In 2001 Reichman pointed that is difficult to carry out a task of selection when the responsible person of the school library has to value the opinions of other members of the educational community: teachers, parents, and especially users the library itself. But we have to see and value the advantages of involving all families in the management of funds, the purchase of books, the participation in cultural activities that will undoubtedly open discussions between families and peers about the equality between people and sex, war, freedom of expression and worship, etc. What school subject can deal so detailed and open way these concepts of intellectual freedom, but?

The school librarian, therefore, has to encourage and invite to all school community to work together.

Second idea: the budget

The second idea has to do with the budget. The regular budget of the schools should look to their school library and integrate it within the school to provide an adequate and continued budget to exercise their functions. Only then will it be possible to reach a good school library, ensure free access to information and the necessary technological tools to all users. Therefore, it depends heavily on the budget that goes to the library so that it can fulfill with their functions.

The costs of a school library are diverse, so it should have with a proper and sufficient budget in order to make new purchases of materials, but also engage in activities to promote the library.

Unfortunately, the school libraries in Spain "are designed as an optional and complementary service to teaching duties" (Gómez J.A, 1998) where the economic ordinary schools budget has not provided according to the library as dictated by international recommendations IFLA UNESCO.

This problem has generated difficulties to maintain good balance of the fund of many libraries, making that many of them have to complete their collection with cheaper methods, from donations, exchanges or funds homemade.

To solve this problem it is necessary to involve the importance of school library to the whole school community and offer the 10% of the budget that a public school receives for the library. So it is very important to ensure that the entire school community has been able to identify the needs of the library and then agree on a new allocation of this budget with the library.

Third idea: Information and Communication Technologies

It is important to mention the use of information technology in the school library. The promotion of independent and collaborative learning through ICT (information and communications technology) has been recently developed a process in school libraries, despite knowing that using ICT is easier to develop society information and develop strategies that promote access to democracy and support for education.

Many countries have made an investment in developing technologies within the environment of the school library. In Spain, the outlook is bleak and we watched with envy with respect to other countries. There is no money to invest in a technological

renovation of the materials, and the draft training is not go far enough knowing the current needs of the students. So once again, the lack of budget is latent in the School Library. This prevents that, today, don’t exist yet a complete, structured and democratic access to information, which promotes the principles of intellectual freedom and provides access without restrictions.

Currently, the new information society has seen a change in the way of getting information, which has exponentially increase the information we have available and accessible because of the emergence of the Internet. The school should be responsible in educating their students to organize, find and understand the entire volume of information they disposed freely and simply with the aim of promoting democracy and in turn, train competent and autonomous people. As Rodriguez and Planchuelo (2004) consider, the school must train people who know how to discern and make cooperative work, taking part in two major areas: the thoughtful use of technology and the development of information skills.

Fourth idea: the objectivity and neutrality

Last but not least, the objectivity and neutrality are extremely important aspects of purchasing policies. Is difficult to carry out a task of selection when work not only lies with the person responsible for the school library, but are also valued the opinions of other members of the educational community: teachers, parents, and especially the users of the library itself. This implies a conflict of ideas and values, as well as a greater number of perceptions and convictions (religious, political, moral, etc) that hinder the task of selection and acquisition, leading to censorship.

To censure materials or books in a library means isolate and reject a field of knowledge and culture to a group of people. Therefore, we are talking about an antidemocratic fact, by the simple act of removing information that has been deemed inappropriate by a few people and for undemocratic reasons, who shows a civically incorrect behavior. These decisions often lack sustenance and are performed without general participation, doing from incoherently and unhappy actions and based, specially, on the personal opinion of some stakeholders.

As stated Amy Guttman (2001) a policy of censorship of books has to follow a democratic line, the result of a deliberative process that considers the pros and cons of the content of the book you want to censor. To my knowledge, no book should be restricted because it can provide valid information to foster democratic education, and ultimately, to show alternative views to be respected equally. In any case, censorship must be done unanimously, where all parties are present and leading to an absolute and democratic decision on what to do with information that is considered objectionable.

Conclusions

The school library is a space within the field of education that has to provide free access to ideas and act as a diffuser center of culture, bringing books with conflicting viewpoints in order to promote democracy and tolerance of all human beings.

To run this first conception, it is vital that there is an agreement between the different deliberative bodies of this community. One of the most important conclusions in this article that it is worth to note is the importance of cooperation of the school community.

According to Yáguez (2006) this implies a conflict of ideas and values, as well as a greater number of perceptions and convictions (religious, political, moral, etc) that hinder the task of selection and acquisition, leading to censorship. But I get the conclusion that with an appropriate parent and teacher’s involvement, we have nothing to lose and everything to gain. The group of people who form the school network (parents, children, teachers, librarians, etc) should promote and ensure work in harmony, where all views and opinions have place in a free and public sphere where students learn democratically. This is the most practical and simple way to break with censorship. The educational effort of an entire community is one that will be fighting for change and freedom in the forms of education.

Hereupon, the cooperative and participatory model of adults will contribute to young learners to be interested in knowing the reasons for controversy ideas, and so these concepts will be incorporated into a more productive, didactic and natural education, better than the traditional method of education.

Furthermore, if we continue pulling the thread, that fact would lead more students frequenting the library and they could think to study there. Possibly, the library would become the space of dissemination of cultural activities of the school and the students would frequented it and they would go to work in a team or even they would go to visit those books that someday, someone said to censor.

I would like to finish this article with one of the opinion of the clinical psychologist Kerry Paul Altman, who has remarked in his article that “banning books is the first step toward autocratic control of thought and creativity” because an uncensored opportunity for reading offers the best hope for the development of thought and spirit of our youth.

References

Altman, K.P. (2001). School Book Bans: Sense or Censorship? Retrieved December 2, 2015 from: https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2001/08/09/school-book-bans-sense-or-censorship/37a537b0-7e0b-40c8-93e3-c76c17769342/.

Gómez, J. A. (1998). El proceso de organización de la biblioteca escolar: del modelo a la aplicación. Murcia: Universidad. Facultad de Ciencias de la Documentación.

Guttman, A. (2001). La educación democrática: una teoría política de la educación. Barcelona: Paidos.

Reichman, H. (2001). Censorship and Selection: Issues and Answers for Schools. Chicago: American Library Association.

Rodríguez M. J. & Planchuelo D. (2004). Educación, Biblioteca y TIC en la Sociedad de la Información: reto y compromiso. Boletín de la ANABAD, 54, 339-362.

Schultz-Jones, B., Oberg, D (ed). (2015). IFLA School Library Guidelines. Retrieved December 1, 2015 from: http://www.ifla.org/files/assets/school-libraries-resource-centers/publications/ifla-school-library-guidelines.pdf.

Yáguez, E. (2006). Guía práctica para el desarrollo y dinamización de la Biblioteca Escolar en secundaria. Madrid: Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia.

The Role of Social Factors in the Design of Information Systems and Services for Open Data

Danielle Pollock and Suzie Allard

dpolloc2@vols.utk.edu, sallard@utk.edu

University of Tennessee, College of Communication and Information, Knoxville, TN, United States

Keywords: Open Data, Data Sharing, Social Factors, Information Systems, Information Technology

Abstract

Open data facilitates data sharing (Tenopir et al., 2015). Data sharing and scientific collaboration can improve how science is conducted by providing more observations for study, which can increase understanding of important and complex issues such as climate change and social disparities, which transcend national boundaries. Open data supports open society by allowing all members of society, scientific experts as well as non-experts, access to foundational data. Librarians and other information professionals are finding their role expanding to cover tools, systems, and services to support open data access. Open data requires a powerful set of tools and systems that will be used by a diverse set of stakeholders, including scientists, decision makers, and the public. Designing these tools and systems to be effective for the open sharing of scientific research data requires an understanding of the technical challenges related to creating, using, managing, and sharing data sets (Jirotka, Lee, & Olson, 2013). Perhaps most importantly the design requires an understanding of the social factors that impact and are impacted by design choices, such as researchers’ disciplinary norms, values, collaborative practices, and concerns related to standards and trust in the context of scientific work (Voss, Asgari-Targhi, Procter, & Fergusson, 2010). In addition to scientific experts, designers also have to consider the values, needs, and practices of non-expert users, such as policy makers, members of the public, and other stakeholders. Information systems and technology play a role in both addressing and shaping the social elements of data creation, data reuse, and distributed collaboration. For librarians and other information professionals supporting open data sharing and scientific collaboration, this paper discusses how these social factors can be identified in different contexts and presents a model to inform the design of information systems and services.

Introduction

Scientific data sharing, or the practice of intentionally making the data resulting from scientific research available for access and reuse by others, is an increasingly important part of the scholarly communication process (Tenopir et al., 2015). A number of forces are shaping scientists’ data sharing practices, including a growing movement toward open access to scholarly research, the sheer amount of data being collected, the increasingly interdisciplinary nature of some scientific fields, and new mandates from publishers, governments, and funding agencies requiring that research data be made available (Poole, 2015).Benefits to sharing research data include avoiding duplication of scholarly effort, increased potential for new discoveries from analysis of existing data, and identification of errors in the scholarly record (Tenopir et al., 2015). For individual researchers, data sharing can lead to increased research impact and recognition of contribution (Borgman, 2015; Dallmeier-Tiessen et al., 2014).Making data publicly available not only increases the transparency of scientific research, but also its potential impact, and can lead to new areas for economic growth and innovation (OSTP, 2013).

Librarians and other information professionals have begun to recognize the importance of systems and services for addressing data needs and some are finding their role expanding to cover support for data management and access (Tenopir, Birch, and Allard, 2012). In the case of open data, this requires a powerful set of systems and services that will be used by a diverse group of stakeholders, including scientists, decision makers, and the public.

Open Data in the United States and Europe

Open data allows researchers to conduct research that reproduces previous results, which is an important part of the scientific process, and also to utilize data intensive approaches that can reveal new insights and lead to innovation. Researchers in both academe and business benefit from using open data. The move towards data intensive analysis may be called the —fourth paradigm which references the changes in the scientific process as instrumentation changes(Hey, Tansely, &Tole, 2009) or —big data which references the nature of the data sets and the tools used to analyze them (NSF, 2012).

Open data facilitates data sharing, and the culture of data sharing is growing. These changes are reported in findings from a study of changes in the attitudes of scientists towards data sharing and their data sharing behaviors from 2009 to 2014 (Tenopir et.al, 2015). This study was conducted among researchers from around the world, although the largest proportions of respondents are from the United States. The study found (1) researchers are much more willing to share and reuse data than they had been in the past and (2) researchers are more likely to believe that lack of data access is an impediment to science. Nearly 40% of these researchers report that their funding agency has requirements for data management plans which often include components related to open data.

The last decade has seen nations around the world recognize the importance of data and they are responding by developing policies to encourage or require researchers conducting federally funded studies to make their data open (Allard, 2012). Mandates for open access have generally focused on science and social science data, although there is a growing interest in cultural heritage data as well.

Individual countries throughout the European Union (EU) are addressing the open data challenge within their own borders, often through their national research foundations. For example, Germany’s DeutscheForschungsgemeinschaft began a program in 1998 entitled —Proposals for Safeguarding Good Scientific Practice, and in 1987, the Netherlands established the SamenwerkendeUniversitaireRekenFaciliteiten which includes a focus on scholarly communication, including data. In 2004, the United Kingdom established the

Digital Curation Center which notes that it believes —good research needs good data. EU countries are also participating in some collective activities. Twenty-three countries are listed in the European Union Open Data Portal, which is managed by the Publications Office of the EU. This portal provides distributed search capabilities across the open data holdings of each of these countries.

In the United States (U.S.), a federal directive, —Increasing Access to the Results of Federally Funded Scientific Research was published in February 2013 calling for open access to data that was collected using federal funding (OSTP, 2013). In May 2013, the White House issued the executive order —Making Open and Machine Readable the New Default for Government Information, which instructed federal agencies to develop plans to promotes open access to data (White House, 2013). The accompanying memorandum (OMB m-13-13) identified uniform guidelines for the agencies to use as they constructed their policies to improve access and use of the data across the agencies.

Open data has value to more than scientific experts. The increased accessibility means it may now be used by others groups such as policy makers, members of the public, and researchers in domains beyond the —home domain in which it was collected. Information system designers also have to consider the values, needs, and practices of non-expert users. Information systems and technology play a role in both addressing and shaping the social elements of data creation, data reuse, and distributed collaboration.

Therefore open data requires a powerful set of tools and systems that will be used by a diverse set of stakeholders, including scientists, decision makers, and the public. For example open data must be verifiable and persistent in order to be trusted, meaning there must be tools that provide an easy means to test the quality of the data both when it is being saved and when it is being retrieved. Tools are needed to handle the data throughout the data lifecycle.

Considering Social Factors in the Design of Systems and Services for Open Data

Designing effective tools and systems for the open data requires an understanding of the technical challenges related to creating, using, managing, and sharing data sets (Jirotka, Lee, & Olson, 2013). Designs also requires understanding the social factors that impact and are impacted by design choices, such as researchers’ disciplinary norms, values, collaborative practices, and concerns related to standards and trust in the context of scientific work (Voss, Asgari-Targhi, Procter, & Fergusson, 2010).

Information systems and technology play a role in both addressing and shaping the social elements of data creation, data reuse, and distributed collaboration. Studies in the information science literature that have focused on the role of these social elements in the design and use of technologies for data sharing have typically been informed by often-overlapping perspectives from three different subfield fields: computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW), science and technology studies (STS), and user experience and usability.

Studies of data sharing infrastructure from a Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) perspective focus on understanding the contexts of collaborative work processes, in this case the contexts of data-intensive, distributed science, in order to design systems and technologies that can better support them(Jirotka et al., 2013). Science and Technology Studies (STS) is concerned with the interaction between science as a social practice and technology, focusing on —how computers both shape and are shaped by human actions (Van House, 2004). While the focus of CSCW research is to first understand researchers’ collaboration practices in order to better design tools and systems to support them, STS research focuses on the mutual impact of infrastructure and scientists’ cultural and social practices in shaping each other (Van House, 2004). Studies of data sharing infrastructure from a user experience (UX) perspective focus on users’ needs and how users experience the infrastructure in the contexts of their interaction with it (Michener et al., 2012; Voss et al., 2010). In the case of open data, the infrastructure needs to support use by multiple stakeholder groups, including experts, who may be from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds, policymakers, and members of the general public.

There are many areas where infrastructure design choices both impact and are impacted by social factors. The questions of how to classify objects, and which standards and metadata to use for data sharing are inevitably socially negotiated, and once made, become entrenched in the infrastructure and impact how data can be accessed and used (Bowker, 2000; Jirotka et al., 2013). Design decisions can support or hinder collaboration behaviors, and systems may need to support both synchronous and asynchronous collaboration activities by multiple user groups, at all stages of the data lifecycle (Michener et al., 2012; Voss et al., 2010). Data types and practices vary between research communities, and infrastructure designed for multi-stakeholder collaboration and sharing must take this into account, including the possibility that the same system may be used for heterogeneous data types, and for open data, as well as data to which access may be limited due to privacy and other concerns (Borgman, 2015). Policy requirements not only shape whether and how data are shared, they also impact both design requirements and the availability of funding for data sharing tools and services (Bowker, 2000; Voss et al., 2010). Differences in attitudes toward data sharing and reuse exist between researchers, and these as well as issues related to trust, also inform and are impacted by design decisions, such as whether a system provides sufficient quality control or information to allow users to determine the provenance of data sets (Poole, 2015; Tenopir, 2015). Other social practices and norms may also influence open data sharing, and these can vary by users’ role, discipline, organizational affiliation, and location.

The model presented in Figure 1 reflects the current state of data infrastructure design practice. Information professionals, their work informed by CSCW, STS, and UX research, create and interact directly with the infrastructure itself. They are familiar with its technical capabilities. Their disciplinary perspectives, which consider user needs and use context, make the infrastructure itself somewhat transparent, in that these professionals are able to take a view that allows them to see past the technologies and systems to view users’ activities and the social factors shaping those activities. The users of the infrastructure do not see the infrastructure itself, or its designers. Instead, their interactions with it are shaped by their needs and specific tasks related to data sharing, mitigated by the social factors that shape these needs and activities.

Figure 1: A Model Representing Users’ and Information Professionals’ Interaction with Infrastructure for Open Data, Including Mitigating Social Factors

In this model, users and systems designers do not interact directly. Figure 2 represents a different model for the design of open data systems and services. Here, the interactions between users and designers are not entirely mitigated by the proposed or existing infrastructure. Information professionals interact directly with users in in order to get an understanding of their needs and the contexts in which they work they go beyond their direct interaction with the system.

Figure 2: A Second Proposed Model for Users’ and Information Professionals’ Interaction with Infrastructure for Open Data

This view enables designers to get a better understanding of who the various stakeholders groups using the system are; to consider needs, uses, and contexts that might not be apparent when examining data practices that are already shaped by existing system design, and to identify when user needs and the contexts of use change. For librarians and other information professional whose work includes the design of systems and services, the information gained by these connections will directly inform their work. Making these connections goes beyond traditional usability testing. It can, for example, involve a participatory design approach in which user communities are identified and engaged in decision-making at the very beginnings of the design process, and in which their perceptions, practices, and needs in regards to data sharing not only shape the initial design of infrastructure, but shape its continued evolution, as systems and services are reassessed to evaluate their continued effectiveness in meeting changing requirements and the needs of potential new user communities (Michener et al., 2012).

Librarians and information professionals who do not work directly with infrastructure design can still play a role in this process, and one that goes beyond assisting users in interacting with existing systems. Librarians have valuable skills to bring to cross-disciplinary, multi-institutional collaborations with diverse stakeholders, such as those required for designing systems for open data (Garcia-Milian et al., 2013).Librarians can play a role in helping forge connections by identifying stakeholders, facilitating communication between experts from various disciplinary backgrounds, and identifying user requirements, challenges, and unmet needs for both data management and data access. The skillsets of information professionals may allow them to offer valuable input into the design process. For example, librarians who are experienced with classification and metadata may be in an ideal position to offer expert advice on how decisions in these areas are likely to affect system usability and data accessibility for various categories of users.

Conclusion

As data sharing becomes an increasingly important part of the scholarly communication process, librarians and information professionals are likely to find that their roles will expand to involve supporting access to open data. To fill these roles effectively not only requires an understanding of the technical challenges involved in data management and sharing, but also an understanding of the social factors that shape scientists’, policymakers’, and other stakeholders’ interactions with open data. An approach to infrastructure design informed by perspectives from CSCW, STS, and UX research can help designers identify user communities, user needs, and the social factors—including the norms, standards, and practices—that shape data sharing and reuse. However, information professionals’ viewpoints should not just be limited to the infrastructure itself and to the users’ interactions with existing infrastructure. Direct engagement with stakeholders starting at the very beginnings of the design process allows for a more comprehensive understanding of the user communities impacted by systems and services for open data, and the social contexts in which they interact with data. Librarians and information professionals bring a unique skillset to facilitating this type of engagement and to ensuring that the needs of heterogeneous user communities are met in the design of systems and services.

References

Allard, S. (2012). National Data Management Initiatives & the U.S. Exemplar: DataONE. Interdisciplinary Data Science Education. In Xiao, N. (Ed.), e-Science, Data Management, and Primary Data, (pp. 47-67). Washington, D.C.:ACS Symposium Series, ACS Books. doi:10.1021/bk-2012-1110.ch004

Borgman, C. L. (2015). Big data, little data, no data: Scholarship in the networked world. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Bowker, G. C. (2000a). Biodiversity datadiversity. Social Studies of Science, 30, 643-683.doi:10.1177/030631200030005001

Dallmeier-Tiessen, S., Darby, R., Gitmans, K., Lambert, S., Matthews, B., Mele, S., . . . Wilson, M. (2014).Enabling sharing and reuse of scientific data. New Review of Information Networking, 19, 16-43.doi:10.1080/13614576.2014.883936

Garcia-Milian, R., Norton, H. F., Auten, B., Davis, V. I., Holmes, K. L., Johnson, M., & Tennant, M. R. (2013). Librarians as part of cross-disciplinary, multi-institutional team projects: Experiences from the VIVO Collaboration. Science & Technology Libraries, 32, 160–175.doi:10.1080/0194262X.2013.791183

Hey, T, Tansley, S., &Tole, K. (Eds.).(2009). The Fourth Paradigm: Data-intensive Scientific Discovery. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Research. Retrieved from http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/collaboration/fourthparadigm/4th_paradigm_book_complete_lr.pdf

Jirotka, M., Lee, C. P., & Olson, G. M. (2013). Supporting scientific collaboration: Methods, tools and concepts. Computer Supported Cooperative Work, 22, 667- 715. doi:10.1007/s10606-012-9184-0

Michener, W. K., Allard, S., Budden, A., Cook, R. B., Douglass, K., Frame, M., . . . Vieglais, D. A. (2012). Participatory design of DataONE: Enabling cyberinfrastructure for the biological and environmental sciences. Ecological Informatics, 11, 5-15. doi:10.1016/j.ecoinf.2011.08.007

National Science Foundation. (2012). Core Techniques and Technologies for Advancing Big Data Science& Engineering (BIGDATA).

Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). (2013, 22 February). Increasing access to the results of federally funded scientific research. Retrieved fromhttps://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/ostp_public_access_memo_2013.pdf

Poole, A.H. (2015). How has your science data grown?: Digital curation and the human factor: A critical literature review. Archival Science, 15, 101-139.doi:10.1007/s10502-014-9236-y

Tenopir, C., Birch, B., & Allard, S. (2012). Academic libraries and research data services: Current practices and plans for the future [White paper]. Association of College and Research Libraries. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/acrl/sites/ala.org.acrl/files/content/publications/whitepapers/Tenopir_Birch_Allard.pdf

Tenopir C., Dalton, E. D., Allard, S., Frame, M, Pjesivac, I., Birch, B., ... Dorsett, K. (2015). Changes in data sharing and data reuse practices and perceptions among scientists worldwide. PLoS ONE, 10(8). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0134826

Van House, N.A. (2004). Science and technology studies. Annual Review of Information Science and Technology, 38, 3-86. doi:10.1002/aris.1440380102

Van House, N. A., Butler, M. H., & Schiff, L. R. (1998). Cooperative knowledge work and practices of trust: Sharing environmental planning data sets. Proceedings of the 1998 ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work, 335-343.

Voss, A., Asgari-Targhi, M., Procter, R., & Fergusson, D. (2010). Adoption of e-Infrastructure services: Configurations of practice. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 368, 4161-4176. doi:10.1098/rsta.2010.0162

The White House. (2013, 9 May). Making open and machine readable the new default for government information. Retrieved fromhttps://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/05/09/executive-order-making-open-and-machine-readable-new-default-government-

Disseminating knowledge beyond scholarly journals: coverage of Library and Information Science literature in Wikipedia

Aida Pooladian and Ángel Borrego

Aida.pouladian@gmail.com, borrego@ub.edu

Universitat de Barcelona, Facultat de Biblioteconomia i Documentació

Melcior de Palau, 140; 08014 Barcelona (Spain)

Keywords:Altmetrics, Citations, Library and Information Science, Wikipedia

Abstract

Citations in Wikipedia have been suggested as a new altmetric source of evidence of the impact of scholarly outputs. This study measures the proportion of Library and Information Science (LIS) articles published between 2006 and 2014 cited in Wikipedia by the end of 2015. Results show that less than 3%of the LIS literature (405 articles) has been cited in Wikipedia. However, the ranking of LIS journals cited in Wikipedia is highly consistent with the ranking of journals according to its impact factor. The thematic diversity of Wikipedia entries citing LIS literature is indicative of the interdisciplinary of the field.

Introduction

Wikipedia, a blend of the words “wiki” –a technology that allows collaborative modification of a website– and “encyclopedia”, is a free online encyclopedia, written collaboratively by the people who use it. At present, Wikipedia is without contest the largest electronic encyclopedia in the world, accounting nearly 5 million articles in the English version alone and more than 1,000 new entries created every day.

In scholarly communication, altmetrics are non-traditional metrics proposed as an alternative to traditional citation impact metrics. Altmetrics cover other aspects of the impact of scientific works, such as the number of views, downloads, bookmarks or mentions in social media. The discussion of a scientific article in Wikipedia can be seen as a metric that partially captures the impact of the article. Contrary to other sources of altmetric data, such as social media, Wikipedia enforces among its “five pillars” [1] strict editorial guidelines striving for verifiable accuracy and citing reliable, authoritative sources that ensure quality and standard across all the encyclopedia articles. Citations do not only allow editors make their contributions verifiable by supporting them with trustworthy external sources, but also allow Wikipedia readers to locate further information on their topics of interest. Thus, citations in Wikipedia can be considered as an indication of the transfer of scholarly outputs to a wider audience.

Even before the coinage of the term “altmetrics” in 2010 (Priem, Taraborelli, Groth and Neylon, 2010), some authors had already explored the analysis of citations to scholarly sources included in Wikipedia. Nielsen (2007) was one of the first authors to examine citations in Wikipedia to articles in scholarly journals as a feature possibly indicative of Wikipedia entries quality. He extracted the journal titles from the cite journal template in all pages of the English version of Wikipedia and observed that Wikipedia citation numbers highly correlated with Journal Citation Reports (JCR)'s total number of citations to a journal. Wikipedia’s citation numbers correlated less with JCR's impact factor. Wikipedia citations also showed a slight tendency to cite articles in high–impact journals such as Nature and Science.

Rush and Tracy (2010) employed a different approach to analyze the presence of communication research in Wikipedia as a proxy to measure its public impact. They did not measure citations but entries of terms such as “communication”, “communication studies” and “communication theory”. They concluded that communication research had little impact in terms of online public accessibility.

More recently, a survey among a sample of bibliometricians who attended the 17th International Conference on Science and Technology Indicators (STI2012) showed that one-third (33.8%) believed that the number of Wikipedia links or mentions of an article could be of use in author or article evaluation (Haustein et al., 2014).

The interest in Wikipedia as a source of altmetric data is growing. In February 2015, Altmetric.com, a London-based start-up focused on tracking and analyzing the online activity around scholarly literature, announced that any mentions of articles and academic outputs in Wikipedia would now be reflected in a new „Wikipedia‟ tab on the Altmetric details page [2].

The aim of the current study is to explore the coverage of Library and Information Science (LIS) literature published between 2006 and 2014 in Wikipedia by the end of 2015. Specifically, the study aims:

to measure the proportion of LIS literature cited in Wikipedia,

to identify the LIS journals more frequently cited in Wikipedia and

to analyse the characteristics of Wikipedia entries that cite LIS literature.

Methods

In order to conduct the study we retrieved the 15,734 articles and reviews indexed in the category

“Information Science & Library Sciences” of the Social Sciences Citation Index in the Web of Science published during five years: 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014.

Afterwards, we searched individually each of these articles in Wikipedia and retrieved all the entries were LIS literature was cited. In order to do so, the advanced search feature of Google was employed, searching all the words in the article title and narrowing the results to those in the domain “wikipedia.org”. All the searches were conducted between October and December 2015.

Results

Proportion of LIS literature cited in Wikipedia

Overall, 2.57% (405 articles) of the LIS articles published between 2006 and 2014 and indexed in the Social Sciences Citation Index had been cited in Wikipedia by the end of 2015. As shown in Table 1, the largest percentage of LIS articles cited in Wikipedia correspond to those articles published in 2006 (3.46%), whereas the percentage declines as we approach the current year. This result was to be expected, since articles that are more recent have been available less time and, therefore, have had less time for being cited. Nearly all the LIS articles cited in Wikipedia (402 articles) were included in the reference section of Wikipedia entries written in English. Just three articles were cited in Wikipedia entries of versions in other languages.

Year | Articles in WoS | Articles cited in Wikipedia | % of articles cited in Wikipedia
2006 | 2,512 | 87 | 3.46
2008 | 2,960 | 101 | 3.41
2010 | 3,271 | 93 | 2.84
2012 | 3,557 | 79 | 2.22
2014 | 3,434 | 45 | 1.31
Total | 15,734 | 405 | 2.57

Table 1. LIS literature cited in Wikipedia by publication year.

LIS journals more frequently cited in Wikipedia

As stated above, 15,734 LIS articles published between 2006 and 2014 were searched in Wikipedia. These articles had been published in 92 journals. Out of these 92 journals, 67(72.83%) had been cited in Wikipedia at least once.

As shown in Table 2, the Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology is, by far, the LIS journal more frequently cited in Wikipedia: 42 of the articles published by the journal in the years considered had been included in the reference list of at least one Wikipedia entry by the end of 2015. Actually, this figure should be higher since, in 2014, the official name of the journal was changed to Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, which had been cited in Wikipedia six additional times as stated in the table.

It is interesting to note that the ranking of LIS journals cited in Wikipedia is quite similar to that of journals ranked by JCR‟s impact factor. If we compare the ranking of journals in Table 2 with the 2014 edition of the JCR, we observe that 11 of the 13 journals having nine or more citations in Wikipedia are in the first quartile of the JCR ranking. In other words, 11 of the top 13 journals in Table 2, that accumulate 48% of the citations in Wikipedia, are among the 25% of the journals with the highest impact factor in the field. The only exceptions are the Library Journal (10 citations in Wikipedia and classified in JCR‟s 3rd quartile) and the Journal of Scholarly Publishing (9 citations and classified in JCR‟s 4th quartile).

| Articles | %
Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology | 42 | 10.37
Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association | 26 | 6.42
Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication | 18 | 4.44
Scientometrics | 16 | 3.95
Information Processing & Management | 13 | 3.21
Journal of Health Communication | 13 | 3.21
International Journal of Information Management | 10 | 2.47
Library Journal | 10 | 2.47
Government Information Quarterly | 9 | 2.22
Information Systems Research | 9 | 2.22
International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning | 9 | 2.22
Journal of Informetrics | 9 | 2.22
Journal of Scholarly Publishing | 9 | 2.22
Electronic Library | 8 | 1.98
Information Research-An International Electronic Journal | 8 | 1.98
Journal of Information Science | 8 | 1.98
Journal of The Medical Library Association | 8 | 1.98
Telecommunications Policy | 8 | 1.98
International Journal of Geographical Information Science | 7 | 1.73
Scientist | 7 | 1.73
Information & Management | 6 | 1.48
Information Society | 6 | 1.48
Journal of Documentation | 6 | 1.48
Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology | 6 | 1.48
Journal of the Association for Information Systems | 6 | 1.48
Library Quarterly | 6 | 1.48
Social Science Computer Review | 6 | 1.48
Aslib Proceedings | 5 | 1.23
College & Research Libraries | 5 | 1.23
European Journal of Information Systems | 5 | 1.23
Journal of Academic Librarianship | 5 | 1.23
Learned Publishing | 5 | 1.23
Library Hi Tech | 5 | 1.23
Serials Review | 5 | 1.23
33 journals | 81 | 20.00
Total | 405 | 100.00

Table 2. LIS journals cited in Wikipedia.

Wikipedia entries citing LIS literature

Finally, we analyzed the characteristics of Wikipedia entries that cited LIS articles in their lists of references. As shown in Table 3, most Wikipedia entries citing LIS sources are biographical articles about individual persons that list basic facts (education, work, etc.) of someone. These biographies refer to well-known scholars in the field, such as Marcia J. Bates, Hope A. Olson or Tom Wilson, but also to academics in other fields.

The second category of Wikipedia entries citing LIS sources refer to technological issues such as “digital preservation”, “mobile device” or “user-generated content”. Additionally, we find Wikipedia entries dealing with issues more directly related to the field of LIS such as “bibliotherapy”, “prison library” or “reference desk”. The category “Sociology and Communication” refers to entries such as “sociology of the internet”, “spiral of silence” or “word of mouth” citing LIS literature. Additionally, we find substantial amounts of LIS articles cited in Wikipedia articles about scholarly communication and bibliometrics, including entries on “altmetrics”, “citation impact” or “h-index”. To a lesser extent, LIS literature is cited in Wikipedia entries dealing with health issues, products, projects, institutions or companies.

Category | Articles | %
Biography | 80 | 19.75
Technology | 65 | 16.05
Library and Information Science | 54 | 13.33
Sociology and Communication | 33 | 8.15
Scholarly Communication | 28 | 6.91
Bibliometrics | 26 | 6.42
Health | 23 | 5.68
Products and Projects | 21 | 5.19
Institutions and Companies | 19 | 4.69
Economics and Management | 16 | 3.95
Other | 40 | 9.88

Table 3. Categories of Wikipedia articles citing LIS literature.

Conclusions

Citations in Wikipedia have been proposed, among other altmetric indicators, as an alternative to traditional impact metrics. Thus, the citations of scientific articles in Wikipedia can be seen as a metric partially capturing the impact of the article beyond the academic community among a wider audience.

The results of this study suggest that, despite Wikipedia can provide new evidence of the impact of scholarly output beyond the scientific community, in societal and educational contexts, the amount of citations in Wikipedia is too small for research evaluation purposes. According to our results, less than 3% of the LIS literature published between 2006 and 2014 had been cited in Wikipedia by the end of 2015. These results are consistent with those provided by Kousha and Thelwall (2015) who found that only 5% of the articles indexed by Scopus between 2005 and 2012 had been cited in Wikipedia

Our results suggest a possible correlation between the number of Wikipedia citations received by a journal and the total amount of citations received by the publication, since the ranking of journals cited in Wikipedia is highly consistent with that of journals according to its impact factor.

Finally, the diversity of Wikipedia articles citing LIS literature is indicative of the interdisciplinarity of the field. This result is consistent with those presented by other authors who have analyzed this interdisciplinarity by measuring the citations received by LIS literature in other disciplines (Chang and Huang, 2011) or analyzing the variety of departments conducting research in LIS (Prebor, 2010).

References

Chang, Y., Huang, M. (2012). A study of the evolution of interdisciplinarity in library and information science: Using three bibliometric methods. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 63 (1), 22-33.

Haustein, S., Peters, I., Bar-Ilan, J., Priem, J., Shema, H., &Terliesner, J. (2014). Coverage and adoption of altmetrics sources in the bibliometric community. Scientometrics, 101 (2), 1145-1163.

Kousha, K., Thelwall, M. (2015). Are Wikipedia citations important evidence of the impact of scholarly articles and books? Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, in press.

Prebor, G. (2010). Analysis of the interdisciplinary nature of library and information science. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 42 (4), 256-267.

Priem, J., Taraborelli, D., Groth, P. &Neylon, C. (2010). Altmetrics: a manifesto. Retrieved November 9, 2015 from: http://altmetrics.org/manifesto/.

Samolenko, A. & Yasseri, T. (2014). The distorted mirror of wikipedia: A quantitative analysis of wikipedia coverage of academics. EPJ Data Science, 3 (1), 1-11.

Notes

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Five_pillars.

[2] http://www.altmetric.com/blog/new-source-alert-wikipedia/.

How Can Public Libraries Support Active Citizenship and Regional Vitality?
Case Study: Vallila Library, Helsinki City Library

Ph.D Harri Sahavirta

harri.sahavirta@hel.fi.

Helsinki City Library, Finland

Keywords:Active Citizenship, Public Service, Municipal Decision Making, Civic Engagement, Service Design

Abstract

In 2014, the mayor of Helsinki appointed Vallila library the task to develop new ideas how libraries could support citizens to realize their citizenship fully and enforce regional identity. A new service kit was designed and now Vallila library facilitate citizens’ participation in municipal decision making and help to use public services. The library also offers room for working and local events.

The insight was that the role of public libraries is changing. It has been said that libraries are not needed anymore because of digitization. However, libraries might become information centers where citizens can find information about public decision making and services and a get help when they need it (for example, if language or IT raises problems). Libraries should ensure that all are equal in front of web services.

In Vallila library, we based the service design on the analysis of main problems and solutions to them:

Municipal decision making. Finding information about the municipal decision making is not easy and it may be hard for citizens to find out how they could influence decision making.

Municipal and public services. The city offers many services but these are sometimes hard to find. Citizens are encouraged to use web services but a "24/7 open access" can become a hindrance if one is lacking the required know-how.

The solution: service guides who help to find municipal information and services – IT guides who help with technical problems.

Regional vitality. This concept may refer to many things which increase the attractiveness of neighborhoods or citizens’ possibilities to act.

The solution: space for local activities and a local coordinator who help local inhabitant’s associations (this is only planned by now).

A complementary approach to this schema was to analyze the main focus groups and their needs. This helped us to develop the service kit further:

For inhabitants: We offer guidance in finding information about municipal decision making and public services (service guides) but also technical support with digital devices and the Web (IT guides). Local information technology students work as IT guides.

For local associations: We offer room to work and for meetings (Urban Office) as well as guidance in finding information in municipal decision making and technical support, for example, in updating association’s web pages.

For entrepreneurs and freelancers: Vallila library offers room to work and for meetings (Urban Office) One can reserve a working table or a meeting room. Service guides and IT guides are available.

This paper discusses the designing and testing these new services. Moreover, it is claimed that libraries have had a quite narrow basement for service design. Services have been designed mainly to library card holders and information search has been understood as search of literature. Hence, a broader approach is needed.

In 2014, the mayor of Helsinki appointed Vallila library the task to develop new ideas how libraries could support citizens to realize their citizenship fully and enforce regional identity. The mayor wished that libraries would become "district lighthouses" i.e., centers for information and local activities. Thus, the aim was that citizens would find information about and access to municipal services from the library and that citizens could bring in new activities into the library. Moreover, the locations where libraries are situated should be in effective use.

This development project was assumed to be realized in cooperation with library users and local inhabitants. To meet this requirement, the project was begun by gathering a jury of locals. The jury met four times during autumn 2014 and worked ideas and wishes under the theme "Vallila library as the supporter of regional vitality". The jury consisted in 12 inhabitants (instead of intended 20 persons) who participated actively on developing work. All the ideas represented in this paper came from the jury in some form.

Consequently, a new service kit was designed in Vallila library during 2015 and now library facilitate citizens’ participation in municipal decision making and help to use public services – also help in information technology is available. Moreover, the library offers room for working and local events and meetings. To create a new service kit like this was quite a challenge for a small library. In this case study, ideas, problems and solutions concerning this project are introduced and discussed.

The mayor may have wished that libraries would become more efficient. In the Helsinki City Library, we had broader aims. The insight was that the role of public libraries is changing. It has been said that libraries are not needed anymore because of digitization. In a way, one can see this trend in practice: the circulation of CD’s and DVD’s has collapsed during the last five years – while there is still clear demand for books and especially children’s books. Nevertheless, libraries are not the same as twenty years ago. For example, the role of the collections has changed: web has replaced reference books and dictionaries and libraries do not attempt to create complete collections any more.

The ongoing changes mean that public libraries should found a new legitimization and new functions. There have been several attempts to do this but I will concentrate here only on our own project in Vallila. We tried several approaches.

It may be said that the project consisted in several approaches to create a new concept for small public libraries. The concept was supposed to include the traditional role of public libraries since our main use is still in accordance with this. People come in to read newspapers and borrow books while children love story telling. However, something extra is needed today.

Our first approach might be summarized as follows: libraries are information centers where citizens can find information about public decision making and services and a get help when they need it (for example, if language or IT raises problems). Libraries should ensure that all are equal in front of web services. This approach may be divided into two sub points:

Municipal decision making. Finding information about the municipal decision making is not easy and it may be hard for citizens to find out how they could influence decision making.

Municipal and public services. The city offers many services but these are sometimes hard to find. Citizens are encouraged to use web services but a "24/7 open access" can become a hindrance if one is lacking the required know-how.

To put it on the other way round, it may be difficult to find information about municipal services and decision making – but also the lack of technical skills may raise problems.

In a way public libraries have attempted to solve both of these problems: searching information (information retrieval) is in the core of library work and libraries have offered guidance on IT problems. However, information retrieval is usually seen as searching for literature, references or facts on some subject – not as searching for services. This seems to be also the conception which our users have. IT guidance, on the other hand, has been restricted on bigger libraries where there is more staff.

The jury suggested new solutions on both cases. First of all, it was agreed that many inhabitants have problem with IT technology, i.e., in using computers, mobile telephones and other devices. Thereafter, it was pointed out that there is a school nearby in which IT professionals are educated. The question was why cannot IT students come to the library and work as IT guides.

This idea was an immediate success. In Helsinki Business Collage, they liked the idea and accepted that working in a library as an IT guide could be accepted as part of the education. The students need practice in customer’s service and support and a library is an excellent place to gain that experience. In January 2015, the first IT Guide begun his practice in Vallila – and now there is IT guides in 23 libraries in Helsinki.

IT guides help with all the problems and questions one may have concerning digital devices but they do not repair anybody’s computers. Moreover, they assist on using the web and web services.

So, for example, one may create an e-mail address and learn to use it with an IT guide in the library. However, there are some legal restrictions and, for example, IT guides cannot take care of one bank affairs in the web.

One can reserve a time for IT guide or just ask if he or she is free at the moment. A part of the IT guide’s work is to assist users on library’s computers (the usual problems concern printing etc.).

Moreover, IT guides may work on the library desk. In Vallila, they take part of the ordinary library work – and gain even more experience in customer’s service.

The idea of IT guide is not brand new. However, before the IT guides have been available only in big libraries or in limited times. Now, a relatively small library can offer a full-time IT guide.

It was more difficult to arrange guidance on municipal services and offer an open access to municipal decision making. In Vallila, we introduced service guides whose task is to find information about decision making and services. This part of the project looked good on paper but, unfortunately, it confronted some problems.

It is evident that there is a demand for this kind of services. The jury noted that it is very difficult to find information about official plans and decisions concerning the district. And if one learns about the plans after the decision is made, it is usually too late influence the decision. Our librarians met the same problem: it was difficult for them too to find the relevant information.

Another difficulty was that the service was not recognized. IT guides had immediately reservations and it was very easy to inform about this new service: "we have an IT guide to help you" tells all about the service. The case was not as clear with the municipal service guides. In practice, the new service was not found.

Our next task is thus to redesign this service. One possible way to do that would be to search for a suitable focus group and offer the service for them. Thus, we will test a morning club for elderly people. The idea is again very simple: library can offer a place where elderly people can meet each other’s and in same time we can tell about our services, like IT guides and service guides.

Another possibility would be to offer locally tailored information about municipal decision making on our web pages and Facebook. This might make citizens familiar with the point that one can have this kind of information from libraries.

Our second approach to a new concept was to focus on the idea that public library should be a district lighthouse and supports the regional vitality. However, it is not self-evident what this means. Regional vitality could refer to many quite different things: a sport club may increase local activity as well as new working places. In short, regional vitality seems to mean that people have work and opportunity to study and to do things they like to do. In other words, it means that inhabitants in the district are active.

The emphasis on the district and local inhabitants let us to analyze our main focus groups and their needs. Here, the basic question was "who are the library users in our district?". Librarians like to emphasize that "public libraries are open to all" – now, this may be true, but it does not help us to design new services. The point is that there are very few services which are for everybody. And if a service is designed for all, there is the danger that it does not meet anybody’s needs.

Considering this question, we realized that that most of the library services are designed for library card holders (who live in the district). Library card holders, on the other side, are private persons who borrow books, or other items. However, also some groups can be library card holders, like school classes, who borrow books for the whole class. Another user group would be those who come to the library to read: newspaper readers and students.

If a library offers services for these groups, does it offer services for all in the district? Or do we drop out some local actors since they do not own a library card? For us, it seemed that we do. Thus, we begun to think what kind of services we could offer to local people, inhabitants – but also to local associations, entrepreneurs and freelancers. The answer was clear: associations, entrepreneurs and freelancers need room to work and have meetings.

This helped us to develop our service kit further. Vallila library offers:

For inhabitants: We offer established library services for locals; collections, events, newspapers, computers etc. Moreover, we have some new services, like guidance in finding information about municipal decision making and public services (service guides) but also technical support with digital devices and the Web (IT guides).

For local associations: We offer room to work and for meetings (Urban Office) as well as guidance in finding information in municipal decision making and technical support, for example, in updating association’s web pages.

For entrepreneurs and freelancers: We offer room to work and for meetings (Urban Office). One can reserve a working table or a meeting room. Service guides and IT guides are available.

Therefore, we rethought the focus groups and wanted to broaden our client base. In practice, this was done by creating an Urban Office to the library. We simply changed the old reading room into a modern urban office: there are three working tables which one can reserve for a day (and a locker for one’s things) and three armchairs which can be used to work with a lab top. Moreover, we have a small meeting room which can be reserved for four hours. One can also have a lab top for six hours from the library. Naturally, one can print and copy in the library.

The difference is that usually libraries assume that users need computers or working room only for a short time: it is supposed that computers in libraries are used only to read one’s emails and to take care of bank affairs – but that nobody works the whole day at library. However, this is what people do today. It is not only the students who study several hours (by reading books in reading rooms) but there are freelancers and entrepreneurs who do not have an office of their own.

In our case, it was quite easy to arrange an Urban Office since we can use our art gallery as a silent reading room for those who want to read their newspapers in peace. The same gallery space is also used for events and meetings in the evenings: association may rent it for their meetings – and if the association is local inhabitants association we do not even take the rent. In fact, all these services are free.

The project lasted for a year and half: officially it was finished on September 2015. Hence, it is the time to evaluate the results and new service kits. It may be said that Vallila library could answer quite well the challenge and to show that a small library can do quite a lot to support the active citizenship. It is not the question if a library has a lot of staff to do new things but if the staff is ready to think libraries anew. We have to recover our old assumptions and see if they are still valid.

We have to investigate how people work and spend their free time today – and adapt to the new trends. Thus, our approach was based on the insight that public libraries should offer an open access to municipal information and services and that libraries may become Urban Offices. These approaches may not be suitable for all libraries. In some districts, it may be recommendable to focus on children and youth or to ensure that elderly people remain active. Also immigrants may need special services. However, in Vallila Library one of the main user groups are those who come to the library to work for several hours – while there are not many children in the district.

At the end of a project, there is always the danger that everything ends. After the report is written, the project is forgotten. We wanted to avoid this in Vallila Library, and hence, we hired a local coordinator for six months. Her job is to examine the district even more carefully and create new contacts for the library. A part of her job is also to help local associations to work together, co-operate. In Vallila Library, we believe that if we support the local associations in this way, the associations bring in their activities into the library.

Living libraries:
a commitment to think and transform the city

Florence Salanouve

florence.salanouve@unice.fr

Chief librarian and PhD candidate (University Nice Sophia Antipolis), member of Légothèque commission (ABF)

Keywords: Human Libraries, Living Library, Library and Information Science, Social Cohesion, Gender

Abstract

This paper registers itself in the first thematic of the congress: the role of libraries in democratic Cultures. Based on a field experiment, the paper aims at casting a light on the part played by “living libraries” in the fight against stereotypes. After defining the “living library” concept, a direct heritage from Human Libraries, the paper will show how, in different and various ways, the living library have taken place in France, since 2012, in cities like Strasbourg, Rouen and Montpellier. From a field experiment of setting up a living library at the National Congress of the French Association of Librarians in 2015, the objective is to demonstrate how this action constitutes an essential and innovating tool, contributing to the development and even the reconfiguration, of the political role of the public library. If its main vocation consists in remembering and redeveloping the highly political role of the library, in a context of crisis, its role can be almost qualified as subversive. First, because librarians as such, who question themselves about the role of the living library don’t fully grant it a legitimacy. Then, because of the way it is set up, the living library participates in diverting the book – this sacred object – from its original role, in transfiguring it in a person, or even in the figure of a citizen. Finally, because the living library contributes to investigate in a new way the library: rejecting its traditional conception, often qualified as “neutral” and not questioning “problematic issues”. In highlighting the fight against stereotypes and prejudice, in being a first plan actor of social cohesion, living libraries offer a commitment not only to think the city, but mainly to transform it.

Introduction

How are libraries valued, and what can we do about it, asks Chris Bourg, director of MIT Libraries, in her conference untitled —Beyond measure : valuing libraries[1]. In these times of financial crisis, identity crisis, democracy crisis, managerial crisis, this question challenges us to rethink the roles of librarianship. Besides, it is essential to advocate[2] that libraries have – and must play –a political and social role.

This paper, based on an experiment of living library about Gender issues at the National Congress of the French Association of Librarians in 2015, aims at demonstrating how libraries – and first and foremost librarians – in democratic cultures should be a lever in the struggle against prejudice and stereotypes.

Not only setting up a living library constitutes an essential and innovative method designed to promote dialogue, but it also contributes to reduce prejudices and encourage understanding.

We will hence consider two interrelated issues from a Gender studies perspective: to what extent are public libraries committed to think and transform the city? To what extent, librarians as a profession must contribute to reshape the role of the public library in order to promote equality?

“Libraries are not neutral”: moving from theory to action

Libraries are still valuable…

It is commonly acknowledged that libraries are considered in a positive way as far as they turn out to be —valuable. On one hand, the first gaze on libraries is focused on the image of —citadel of knowledge supposed to contain, within its walls, the whole knowledge. On the other hand, libraries are known to be closely linked to the democratic ideas developed from the Enlightenment[3] ? As Nina de Jesus asserts, —Libraries are, in the hearts and minds of many people, a cherished and much beloved institution. Beyond nurturing a love of reading, libraries also embody a certain set of values.[4] However, this conception is not that idealistic anymore since:—It is a peculiar time for libraries right now with respect to our social image. On the one hand, all sorts of smart, cool and famous people are willing to publicly proclaim their love of libraries — usually expressed as a love of books, or of quiet spaces, or of magical reference librarians; while on the other hand, plenty of folks are privately or publicly wondering whether we really need libraries anymore.

…But they are far from being neutral

It may be, at first, asserted that libraries can be seen as neutral. Instead, various studies have emerged to challenge established ways of thinking about rationality, objectivity and scientific methods. Following the approach of Gender, theses critiques regarding neutrality question the principle of the profession – librarianship –as a whole. When there is a controversial topic or when some questions arouse polemical reactions, censorship or rather self-censorship may be commonplace in the name of neutrality or objectivity. Indeed, the neutrality principle is a basic, foundational, core value of the profession. Samuel Trosow, reviewing the LIS framework from a standpoint epistemology point of view, remarks that —librarianship has come to see itself as a passive and apolitical force expected to be completely neutral on social, economic, and political questions[5].

Applied to libraries, Gender —troubles[6] somewhat this neutral vision. Gender can be, to that extent, a useful and critical category of analysis for French libraries given that it posits it as an effective lens for outlining issues such as neutrality as a prerequisite of objectivity. Moreover, there is perhaps a paradox - unless it be a killjoy side - to question this consensual view. Such is the argument tackled by Bess Sadler (Stanford University Library) and Chris Bourg (Massachusets Institute of Technology) in their article "Feminism and the Future of library discovery : —In spite of the pride many libraries take in their neutrality, libraries have never been neutral repositories of knowledge (…) and have always reflected the inequalities, biases, ethnocentrism, and power imbalances that exist (…) through collection policies and hiring practices that reflect the biases of those in power at a given institution. In addition, theoretically neutral library activities like cataloging have often re-created societal patterns of exclusion and inequality[7].

A case study: a living library as an innovative method to challenge prejudice in a French national librarian Congress

An active solution

Once we have pointed out these paradoxical arguments, there are two solutions. The first one would consist in first establishing the diagnosis, then do nothing. The second one, which is advocated by the Gender studies, aims at linking practice and theory, to combine rather than oppose them. Thus, the most effective and uniquely librarian way we have to do is to create spaces (real and virtual) where the free exchange of ideas and thoughts is accepted and encouraged. It is through dialogue that barriers are broken down: libraries can be, as a result, considered a diversified meeting place that cross cultural, ethnic, generational and social boundaries. To that extent, setting up a living library seems to be an original and —inclusive way to challenge prejudice—.

Living library: definition, origin and organization

Created by a Danish youth organization in 2000 and now operational in more than 70 counties, the Living Library can be described as an innovative way to promote dialogue, break stereotypes and tackle prejudice by giving direct access to someone else's experience.

Since 2003, the living library has become part of the Council of Europe’s program. —There is – today more than ever in the recent past – a need to raise awareness among the wider public about the importance of human rights to the fabric of our democracies and the responsibility of the individual citizen in realizing abstract human rights in his or her everyday interactions.[8]

The living Library works exactly like a traditional Library - readers can borrow a "book". The difference is, books in the living Library are human beings: "living books", with whom the reader can have a conversation. In its initial form the living Library is a mobile library set up as a space for dialogue and interaction. Visitors to a living Library are given the opportunity to speak informally with "people on loan"; this latter group being extremely varied in age, sex and cultural background. —Loans can last for usually about 15-30 minutes and up to an hour. The "books" - library users who volunteer in response to local advertisements, friends of library staff, or those recruited via local community organizations - are people who can share a significant personal experience or particular perspective on life. The living Library enables groups to break stereotypes by challenging the most common prejudices in a positive and humorous manner. It is a concrete, easily transferable and affordable way of promoting tolerance and understanding.

A living library toward librarians during the French national librarian Congress in June 2015

As the French national librarian Congress took part in Strasbourg, it became relevant to focus this living library on —gender issues since Strasbourg had signed the European Charter for Equality of Women and Men in local life.

The commission Legotheque organized this event in partnership with Olympe de Gouges Library which created a space dedicated to Gender, the Strasbourg equality commission and several local feminist associations in Strasbourg[9]. The Living Library —Gender issues goals were twofold:

1 / To promote the almost unknown concept of Living Library in France as, on the one hand, an effective tool used for the struggle against prejudice and, on the other hand, to encourage librarians to set up living libraries.

2 / To make sure that librarians can face their own stereotypes and learn about gender issues

The "living books» were recruited from volunteers belonging to feminist associations within the equality commission of the City of Strasbourg. Several meetings were organized by the Olympe de Gouges library to find the titles of various books and to create the future catalog.

About forty librarians discussed for 15 minutes with each of the 16 " living books "[10] with great enthusiasm. The comments the librarians left in the guestbook expressed positive thoughts about the living library. Some of them told the organization staff that they intended to create living libraries in their own libraries.

Conclusion

In Librarianing to Transgress, Chris Bourg reminded us that —we are librarianing in messy, polarized and yes, still sexist, racist, homophobic times[11]». Organizing a living library toward librarians’ fellows was not neutral: we, as librarians, should question our own stereotypes as well as the biases shaping our librarian organizations. Beyond, we do have a political and social role to play by struggling against all kinds of stereotypes and prejudice in society.

References

Bertrand, A.-M. (2005). —Bibliothèque, politique et recherché. Bulletin des bibliothèques de France, 2. Retrieved December 2, 2015 from: http://bbf.enssib.fr/consulter/bbf-2005-02-0035-006

Bourg, C. (2015). —Never Neutral: Libraries, Technology and Inclusion, OLITA Spotlight, OLA Super Conference.Retrieved December 2, 2015 from: https://chrisbourg.wordpress.com/2015/01/28/never-neutral-libraries-technology-and-inclusion/

Bourg, C. (2014). —Librarianing to Transgress, Closing Keynote, ACRL Oregon & Washington Joint Conference.Retrieved December 2, 2015 from: https://chrisbourg.wordpress.com/2014/10/25/librarianing-to-transgress-closing-keynote-acrl-orwa-2014/

Bourg, C. (2013). « Beyond mesure : valuing libraries ». https://chrisbourg.wordpress.com/2013/05/19/beyond-measure-valuing-libraries/

Butler, J. (1990). Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. Routledge.

De Jesus, N. (2014). « Locating the Library in Institutional Oppression ». Retrieved December 2, 2015 from: http://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2014/locating-the-library-in-institutional-oppression/

Dumaine, M. (2014). La “Bibliothèque vivante”. Mémoire Master Politique des Bibliothèques et de la Documentation. Retrieved December 2, 2015 from: http://www.enssib.fr/bibliotheque-numerique/documents/65030-la-bibliotheque-vivante.pdf

Hubert, C. (2015). —Retour sur la bibliothèque vivante Questions de genre. Retrieved December 2, 2015 from: https://legothequeabf.wordpress.com/2015/06/30/retour-sur-la-bibliotheque-vivante-questions-de-genre/#more-1871

Little, N., Nemutlu G., Magic J., Molnar B. (2011). —Don’t judge a book by its cover! The Living Library Organiser’s Guide. Council of Europe Publishing. Retrieved December 2, 2015 from : https://www.coe.int/t/dg4/eycb/Source/EYCB%20Living%20Library.pdf

Olson, H. A. (2002). The Power to Name: Locating the limits of subject representation in libraries. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer Academic.

Sadler, B., Bourg C. (2015). —Feminism and the future of library discovery. Code4Lib Journal, 28. Retrieved December 2, 2015 from : http://journal.code4lib.org/articles/10425

Scott, J. W. (2009), « Le genre : une catégorie d'analyse toujours utile ? », Diogène 1, 225, p. 5-14.

Trosow, S. E. (2001), « Standpoint Epistemology as an Alternative Methodology for Library and Information Science ». The Library Quarterly : Information, Community, Policy 71, 3, p. 360-82.

Notes

[1]Bourg, C. (2013). « Beyond measure: valuing libraries ». https://chrisbourg.wordpress.com/2013/05/19/beyond-measure-valuing-libraries/

[2]The word (advocate) is particularly relevant since it refers to the concept of —advocacy. Facing Internet competition and budget cuts due to financial crisis, public libraries are invited, sometimes commanded to prove that they are useful. Anglo-Saxons’ libraries have introduced specific tools, previously used in other professional cultures, such as advocacy.

[3]« Ce lien entre savoir et démocratie date des Lumières (Condorcet fait le lien entre connaissance et liberté) et est partie intégrante des ambitions révolutionnaires qui veulent voir la bibliothèque « devenir l’école de tous les citoyens» in Bertrand, A.-M. (2005). —Bibliothèque, politique et recherché. Bulletin des bibliothèques de France, 2. Retrieved December 2, 2015 from : http://bbf.enssib.fr/consulter/bbf-2005-02-0035-006

[4]De Jesus, N. (2014). « Locating the Library in Institutional Oppression ». Retrieved December 2, 2015 from : http://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2014/locating-the-library-in-institutional-oppression/

[5]Trosow, S. E. (2001), « Standpoint Epistemology as an Alternative Methodology for Library and Information Science ». The Library Quarterly : Information, Community, Policy 71, 3, p. 360-82.

[6]Butler, J. (1990). Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. Routledge.

[7]Sadler, B., Bourg C. (2015). —Feminism and the future of library discovery. Code4Lib Journal, 28. Retrieved December 2, 2015 from : http://journal.code4lib.org/articles/10425. From a critical feminist perspective, Hope Olson’s work has been particularly dedicated to expose the impact of western patriarchal biases on the organization of knowledge (Olson, 2002)

[8]Little, N., Nemutlu G., Magic J., Molnar B. (2011). —Don’t judge a book by its cover! The Living Library Organiser’s Guide. Council of Europe Publishing. Retrieved December 2, 2015 from : https://www.coe.int/t/dg4/eycb/Source/EYCB%20Living%20Library.pdf

[9]The associations were : Le Planning familial, SOS femmes solidarité, Osez le féminisme 67, La Lune, PLAN international, le mouvement du Nid.

[10]The sixteen different themes tackled were (in French) :Because I’m a girl (Parce que je suis une fille), Les dialogues du vagin, L’égalité femmes-hommes, défi inachevé de l’Europe, Filles-garçons, l’Egalité est-elle en action?, Féministes en 2015 ? Mais qu’est-ce qu’elles veulent encore ?, Manuel à l’usage des directeurs-trices: inclure une commande politique « égalité de genre » dans le fonctionnement d’une médiathèque, Bibliothécaire ou militant ? Egalité hommes / femmes : comment informer en médiathèque ?, Du bon usage des combats féministes dans une collectivité : recettes, conseils et avertissements d’une chargée de mission, Ne dites pas à mes voisins-es que je suis bibliothécaire : je gère un pôle d’excellence sur le genre, Portrait de groupe avec femmes, elles racontent… , Lesbo/haine. Etre lesbienne aujourd’hui en France et dans le monde, Contes et légendes des violences ordinaires, Parler pour ne plus subir et exister, une histoire d’égalité, Prostitution: un autre regard, Abolition de la plus vieille exploitation des hommes sur les femmes : un défi pour le 21ème siècle !, Le genre s’anime : accueillir le jeune public

[11]Bourg, C. (2014). —Librarianing to Transgress,Closing Keynote, ACRL Oregon & Washington Joint Conference. Retrieved December 2, 2015 from : https://chrisbourg.wordpress.com/2014/10/25/librarianing-to-transgress-closing-keynote-acrl-orwa-2014/

Open Science as a Service:
Status and future potential from a German non-university research institution perspective

Regina Schmitt, Jana Rumler

regina.schmitt@zalf.de, jana.rumler@zalf.de

Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Leibniz-Zentrum für Agrarlandschaftsforschung (ZALF) e.V.

Keywords: Open Access, Open Data, Open Science, Leibniz Association, Non-university Research Institution, Service Departments

Abstract

Aspects of Open Access and Open Data, summarized as Open Science, are moving forward concerning an implementation of service infrastructures at German non-university research institutions. Open Science gives research findings back to society and can improve science by addressing a broader community. It increases collaboration and can lead to a higher recognition of scientists. However, preparing content for virtual research environments can be time consuming – uncertainty exists, for instance about ownership, reputation and awareness of open content-based research output (publications, data sets, collaborative platforms etc.). Service departments such as data departments and libraries can help to overcome these reservations towards Open Science by providing relevant information and tools to facilitate Open Access and Open Data publishing.

The Leibniz Association (applied sciences) with its working groups is a pioneer in terms of Open Access for Leibniz institutes. Promoting free exchange of research results according to the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities, outcomes of the Leibniz activities are the Open Access repository LeibnizOpen, an Open Access policy template for institutional policies as far as a central financed publication fund.

This paper describes the Open Science situation in Germany in addition to the mentioned efforts at the Leibniz Association institutions such as the Leibniz Center for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF). ZALF explores ecosystems in agricultural landscapes and the development of ecologically and economically justifiable land use systems. Its library, publication management and data management department consult researchers about Open Access publishing with open review as well as data registration on the institutional open data repository. Internal workflows therefore support the paradigm shift towards a sharing of scientific information and resources.

Introduction

Open Science is understood as open access to scientific information with its products, such as literature, data and software (The Royal Society, 2012). This emerging paradigm shift includes ideas about the future of science within the digital age itself and changes in a scholarly value-added process. To face uncertainty, for instance about ownership, reputation and awareness of open content-based research, considerable advantages need to be displayed within a research community.

Benefits are for instance faster communication of research findings and a higher visibility, an effective quality control and long-term availability of research outputs (Arbeitsgruppe Open Access der Schwerpunktinitiative Digitale Information der Allianz der deutschen Wissenschaftsorganisationen, 2012). The Concordat On Open Research Data of 2015 mentions “economic growth, increased resource efficiency, securing public support for research funding and increasing public trust in research” as further benefits.

Researchers are individuals who might respond more to reasons like higher citation rates (Kurtz et al., 2005; Henneken et al., 2012). On the other hand, service departments as well a leading staff might consider more collective benefits. Open Access as global conception is not an aim in itself but should improve science, enhance transparency and foster integrity.

Open Science is getting more widespread among universities and other research facilities in Germany like in institutions of Leibniz Association, Fraunhofer Society, Helmholtz Association, Max Planck Society and others that together build the Alliance of Science Organizations in Germany (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft DFG, 2015). In particular, declarations like “Open Access policies” are passed and currently, universities are implementing “Open Data policies”, for example Kiel University, Humboldt University Berlin, University of Bielefeld, and University of Göttingen.

These activities can be a further step of promoting Open Science within the scientific landscape and to overcome the problem of scientists’ reservation towards sharing, which is mentioned several times as important challenge in interviews in Ten Tales of Drivers & Barriers in Data Sharing, a report by the Opportunities for Data Exchange Project (Alliance for permanent access APA, 2011).

Also publishing companies enhance the discussion about Open Science by distributing special issues e.g. on data sharing and help supporting conferences that show how “high research data is on the agenda of so many”, as Ferguson, Publishing Solutions Director of Wiley, describes unmistakably. In her announcement for a Learned Publishing issue, she summarizes recent considerations on scholarly communication, policy making, citation behavior, repository building as infrastructure requirement, among other efforts related to the scientific progress (Ferguson, 2014a).

Research funding bodies encourage academic libraries “to take action with regard to the shifting needs of their faculty and students and consider how best to engage in e-science through development of library-based research data services (RDS)”, as Tenopir et al. point out in two studies (Tenopir et al., 2014). In Germany information infrastructure institutions within the national library system support these practices to strengthen not only Open Science activities but also to offer a variety of publication and data management services to extend traditional working areas.

Brief overview of German development towards Open Science

In 2003, the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities was signed by German research associations as well as the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft DFG, 2015a) and numerous international institutions. Until now, more than 500 research organisations from around the world have signed the declaration (Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, 2015), which highlights goals, a definition of an Open Access contribution and encourages to support the transmission to the electronic Open Access paradigm.

Open access publishing and research funding became more effective in 2006 when DFG implemented a set of guidelines for the publication of results from DFG-funded projects on an Open Access basis. From 2008 the institutions of the Alliance of German Science Organizations agreed to coordinate their activities more intensively and to bundle resources and expertise by building the Digital Information Initiative. It focuses on six priorities: German national licensing, Open Access, a national hosting strategy, primary research data, virtual research environments and legal frameworks for the provision of scientific information. DFG is supporting the introduction of an inalienable second publication right. It became a law in Germany in 2014 and initiates libraries to start projects that bring their institution publications online.

Another statement in 2013 is influencing the German research landscape: the European Commission (EC) launches a pilot on Open Research Data. In addition to the previous program, Open Access to scientific publications is mandatory for all scientific publications resulting from Horizon 2020 (8th framework program) funded projects (European Commission, 2013).

Research funding bodies, scientists, information infrastructure institutions complement the traditional research cycle and enhance typical computational workflows. The way researchers will publish, assess impact, communicate and collaborate will change within the next 20 years, as the book project “Opening Science” describes (Bartling & Friesike, 2014).

These approaches are contextualized with the help of Library and Information Science (e.g within the research alliance Science 2.0 by Leibniz Association).

Open Science in the Leibniz Association

Already in 2003, the Leibniz Association was one of the first signatories for the Berlin Declaration on Open Access. Subsequently, a Leibniz Open Access guideline has been adopted in 2007 to maximize the value of publicly-funded research. It states, that quality-assured and peer-reviewed research results are freely accessible in digitized form. Rapid and direct access to information, at any time, in any place, at no cost to the user and without barriers is proclaimed (Leibniz-Gemeinschaft, 2007). Several working groups established such aspects (Leibniz-Gemeinschaft, 2015).

Libraries and Information Infrastructure Institutions working group: consists of the

Federal Republic’s three central libraries and the specialist resource centers, optimises the added-value for all members by networking, general agreements and syndication

Open Access working group: developed an Open Access strategy and assistance for all Leibniz members, prepared a template for an Open Access policy which is adapted by the Leibniz institutes according to their institutional openness

Research Data working group: addresses the challenges posed by the issue of research data by discussing and producing statements e.g. with recommendations to data management plans, are involved in Alliance activities on “Digital Information”

Since 2011, the Open Access platform LeibnizOpen (www.leibnizopen.de) gives the opportunity to list open publications of all Leibniz institutions. It provides the associated full texts and thus, pictures the entire range of topics and types of publications that are generated through research and teaching within the Leibniz Association.

In 2016 the Leibniz Association will start a central publication fund for its authors. Aims are to overcome the subscription model by publishing in genuine Open Access journals, changing the handling with article processing charges (APC) and to have a central controlling also about the publication behavior by setting clear criteria.

Leibniz institutions form collaborative research alliances which use inter- and transdisciplinary approaches to address current scientific and socially-relevant issues such as Science 2.0 (www.leibniz-science20.de).It deals with the investigation of innovative fields for research and development, for example collaborative internet technologies and user behavior research.

Open Science Services at ZALF

Background

The Leibniz Center for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) is a non-university research institution with about 145 scientists among ca. 380 employees in total that work in six institutes at three locations. Environmental planning of agricultural landscapes, land use change and potential conflicts with effects on the society are explored. The service departments central library with publication management, data management department, central computer network as well as the research station and central laboratory support scientists in providing relevant information, assist with central data acquisition and building the virtual research environment. Research is characterized by applied and interdisciplinary topics, collaborations within ZALF and with other institutions and production of experimental and modeled data, for example in long term field experiments.

Open Science at ZALF could facilitate collaboration between research groups both within ZALF and with other institutions. Less bureaucracy with data sharing agreements and the usage of new publication types such as online collaborative writing tools makes an exchange of information faster.

As it is common in other research facilities, scientists at ZALF are highly mobile. To avoid data loss or complications during staff exchange, it is important to discover all relevant quality-controlled research output produced at ZALF and to take care of their long-term storage and availability. The research cycle of planning, finding, creating and storing, publishing and reusing information needs to be secured by the collaboration of central infrastructure units (Schmitt & Rumler, 2015).

Publishing, financing and monitoring Open Access

ZALF central library consults ZALF’s administration and researchers in terms of managing the literature and information supply, assisting during publishing processes and through monitoring the research output with bibliometric methods. These services become even more relevant when data is needed for an evaluation by the Leibniz Senate. It focuses on an independent assessment of the institution’s development in the intervening years, in terms of content and structure, as well as on the persuasiveness of its future plans. Up to 15 per cent of ZALF’s peer-reviewed journal articles are open. The percentage is constant during the last three years, in spite of increasing the number of publications to around 200 peer-reviewed articles in 2015.

Since July 2015, ZALF supports an Open Access policy which is based on a template of the Leibniz Association. Therein ZALF “recommends” and “obligates” procedures for open publications that also combine a formulation of own guidelines how to sign contracts with publishing companies, with a focus on German usage rights (Leibniz-Zentrum für Agrarlandschaftsforschung, 2015).

Financing licenses for publishing costs is another activity for the library management. Referring to this, the Leibniz Association started a prepay membership program in 2013 to reduce article costs. An offer also ZALF perceives. Parallel, ZALF started with an internal publication fund in 2014 which provides resources for affiliated (corresponding) authors to publish in peer-reviewed journals. Altogether, the acceptance for this instrument is very high, nevertheless the demand for financing APCs is modest. And as mentioned earlier, the Leibniz Association additionally will also start a central publication fund, beginning with 2016.

Leibniz working groups established a discussion about ongoing issues related to the future of open access publishing including research data. ZALF library is observing the growing awareness of researchers for using new publication types, such as video abstracts and open review processes.

Open Data and central data management

Central storage of research data is available at ZALF since 2000. The central data management department runs the research information system with organizational data and the laboratory booking system, as well as providing technical support for intranet and websites. It supports scientists with following services

planning their research by giving advice on research data management and searching data

accessing data by providing centrally stored data and procuring geo data storage by providing centrally managed databases

management of internationally registered Open Data on the open institutional repository Open Research Data (http://www.open-research-data.de).

Aspects of open data management at ZALF are the data catalog and the open repository. The data catalog ideally contains all metadata of information that is recorded by or is available for ZALF employees. It also contains metadata of purchased third party data. It is a tool for data discovery at ZALF and avoids redundant purchase and recording of data.

Since 2010, ZALF is publication agent as well as data center and registers datasets in cooperation with the international organization DataCite with digital object identifiers (DOI). Datasets with adequate and sufficient metadata are published on the open repository ZALF Open Research Data where they can be accessed publicly. It is also listed in the Registry of Research Data Repositories (www.re3data.org). Open Research Data has been included in the Thomson Reuters Data Citation Index in 2015. This means, datasets can be found easier and if cited in articles, the registration of datasets might gain more value in the future.

The data management department and the publication management encourage scientists to publish articles in data journals. Authors can directly refer to registered publicly accessible datasets on Open Research Data. In that sense, ZALF expects to make a contribution to give research data more importance within the scientific community. A list of data journals is offered by the Foster project (Foster, 2015).

Future of Open Science

Overcoming barriers

The discussion of opening up science as a movement is connected to a differentiation of principles concerning open methodology, source, access, peer review and educational resources (OpenScience ASAP, 2015). Sayogo and Pardo for example give a detailed literature overview about technological, social, organizational and economical, legal and policy barriers of data sharing (Sayogo & Pardo, 2013). Brembs (2015) states controversially that there exist no technical problems to practice Open Science, including a digital infrastructure. However, there is no one-fits-all technical solution for all institutions. Integrating the long tail of science can be time consuming and needs technical skills. Instead of relying on institutional repositories, small institutions could offer their research output on external platforms. Scientific articles have been bibliographically registered for a long time. Nowadays we register data, presentations, teaching material etc. on platforms like zenodo (www.zenodo.org).

Openness concerning data is supported by the global initiative Research Data Alliance. It responds to the increasing importance of data in the scientific landscape from a bottom-up approach (Treloar, 2014). And as Tenopir et al. (2014) conclude: “Many of the librarians who work in academic research libraries feel they have the subject knowledge necessary to help their constituents […], but need the opportunity to take advantage of continuing education.” Therefore, librarians “need opportunities to learn more about these services either on their own campus or through attendance at workshops and professional conferences”. This is an aspect that should be transferred to all technical staff at central service departments.

Next steps towards more openness at ZALF

As ZALF is in rotation for Leibniz evaluation, enhancing quality and quantity of the research output is a matter of moment. In addition, the proportion of open access publications is requested, but not assessed by the evaluation committee. Open Data are not being evaluated, so far. Nevertheless, the data management department of ZALF has received more requests about registering data in 2014 and 2015 than before. The inclusion of Open Research Data and ZALF publications into commercial data bases and non-profit repositories might be a reason for rising awareness for Open Science.

Forthcoming information and education events of service departments in order to explain short and long-term benefits of Open Science, might also help to recognize fears and to meet scientists’ needs. Easy-to-use tools for publication and data management and registration are crucial and need to be promoted. Further technical solutions need to be implemented to facilitate the scientists’ worklife and to reduce the workload. An aim is to capture the long tail of research information and make the so-called dark data which are difficult to find available (Heidorn, 2008). And as policies have been a means to promote Open Science at several German institutions, ZALF is currently preparing a data policy in addition to the existing Open Access policy. A challenge all service departments will accept gladly to opening up science.

References

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Arbeitsgruppe Open Access der Schwerpunktinitiative Digitale Information der Allianz der deutschen Wissenschaftsorganisationen (Ed.). 2012. Open-Access-Strategien für wissenschaftliche Einrichtungen: Bausteine und Beispiele. Potsdam, Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum GFZ. doi: 10.2312/allianzoa.005

Bartling, S. & Friesike, S. (Eds.) 2014. Opening Science: The evolving guide on how the internet is changing research, collaboration and scholarly publishing. Cham: Springer.

Brembs, B. (2015). Open Science als eine Lösung der Infrastrukturkrise in der Wissenschaft. Information, Wissenschaft & Praxis, 66 (2-3), 151-158. doi: 10.1515/iwp-2015-0027

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft DFG (2015a). Alliance of Science Organisations in Germany. Retrieved December 22, 2015 from http://www.dfg.de/en/dfg_profile/alliance/index.html.

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Ferguson, L. (2014a). Everybody loves data. Retrieved December 22, 2015 from http://exchanges.wiley.com/blog/2014/09/23/everybody-loves-data/.

Foster project (2015). Open Data Journals. Retrieved December 22, 2015 from https://www.fosteropenscience.eu/foster-taxonomy/open-data-journals.

Goodman, A., Pepe, A., Blocker, A. W., Borgman, C. L., Cranmer, K., Crosas, M., . . . Slavkovic, A. (2014). Ten simple rules for the care and feeding of scientific data. PLoS Computational Biology, 10(4). doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1003542

Heidorn, P. (2008). Shedding Light on the Dark Data in the Long Tail of Science. Library Trends, 57(2), 280-299. doi: 10.1353/lib.0.0036

Henneken, E., Kurtz, M., Eichhorn, G., Accomazzi, A., Grant, C., Thompson, D., & Murray, S. (2006). Effect of E-printing on Citation Rates in Astronomy and Physics. The Journal of Electronic Publishing, 9(2). doi: 10.3998/3336451.0009.202

Kurtz, M., Eichhorn, G., Accomazzi, A., Grant, C., Demleitner, M., Henneken, E., & Murray, S. (2005). The effect of use and access on citations. Information Processing & Management, 41(6), 1395-1402. doi: 10.1016/j.ipm.2005.03.010

Leibniz-Gemeinschaft (2007). Guidelines on Open Access within the Leibniz Association. Retrieved December 22, 2015 from http://www.leibniz-gemeinschaft.de/fileadmin/user_upload/downloads/UEber_uns/Leibniz_OpenAccess-Leitlinie_-_ENGLISH.pdf.

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Information values in conflict:
How libraries navigate occasions of dissonance between freedom of information and the right to privacy

Winn W. Wasson

wwasson@illinois.edu

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Graduate School of Library and Information Sciences, 501 East Daniel Street, Champaign, Illinois, 61820, USA

Abstract

Keywords: Access to Culture and Information, Censorship, Ethics, Freedom of Expression, Government Policy, Right to Privacy

Librarians in democratic societies espouse robust convictions that include strong beliefs in the freedom of information and the right to privacy—that individuals should have the right to access information free from government censorship and free from government surveillance—and that it is the place of the library to advocate for these rights. However, ethical quandaries can and do appear, in which two or more the profession’s principles on access to information do not neatly fit together in harmony. For example, how does the profession resolve a situation in which fulfilling the professional duty to provide free and open access to information potentially takes away the right of an individual to control information about himself or herself, which could be seen as a corollary of the right to privacy? To what extent does and individual have the right to control access to information about himself or herself before that individual is engaging in a level of censorship that the library profession would not tolerate were the dictates coming from a government?

Some have put forward frameworks for resolving such ethical conundrums (Dole, & Hurych, 2009). These various studies have tended to look at information ethics on the micro level. However, the explosion of information and greater interconnectedness of the information universe that have developed in the digital age create the potential for situations that place freedom of information and the right to privacy in tension to take place on a much grander scale and pit the values systems of different democracies against each other. Two cases have the capacity to highlight both the way the freedom of information and the right to privacy can come into conflict and the cross-cultural differences in the approaches different democratic societies take to resolving these dilemmas. The first is the U.S. Library of Congress’ acquisition for researchers of Twitter’s complete archive, which, while currently stymied, proposes to preserve the bibliographic universe of tweets for access to researchers (U.S. Library of Congress, 2010; Scola, 2015). The second is the ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union and subsequent regulations drafted by the European Commission and the European Parliament to allow European Union citizens to petition Internet search engines to remove search results about the petitioner that are “inaccurate, inadequate, irrelevant, or excessive”, which some believe may not limit itself to Internet search engine results and which, like the Library of Congress project, has the potential to have worldwide effect (Google Spain SL, Google Inc. v Agencia Española de Protección de Datos, Mario Costeja González, 2014; European Commission, 2014; Záviška, 2015; Gibbs, 2015). This paper will explore what implications these two cases have for dilemmas involving the implementation of librarianship’s values of information preservation, information access, and information privacy, both to explore the different directions democratic societies are taking to resolve these dilemmas and the consequences that these dilemmas have for the profession as a whole.

[A complete version of this paper with Background and Literature Review Sections, as well as Appendices, is available at: http://courseweb.lis.illinois.edu/~wwasson/BOBCATSSS-2016.html]

Introduction

The digital age is remaking the library and information sciences (LIS) profession in profound ways. The production and dissemination of information is the central driving force of global society, which compels the LIS profession to play an active role in guiding and responding to many policy issues. The core ethical principles of the LIS profession have been established through much deliberation, but the rapidly changing relationship between society and the information it produces, disseminates, and consumes will generate unexpected challenges to the core ethical principles of librarianship.

Recent events in the United States and Europe have generated conundrums on the proper balance between the freedom of access to information and the right to privacy, two ethical principles at the heart of the LIS profession. The European Union (EU) has given its citizens the right to remove entries about themselves from search engine results to protect their privacy while the United States Library of Congress has entered into a collaborative project with Twitter to become the archive of every tweet that has been and will be sent through the social networking platform. These events that create discord between two core ethical principles of librarianship raise the question of how the national library associations that craft ethical codes for their countries’ libraries and librarians are responding or should respond to the issues raised by the government actions mentioned above. This study surveyed what official institutional positions national library associations in the United States and the EU have taken on the U.S. Library of Congress-Twitter archive collaboration and the EU policy that is sometimes called the —right to be forgotten or —right to erasure and what reasons lie behind these positions or the absence thereof. After explaining the study’s survey methods and presenting the study’s results, this paper will offer discussion of the results and concluding thoughts on the need for the LIS profession to help guide the public discourse in the digital age.

Methodology

To assess how the LIS profession was reacting to this seeming drift trans-Atlantic drift in the prioritization of values central to the profession, surveys of four questions on official institutional positions were emailed to national library organizations in the United States and all 28 member states of the EU. The list of contacted national library associations in the EU was assembled from among those listed on the website of the European Bureau of Library, Information, and Documentation Associations (n.d.).

In general, the questions asked each national library organizations for its official institutional stance on the —right to be forgotten/—right to erasure (RtBF/RtE) that the EU and its member states are implementing and what factors lie behind the position, if one exists. National library organizations without an official institutional position on the RtBF/RtE in the EU were asked a follow-up question about what factors lie behind the absence of a position.

Similarly, the questionnaire asked each organization for its official institutional stance on the U.S. Library of Congress’ acquisition and establishment of Twitter’s archives and what factors lie behind the position, if one exists. Likewise, organizations without an official institutional position on the collaboration between the U.S. Library of Congress and Twitter were asked a follow-up questiona bout what factors lie behind the absence of a position.

Results

Nine national library associations from seven countries replied to the survey questions:

Bibliothek & Information Deutschland (BID) in Germany (H.J. Lorenzen, personal communication, 3 December, 2015)

Deutscher Bibliotheksverband (DBV) in Germany (Barbara Schleihagen, personal communication, 4 December, 2015)

Associatioun vun de Lëtzebuerger Bibliothekären, Archivisten an Dokumentalisten (ALBAD) in Luxembourg (Bernard Linster, personal communication, 23 November, 2015)

Universiteitsbibliotheken & Koninklijke Bibliotheek (UKB) in the Netherlands (Yvonne May, personal communication, 24 November, 2015)

Vereniging van Openbare Bibliotheken (VOB—with response via the FOBID Netherlands Library Forum) in the Netherlands (Marian Koren, personal communication, 23 November, 2015)

Asociata Bibliotecarilor din România (ABR) in Romania (Adriana Szekely, personal communication, 27 November, 2015)

Slovenská Asociácia Knižníc (SAK) in Slovakia (Daniel Džuganová, personal communication, 27 November, 2015)

Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) in the United Kingdom (Guy Daines, personal communication, 9 December, 2015)

American Library Association (ALA) in the United States (Alan Inouye, personal communication, 12 December 2015)

In general, the library associations that responded do not have official institutional positions on the RtBF/RtE or the U.S. Library of Congress-Twitter archive collaboration. In the case of the U.S. Library of Congress-Twitter archive collaboration, the European associations consistently indicated that they view the partnership as an external matter that is beyond the national scope of their work. The associations generally indicated that their focus is on domestic issues, and even with regard to domestic issues, the limited capacity of some of the associations dictated that they had to prioritize a small number of domestic concerns. The two German library associations (BID and DBV), in a joint response, said that it is their policy not to comment on agreements made by libraries in other countries (H.J. Lorenzen, personal communication, 3 December, 2015; Barbara Schleihagen, personal communication, 4 December, 2015). However, while ALA did not have any official institutional position on the archive with regard to any controversy between the freedom of access to information versus the right to privacy, the organization noted its support for —efforts to preserve access to the cultural history of the nation (Alan Inouye, personal communication, 12 December 2015).

With regard to the RtBF/RtE, the nine national library associations also did not have firm official institutional positions, and reasons behind the absence of an official policy stance generally fell into three categories. Associations in the first category indicated that their associations had limited capacity to advance the interests of the LIS profession in their countries and thus prioritized other issues that they deemed to be more critical. Library associations with responses that fell into this category included ALBAD in Luxembourg, UKB in the Netherlands, and CILIP in the United Kingdom (Guy Daines, personal communication, 9 December, 2015; Bernard Linster, personal communication, 23 November, 2015; Yvonne May, personal communication, 24 November, 2015).

In the second category, ABR in Romania and SAK in Slovakia are undergoing leadership transitions and are unsure what priorities the new slate of association leaders will have. Neither association rules out the possibility of drafting an official stance on the RtBF/RtE, but neither is presently positioned to craft policy priorities (Daniel Džuganová, personal communication, 27 November, 2015; Adriana Szekely, personal communication, 27 November, 2015).

In the third category are BID and DBV in Germany, FOBID Netherlands Library Forum in the Netherlands, and ALA in the United States. These associations have had some limited discussion of the issues raised for libraries by the RtBF/RtE but do not as of yet have an official institutional position. The two German associations indicated in their joint response that they view the issue as important but that they also have limited capacity and are thus only in the early stages of contemplating an official position; work so far has included a panel discussion of the RtBF/RtE at a conference DBV sponsored in 2015 (H.J. Lorenzen, personal communication, 3 December, 2015; Barbara Schleihagen, personal communication, 4 December, 2015).

FOBID Netherlands Library Forum is also currently deliberating an official stance and seems to be the furthest along in crafting an official position of the nine national library associations that responded to the questionnaire. The response from FOBID Netherlands Library Forum indicated discomfort toward the RtBF/RtE and its implications for freedom of access to information. The organization stated it valued the right to privacy but circumscribed the right to privacy to the protection of information about library users rather than adopting the broader language on privacy in the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (2014)(IFLA) Code of Ethics for Librarians and Other Information Workers. The response indicated that Dutch courts have generally prioritized the freedom of access to information over the right to privacy in cases that involve the RtBF/RtE. Nevertheless, FOBID Netherlands Library Forum does not yet have an official institutional position on the issue (Marian Koren, personal communication, 23 November, 2015).

In the United States, ALA is sponsoring a discussion on the RtBF/RtE during its Mid-Winter Meeting in January 2016 (ALA, 2015; Alan Inouye, personal communication, 12 December 2015). However, while ALA is fostering discussion of the policy, it is not taking any official position at this time because its main focus is on representing the LIS profession in policy debates in the United States. Since there is currently no policy analogous to the RtBF/RtE being considered by policymakers in the United States, ALA does not see any imperative to take a position on an issue that has no direct bearing on its constituents (Alan Inouye, personal communication, 12 December 2015).

Discussion

The institution of the RtBF/RtE in the EU is still less than two years old. National library associations in Europe have thus had little time (and often limited capacity and resources) to formulate responses to the new policies, in terms of how they rectify the discord between the freedom of access to information and the right to privacy. However, some of the associations do recognize that it is an issue that they will have to navigate, though the ones that responded to the questionnaire are still contemplating the implications of the policy and/or have limited capacity and resources that prioritize other concerns in advancing the interest of libraries in their countries. Indeed, given the fact that the EU policy primarily affects search engines, one can certainly argue that the material effect on libraries is minimal. The issue with the RtBF/RtE for the LIS profession at this point in time is one of a conflict between two core professional ethical values rather than an issue that is actually imposing immediate concrete difficulties on libraries in fulfilling their basic functions to society. If libraries face funding issues, reconciling clashes in a professional code of ethics would understandably not be a major priority. For ALA, the issue is even more abstract, as no analogous issue is currently under serious contemplation by policymakers in the United States.

Nevertheless, IFLA (2014) defines the right to privacy in fairly broad terms that cannot help but put this principle in the Code of Ethics for Librarians and Other Information Workers in conflict with the principle of freedom of access to information that is in the same document. Some national library associations delineate the right to privacy much more narrowly. The response from FOBID Netherlands Library Forum discusses the right to privacy in terms of the disclosure of library user records (Marian Koren, personal communication, 23 November, 2015). This is similarly how ALA (2008) outlines the right to privacy in its Code of Ethics. Under this narrow understanding of what the right to privacy means in librarianship, it is easy to see an organization prioritizing the freedom of access to information over the right to privacy when the two conflict, though it should be re-emphasized that neither FOBID Netherlands Library Forum nor ALA have official positions on the RtBF/RtE.

Still, a limited definition of privacy and a more pronounced defense of the freedom of access to information would be consistent with American cultural values and with the collaboration between the U.S. Library of Congress and Twitter. To be sure, it is easy to argue that the collaborative archive archival project is not an issue that affects the ability of other libraries to operate and provide the essential services of libraries to their communities in an open, safe environment. It is difficult to identify libraries besides the U.S. Library of Congress that have a stake in the project. The real material conflict will likely be inter-governmental in nature, given that a United States government agency is engaged in a project that stands in sharp contrast with the spirit of the EURtBF/RtE policies. For the LIS profession, it is a question of conflicting professional ethical values.

However, the relations between libraries and librarians in different countries do not exist in a vacuum that is separated from the tone and content of the relations between the governments of their countries. Any diplomatic tension between the United States and the EU over privacy concerns with archives housed by a library that is a United States government agency may very well provide the impetus for librarians on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean to begin a discussion on the discord in professional ethical values (as defined by IFLA’s Code of Ethics for Librarians and Other Information Workers) that seems inherent in the collaboration between the U.S Library of Congress and Twitter.

Conclusion

The European Union’s —right to be forgotten/—right to erasure and the United States Library of Congress-Twitter archive collaboration project are in their nascencies. Thus, it is understandable that the LIS professional community has not yet fully formulated positions on these subjects, especially given that their effect on libraries has so far been minimal.

However, even if these issues have, as of now, not substantially affected libraries’ ability to provide their core essential services, it is worth starting a conversation on how the LIS profession weighs conflicts between core ethical principles and how LIS professionals work together across international boundaries in the context of divergent government information policies.

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Enforcing and Reinforcing the Responsibility of Information Professionals to Defend Intellectual Freedom. The Role of Positive Reinforcement instead of Sanctions in promoting Intellectual Freedom.

Terry Weech

weech@illinois.edu

Associate Professor at Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, USA

Keywords:Advocacy, Associations, Awards, Censorship, Intellectual Freedom, Pluralism of Collections

Abstract

When discussing the responsibility of information professionals to defend intellectual freedom, it is widely acknowledged that "self-censorship" of information resources is a significant problem for the information professions. This paper reviews the research and the professional literature relating to the issue of information professionals acting contrary to the principles for defending intellectual freedom. Given that self-censorship (information professionals making collection decisions that avoid offering potentially controversial materials in libraries and other memory organizations) continues to be a concern and that there are few legal, or professional sanctions in existence that require information professionals to defend intellectual freedom, strategies used by the information profession to seek positive reinforcement as an alternative to potentially negative sanctions of those who do not meet the expectations of opposing censorship are explored.

The author analyzes specific procedures that have been used to sustain and encourage information professionals to defend intellectual freedom, even in the face of considerable political and social pressure to censor resources. The use of a decentralized system of professional education of both citizens and information professionals is discussed, as well as the analysis of networks of information professionals working with political and social groups to sustain the defense of intellectual freedom and oppose censorship. Specifically, the role of Intellectual Freedom Awards will be assessed for their effectiveness in the defense of intellectual freedom. Suggestions will be made as to how this model of support for intellectual freedom might be transferred to political and social contexts worldwide.

The Introduction

The American Library Association (ALA) defines intellectual freedom as "the right of every individual to both seek and receive information from all points of view without restriction. It provides for free access to all expressions of ideas through which any and all sides of a question, cause or movement can be explored." (American Library Association (1995) "Intellectual Freedom and Censorship Q & A") This definition is based on a number of philosophical and professional principals. These will be explored in some detail and then examined in the context of how librarians and libraries are encouraged to protect intellectual freedom in the United States by the American Library Association and other professional and non-governmental groups (NGOs) despite the fact that these groups have limited political power and influence or control over how libraries and librarians respond to challenges intellectual freedom in their libraries.

The Principle

The Principle behind Intellectual Freedom in libraries in the U.S. is based on both philosophical and professional foundations. Philosophically, the foundation is based on the writings of John Stuart Mill, especially chapter 2 ofOn Liberty. (Mill, John Stuart, 1869.)

The American Library Association cites Mill’s work in the organization’s post on the its website on "About Banned & Challenged Books".

"Censorship can be subtle, almost imperceptible, as well as blatant and overt, but, nonetheless, harmful. As John Stuart Mill wrote in On Liberty:

If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind. Were an opinion a personal possession of no value except to the owner; if to be obstructed in the enjoyment of it were simply a private injury, it would make some difference whether the injury was inflicted only on a few persons or on many. But the peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is, that it is robbing the human race; posterity as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error.— On Liberty, John Stuart Mill

Often challenges are motivated by a desire to protect children from "inappropriate" sexual content or "offensive" language. The following were the top three reasons cited for challenging materials as reported to the Office of Intellectual Freedom:

the material was considered to be "sexually explicit"

the material contained "offensive language"

the materials was "unsuited to any age group"

Although this is a commendable motivation, Free Access to Libraries for Minors, an interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights(ALA's basic policy concerning access to information) states that, "Librarians and governing bodies should maintain that parents—and only parents—have the right and the responsibility to restrict the access of their children—and only their children—to library resources". Censorship by librarians of constitutionally protected speech, whether for protection or for any other reason, violates the First Amendment.

As Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan, Jr., in Texas v. Johnson , said most eloquently:

If there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that the government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable.

If we are to continue to protect our First Amendment, we would do well to keep in mind these words of Noam Chomsky:

If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all."

(American Library Association, "Banned and Challenged Books" 2015)

In adopting the philosophical foundation of John Stuart Mill, the American Library Association takes an absolute position on which there is no compromise that is consistent with Mill’s philosophy of no benefit to mankind of stifling the rights of individuals to express opinions and any limitations to such expressions of opinion may be detrimental to determining the truth that may result for considering all opinions. While cultures and societies often limit the free expression of ideas and statements for national security or public safety, under the American Library Association interpretation of the commitments to intellectual freedom that should be made by libraries and librarians who are the keeper of the diverse store of ideas and opinions expressed over the ages, part of the professional obligation of the librarians working in the institution labeled as the library is to ensure that Mill’s principle of making all opinions and views available for the consideration of all is essential to librarians to facilitate the mission of the library in the context of the one institution that can provide the wide range of ideas that individuals have generated over time.

The "absolute" position of the American Library Association toward Intellectual Freedom is confirmed in the six statements in the "Library Bill of Rights"

Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves. Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.

Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.

Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment.

Libraries should cooperate with all persons and groups concerned with resisting abridgment of free expression and free access to ideas.

A person’s right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background, or views.

Libraries which make exhibit spaces and meeting rooms available to the public they serve should make such facilities available on an equitable basis, regardless of the beliefs or affiliations of individuals or groups requesting their use.

(American Library Association, "Library Bill of Rights," 1939…1996)

The Problem

Despite all the good efforts of the American Library Association to educate librarians and support libraries in the defense of intellectual freedom, it is clear to most of those concerned with the defense of intellectual freedom that the greatest challenge in the USA to censorship in libraries are the librarians themselves. In his 1953 article "Not Censorship, But Selection" Lester Asheim argues that while censorship may take many forms (Government Censorship, Community or public Censorship, or Censorship by the librarian selecting materials for the library collection), if the decision is made not to make a specific work available in a library for reasons other than those clearly indicated in a written collection policy, the fact that a resource is not selected for purchase or access (in the case of e-materials) may be a form of censorship by the librarian as surely as the banning of an item by the government or the request for withdrawing or deselection of materials from the collection by community members, In fact it is suggested that there is considerable evidence that some censorship does take place in libraries as librarians may avoid selecting political or religious resources for fear there may be community objections to having access to the materials supported by public funds, or the availability of the content of the material may make some members of the community uncomfortable. This is the basis for the title of the article, suggesting the need for librarians to focus on the criteria by which they allocate limited funds on potentially controversial materials. This challenge for librarians has continued to be a concern from the 1950s to the present day. And continues to be a major challenge for those upholding the position of the American Library Association that intellectual freedom and access to all sides of an issue must be provided by the institution of the library.

Since the 1950s in the U.S. there have been many changes in the laws relating to what can legally be censored by government and by local communities. While this author makes no claim of having expertise in interpreting the law as it relates to censorship of library resources, it is evident that there has been a significant change in legal interpretations from the censoring of books such as James Joyce’s Ulysses in the 1950s to the recognition of the literary and artistic value of materials that earlier were often considered inappropriate for library collections in the U.S. Today, the courts in the U.S. have narrowed the grounds for restricting access to information and artistic resources to materials that are restricted for purposes of national security and materials that can be considered exploiting children, such as child pornography. This means that very little of what in the past might have been legally censored, would now be considered censurable by courts of law. In many communities the local standards have not adjusted to the more liberal court decisions regarding what materials may be considered inappropriate to be accessed through a publicly supported library. Thus considerable pressure may be applied to the librarians and their governing bodies when they follow the American Library Association’s commitment to the principles of the Library Bill of Rights. This poses a considerable challenge for those in the library profession that are tasked with keeping open access to materials that are often challenged as to their appropriateness for access through the library.

The Solution

The adherence of librarians to professional ethics, which acknowledge the desirability of upholding the Library Bill of Rights and all the principles relating to Intellectual Freedom in libraries supported in the American Library Association literature and education programs, is often cited as an appropriate means of enforcing the professional commitment to Intellectual Freedom. But to enforce professional ethics requires a considerable infrastructure of assessment and review to determine compliance with ethical norms established by professional organizations. In the USA, the law and medical professions are among the most visible to establish and maintain such infrastructures. The infrastructure usually involves volunteers and/or salaried staff to monitor and enforce the ethical standards and provide appropriate review of appeals, etc. The library profession in the USA, and as far as the author is aware, in other countries, have not been able to establish such and infrastructure. One can speculate that the likely reason includes the challenges of gathering and assessing evidence to support any punishment of those who do not adhere to the ethical standards. In the USA, most library professionals in public, academic, and special libraries are not licensed, thus providing a challenge of enforcement short of publicly shaming the librarian found not in compliance with standards relating to intellectual freedom. Furthermore, there are often many ambiguities in the evidence that might be brought in charges against a professional librarian charged with not complying with the stated standards of behavior.

While these challenges may occur in libraries of all kinds and about materials in a wide range of formats, it is in public schools serving high school students and elementary school students and serving children in public libraries where the challenges most often occur. One strategy taken by supporters of Intellectual Freedom in libraries has been the recognition of individuals and groups who have defended the principles of Intellectual Freedom in libraries with Awards, often with certificates and cash, to honor their efforts not only out of the desire to recognize those who have made special efforts to up hold the principles espoused in Library Bill of Rights, but also in the hope that they will become a role model for others.

One solution to the challenge of encouraging professional librarians and other supporters of intellectual freedom is to focus on those who uphold the principles of intellectual freedom. It is much more pleasant to recognize those who make the effort to uphold the professional commitment to intellectual freedom than to focus on those who may avoid taking a stand on the issue or seek punishment for those who may violate the principles laid out in the Library Bill of Rights.

Many organizations have established such Awards. The Wikipedia article under the title "List of Awards in Intellectual Freedom": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_awards_in_intellectual_freedom lists nearly 50 awards that range from organizations that are privately funded to governmental and non-governmental organizations supporting intellectual freedom. The article does not claim to be exhaustive and in fact, there are few awards listed that specifically honor those directly defending intellectual freedom in the context of libraries and librarianship.

The American Library Association maintains a list of some of the awards that are specifically directed at honoring efforts to defend intellectual freedom in the library context. (American Library Association (2015)“Intellectual Freedom Awards”) One of the ten awards listed is the Robert B. Downs Intellectual Freedom Award given each year by the faculty at the University of Illinois Graduate School of Library and Information Science.

The Downs Award is an example of an award to honor those who might be considereda positive role model for upholding the professional principles of defending and maintaining intellectual freedom. It is awarded annually by the faculty of the Illinois Graduate School of Library and Information Science to honor Robert B. Downs, who was Dean of the University Library and the Library School in the mid-20th century and a staunch supporter of intellectual freedom in both his writing and in his professional practice. It is unlikely that such awards were motivated originally to encourage others to follow the examples of the awardees, but it may be worthwhile to explore the extent that such library oriented awards to individuals and groups who have defended intellectual freedom may prove to encourage future support of intellectual freedom on the part of others.

Such research might begin with a study of recent awardees to determine to what extent they were aware of prior awardees and the specifics of their defense of intellectual freedom. The study might be expanded further to include interviews of a sample of individuals and groups who may not have received an intellectual freedom award, but were reported to have been involved in a challenge to intellectual freedom in a library context to further attempt to measure the impact of such awards on the behavior of the more general population of librarians and supporters of intellectual freedom. The results of such a study might encourage the expansion of the number of awards similar to that of the Downs Intellectual Freedom Award both within the U.S. and internationally.

References

American Library Association. Banned and Challenged Books Retrieved December 20, 2015 from: http://www.ala.org/bbooks/about.

American Library Association. Intellectual Freedom and Censorship Q & A (2015) http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/censorshipfirstamendmentissues/ifcensorshipqanda.

American Library Association. Intellectual Freedom Awards (2015). Retrieved December 20, 2015 from: http://www.ala.org/offices/oif/oifprograms/ifawards/intellectual.

American Library Association. Library Bill of Rights, Adopted 1939, last revised 1996. Retrieved December 20, 2015 from: http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/intfreedom/librarybill/index.cfm.

Asheim, Lester. (1953) "Not Censorship But Selection." Wilson Library Bulletin 28 (Sep. 1953): 63-67.

Asheim, Lester. (1883). "Selection and Censorship: A Reappraisal." Wilson Library Bulletin 58 (Nov. 1983): 180-84.

Mill, John Stuart (1869). "Of the Liberty of Thought and Discussion." On Liberty, chapter 2. (Originally published in 1869. Available in many places on the Web.) Retrieved December 28, 2015 from: http://www.bartleby.com/130/2.html.

University of Illinois, Graduate School of Library and Information Science. (2015). “Robert B. Downs Intellectual Freedom Award” Retrieved December 29, 2015 from: https://www.lis.illinois.edu/newsroom/awards/downs-award.

Student-teacher Facebook friendship and privacy awareness

Lucija Žilić, Drahomira Cupar, Josip Ćirić and Krešimir Zauder

luczilic@student.unizd.hr, dgavrano@unizd.hr, jciric@unizd.hr, kresimir@zauder.org

University of Zadar, Department of Information Sciences, Franje Tuđmana 24i, 2300 Zadar, Croatia

Keywords:Privacy on Facebook, Professionalism, Student-teacher FB Friendship, Public Image on Social Networks

Abstract

Mark Zuckerberg’s invention of Facebook started a revolution in communication by allowing users to share details from personal life which raised concerns related to privacy in the online world. Facebook is currently the most popular social network with surveys showing that the number of Facebook users increased rapidly in 2015 and is now at 1490 million of active users, a large part of which are higher education students and teachers. Even though the subject of privacy protection while using social networks, including Facebook, is quite well represented in literature and online, the problem of misunderstanding how sharing personal thoughts and opinions on Facebook can effect professional life still raise questions and concerns.

Social networks as merging technologies have the potential to influence many aspects of human life; especially the professional life. Facebook as the most popular social network, has been used for both professional and personal purposes. Nowadays, one can easily find social networks which are primarily "professional networks" and which provide tools for managing users’ professional life – education, research interest, business etc. Since privacy protection while using social networks is not something built up in curriculums, students entering and participating in higher education should be aware of how their personal pages on social networks can impact their professional life, especially when accepting or sending friend requests (or follows) to their teachers.

The goal of this study is to explore the usage of professional social networks and Facebook among students and academic staff at University of Zadar, Croatia and to explore their viewpoints on publishing private information on social networks. We also aimed to research the level of awareness of the impact which posts on social networks can have on students’ future and teachers’ present professional life and explored attitudes toward student-teacher Facebook friendship. The research was carried out through a two-part survey: the first part was intended for students, and the second was intended for teachers. In order to choose appropriate questions, before conducting the survey, a pilot study was conducted using a focus group which consisted of the relevant members of the student population. Students chosen for the focus group were asked about the usage of social networks, sharing personal information, friendship with teachers and the awareness of potential dangers of sharing information on Facebook and other social networks.

Introduction

Social networks have become an important part of everyday life, and are used as a tool for communication and content sharing in both private and professional spheres. By joining universities, students are advised to embrace their new roles and to act professionally at all times. Most of them understand how important it is to act professionally in the university buildings, but do they think about it when using social networks?

The first issue regarding the usage of Facebook is privacy protection. Most of the students understand how important it is to protect their privacy on social networks, which means they have to regularly check their Facebook accounts and read privacy agreements. Privacy protection is widely covered and is often researched in professional articles as well as on popular web pages. Collins (2010) suggests a few steps for better privacy protection: using lists to help organize privacy settings, hiding the friend list from non-friends, removing oneself from Facebook search results, protecting oneself from Facebook advertisers and removing one’s Facebook content from Google.

The second issue which needs to be addressed when speaking about social networks is professionalism. Since social networking is now used for professional purposes too, many students are becoming friends with their university professors. Connecting with their teachers can help students to keep up to date with the newest trends in their field of study as well as with popular lectures and workshops which enable them to learn new things and share ideas. But, while sharing personal information and thoughts with professors, students should be aware that content they make publicly available can directly affect their professional lives (Ross et.al, 2013).

Previous research

Social networks, including Facebook are based on the idea that people will create and share content about themselves, and the issue of choosing between privacy and the need for sociability and content sharing occurs (Brandtzaeg, Luders and Skjetne, 2010). When joining universities, students are encouraged to embrace their role as a future professional and act professional in both university and in their free time. Most of the researches concerning professional behaviors on social networks are originating from the medical field. A research conducted in 2013 on the sample of 236 medical students (Ross et al. 2013) shows a discrepancy between what students report they understand about professionalism and what they find appropriate. They have strong opinions about professional behavior in the real life, but some of them think professionalism is an unrealistic way of life. Still, the fact is that Facebook is becoming more present in every day communication, including the student-teacher communication.

The idea of implementing learning objectives related to usage of social networks, especially Facebook, and privacy protection into university curriculums is seen as an opportunity to increase the level of understanding how social networks really work and which consequences their usage might have. A research conducted by Shirley Lane (2013) shows that "social networks (in this case, Twitter and Facebook) have a potential of improving regular students’ classes through building communities and enhancing perceptions of instructor credibility and immediacy". According to Sturgeon and Walker (2009), students appear to be more willing to communicate with teacher if they already know them through the usage of Facebook.

Still, in the practice of the University of Zadar, students are not taught about privacy protection, content sharing, and professional behavior on social networks, although they are encouraged to act professional. That was an incentive for us to explore the University of Zadar’s students’ and professors’ perspective on professionalism and usage of the Facebook with the special emphasis on student-teacher Facebook friendships.

Methodology

In this study we explored the usage of Facebook, the attitudes toward student-teacher Facebook friendship, opinions about professionalism on social networks and viewpoints on some attitudes about and behaviors on Facebook. Before compiling the questionnaire, a focus group with six examinees was organized and it helped us build the appropriate questions.

We divided our subjects into two samples: university students and university professors. Two surveys were applied, one for each sample. Each survey was divided into several sections: general information, Facebook usage, attitudes on unprofessional behaviors on the Facebook for students and for professors and some attitudes concerning social networks behaviour.

Some questions are adapted for each sample to address the same issue, i.e. "Do you have a professor for a Facebook friend?" is adapted into "Do you have a student for a Facebook friend?" etc.

The surveys were distributed online (via Facebook and email) using SurveyMonkey service. All participants were from University of Zadar. The sample consisted of 54 professors and 92 students. The survey consisted of 48 items of which 32 were of Likert-type scale, 5 were ranking type, 6 multiple-choice types and two were open type questions. Likert-type items were rotated to nullify possible systematic effects.

The survey was divided into four sections. The first section contained general questions about age, sex, field of study, graduate level for students (undergraduate or graduate) or science field for professors. The second section was aimed to explore the usage of social networks: respondents were answering questions about which social networks they use, frequency of usage, number of Facebook friends, the type of content they share etc. The third section’s goal was to test which content types respondents consider to be professional for sharing on Facebook for both students and professors. The section was divided into two parts, where respondents stated the level of professionalism for different content types for both professors and students. The fourth section contained sentences about behavior on Facebook and respondents stated the level of agreement to those statements.

Results and discussion

The sample consisted of 146 participants, 54 professors and 92 students, of which 62,7% and 81,5% were female, respectively of groups(sexes are distributed unevenly for students, but not for the professors; χ²P=3,313 df=1 p>,05; χ²S=38,253 df=1 p<,01). Considering age distribution, the youngest of professors was 27 years old, and the oldest was 59, with median of 27, and mode of 29 (Shapiro-Wilkis test for normality was not significant, W=0,906 p<,01).In the student sample age range was between 18 and 50 (W=0,736 p<,01), with median and mode of 22 years. By the scientific area of interest, majority of students came from social sciences and humanities (67% and 30% respectively); with reverse situations for the professor sample (29% in social sciences, and 53% in humanities). We had an even distribution of graduation levels (46% undergraduates vs. 54% graduates; χ²P=0,714 df=1 p>,05).

When asked which of several social networks they may be using, majority of student answers indicated Facebook (98%; participants might have chosen multiple answers), Instagram (53%) and Tumblr (23%), while professors picked Facebook (71%), LinkedIn (31%) and Instagram (18%).This data proved our starting assumption to focus on Facebook as valid. A small percentage of each group stated they’re using some network other than those we stated (3% and 6% respectively). Not using any network was a rare occurrence among the students (2%), but not so uncommon among the professors (18%). Considering the number of networks used, majority of students were using two (36%) or three (29%) networks, while professors stuck to only one (43%). Not unexpectedly, we noticed a more conservative pattern within professor’s sample. Data are presented in the graph 1.

Graph 1. Distribution of the number of networks participants were using.

Considering the Facebook usage, majority of students (81%) indicated that they connect multiple times a day, while professors provided the same answers as the most common (47%), and almost a third (32%) stated they connect once or twice a day. Majority of students had just one Facebook profile (95%), and so did professors (97%). When asked to estimate the number of their Facebook friends, students’ estimates were in range from 30 to 2000 (with median 250 and mode 300), while professors’ were in range from 10 to 800 (with median 225 and mode 400).

We asked participants to rank reasons for using Facebook. The most important one for the students was socializing, then fun followed by sharing content and social activism. Professors answered in similar fashion.

The key question was if our participants had participants from the opposing group as Facebook friends, i.e. did students have their professors for friends and vice versa. Each group provided balanced answers (χ²P=0,050 df=1 p>,05; χ²S=2,632 df=1 p>,05), as is shown in graph 2. There also was no difference between participant groups (χ²=2,149 df=1 p>,05).

Graph 2. Answers on having a person from the opposite group as a Facebook friend.

Considering the purpose of published content on social networks, students stated by majority it’s purposed for friends (85%) which was similar to professors (69%). Only a small percentage of participants sets visibility options for each published item (8% vs. 9% respectively).

Next part of survey was to establish what each group perceives as (un)professional activity for their own group as well for the opposite one. Results are represented in the table 1.

| seen by STUDENTS | seen by PROFESSORS
Unprofessional for STUDENTS | M | sd | W | M | sd | W
family photos | 3,688 | 1,220 | 0,862 | 3,250 | 1,378 | 0,893
Music | 4,359 | 1,089 | 0,626 | 3,786 | 1,548 | 0,746
comments on daily news | 4,016 | 1,161 | 0,799 | 3,964 | 1,374 | 0,718
sport and fun content | 4,156 | 1,198 | 0,715 | 3,821 | 1,492 | 0,753
personal political attitudes | 3,359 | 1,104 | 0,905 | 3,393 | 1,315 | 0,896
religious pictures/texts/videos | 3,047 | 1,214 | 0,899 | 3,036 | 1,261 | 0,916
personal information on students | 2,422 | 0,989 | 0,700 | 2,357 | 0,870 | 0,760
personal information on professors | 1,906 | 0,426 | 0,580 | 2,000 | 0,471 | 0,644
Unprofessional for PROFESSORS | M | sd | W | M | sd | W
family photos | 3,653 | 1,207 | 0,878 | 3,214 | 1,371 | 0,892
Music | 4,234 | 1,151 | 0,680 | 3,750 | 1,647 | 0,715
comments on daily news | 3,906 | 1,269 | 0,776 | 3,857 | 1,484 | 0,747
sport and fun content | 4,063 | 1,207 | 0,753 | 3,607 | 1,571 | 0,790
personal political attitudes | 3,016 | 1,105 | 0,915 | 3,286 | 1,301 | 0,889
religious pictures/texts/videos | 3,000 | 1,208 | 0,894 | 3,000 | 1,217 | 0,918
personal information on students | 1,953 | 0,628 | 0,580 | 2,036 | 0,693 | 0,508
personal information on professors | 2,203 | 0,912 | 0,729 | 2,071 | 0,604 | 0,690

Table 1. Descriptive parameters on perception of unprofessional content to display for each group seen by each group.

Upper left and lower right portions of the table represent self-perception on publishing unprofessional content on the Facebook, while upper right and lower left portions represent cross-group perception on publishing unprofessional content on the Facebook. None of the sections are normally distributed (W column represents Shapiro-Wilkis test for normality, and all values are significant at p<,05). For each option, participants could answer either "I don’t want to answer" or to pick one of four options on Likert scale ranging from "it is completely *un*professional" to "it is completely professional". We chose forced answer methodology (no neutral option) because we wanted our participants to take a distinct position on each question. A small percentage of students opted out of answering (on average, 8%), a similar situation was observed for the professors (on average 9%).

As may be observed from descriptive parameters, there are differences considering self- and cross-group evaluation. We took student t-test between self- and cross-group evaluation for the students’ sample and found significant difference for publishing personal political attitudes (t=2,793 df=63 p<,01), publishing music (t=15.640 df=63 p<,01), publishing personal information both about professors (t=-2,534 df=63 p<,05) and students (t=-8,975 df=63 p<,01). It is interesting to notice that the students look harsher on publishing private information from their own population than from the professors’. From professors’ perspective, difference is noted on two occasions: publishing music (t=5,957 df=27 p<,01) and publishing personal information on students (t=-4,542 df=27 p<,01). Again we may notice harsher evaluation for disclosing private information on students than from their own population.

When tested between subject groups, we found group effect on one content only – students publishing music (r=-0,21 df<,05; F=4,137 dferror=90 dfeffect=1 p<,05). It seems that professors are evaluating this situation harsher.

The last part of our survey considered some attitudes about and behaviors on Facebook social network. Descriptive parameters are represented in the following table 2.

| seen by STUDENTS | seen by PROFESSORS
| M | sd | W | M | sd | W
I think it's OK to have OGP as Facebook friend. | 3,391 | 1,305 | 0,000 | 2,893 | 1,133 | 0,036
I believe that content i publish on Facebook provides a certain image of myself | 4,422 | 0,940 | 0,000 | 4,071 | 1,215 | 0,000
I would decline friendship request if this person is not connected with my private life. | 3,641 | 1,104 | 0,000 | 3,500 | 1,552 | 0,000
When I publish content I don't think who else is going to see it and what are they going to think about it. | 2,813 | 1,180 | 0,000 | 2,393 | 0,786 | 0,002
I don't want that OGP forms bad opinion about me based on my Facebook profile. | 4,000 | 1,260 | 0,000 | 3,000 | 1,587 | 0,001
I am aware of consequences of publishing on the Facebook. | 4,547 | 0,853 | 0,000 | 4,179 | 1,335 | 0,000
I think that having OGP for Facebook friend may lower their objectivity. | 3,047 | 1,119 | 0,000 | 3,643 | 1,339 | 0,001
I would feel awkward if I sent friendship request to OPG and he does not accept it. | 3,672 | 1,346 | 0,000 | 2,393 | 1,423 | 0,000
We are not obliged to behave professionally at the university. | 2,000 | 0,035 | 0,000 | 2,143 | 0,891 | 0,000
We are not obliged to behave professionally outside the university (in our free time). | 3,453 | 1,194 | 0,000 | 2,679 | 1,020 | 0,022
Professional attitude is as important online as in "real" life. | 4,109 | 1,086 | 0,000 | 3,714 | 1,329 | 0,001
My future employer will be able to look at my Facebook profile. | 3,469 | 1,368 | 0,000 | 3,214 | 1,424 | 0,006
I would feel awkward if I sent friendship request to another colleague and he does not accept it. | 3,328 | 1,128 | 0,000 | 2,643 | 1,339 | 0,005
I should be able to do whatever I please online, without others judging me. | 3,516 | 1,182 | 0,000 | 3,036 | 1,232 | 0,014
OGP shouldn't care about my Facebook activities. | 4,094 | 1,123 | 0,000 | 3,393 | 1,474 | 0,001
Social networks are not connected with professional life. | 3,047 | 1,147 | 0,000 | 2,964 | 1,232 | 0,025

Table 2. Descriptive parameters for items considering attitudes about and behavior on Facebook social network divided by subject groups.

Again we used the same methodology: option "I don’t want to answer"  and four degrees Likert-type scale on agreeing with each item. We had a minor portion of participants declining to answer (on average 6% for students, 10% for professors).

Comparison between subject groups reveals significant effect of groups on following items:

“I don't want that OGP forms bad opinion about me based on my Facebook profile.” r=-0,32 p<,05; F=10,438 dfeffect=1 dferror=90 p<,01;

“I think that having OGP for Facebook friend may lower their objectivity.” r=0,23 p<,05; F=4,892 dfeffect=1 dferror=90 p<,05;

“I would feel awkward if I sent friendship request to OPG and he does not accept it.” r=-0,40 p<,05; F=16,990 dfeffect=1 dferror=90 p<,01;

“We are not obliged to behave professionally outside the university (in our free time).”r=-0,30 p<,05; F=8,915 dfeffect=1 dferror=90 p<,01;

“I would feel awkward if I sent friendship request to another colleague and he does not accept it.” r=-0,26 p<,05; F=6,405 dfeffect=1 dferror=90 p<,05;

“OGP shouldn't care about my Facebook activities.” r=-,025 p<,05; F=6,235 dfeffect=1 dferror=90 p<,05.

Instead of conclusion

This study explored student-teacher online friendship and perception of the impact certain behavior has on professional life of both students and teachers. Previous research mostly explored privacy issues on social networks, including Facebook, and opinions toward using social networks as a communication tool in the university environment.

This research goes beyond the mere question of privacy and social networks usage, and explores the attitudes towards professional behavior and opinions on student-teacher friendships on Facebook, today’s most popular social network. This hypothesis was proven right by observed social network usage in both students’ and professors’ sample.

In conclusion we may say that Facebook friendships between students and professors are not uncommon. We found some minor differences between what subject groups consider professional behavior on social networks, and we found some important differences considering subject groups perception of cross-group friendship, with the more negative connotations found for the student group. The main observed concerns in student-professor social network friendships were negative effects due to that relationship (i.e. bad opinion forming and loss of objectivity) and keeping the professional and private life separate. Additionally, some have expressed negative feelings towards non-acceptance of friendships among colleagues which may cause problems with unwanted professional connections.

Finally, although both groups are aware of the possible consequences of unprofessional behavior, they do not exhibit significant preparation when publishing content online (e. g. adjusting privacy settings and keeping "unprofessional" content hidden from "professional friends"). The latter points to the need for planned education in the matter.

References

Brandtzaeg, P.B., Luders, M. & Skjetne H.J. (2010). Too Many Facebook "Friends"? Content Sharing and Sociability Versus the Need for Privacy in Social Network Sites. Journal ofhuman-computer interaction, 26(11-12), 1006-1030. Retrieved from http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=8&sid=6719546a-e467-4435-ae3d-3ed591fb649f%40sessionmgr4003&hid=4201

Collins, C. J. (2010). Fortify Your Facebook Privacy Settings. Journal of Accountancy, 42-46. Retrieved from http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=10&sid=6719546a-e467-4435-ae3d-3ed591fb649f%40sessionmgr4003&hid=4201

Lane, S. (2013). Social Media & Communication Outcomes in Higher Ed. AcademicExchange Quarterly 17(3), 1-9. Retrieved from http://www.rapidintellect.com/AEQweb/t5322j3.pdf

Ross, S. et al. (2013). "I have the right to a private life": Medical students' views about professionalism in a digital world. Medical teacher, 35, 826-831. Retrieved from http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=f98c9c8f-3230-43b7-87d7-7537c1fb34b6%40sessionmgr4003&vid=0&hid=4201

Sturgeon, Micahel C., Walker, Christin. (2009) Faculty on Facebook: Confirm or deny? 14th Annual Instructional Technology Conference, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/?q=faculty+on+facebook&id=ED504605

Posters

How your library can help to set you free from mass-surveillance ?

Damien Belveze

damien.belveze@insa-rennes.fr

INSA de Rennes (Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Rennes), INSA de Rennes, 20 avenue des Butte de Coësmes, 35000 Rennes, France

Abstract

On August 2015 IFLA stated[1] that libraries in a post-Snowden era should "reject electronic surveillance" and "support their user's ability to make informed choices" as an answer to the 7th of January killing in Paris, French government strengthened cyber surveillance on its citizens. As a consequence libraries must more than ever take side with privacy advocates. Engineering students who are asked to design profitable applications based on Internet of Things, have moreover to be aware of new privacy challenges.

That's why INSA de Rennes library decided to set up cryptoparties targeted for both students and citizens, whatever their knowledge on personal data security may be. Skills such as browsing with Tor, using Tails and encryption mailboxes, managing passwords can there to be learned in a friendly and collaborative environment. The next step will be to host an install party where library's collections (including Ebooks) are used to empower people and help them select protecting applications or free their hardware from proprietary software. For one night, the library stands as a meeting point where people can exchange public keys as well as good practices in order to widen the "web of trust".

Besides exposing our goals, our poster will show the steps to organize a cryptoparty in a library. The library provides space, books, food, drinks, wifi along with the basic knowledge of its librarians on cookies and secure client-server communication. The library gives way to researchers, and post-graduated students of INSA de Rennes to demonstrate their expertise in front of a less academic audience or in a more casual manner. The library is also keen to work with associations who struggle for a more secure, neutral and surveillance-free web, like the ones that build new Tor relays or VPN tunnels.

One part of the poster will be dedicated to a raspberry pi box that will have been installed in the library by the time of the conference and will be set up to work both as a bibliobox and a Tor proxy.

France has nothing comparable to the American Library Freedom Project [2]. There's CNIL,but this organization's representatives seldom work in libraries even though librarians manage big sets of personal data sometimes with the help of third parties and cloud vendors.

That's why, beyond being responsible for data security, we must inform and inspire our patrons to protect their own data. Cryptoparties in libraries are the best way to meet this target.

Notes

[1] IFLA Publishes a Statement on Privacy in the Library Environment. (2015, août 20). Consulté 25 septembre 2015, à l'adresse http://www.ia.org/node/9803

[2] Library Freedom Project. (2015, September 23). In Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Consulté à l'adresse https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Library_Freedom_Project&oldid=682411992

Living Library in Reader Development

Judit Béres

beresjudit76@gmail.com

University of Pécs, Dept. of LIS

Keywords: Human Rights Education, Reader Development, Social Responsibility, Critical Thinking, Stereotype, Prejudice, Living Library

Abstract

The poster gives a general overview of a Hungarian Living Library project started in 2013 aiming to promote critical thinking and social responsibility. Students carried out successful living library events, aiming at university and high school students, offering living books such as gipsy, muslim, jewish, punk rocker, goth, ex-substance abused, disabled, and LGBTQ identity persons.

Introduction

Reader development is a kind of reader-centered approach in library science which may have multiple advantages from the viewpoint of pedagogy and psychology. It allows people with different preferences in reading to talk to each other on common ground, offering opportunities for them to share their personal life-experience, and raise the status of reading as a creative activity, which is not just a library related topic so far. (Elkin, Train, Denham, 2003: 32-36) The actions and programs within reader development are usually carried out in library environment, but nowadays the number of developmental initiatives out of the library is increasing (e.g. bibliotherapy services provided in care homes, schools, prisons, family literacy projects cooperating with pediatrics and adolescent psychology, bibliocounselling at universities etc.). The Living Library tool is one of those creative developmental opportunities that libraries can provide.

Living Library is an equalities tool that seeks to challenge prejudice and discrimination, defending human rights. This interactive, non-formal educational tool aims to spark intercultural dialog and learning embedded in a reading metaphor. It works like a ’normal library’ where readers can browse the catalog for the available titles, choose a book they want to read, and borrow it for a limited period of time. The one and only exception is that the book is a real person who is usually a member of minorities discrimination in the given country and culture. During the reading act readers can discuss their misbeliefs and ask about anything they are interested in. (Abergel, 2005: 9) Since the year of 2000, the first „menneske biblioteket” (human library) organized at the Roskilde Festival in Denmark, the living library tool has been widespread worldwide. This tool is usually applied by youth workers, NGOs, teachers and librarians from more than 70 countries. Hungary was one of the first foreign countries to organize a living library in 2001 at the so called Sziget Festival in Budapest. In the recent few years the living library has become an innovative and effective learning tool to foster participants’ social skills (empathy, tolerance, communicative skills, sharing and accepting ideas and emotions), reducing prejudices, stereotyping and social exclusion. [1] In terms of critical thinking, prejudices and stereotypes are cognitive distortions based on essential learning processes such as categorization and generalization. "Stereotypes are frequently used to get the reader or the listener to believe that someone has a particular characteristic because s/he belongs to a particular group that allegedly has this characteristic. Stereotyping involves making hasty generalizations about entire groups from small samples.” (Reichenbach, 2001: 128) Generalization is unknown when one thinks about ’normality’. It produces misbeliefs and simplifies the world, ignoring differences between individuals and judging others who seem to be ’strangers’ because they differ somehow (socially, politically, culturally, or in age, lifestyle and life opportunities). Surrounded by images and fragments of information about others, people are left to their own imaginations and assumptions, phantasies and false expectations, influenced by their social norms (learnt from family, peers, subcultural groups, and from the media), resulting in a naive psychological judgment of others. (Abergel, 2005: 10) Living library events provide opportunity to reveal these unknown cognitive patterns in people’s thinking through personal meeting and discussion with those ’strangers’. Living library enhances social, civic, cultural and expressive awareness competences fostering intercultural dialogue between people as unique and different human beings in order to promote meeting chances and solidarity in local communities. This tool enables the readers (the learners) to identify and reduce stereotypes in their own thinking with the help of the relevant information provided from first hand, gaining direct experience about sensitive topics represented by the real life-stories of the living books.

Local implementation of the Living Library tool

In the recent three years librarian and youth worker students carried out very successful living library events at the University of Pécs and in local high schools, aiming to promote human rights and critical thinking. For the first time, in 2013, our students joined an international project titled “Progetto Sherbook: Biblioteca vivente contro la discriminazione”, led by an Italian youth worker association (Vedogiovane Asti) and financed by the Youth in Action Program of the European Commission. In this project students and teachers were trained together, learning about the living library methodology, and finally they started to organize local living library events in their own countries (Italy, Spain, Latvia, Hungary). Hungarian university students from Pécs carried out their first local living library in Spring 2014. In Fall 2015 and Spring 2016 they organized two further events, one of them was held at the university and another one in a local high school. In the Living Library project students are required to carry out a complex and collaborative work through the stages of planning, realization, monitoring and evaluation. This task links directly to a university course dedicated to the direct cross-disciplinary development of critical thinking, titled Critical evaluation of information and information resources aiming to sum up students’ critical thinking knowledge and helping them to practice various skills involved in it. The living library project as a developmental activity involves the following tasks:

planning a complex project from the beginnings, starting from the first brainstormings and discussions about the general idea and goals of living libraries,

discussion and decision about the most up to date living book subjects, identification of interesting or sensitive topics in the given country and local community

designing process of a local living library event, dividing the students in small teamwork groups, each matching the competencies of their members,

organization of time and tools,

getting in touch with living books and partner NGOs,

promotion of the event, creation of materials (logo, flyers, posters, facebook event),

recruitment of attendants (readers) from high school and university communities,

management of the event (e.g. cataloging, take care of the collection, provide reader’s advisory and book loans, facilitate the creative corner with critical thinking activities, run information desks for the partner NGOs, install the exhibition)

evaluation of the event from the viewpoint of the users (create questionnaires both for the readers and the living books, collect and evaluate the questionnaires, get feedback from the schools and NGOs involved in the project)

evaluation of the event from the viewpoint of the living books (give them feedback based on the questionnaires),

evaluation of the event from the viewpoint of the organizer team (group discussion after the event, sharing good and bad experiences, bring together any lessons learned that can be usefully applied on future projects),

writing a clear, informative article to be published in the local newspaper or in the newspaper of the university. (Béres, 2016)

According to students’ (both organizers and readers) feedback the Living Library tool enabled them to reflect upon the thinking and learning of each other. It improved their understanding of others through practicing empathy, tolerance, and sharing, and developed their critical approach of the personal habits and beliefs. Living Library provided an interactive and reflective learning opportunity shaping students’ critical approach to the given subject, and enhancing their self-assessment and self-correction (e.g. to identify prejudices and stereotypes in their own thinking). Students appreciated that the program developed their social responsibility, so they started to identify social problems in their closest personal environment and they realized their personal responsibility. The project provided new and applicable knowledge, promoting fairmindedness and respect toward others’ way of thinking and living.

The Pécs Living Library events attracted approximately 500 readers in total (100-200 young readers per each four-hours-long event on average). Our Living Library project involved 10 local NGOs, 6 local high schools and 20 living books. NGOs usually help us to get in touch with living books and they contribute to the event with infopoints, exhibitions and a little market of items made by their members. Our living books represent sensitive topics in the Hungarian society. Readers can browse the catalog looking for „book titles” such as gipsy, Muslim, Jewish, punk rocker, goth, disabled, ex-substance abused, and LGBTQ identity persons. The last two are usually the bestsellers. The organizer team carry out one Living Library event per year, inviting readers from various local high schools and from the university. Sometimes public schools invite our students and books to carry out local mini living libraries. High school students’ and teachers’ feedback is very positive, they treat the university Living Library as one of the most popular non-formal reader development activities in the city of Pécs.[2]

References

Abergel, R. [et al.] (2005): Don’t judge a book by its cover! The Living Library Organiser’s Guide. Strasbourg, Council of Europe Publishing.

Béres, J. (2016): LIS students as Critical Thinkers – Experiences of a complex pilot programme. ProInFlow Journal, 2016 (in press)

Elkin, J. – Train, B. – Denham, D. (2003): Reading and Reader Development. The pleasure of reading. London, Facet.

Reichenbach, B. R. (2001): Introduction to Critical Thinking. Boston, McGraw-Hill.

Notes

[1] For more detailed information about the history and international best practices of living libraries see the official website of the movement: http://humanlibrary.org/

[2]For more details see the documentary of our first event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYdvB-CsazY

Video Streaming in Academic Libraries: Enabling Participation in a Democratic Society

Rebecca Ciota and Emily Hardesty

ciota2@illinois.edu, ehardesty23@gmail.com

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Graduate School of Library and Information Science, Champaign, Illinois, USA

Keywords:New Services, Tools for Citizens, Education, Professional Development, Access to Culture and Information, Streaming

Abstract

As education helps citizens participate fully in a democratic society, academic libraries provide support in this educational endeavor by providing students, faculty, staff and community members with access to cultural and informational resources. These resources provide information that help citizens develop personally and professionally, preparing them to participate in their social, cultural, and professional communities. Keeping up with recent technologies, an increasing number of academic libraries are now turning to video streaming tools in order to provide access to educational and cultural materials. The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) Library participated in this trend by purchasing a new streaming service. In June 2015, the UIUC Library entered into a licensing agreement with Kanopy, which provides the library’s users access to more than 26,000 films (Kanopy). Kanopy allows users to view films on a variety of topics from several access points, including anywhere on the campus as well as at home with their university login. Touching on many different subjects, Kanopy can be used to enhance instruction in various courses, including Business, Health, Arts and Cinema, Technical Training, and many more. By viewing these videos, students and faculties learn skills and concepts which can be applied in the classroom, in the workplace, and in their communities. The use of streaming services also promotes critical thinking by encouraging users to curate their own knowledge, which is a valuable skill in participating in democratic activities. In this project, we will discuss how video streaming services can further education, which in turn fosters knowledgeable citizenship. We will also look at streaming statistics from UIUC’s Kanopy platform to determine patron usage; from there, we will discuss ways of promoting streaming services in academic libraries in the interest of enabling users to find valuable cultural and informational materials for their courses as well as personal and professional development.

Introduction

Video Streaming in Academic Libraries

As education helps citizens participate fully in a democratic society, academic libraries provide support in this educational endeavor by providing students, faculty, staff and community members with access to cultural and informational resources. These resources provide information that help citizens develop personally and professionally, preparing them to participate in their social, cultural, and professional communities. The use of streaming services also promotes critical thinking by encouraging users to curate their own knowledge, which is a valuable skill in participating in democratic activities. Keeping up with recent technologies, an increasing number of academic libraries are now turning to video streaming tools in order to provide access to educational and cultural materials.

Background

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is a public institution located in the state of Illinois, in the United States. Its University Library serves more than 43,000 students and more than 9,000 faculty and staff as well as community members (On-Campus, 2015). The Library is the second largest academic library in the U.S.

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) Library entered a licensing agreement with Kanopy, a video streaming service, in June 2015. Kanopy operates on a Patron-Driven Acquisitions (PDA) model, and provides yearly licenses for films with significant usage.

Herein, we focus on Kanopy’s video streaming, through our research can be applied to various media streaming platforms.

Why Kanopy?

Streaming videos can be hard for libraries to acquire. Most publishers do not want to sell streaming media to libraries, for fear that the publishers will lose revenue because the library users will use the libraries’ copies rather than purchasing (or licensing) their own copy. For this reason, providers like Hulu and Netflix do not sell their product to libraries. The publishers who do provide streaming video to libraries sell their media at high prices. For a library which wants to stream video, there are not many options. But by partnering with Kanopy, the UIUC Library is able to offer our patrons access to a large collection of over 16,000 titles for much less money than purchasing a streaming video outright.

Research Goals

When we heard of the University Library’s agreement with Kanopy, we wondered if a streaming media platform like Kanopy’s would be viable for an academic library. To determine video streaming’s viability, we considered various aspects of video streaming and Kanopy’s platform. First, we explored how video streaming serves library users and democratic societies - how it increases accessibility to information and how it encourages democratic participation. Then, we looked at how libraries and their users have already been utilizing video streaming collections. We also compared circulation statistics and pricing to understand how streaming video performs against DVDs. Finally, we also examined how libraries can effectively market their streaming video collections to users.

Results

Media Democratization: How Video Streaming Enables Participation in a Democratic Society

Previously, large media conglomerates controlled which audiovisual material users could view (Kendall). Now, with video streaming, the user can choose what information to seek and view; and the user can view that information from more locations and at more times than ever before. This allows the user to determine what information they want and seek out that information using pertinent technology. With that information, the user can make their own informed opinions, which can in turn influence the user’s political and social choices.

Video streaming also increases the accessibility of audiovisual materials, particularly in academic settings. Since users do not need to come to the library to use these materials, streaming video increases the access of distance education users and users with limited Mobility (Miller). The nature of streaming video also allows users with a wide variety of technologies to access audiovisual materials: so long as the user has a device which connects to the internet, they can view streaming video. This reduces the need for specialized equipment - like optical drives, DVD readers, or televisions - and therefore the burden of the user or library purchasing that equipment. Requiring less specialized equipment means more users can access the streaming video than other forms of media.

Finally, streaming video encourages participation in democratic societies. Users can upload their own videos for others to watch (through services like YouTube). Web 2.0 functions, like commenting on videos, allow users to remotely discuss, debate, interact with others (Naim) – activities crucial to participation in democratic societies. These citizen-made streaming videos also create more visibility and therefore greater accountability for government institutions (Naim). All of these functions of streaming video foster democracy.

The Rise of Streaming Videos in Academic Libraries

Americans are turning off their televisions and turning on their streaming devices more than ever before. According to Pew Research, ⅔ of Americans watched streaming videos in 2013, which was up from 40% in 2007. In fact, 40% of American households had access to a subscription-based video on-demand as of November 2014 (Nielson). The selection of streaming services is especially high amongst millennials. In a 2015 survey of 1,500 Americans aged 18-34, 81% use YouTube to stream videos, 79% subscribe to Netflix, and only 3% claimed to not stream videos at all (Business).

In response to the high-demand of streaming videos, increasingly more academic librarians are choosing to provide streaming services for their patrons. In a 2013 survey of 336 academic libraries in the United States, 70% featured streaming services in their collection, up from 30% in a 2010 survey (Farrelly). These librarians are not only turning to streaming services to meet the demands of their patrons, but they are also seeing the streaming’s higher quality when compared with DVDs. While DVDs have a limited shelf-life, can be lost, and often require multiple copies to meet patrons’ needs, streaming videos can be viewed by multiple patrons at once and cannot be damaged or lost as easily. Streaming videos also saves the library money: DVDs can also grow expensive with shipping costs and the need to purchase multiple copies, while streaming one video typically costs less than checking out a DVD (Erdmann, 2015). Clearly, streaming videos benefit the library by providing a cheaper, more flexible alternative to DVDs and by offering patrons the services they prefer.

Reaching Out to Students: Creating a Marketing Strategy

Developing a marketing strategy is imperative when building a streaming video collection because without promotion, students and faculty will most likely be unaware that these materials even exist. In June 2014, the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Simmons College both began a promotional endeavor to increase awareness of their libraries’ streaming services. These institutions found that the most effective methods of promotion were emailing faculty members and including links in LibGuides (Erdmann, 2015). Other practices for marketing streaming services include hanging flyers around campus, promoting the library’s services through social media, and adding your streaming provider to your library’s list of databases.

References

Beaver, L. & Boland, M. (2015). Massive share of US millennials stream video on Netflix and YouTube. Business Insider. Retrieved from http://tinyurl.com/ha5agnk.

Erdmann, A., Ferguson, K. & Stangroom, S. (2015). Putting Your Patrons in the Driver’s Seat: Assessing the Value of On-Demand Streaming Video [PowerPoint slides]. Presented at the 2015 ALA Annual Conference, San Francisco, CA.

Kandell, J. (2015). Media's Cordless Nightmare. Institutional Investor, 49(8), 52-78.

Kanopy. (n.d.) About us. Retrieved from https://www.kanopystreaming.com/about-us.

Miller, S. L. (2013). Innovating to Meet the Demand for Streaming Video. Journal Of Library Innovation, 4(1), 29-43.

Naím, M. (2007). The YouTube effect. Foreign Policy, (158), 104-104,103.

Nielsen. (2015). The Total Audience Report: Q4 2014. Retrieved from http://tinyurl.com/zy5r8rf.

Olmstead, K. (2014). Five findings about digital video news. Pew Research Center. Retrieved from http://pewrsr.ch/1nsaClN.

On-Campus Fall Statistical Abstract of First Day of Enrollment. (2015, August 24). Retrieved from http://www.dmi.Illinois.edu/stuenr/abstracts/FA15_one.html.

The Search That Dare Not Speak Its Name: LGBT Information and Catalog Records

Jessica Colbert

jcolber2@illinois.edu

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Graduate School of Library and Information Science, 501 E. Daniel Street, MC-493, Champaign, IL 61820-6211

Keywords: LGBT, Catalog, Information Access, Subject Headings, Controlled Vocabulary, Information-seeking Behavior

Abstract

This poster will examine the relationship between catalog records, particularly subject headings, and LGBT resources and information. Much scholarship has been done regarding LGBT information in libraries, mainly regarding collection development and censorship. This is of course important: LGBT individuals often seek information about themselves at public libraries, but homophobic staff and lack of materials can drive these patrons away. However, once the information has been added to the collection, another barrier can keep patrons from getting the information they need. The Library of Congress Subject Headings have been rightly criticized for showing bias toward straight white men. People like Sanford Berman have been incredibly important in changing these subject headings, but there is still more work to do. How do these controlled vocabularies used in catalog records interact with the natural language used when searching? Language is ever-changing, and this is especially true for the terminology of the LGBT community. Do the terms used by catalog records match the terms used by those the information is about, and those who seek it? If even common words like “queer” do not match anything in a keyword search besides a title and maybe notes (depending on the cataloger), how can patrons expect to find what they need? If the information is not accessible, then all the scholarship regarding collection development has been for naught. Making sure that records accurately represent LGBT materials ensures that all patrons have equal access to the collection, not just heterosexual and cisgender patrons. In examining this issue, I draw on the scholarship of Ellen Greenblatt, Sanford Berman, K.R. Roberto, Melissa Adler, and Emily Drabinski, among others. This research will not only help to make library collections more accessible, but it can also help change the way we look at the role language plays in catalog searches.

Introduction

Although the United States of America does not have an official national library, our Library of Congress acts as one. As such, the policies and procedures of the Library of Congress influence not only libraries across the country, but across the world. While the goal of the Library of Congress, and thus libraries in our country, is to be objective and neutral, certain biases evolve. In 1971, librarian and cataloger Sanford Berman published an influential text concerning bias in the Library of Congress Subject Headings. This book, titled Prejudices and Antipathies: A Tract on the LC Subject Heads Concerning People, examines how subject headings show bias against people who are not white, not men, not straight, not Christian, etc. Since 1971, many changes have been made regarding LGBT subject headings. But much work is left to be done, and LGBT materials and information are still hard to locate in OPACs.

Findings

Library of Congress Subject Headings are a great way to collocate resources, but sometimes they do not reflect the language patrons use to search, especially in keyword searches. For instance, there is no Library of Congress Subject Heading for “LGBT,” or any of its variants. If you search for LGBT in Classification Web, it instructs you to use “Sexual minorities” for “LGBT.”[1] This phrasing, though accurate, is not the way that LGBT individuals refer to themselves; it is also not the type of language used to search for LGBT materials. Another issue, though unavoidable, is the presence of legacy headings. “Transsexuals” is still a subject heading, even though it is no longer the preferred term of transgender people. While this term used to be accurate, records that contain that heading and not “Transgender people” or something similar might not be found because the language is outdated. Besides harmful and outdated terms, subject headings also do not use the same grammatical structure as many keyword searches, such as phrasing identities as plural nouns instead of as singular adjectives(Bates & Rowley, 2011).

Solutions

Incorporation

Besides a title or author search, the most common type of search in an OPAC is a keyword search, not a subject search. Keyword searches are great because they search an entire record, including subject terms. But if those keywords exist nowhere in a record, the information the patron is looking for will not be found. This is especially a problem for LGBT people who often use libraries to seek information about their identities(Stenback & Schrader, 1999). One solution to improving findability is to incorporate natural language into catalog records. Libraries can do this in several ways. The first is to allow users to add tags, if the OPAC has such a feature. The second, if the OPAC allows, is to import LibraryThing folksonomies into the records. This is similar to allowing users to add tags, but instead those tags come from LibraryThing.com(Bates & Rowley, 2011). The third is to include summary notes and Table of Contents notes. When doing a keyword search, it is more likely that relevant records will be found if those words appear somewhere in the record, and a summary of Table of Contents is a great way to do this(Chercourt & Marshall, 2013). The final way is to change subject headings to reflect the language that patrons use to search. This will be unique to every library community, which encourages catalogers and reference librarians to work together(Roberto, 2008).

Problems

While these suggestions from scholars and librarians all seem doable and sound, there still remains problems. Because these subject headings deal with identities and groups of people, they are always already out of date. For folksonomies and tagging, users who are not trained will often not supply descriptive tags and will instead offer togs like “to read.” Scholar Emily Drabinski also suggests that it is counterproductive to try to “fix” subject headings. She is coming from a Queer Theory point of view, where identity is fluid and complicated. The act of trying to accurately classify an identity, especially a queer identity, is pointless. She instead encourages librarians to teach users to engage critically with catalog records(Drabinski, 2013).

Conclusions

Improving subject headings for LGBT materials is beneficial for several reasons: improved access, shaping societal attitudes, and correct “aboutness” being a few. But these same reasons should also be applied to other undeserved communities and oppressed groups, as well as materials in general. Improved access, rich cataloging and classification, and socially conscious service are helpful for all materials. Because LCSH come from a particular society, they show the biases of that society and the power imbalances inherent in the system. This bias actively harms oppressed groups like the LGBT community by enforcing societal attitudes and also by restricting access to information. As librarians, we should strive to enhance access to LGBT information by continuing the work of people like Sanford Berman and improving subject analysis in catalog records.

References

Adler, M. A. (2015). “Let’s Not Homosexualize the Library Stacks”: Liberating Gays in the Library Catalog. Journal of the History of Sexuality, 24(3), 478–507. http://doi.org/10.7560/JHS24306.

Bates, J. & Rowley, J. (2011). Social reproduction and exclusion in subject indexing: A comparison of public library OPACs and Library Thing folksonomy. Journal of Documentation, 67(3), 431–448. http://doi.org/10.1108/00220411111124532.

Berman, S. (1993). Prejudices and antipathies : a tract on the LC subject heads concerning people /. Jefferson, N.C. : McFarland& Co.,.

Campbell, G. (2000). Queer theory and the creation of contextual subject access tools for gay and lesbian communities. Knowledge Organization, 27(3), 122–131.

Chercourt, M. & Marshall, L. (2013). Making Keywords Work: Connecting Patrons to Resources Through Enhanced Bibliographic Records. \iTechnical Services Quarterly, \i30(3), 285–295. http://doi.org/10.1080/07317131.2013.785786.

Christensen, B. (2008). Minoritization vs. Universalization: Lesbianism and Male Homosexuality in LCSH and LCC. Knowledge Organization, 35(4), 229–238.

Cousins, S. A. (1992). ENHANCING SUBJECT ACCESS TO OPACS: CONTROLLED VOCABULARY VS NATURAL LANGUAGE. Journal of Documentation, 48(3), 291–309. http://doi.org/10.1108/eb026899.

Drabinski, E. (2013). Queering the Catalog: Queer Theory and the Politics of Correction. The Library Quarterly: Information, Community, Policy, 83(2), 94–111. http://doi.org/10.1086/669547.

Elhard, K. C., & Jin, Q. (2004). Shifting focus: Assessing cataloging service through focus groups. Library Collections, Acquisitions, and Technical Services, 28(2), 196–204. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.lcats.2004.02.004.

Fidel, R., &Lunin, L. F. (1994). User-Centered Indexing. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 45(8), 572–576.

Gough, C., &Greenblatt, E. (Eds.). (1990). Gay and lesbianlibrary service. Jefferson, N.C: McFarland.

Greenblatt, E. (1990). Homosexuality: the evolution of a concept in the Library of Congress subject headings. In Gay &Lesbian Library Service (pp. 75–101.).

Gross, T., & Taylor, A. G. (2005). What Have We Got to Lose? The Effect of Controlled Vocabulary on Keyword Searching Results. College&Research Libraries, 66(3), 212–230. http://doi.org/10.5860/crl.66.3.212.

Gross, T., Taylor, A. G., &Joudrey, D. N. (2015). Still a Lot to Lose: The Role of Controlled Vocabulary in Keyword Searching. Cataloging& Classification Quarterly, 53(1), 1–39. http://doi.org/10.1080/01639374.2014.917447.

Johnson, M. (2010). Transgender Subject Access: History and Current Practice. Cataloging& Classification Quarterly, 48(8), 661–683. http://doi.org/10.1080/01639370903534398.

Knowlton, S. A. (2005). Three Decades Since Prejudices and Antipathies: A Study of Changes in the Library of Congress Subject Headings. Cataloging& Classification Quarterly, 40(2), 123–145. http://doi.org/10.1300/J104v40n02_08.

McClary, C., & Howard, V. (2007). From “Homosexuality” to “Transvestites”: An Analysis of Subject Headings Assigned to Works of GLBT Fiction in Canadian Public Libraries. Canadian Journal of Information & Library Sciences, 31(2), 149–162.

Olson, H. A. (2000). Difference, Culture and Change: The Untapped Potential of LCSH. Cataloging& Classification Quarterly, 29(1-2), 53–71. http://doi.org/10.1300/J104v29n01_04.

Olson, H. A. (2001). The Power to Name: Representation in Library Catalogs. Signs, 26(3), 639–668.

Roberto, K. R. (Ed.). (2008). Radical cataloging: essays at the front. Jefferson, N.C: McFarland& Co.

Roberto, K. R. (2011). Inflexible Bodies. Journal of Information Ethics, 20(2), 56–64. http://doi.org/10.3172/JIE.20.2.56.

Rowley, J. (1994). The controlled versus natural indexing languages debate revisited: a perspective on information retrieval practice and research. Journal of Information Science, 20(2), 108–118. http://doi.org/10.1177/016555159402000204.

Smiraglia, R. P. (2009). Bibliocentrism, Cultural Warrant, and the Ethics of Resource Description: A Case Study. Cataloging& Classification Quarterly, 47(7), 671–686. http://doi.org/10.1080/01639370903112013.

Stenback, T. L., &Schrader, A. M. (1999). Venturing from the closet: a qualitative study of the information needs of lesbians. Public Library Quarterly, 17(3), 37–50. http://doi.org/10.1300/J118v17n03_04.

West, C. (1972). Revolting librarians /. [San Francisco : Booklegger Press,.

Wilson, V. (2015). CatalogUsers “In the Wild”: The Potential of an Ethnographic Approach to Studies of Library Catalogs and TheirUsers. Cataloging& Classification Quarterly, 53(2), 190–213.

Notes

[1]This search in Classification Web was done by me on October 27, 2015.

Syrtis: New Perspectives for Semantic Web Adoption

Joffrey Decourselle, Fabien Duchateau

jdecours@liris.cnrs.fr, fduchate@liris.cnrs.fr

LIRIS, UMR5205, Université Lyon 1 Lyon, France

Ronald Ganier

ronald.ganier@progilone.fr

Progilone SAS, Lyon, France

Keywords:Semantic Web, Cultural Heritage Catalogs, FRBR, MARC, Metadata Migration

Abstract

The last two decades have shown a huge interest in using Semantic Web technologies in Cultural Institutions. There are now a large number of Open Data projects such as Europeana, which aggregates millions of records, allowing us to find many relevant information. However, most of the effort to adopt Semantic Web principles has been spent in national libraries or at larger scope and most local libraries still store isolated data. Cultural information held in these local institutions is generally not available outside the library due to old-fashioned Integrated Library Systems (ILS). We advocate that improvements have to be done in the transformation and enrichment of the catalogs of any cultural institution to enhance the accessibility of data. The Syrtis project lies at the heart of the cultural heritage challenges and aims at providing relevant solutions for guiding librarians through the adoption of Semantic Web concepts. This paper presents an overview of the architecture built for the management of cultural records in the context of the Syrtis project. We also discuss briefly the current challenges faced by the project.

Motivation

These last years, the emergence of new models and rules for cataloging cultural records (e.g., FRBR1, RDA2) raised new interests in using Semantic Web technologies in cultural institutions (Alemu, 2012). Europeana started publishing data in RDF using a model3 based on FRBR (Doerr, 2010). OCLC clustered large amount of bibliographic records from Worldcat to group them according to the FRBR semantic levels (Hickey, 2002). In France, the national library also started a project to "FRBRize" its catalogs (Simon, 2014).

These projects have been mostly initiated at the national or higher level while local libraries still have to manage records in old formats (e.g., MARC) leaving the feel that the global movement towards Semantic Web of any cultural institution is still stuck. Indeed, the full adoption of these new principles requires to face important challenges such as transforming existing records in the new semantic models and developing new systems that handle them. Furthermore, such migration should be done mostly in an automated manner to process the thousands of existing records. Yet, the recent studies on the FRBRization process (i.e., a metadata migration of records to FRBR) have shown that the automated transformation of catalogs can be very complex due to the heterogeneousness of cataloging practices in different institutions (Aalberg, 2013).

The Syrtis research project has been started in 2013 to bring new solutions for the adoption of Semantic Web principles in CH institutions. The project has released tools to migrate catalogs of records to the FRBR concepts and to propose all features of a complete Integrated Library System. The rest of this paper presents the current and future works done in the context of Syrtis.

Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records

Resource Description and Access

Europeana Data Model

Graphical User Interface

Overview of the architecture

This part gives an overview of the global and theoretical architecture of the Syrtis research project. The system is based on three main steps for processing records: Metadata Migration, Validation & Enrichment and Exploitation.

Metadata Migration process

The process upstream the whole application takes in input a record-based catalog (e.g., MARC) and returns a FRBR-based catalog. Such process is done in two steps. It begins with a rule-based extraction where a set of rules is used to generate FRBR entities and relationships from data in input. Then, it deals with duplicate entities, due to repeated information in the records, by invoking a deduplication step where potential equivalent entities are matched and merged. The output objects are stored in a knowledge base that can be queried as a graph.

Validation and Enrichment process

To validate the extracted entities before their integration, an additional step of semantic enrichment is launched. First, it queries sources from Linked Open Data using attributes from extracted entities and it aggregates the results. Then, a process of deduplication which involves both ontology matching and entity matching algorithms group the equivalent entities and relationships from aggregates. Finally, a fusion process merges the new information to the initial entities according to an expert validation.

Exploitation of FRBR collections

Once the data is validated, the entities are integrated in our system based on the FRBR concepts. The solution provides various GUI4 to manage the data both from the expert and from the end user points of view. A first interface deals with the representation of bibliographic families by clustering the data according to the FRBR semantic levels (Work, Expressions, Manifestation and Item). This allows the user to benefit from a Top-Down look at the data. Another possible interface is graph-based and allows the user to navigate between the main entities of the three groups of FRBR (Bibliographic, Agent and Subject information) to facilitate its discovery of knowledge.

This architecture involves several research domains such as data integration, information retrieval and ontology modeling, where each implies to face specific challenges. In our project, the quality of the migration processes and the enrichment of data are at the central point of our reflections. The remains of this paper discuss our progresses and remaining challenges.

Progresses and Results

New approach for interpreting records

We have studied the projects and tools about automated FRBRization from the last decade and realized an original classification (Decourselle, 2015a). This work showed us that several improvements scattered in the different solutions might be merged to create an enhanced process. Furthermore, some steps such as the pre-analysis of input data and evaluation of the process have been less explored.

We assume that the weaknesses of most FRBRization tools concern the way they manage their rules. First, the latter are generally represented as mappings based on XML and XSLT transformations which requires specific skills to understand. Then, the models used for handling the rules are mostly entity-centered. This can be a limitation for interpreting all the complex bibliographic patterns that are represented in input catalogs (Cole, 2013). To improve these two steps, we have started by building a case-based model for FRBRization rules where each case describes a specific part of a bibliographic pattern and the whole, modeled as a graph, represents the global structure of the expected FRBR output model. This approach eases the representation and documentation of all bibliographic patterns that must be extracted from a bibliographic catalog. We have also formalized metrics and built specific datasets for evaluating the quality of a FRBRization solution. This material allows us to refine gradually our own process and may help other practitioners in building and evaluating approaches for metadata migration of cultural records.

Fully FRBR-based Integrated Library System

A software that handles the FRBR concepts for managing FRBRized collections is operational in the Syrtis project. The large experiences of Syrtis stakeholders on former ILS helped to build a solution more in agreement with the user needs. The cataloguing specifications inside the tool can be fully edited to fit each requirement of an institution using the application. The extensibility of the FRBR model and the flexibility of the solution make the tool very customizable and intuitive.

Future Works

One of our works in progress relates to the domain of information extraction. Even as it becomes more and more convenient to extract data from Linked Open Data, most of fresh information (e.g., about recent cultural content) are still scattered on the web or on isolated databases. Thus, we plan to extend our external sources to those without a structured schema such as microblogging. A large variety of studies already exist about extracting information from such kind of sources, but we advocate that new enhancements can be done by using the potential of new semantic models. For instance, relationships already proposed by FRBR can refine the way we extract additional knowledge and facilitate the selection of relevant entities to keep.

Another part of our research focuses the models used in knowledge bases. On the one hand, the conceptual models from the FRBR family are open to interpretation. On the other hand, the interests of users on a specific aspect of a cultural entity may vary according to the resource explored. Thus, knowledge bases must adapt to the user requests which implies a flexibility in the ontologies used. We plan to provide a practical model for automatically build Thematic Knowledge Bases which implies to face the challenges from Ontology Modeling, Information extraction and Data Integration. We have already published a theoretical approach of such a system (Decourselle, 2015b).

Conclusions

The Syrtis research project brings together professionals of cultural institutions and researchers working on Cultural Heritage Data. There is still a long way to go for a full adoption of Semantic Web concepts, but we hope that our initiative will help both communities to move forward towards new experiments.

References

Alemu, G., Stevens, B., Ross, P., & Chandler, J. (2012). Linked Data for libraries: Benefits of a conceptual shift from library-specific record structures to RDF-based data models. New Library World, 113(11/12), 549-570.

Doerr, M., Gradmann, S., Hennicke, S., Isaac, A., Meghini, C., & van de Sompel, H. (2010, August). The europeana data model (EDM). In World Library and Information Congress: 76th IFLA general conference and assembly (pp. 10-15).

Hickey, T. B., O’Neill, E. T., & Toves, J. (2002). Experiments with the IFLA functional requirements for bibliographic records (FRBR). D-Lib magazine, 8(9), 1-13.

Simon, A., Di Mascio, A., Michel, V., & Peyrard, S. (2014). We grew up together: data.bnf.fr from the BnF and Logilab perspectives. In IFLA 2014.

Aalberg, T., & Žumer, M. (2013). The value of MARC data, or, challenges of frbrisation. Journal of Documentation, 69(6), 851-872.

Decourselle, J., Duchateau, F., & Lumineau, N. (2015). A Survey of FRBRization Techniques. In Research and Advanced Technology for Digital Libraries (pp. 185-196).

Cole, T. W., Han, M. J., Weathers, W. F., & Joyner, E. (2013). Library marc records into linked open data: Challenges and opportunities. Journal of Library Metadata, 13(2-3), 163-196.

Decourselle, J., Vennesland, A., Aalberg, T., Duchateau, F., & Lumineau, N. (2015). A Novel Vision for Navigation and Enrichment in Cultural Heritage Collections. In New Trends in Databases and Information Systems (pp. 488-497).

Libraries, Pornography, and the Internet: An Evolving Conversation

Annabella Irvine

airvine2@illinois.edu

University of Illinois, Graduate School of Library and Information Science, 501 E. Daniel Street, Champaign, IL 61820-6211

Keywords:Pornography, Censorship, Ethics, Intellectual Freedom, Internet

Abstract

This poster will explore the relationship between libraries and pornography, and in particular how the internet has changed the conversation about libraries relationship to pornography. Before the internet, the question was whether or not libraries should provide access to pornography; since the advent of the internet, any library with internet access is by default providing access to pornography, and the question has become whether or not to block access. While neither the nature of pornography, nor the arguments for or against libraries limiting access to it have much changed, the conversation has shifted, as a decision not to stock certain materials is a fundamentally different action than actively blocking materials. Restrictions that used to be enacted in an effort to balance offering sexually explicit materials with preventing minors from accessing them or not exposing people to them who did not wish to see them, such as keeping the books in a restricted area, no longer ate applicable with the internet. Internet filters could be seen as analogous, but are controversial and clumsy at best. One key difference between pornographic books and internet pornography is the fact that books can be taken home and read in private, when very often internet access in libraries is only available in a public way. How can libraries balance protect patrons’ intellectual freedom and right to information, with the often public nature of library internet access? I will examine scholarship on the subject, as well as looking directly at current and past policies and statements libraries and librarians have written on pornography. This poster will also examine where pornography fits in the discussion of intellectual freedom. Is pornography a legitimate information need? Is it only legitimate when it is being sought for intellectual purposes and not when it is being sought for erotic purposes? Do libraries approach written pornography on the internet differently than visual pornography on the internet? These are other questions this poster will investigate.

Introduction

For this poster, I looked at literature on the subject of libraries and pornography. I wanted to look at what issues are talked about when the subject of libraries and pornography is talked about, especially in relationship to the internet. I wanted to see when internet filtering became a hot topic, and what other subjects about pornography are still being talked about besides filtering.

The Conversation Pre-Internet

There is not a huge volume of literature pre-internet. Mostly the literature centers around whether or not libraries should carry sexually related materials in general (such as sexual health materials, art depicting nudity, pornographic or erotic literature), what the criteria for what explicit material should be in libraries should be, and how to categorize these materials.

The Effects of The Internet

Once libraries started providing internet access, the conversation was no longer "Should libraries provide access to sexually explicit materials, including pornography?" but "Libraries with internet are by default providing access to pornography: now what?" This "now what?" encompassed many questions: should libraries be filtering their internet? What should be filtered? Who gets to decide what should be filtered? Should we filter for everybody or just minors? Do filters work well? If we are providing access to pornography now, how do we classify it? Are libraries legally at risk by any laws surrounding pornography? How do other librarians feel about these questions? Almost all the literature I found post ~1997 deals either mostly or entirely with the internet. The volume of literature also explodes post ~2001. Most of the literature is about internet filtering in libraries, especially after 2001, but not all

The Children’s Internet Protection Act (2001)

The Children’s Internet Protection Act was passed in 2001. It requires libraries and schools to use internet filtering software to filter 1) Obscenity, as legally defined by Miller v. California (1973) 2) Child pornography (as defined by 18 U.S.C. 2256) and 3) material harmful to minors. If libraries or schools do not comply with the law, they do not receive federal funding for technology and internet access (E-Rate). The law was challenged by the ALA, working with the ACLU, which went before the supreme court in 2003 in United States v. American Library Association. The law was upheld. The 2009 study, "One Law with Two Outcomes: Comparing the Implementation of CIPA in Public Libraries and Schools", found that as of 2008, nearly all public schools studied were compliant with the law, while less than half of public libraries were, choosing to take the loss of federal funding. This means many public libraries are operating at a lower technology budget, often leading to less public computers, out of date technology, etc.

Conclusions and Looking Forward

The internet has dominated the conversation about libraries and pornography for almost a decade now, as it has on many subjects within libraries. The discussion between library professionals about pornography’s place in libraries seems to have been largely put on hold after CIPA. Libraries were on the defensive about freedom of speech and freedom of information, even going to the Supreme Court. Libraries are still largely on the legal defensive, especially surrounding legislation about children using the internet and child pornography. The internet also expanded a conversation that had not been previously largely published on.

References

Annoyed Librarian. (2008). Take the Library Porn Challenge. Journal of Access Services, 5(4), 623– 630. http://doi.org/10.1080/15367960802175091

Byrd, V., Felker, J., & Duncan, A. (2001). Bess Won’t Go There: A Research Report on Filtering Software. Current Studies in Librarianship, 25(1/2), 7–19.

Cornog, M. (Ed.). (1991). Libraries, erotica, pornography. Phoenix, Ariz: Oryx Press. Dilevko, J., & Gottlieb, L. (2002). Deep classification: pornography, bibliographic access, and academic libraries. Library Collections, Acquisitions, and Technical Services, 26(2), 113–139. http://doi.org/10.1016/S1464-9055(02)00229-4

Dilevko, J., & Gottlieb, L. (2004). Selection and Cataloging of Adult Pornography Web Sites for Academic Libraries. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 30(1), 36–50. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jal.2003.11.006

Federal Communications Commission. (n.d.). Children’s Internet Protection Act. Retrieved October 22, 2015, from https://www.fcc.gov/guides/childrens-internet-protection-act

Harney, K. (2001). A Study of the Attitudes of Library and Information Science Students about Censoring Materials on the Web in a Library Environment. Retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED459858

Hill, H., & Harrington, M. (2014). Beyond obscenity: an analysis of sexual discourse in LIS educational texts. Journal of Documentation, 70(1), 62–73. http://dx.doi.org.proxy2.library.illinois.edu/10.1108/JD-11-2012-0150

Hyman, K., & Field, D. (1997). Internet Policies: Managing in the Real World. [and] One Library’s Approach: Pornography? Not in Our Library! American Libraries, 28(10), 60,62–63.

Jaeger, P. T., & Yan Zheng. (2009). One Law with Two Outcomes: Comparing the Implementation of CIPA in Public Libraries and Schools. Information Technology & Libraries, 28(1), 6–14.

Juarez, M. (2001). Erotic-Content Monographs: Issues in Collecting and Providing Access. Art Documentation: Bulletin of the Art Libraries Society of North America, 20(1), 14–17.

Lehmann, C. U., Cohen, B. A., & Kim, G. R. (2005). Blocking of pornography-seeking behavior in digital image libraries: adventures in the skin trade. AMIA... Annual Symposium Proceedings / AMIA Symposium. AMIA Symposium, 435–439.

Masuchika, G. (2015). Japanese Cartoons, Virtual Child Pornography, Academic Libraries, and the Law. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 54(4), 54–60.

Oppenheim, C., & Smith, V. (2004). Censorship in libraries. Information Services and Use, 24(4), 159–170.

Pope, M. (1974). Sex and the undecided librarian; a study of librarians’ opinions on sexually oriented literature. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press.

Richardson CR, Resnick PJ, Hansen DL, Derry HA, & Rideout VJ. (2002). Does pornography-blocking software block access to health information on the internet? JAMA, 288(22), 2887– 2894. http://doi.org/10.1001/jama.288.22.2887

Skaggs, J. A. (2003). Burning the Library to Roast the Pig? Online Pornography and Internet Filtering in the Free Public Library. Brooklyn Law Review, 68(3), 809–852.

Wertheimer, L. (1980). Pornography in the Public Library, Are Librarians Ignoring Its Role? Canadian Library Journal, 37(1), 21–26.

Wu, F. (2004). United States V. American Library Ass’n: The Children’s Internet Protection Act, Library Filtering, and Institutional Roles. Berkeley Technology Law Journal, 19(1), 555–583. 

Young, S. (1997). Sexually-explicit materials via the Internet: ethical concerns for the library profession. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 23, 49–50. http://doi.org/10.1016/S0099-1333(97)90073-2

Accessible safe Internet for children: project of Russian libraries

Elena Kolosova and Alexandra Gubanova

the_shmiga@mail.ru, alexandra.gubanova@gmail.com

Russian State Children's Library – Russia

Abstract

"Weblandia. The land of the best children's online-sources" - Russian cognitive and informational project which includes safe educational, useful and entertaining sites for kids. At the initial stage experts from Russian State Children's Library worked on development of interface, design and content of the site (with support of company Beeline), nowadays the project joined 40 libraries of the Russian Federation.

Modern catalog "Weblandia" consists of 14 topics and 72 subtopics, which include about 1,500 sites of different subjects for children and teen under 18 years old, their parents, teachers etc. Everyone can submit a site; to do that you need to press the special button. But website must conform to the following criteria:

Content interesting for kids, teens and youth.

Contribution of child's emotional and intellectual growth.

No erotic / sexual content, aggression and violence element.

Design complied with children and teens perception.

Sites texts written correctly (without mistakes).

No children privacy data on sites

Simple navigation.

We offer different ways to search web-sites in our catalog:

operative keywords with any searching system (Google, Yandex, etc.);

use public lists of sites (for example, the list of children's sites from Yandex's catalog);

follow links which available on the previously founded sites;

follow recommendations on social networks and etc.

There is a regular verification of sites included in catalog. Verifies the compliance to the following parameters: availability of sites 24x7, regular updates of information, lack of negative publicity and unacceptable content. Sites that do not conform to the specified criteria are excluded from the catalog.

Every week we update catalog, new web-sites post into the section "New Sites".

Possibilities of using the resource "Weblandia" diverse. Children and teens can use the sites for entertainment or for preparation of their homework. Russian librarians, as well as other professionals who works with children, use "Weblandia" for different activities with children and teenagers - quests, exhibitions etc. The use of the diverse content as additional methodical materials can help adults in the planning of the educational process in the group, preparing lessons, leisure and holidays with children. Raising own skills through listening / viewing of lectures, master classes and activities with children and others. Demonstration in group materials which recorded and placed on individual sites of master-classes on making / creating / designing children crafts, toys, useful in everyday life things. Promoting the better content for children selected by qualified professionals.

At the moment we are working on creating a filter "RGDB PROXY" based on the list of Weblandia sites to install it in children institutions (libraries, schools, etc.). The service help to limit access to Internet sites through Weblandia's "white list of sites" - that means that access to resources that do not satisfy to the catalog's criteria will be closed.

The Role of Public Libraries in Communities Impacted by Natural Disasters

Monique Lassere

mlasse2@illinois.edu

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Graduate School of Library and Information Science, 501 E. Daniel

St., Champaign, IL 61820

Keywords:E-government, New Services, Library Staff, Tools for Citizens, Access to Culture and Information, Libraries Networks

Abstract

In times of natural disasters, common information resources and tools become inefficient or non-existent due to the destruction of local infrastructure, human life, and of personal and public property. Such information resources and tools include telephones, computers, internet, personal devices, transportation, and family and friends. Information distribution by official government agencies or relief organizations in the aftermath of a natural disaster can be limited and gradual. Further, survivors sometimes perceive information from official agencies to be unreliable, which complicates their access to information. Survivors of natural disasters are then faced with two primary obstacles to survival: meeting basic human needs (food, shelter, water) and the information needs regarding ways to obtain these resources. Accessing information requires survivors to independently sort through reliable and unreliable sources as well as finding information resources. In such crises, libraries can provide essential and reliable tools and resources.

This paper provides an overview of the role of public libraries in serving the information requirements of communities that have survived natural disasters. In the wake of natural disasters, libraries emerge as information centers and mediators between the public and government and official agencies. Further, they act as democratic, safe and trustworthy spaces for survivors.

Information needs of survivors include electronic resources, assistance from government and relief agencies, connection to community members, and emotional relief. Public libraries can provide electricity, which survivors use to power personal devices, and use of computer use.

Use of electronic resources allows survivors to find information. Local and national agencies– including government–have used public libraries to distribute information to survivors, and as a point of contact for the public. Public libraries have also served as social areas to reconnect with community members. The social aspect of the library coupled with its access to information resources creates a sense of security and relief for survivors.

Such roles that libraries can play during natural disasters are democratic and recognize access to information as a human right. This examination reveals not only the public library's role in providing reliable information to citizens but its ability to empower individuals by allowing the restoration of basic human rights.

Introduction

In times of natural disasters, access to resources is severely limited. Those having survived natural disasters face common obstacles in recovery, such as finding and applying for aid; finding family and friends; finding shelter, food and water; and, ultimately, accessing information on how to perform the aforementioned tasks. Due to space, resources, technology, community relationships,and the information literacy skills of staff members, public libraries can provide vital resources to people affected by natural disasters.

Aim

This research intends primarily to elucidate and advocate for atypical but essential and democratic roles of public libraries and librarians. With advances in technology changing the landscape of information gathering, sharing and disseminating, libraries are under immense pressure to validate their roles and services as essential in changing ways. Public libraries offer essential public services and resources that can be adapted to serve community needs during times of disaster.

About the Literature

The literature on libraries, disasters, and emergency planning prior to Hurricane Katrina is markedly different from that of the literature published after the storm. Pre-Katrina literature focused on maintaining normal library services and protecting collection materials [1].

Library literature on disasters and emergency planning after Hurricane Katrina–and the numerous other storms that afflicted the Gulf–shifted focus to the communities these libraries serve. Post-Katrina literature emphasizes the information needs of survivors during disasters [2]. New services, such as e-government assistance, were implemented to better assist its patrons in communities often impacted by natural disasters, like tornadoes and hurricanes [3].

With new services came new roles for public libraries and librarians. Such new roles included: information hubs, government partners/liaisons, educators, and information disseminators [4].

In effort to create connections between government and relief agencies, the current literature is heavily focused on how and why libraries can collaborate with emergency responders, government and relief agencies. [5][6]

FEMA’s Recognition

On January 7, 2011 FEMA changed its policy to allow libraries to act as temporary relocation sites during major disasters and emergencies under the FEMA Public Assistance Program [7].

This policy change reflected a deep shift in the government’s perspective of libraries and how they interact with their communities.

Findings

Services

Though public libraries have used a variety of techniques to assist their communities impacted by natural disasters, distinct common roles and services emerged throughout the literature. Often libraries offered the following services: internet access, liaison services between government, local and national agencies; access to e-government forms; shelter; and a place of refuge and mental escape. Some libraries also offered a space to distribute clothes and food; physical access to local and national aid agency officials; and online disaster response resources.

Librarians and staff members offered a variety of educational, training and supportive services. Assistance in filling out e-government forms was a commonly cited service increasingly provided by staff members to patrons [8]. Employees further offered technology assistance; emotional and mental support; assistance locating family and friends; comfort and understanding through interaction; and time and money.

Establishing Roles

These services established new and emerging roles of public libraries, which were direct responses to their communities’ needs. Such roles include the library as an information hub/provider; a community and crisis hub; a facilitator of information access, exchange and dissemination; a volunteer; a refuge; and a symbol of hope and normalcy.

Conclusion

Libraries and librarians possess valuable resources to offer their communities in times of natural disaster. Such resources include: computers, Wi-Fi, information resources and skills, and easier access to government and relief agencies. Libraries act as information hubs, facilitators, and refuges. By providing critical services, public libraries help those affected by disasters to rebuild their lives. Such atypical and essential services emphasize the importance of public libraries within their individual communities during a variety of crises. Further, such research supports and advocates continuation of public library services by re-imagining roles of public libraries.

References

26220690.jpg (JPEG Image, 571 × 338 pixels). (n.d.-a). Retrieved October 30, 2015, from http://imageserver.ebscohost.com/img/imageqv/actual/8b9/20130101/26220690.jpg?ephost1=dGJyMNLe80Sepq84zdnyOLCmr02epq5Srqa4SK6WxWXS

26220690.jpg (JPEG Image, 571 × 338 pixels). (n.d.-b). Retrieved from http://imageserver.ebscohost.com/img/imageqv/actual/8b9/20130101/26220690.jpg?ephost1=dGJyMNLe80Sepq84zdnyOLCmr02epq5Srqa4SK6WxWXS

ALA commends Sen. Reed for efforts to ensure FEMA provision includes libraries as temporary relocation facilities. News and Press Center. (n.d.). Retrieved October 26, 2015, from http://www.ala.org/news/press-releases/2011/01/ala-commends-sen-reed-efforts-ensure-fema-provision-includes-libraries

Braquet, D. M. (2010). Library Experiences of Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans Flood Survivors. LIBRES: Library & Information Science Research Electronic Journal, 20(1), 1–23.

Bertot, J. C., Jaeger, P. T., Gorham, U., Taylor, N. G., & Lincoln, R. (2013). Delivering e-government services and transforming communities through innovative partnerships: Public libraries, government agencies, and community organizations. InformationPolity: The International Journal of Government & Democracy in the Information Age, 18(2), 127–138. http://doi.org/10.3233/IP-130304

Bishop, B. W., & Veil, S. R. (2013). Public Libraries as Post-Crisis Information Hubs. PublicLibrary Quarterly, 32(1), 33–45. http://doi.org/10.1080/01616846.2013.760390

Cooper, D., & Crum, J. A. (2013). New activities and changing roles of health sciences librarians: a systematic review, 1990-2012. Journal of the Medical LibraryAssociation, 101(4), 268–277. http://doi.org/10.3163/1536

Epps, L., & Watson, K. (2014). EMERGENCY! How Queens Library Came to Patrons’ Rescue After Hurricane Sandy. Computers in Libraries, 34(10), 3–30.

Featherstone, R. M., Lyon, B. J., & Ruffin, A. B. (2008). Library roles in disaster response: an oral history project by the National Library of Medicine. Journal of the MedicalLibrary Association, 96(4), 343–350. http://doi.org/10.3163/1536-5050.96.4.009

FEMA. (n.d.). Session 6--Defining Disaster Slides.ppt [PowerPoint]. Retrieved October 29, 2015, from https://training.fema.gov/hiedu/docs/hazdem/session%206--defining%20disaster%20slides.ppt

FEMA Recognizes Libraries as Essential Community Organizations. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://nnlm.gov/bhic/2011/01/12/fema-recognizes-libraries-as-essential-community-organizations/

Green, S. L., & Teper, T. H. (2006). The Importance of Disaster Planning for the Small Public Library. Public Library Quarterly, 25(3/4), 47–59.

Hamilton, R. (2011). The State Library of Louisiana and Public Libraries’ Response to Hurricanes: Issues, Strategies, and Lessons. Public Library Quarterly, 30(1), 40–53. http://doi.org/10.1080/01616846.2010.525385

Harris, R., Wathen, C. N., & Chan, D. (2005). Public Library Responses to a Consumer Health Inquiry in a Public Health Crisis: The SARS Experience in Ontario. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 45(2), 147–154.

Hassan Ibrahim, N., & Allen, D. (2012). Information sharing and trust during major incidents: Findings from the oil industry. Journal of the American Society for InformationScience & Technology, 63(10), 1916–1928. http://doi.org/10.1002/asi.22676

Jaeger, P. T., Langa, L. A., McClure, C. R., & Bertot, J. C. (2006). The 2004 and 2005 Gulf Coast Hurricanes: Evolving Roles and Lessons Learned for Public Libraries in Disaster Preparedness and Community Services. Public Library Quarterly, 25(3/4), 199–214.

Malizia, M., Hamilton, R., Littrell, D., Vargas, K., & Olney, C. (2012). Connecting Public Libraries with Community Emergency Responders. Public Libraries, 51(3), 32–36.

Mathiesen, K. (2015). Human rights as a topic and guide for LIS research and practice. Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, 66(7), 1305–1322. http://doi.org/10.1002/asi.23293

McClure, C. R., Ryan, J., Mandel, L. H., Brobst, J., Hinnant, C. C., Andrade, J., & Snead, J. T. (2009). Hurricane Preparedness and Response for Florida Public Libraries: Best Practices and Strategies. Florida Libraries, 52(1), 4–7.

Noe, J.& Furay, J. (2013). Like a Hurricane: A Citation Analysis of Emergency Management Scholarly Literature. Community & Junior College Libraries, 19(1/2), 21–50. http://doi.org/10.1080/02763915.2014.895646

Public Libraries to Provide Disaster Preparedness Information in September, National Preparedness Month | FEMA.gov. (n.d.). Retrieved October 29, 2015, from http://www.fema.gov/news-release/2012/08/29/public-libraries-provide-disaster-preparedness-information-september

Refworld | Universal Declaration of Human Rights. (n.d.). Retrieved October 3, 2015, from http://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b3712c.html

Rooney-Browne, C. (2009). Rising to the challenge: a look at the role of public libraries in times of recession. Library Review, 58(5), 341–352. http://doi.org/10.1108/00242530910961765

Rose, J. (n.d.). For Disaster Preparedness: Pack A Library Card? Retrieved October 26, 2015, from http://www.npr.org/2013/08/12/210541233/for-disasters-pack-a-first-aid-kit-bottled-water-and-a-library-card

Wilson, V. (2010). Public Libraries Can Play an Important Role in the Aftermath of a Natural Disaster. Evidence Based Library and Information Practice, 5(3), 59–61.

Zach, L. (2011). What Do I Do in an Emergency? The Role of Public Libraries in Providing Information During Times of Crisis. Science & Technology Libraries, 30(4), 404–413. http://doi.org/10.1080/0194262X.2011.626341

Zach, L., & Mcknight, M. (2010). Special Services in Special Times: Responding to Changed Information Needs During and after Community-Based Disasters. Public Libraries, 49(2), 37–43.

Notes

[1] Green & Teper, 2006.

[2] Zach, 2011.

[3] Bishop & Veil, 2013.

[4] Featherstone, Lyon, & Ruffin, 2008.

[5] Malizia, Hamilton, Littrell, Vargas, & Olney, 2012.

[6] Jaeger et al., 2006.

[7] “FEMA Recognizes Libraries as Essential Community Organizations,” n.d.

[8] Braquet, D.M., 2010.

BOISSY Archive: an innovative project which seeks to develop the reflection on text-markup standard to enhance research in French eighteenth century theater

Joséphine Loterie

josephine.loterie@gmail.com

University of South Britanny, department of Digital Humanities, Lorient, France.

Keywords: Open Access, Research, Text Encoding Initiative, Digitization, XML, Digital Humanities

Abstract

The purpose of this poster is to present and to show the relevance of the Boissy Archive, a recent project in Open Access created by the University of South Britanny’s digital humanities department. This project aims to reflect on how we can digitize and encode theater texts, in order to maximize their study in different disciplines (lexicography, literature, typography …). This poster is addressed to all researchers in order to show them the relevance of digital humanities and the impact of Open Access on them.

Nowadays digitization of texts is everywhere, but it is not uniform, since each kind of text has its own specificities, and each institution has their own ways to digitize. Since there are a lot of variations in the electronic versions of texts, it is sometime s difficult for researchers to obtain relevant results. That’s why the Boissy Archive was created to find norms of theater encoding, in order to enhance research in this field.

This Archive was created by Dr. Ioana Galleron and Professor Geoffrey Williams within LiCoRN (research group specialized in lexicography, corpus and digital resources). It is based on the digitization of the works of Louis de Boissy (French playwright, 1694-1758). The plays are marked up using Text Encoding Initiative P5 guidelines. This project received recognition from the French consortium of Digital Humanities, called Consortium CAHIER, which is part of TGIR Huma- num.

It is an experimental project which aims to reflect on how to encode French eighteen century theater, and also to test some new text mark- up (such as topoï). The members of the project also experiment new tools for data extraction and linking of information.

The Boissy Archive’s final aim is to provide a fully Open Access version of digitized texts, while developing and adapting new tools for their interrogation. Open Access is essential in this project. Indeed a complete encoding is currently impossible at first attempt. However, since the xml version is freely available (here http://www.licorn-ubs.com/Boissy.html), all those who are interested may enrich the code to make it more complete. Moreover, it is an excellent way to make the encoding profitable, since it is a long and costly work.

The Boissy Archive presented in this poster, is an Open Access archive on which you can find a digitized edition of Louis de Boissy’s plays. Louis de Boissy (1694 - 1758) is a French playwright of the eighteen century. One could wonder why this archive deserves to be presented since nowadays digitization of texts is everywhere. However it is not uniform, since each kind of text has its own specificities, and each institution has their own ways to digitize. Because of all these variations in the electronic versions of texts, it is sometimes difficult for researchers to obtain relevant results. That’s why the Boissy Archive was created to find norms of theater encoding, in order to enhance research in this field.

This archive is not yet completed, for it is only composed of the thirty-seven plays, two dedicatory letters and one letter from the author to the printer which were published in Berlin and Amsterdam in an eight volumes edition by Jean de Néaulme (1768). In this form, the corpus counts a bit more than 355 000 words. The next step of digitization for the archive is to digitize the manuscript plays (it requires a much longer work and someone who can both digitize and decipher manuscript). However, even without the manuscripts, the actual corpus, can already be used for analysis, and it is freely available on LiCoRN website, where everyone can download each play in an html version or/and in an xml version.

In the xml document, one can find the play encoded following the Text Encoding Initiative Recommendation. XML language was chosen for mark-up because it is stable and interoperable. The Boissy Archive is a recent project directed by Dr. Ioana Galleron and Professor Geoffrey Williams within the LiCoRN group (research group specialized in lexicography, corpus and digital resources, which belongs to the University of South Brittany department of digital humanities). Master degree’s students in Publishing, Document Management and Digital Humanities participated in the creation of this archive, since they learned how to use Text Encoding Initiative recommendations while working on some of Boissy’s plays. They encoded approximately 80 000 words in two years. Afterwards, the project received credits from the Consortium CAHIER, thanks to that, one person, Josephine Loterie, was employed to digitize the rest of the plays.

The process of digitization is strict, in order to minimize the mistakes.

Step 1: All the text is manually input from the book. It allows to spot mistakes in the original edition and unclear passages.

Step 2: xml element and xml attribute are added. We use the elements recommended in the P5 of the Text Encoding Initiative consortium, because it is an active consortium, and because their recommendations are really flexible.

Step 3: Dr Ioana Galleron review the text and the encoding.

Step 4: document is put online, and if a mistake is spotted, it is modified as fast as possible.

Step 5: everyone can send remarks to the LiCoRn group about the encoding (things that need to be added, or that are not necessary). The remarks are discussed within the group, and if modification is needed it is done in the play that are newly encoded, and in the play that were already digitize.

This archive has different purpose and use. First it is a good way to promote the work of an author who was famous in his time, but is nearly forgotten in ours. However this is not the main point of this archive. Indeed, it is mainly used to:

create a uniform basic way of encoding French eighteen century theater ;

and to experiment new techniques of analysis, and new tools, which will help develop study in this field.

It is not easy to determine what is a basic encoding, we made some choice while creating the archive, but now, through the open access, we hope to receive comments from the potential users (researchers in literature, lexicography, printing history …) in order to ameliorate it. The purpose of this encoding is to be useful for everyone for basic research, to be open for improvements adapted to each person need, and to not disturb anyone research (indeed, too much mark-up can be an hindrance when you want to use xslt stylesheet or X-path request).

We decided to mark-up:

the structure (acts, scenes, speeches, entertainment, line-group, …) ;

information on the original printing (page-break, line-break, small capital, italic…) ; the printers mistakes : « u » for « n », lacking space, « r » instead of « t » … ;

the characters specific to eighteen century language : & and long-s ;

names person and place ;

different types of stage direction ;

the original spelling and the regularized orthography (to create an edition easy to read) ;

unclear passages.

The document also contains extra information: a TEI-header with information on the code, the source, the first representation… and also notes from the digital editor.

However, first remarks showed us that:

it was important to give specific names to each characters according to the play. Indeed, in all Boissy’s play there is more than ten “Léandre”, which is why in automatic analysis, the computer, who believe that all « Léandre » are the same, do not differentiate them ; it may make things difficult for the analysis. We are in the process of ameliorating that point.

we should always specify the type of stage direction, and we should also try to find a way to spot the intern stage direction. It is not specific stage direction, but a character giving information in his speech (about clothes, actions…). We are working on the first part, and thinking about the rest.

As for the experimentation of new tools and techniques for data extraction and linking of information, it is not fully done yet, since the corpus was complete only some weeks ago. It is the new orientation of this project. We wish to experiment techniques inherited from corpus linguistic, and to develop the use of xslt request.

To conclude, this poster, mainly addressed to researchers, was done to show the relevance of the Boissy Archive, but it is also a way to defend and promote digital humanities and reveal the impact of Open Access on them.

Webography

Consortium CAHIER (2014). Edition électronique des œuvres de Louis de Boissy. Found in: http://cahier.hypotheses.org/edition-electronique-des-oeuvres-de-louis-de-boissy . Last access on the 27/09/2015.

Heiden, S. (1999). Encodage uniforme et normalisé de corpus. Application à l'étude d'un débat parlementaire. Mots, 60, 113-132. doi : 10.3406/mots.1999.2168. Last access on the 27/09/2015. www.persee.fr/doc/mots_0243-6450_1999_num_60_1_2168

LiCoRN (2012). Le Fonds Boissy. Found in: http://www.licorn-ubs.com/Boissy.html . Last access on the 27/09/2015.

Design thinking for libraries — Libdesign project

Pavla Minaříková and Roman Novotný

pa.minarikova@gmail.com, romannovotny91@gmail.com

Masaryk University, Department of Information and Library Studies, Arna Nováka 1, Brno, Czech Republic

Keywords: Service Design, Design Thinking, Participatory Design, HCD, Library Services

Abstract

Design thinking, service design, participatory design, HCD – those concepts are appearing both in commercial and non-profit sector with growing importance. Big and small companies, non-governmental organizations and public institutions are realizing that their clients or users play important role in innovating services. Understanding of that role is changing from innovating for users to innovating with users. In short, design thinking is about finding out what people need, if we could answer that need and how.

Libraries as public institutions could have – and often do have – mayor impact on the level of democracy in society or at least in their communities. Service design approach should help them provide services people need – not services they want to provide – using the means of mutual debate to find out about those needs. As such is this approach well applicable in the context of supporting democracy.

Last year, our team in reaction to those realizations come up with the Libdesign project. Goal of this project is to help libraries and also non-governmental organizations to better communicate with their users and citizens, and to gain deeper knowledge about their problems. In order to achieve that goal we created practical toolkit of 35 methods. To make it comprehensible and attractive we chose the form of the deck of playing cards. Those methods were selected from several sources, shortly described, and categorized into the particular phase of the design process. In our case those phases are: Learning, Analysis, Design, and Testing. Also we held a conference to start building a community of library designers in the Czech Republic.

The poster will present our project, mainly its implications on library practice with theoretical background in design thinking and service design.

Questions it should answer:

Is design thinking applicable in libraries, and how?

How does the design process look like?

Where to start in your own library?

The poster presents our project—Libdesign. Theoretical and methodological background of the project lies in the fields of design thinking and service design, as described in this paper. The interrelation between design thinking and service design will not be discussed here, although we are aware of different interpretations of both terms. Both the poster and the paper deal with the implications of these approaches on library practice.

Libraries in the 21st century — Services are worthless, if nobody is using them

Libraries are part of the democratic discourse. Together with public institutions—such as governments or schools, non-profit and non-governmental organizations—they should carry and defend democratic values. With the rapid development in the field of technology, and with the increase in the standard of living in the past century Europe, library services—and services of other public institutions as well—sometimes seem to lack behind this development. Those institutions may have the potential to provide useful services, but they either don’t fulfill this potential, or their users don’t know about it.

We conducted interviews with librarians and people from NGOs about problems they are facing. Those problems can be stated as:

People want to use our services, but the services are too complicated and confusing.

Government says that there’s no need for the change of services in our institution— everything is working just fine for decades.

What could be done?

We worked in the team of five students and two teachers-mentors. At the fall of 2014, we started the research about the needs of academic libraries. Our original focus was on the re-search methods: library metrics, benchmarking, those —serious research kind of things.

Thanks to the use of deep interviews and questionnaire, we found out that libraries do their research mainly because they want to improve their services. To support this effort we changed our focus to the fields of service design and design thinking. Our challenge was: How could we help libraries with the use of the service design approach? Later we decided to expand our focus on NGOs and public sector.

What is service design thinking?

Design thinking means both an approach and a set of methods. Some of them are basic—like brainstorming or mind mapping; some more elaborate—like business canvas or mystery shopping. It’s an evolving field and —If you would ask ten people what service design is, you would end up with eleven different answers – at least. (Schneider, Stickdorn, c2011, p. 29) For our purpose, we choose —working definition and concentrate mostly on the use of its methods and user-centered mind-set. We understand service design as a systematic approach, which uses methods from different fields of research (sociology, marketing, product design), to learn about the basis of your problem, analyze it, design some solution, and test them with your users. It is a never-ending process of iteration and evaluation, with the aim of having still better services. Stakeholders concerned with your service should be involved in all the parts of the process.

How may the design process look like?

When doing a literature search about the design process, you come across a lot of different approaches. The widely known one is Human-Centered Design (HCD) by IDEO, which we’ve been also following at the beginning of our project. This model has three phases—or better understand them as spaces, which may overlap. The overlapping is an important feature, and is common for many different models. Coincidentally, every letter from the HCD acronym stands for one of the phases-spaces as well. H is for Hear—discovering and analyzing the problem. C stands for Create—making models to solve the problem. Finally D is for Deliver—applying the model solution —in real life. Well known is also the —triple I model (Inspiration, Ideation, Implementation), used by IDEO (2015) in the Design Thinking for Libraries toolkit. To extend the list, we decided to come up with our own intelligible model.

Libdesign project

As one of the responses to our challenge, we created a practical toolkit to help libraries and also non-governmental organizations to better communicate with their users and citizens, and to gain deeper knowledge about their problems. There is more than 200 methods used in the service design field, which may seem overwhelming. After analyzing information from different sources, we selected 35 methods adequate to our goal. To make them more comprehensible and attractive, we chose to present them in the form of the deck of playing cards, named 35 Methods for Better Services. Those methods are sorted into the four categories, following the four stages of our design process model. (Figure 1)

Figure 1—Design process model by Libdesign

Learning, to gain deeper knowledge about the problem. Methods include:

Desk Research

Questionnaires

Observation

Shadowing

Service Safari

Mystery Shopping Journals

In-depth Interview

In-context Interview Focus Group

World Café

Picture Interpretation

Graffiti Walls

I wish this was...

Brainstorming

Analyze, to understand the data and information gathered. Methods include:

Touchpoint Mapping

Stakeholder

Mapping Bi-zone

Personas

Empathy Map

SWOT Analysis

Business Model

Canvas Lean Canvas

Thinking Hats

Design, to find possible solutions to the problem. Methods include:

Customer Journey Canvas

Prototyping

3D Models

Storyboard

Card Sorting

Appreciative Inquiry

Wireframes & Mock-ups Landing Page

Testing, to test and iterate models with users. Methods include:

User Testing Mini-pilot

A/B Testing

On each card, there is a short description and —how to for the method. (Figure 2) The toolkit provides the basics. We meant it to be sort of a starting point, from which to go exploring the field of service design.

Figure 2—Card example

Is design thinking applicable in libraries, and how?

Why shouldn’t libraries use this approach to provide better services to their users? Service design is an approach to solving problems which can appear in your institutions. It doesn’t matter if it’s library, city court, e-shop, or shoes making company. IDEO listed four areas, in which service design is applicable in libraries. Those areas are: programs, services, spaces (physical environments) and systems (large scale, with multiple stakeholders). (IDEO, 2015, p. 17) In Libdesign, we did not work with such partition. Instead we focused on the design process, as described above.

Where to start in your own library?

One of the basic principles is—ask your users/patrons about their opinion. Service design is user-centered and co-creative (Schneider, Stickdorn, c2011, p. 34).

Gather your colleagues and together think about the problem you are solving. Which methods you can use to get some data about your users? How are you going to interpret those data?

Brainstorm possible solutions based on the information you get from your users. As soon as possible, make a prototype and test those solutions out there.

Get some feedback from your users, to evaluate and iterate the solutions you came up with.

It’s not complicated and we sneaked a bit of co-creation into our poster as well. (Figure 3) The method is called I wish this was… and it is used mostly to collect feedback. Go and ask your users—what would you like your library to be?

Figure 3—I wish my library to be…

References

IDEO. (2015). Design Thinking for Libraries: A Toolkit for Patron Centred Design. Retrieved from: http://designthinkingforlibraries.com/.

Schneider, J., & Stickdorn, M. (c2011). This is service design thinking: basics, tools, cases. (373 p.) Chichester: John Wiley.

“I Go There If I feel Welcome”: Use of Czech Libraries by Immigrants

Kateřina Nekolová and Petra Černohlávková

katerina.nekolova@staff.cuni.cz, cernohlavkovapetra@centrum.cz

Charles University in Prague, Institute of Information Studies and Librarianship, U Kříže 8, 158 00 Prague 5

Keywords:Public Libraries, Immigrants, Intercultural Library Services, Integration

Abstract

In the Czech Republic, the percentage of immigrants in the population is just about 4 per cent (Obyvatelstvo, 2015). Until now, there was no reason for revolutionary development of intercultural library services. At this time, it is clear that migration is a big topic in Europe and that population structure would keep changing. Libraries can play an important role in this process - experiences from other countries and international recommendations show their potential. The poster will present the results of a small scale study conducted by a group of five students. The main goal was to gather data about the relationship between immigrants and libraries in the Czech context. The study should also explore a link between the use of libraries in the country of origin and in the Czech Republic and to find out why immigrants do not use library services more often.

Seven language mutations of the online questionnaire for immigrants living in the Czech Republic were used. Finally, we received 122 responses from representatives of 24 different countries. The qualitative part consists of half-structured interviews with eight immigrants. In addition photo interviews were conducted with six respondents directly in their favorite libraries.

The results show that the use of libraries by immigrants is lower in the Czech Republic compared with the country of origin. Immigrants who use library services are generally satisfied with them. The reasons why immigrants do not use library services in the Czech Republic are very similar to the responses given by the majority population (Trávníček, 2011). For example obtaining literature from other sources or a lack of time. Language barrier was a significant issue for avoiding the use of libraries in the Czech Republic. On the other hand, most of the respondents marked that they can communicate in Czech. The importance of feeling welcome was confirmed as well as the crucial role of the friendly, respectful and patient attitude of library employees.

Research goals

Immigrants, foreigners and language minorities are one of the specific disadvantaged parts of population who should receive some special attention to the library policies. There usually exists a language barrier but there can also arise a psychological barrier or it can come into misunderstanding caused by cultural differences. There has been evidence that libraries can play a crucial role in integration of immigrants from different countries with a large multicultural history. These institutions play very important role in their cities. They help to integrate newcomers in local communities and provide wide range of intercultural library services.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Czech Republic, the number of officially registered foreigners in the Czech territory is approximately 457,000 (Cizinci s povoleným pobytem, 2014). That makes 4.3 per cent of the total population of the Czech Republic (Obyvatelstvo, 2015).

The research group of students made this study in order to identify whether or not there is a link between using a library in the country of origin and in the Czech Republic, how immigrants perceive Czech libraries and which are the potential reasons for not using library services. The research was divided into three parts: online questionnaire in seven language mutations (Czech, English, Spanish, Russian, Polish, German and Vietnamese), qualitative semi-structured interviews and additional photo interviews in the libraries.

The target group was defined as adult immigrants living in the Czech Republic coming from all over the world, including both users and non-users of libraries.

The resulting data should prove or disprove the following hypotheses:

Hypothesis 1: Large part of the immigrants living in the Czech Republic does not regularly use library services.

Hypothesis 2: The immigrants who use the library services in the Czech Republic evaluate these services positively.

Hypothesis 3: The reasons why the immigrants do not use libraries differ from the reasons of the general population.

During the process, following weak points were identified: the unwillingness of immigrants to fill out owns personal data and the lack of contacts of the representatives of this target group.

Results

The questionnaire was created in order to prove or disprove three hypotheses. The final number of respondents of the online questionnaire was 122 and they were originally from 24 different countries. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight immigrants and enabled us to get more detailed data about their attitude toward Czech libraries. The photo interviews were conducted with six respondents directly in their favorite libraries, the respondents were ask some questions, they should express the answer in visual form and we took photos of them.

First hypothesis was that most (at least 50 %) of the immigrants living in the Czech Republic do not use the library services frequently (that means at least once a month). This question was divided according to the different types of libraries. The most commonly used are public libraries

– 32.8 % of the respondents use a Czech public library at least once a month, 21.3 % of the respondents made use of libraries connected with educational institutions and 9.8 % of the respondents use the services of some other type of library in the Czech Republic. The major part of all respondents (69.8 %) used library services in their country of origin and they continue to use them also in the Czech Republic. Approximately one fifth of the respondents have not found their way to the Czech libraries yet. Six percent of the survey respondents were not library users until they came to the Czech Republic. The results confirm that the majority of immigrants do not frequently use the services of any type of the library in the Czech Republic.

The second hypothesis focused on the evaluation of the library services by the immigrants who use them. They marked different aspects of using the libraries on a scale from 1 (excellent) to 4 (poor). It was expected that the library users would evaluate their services positively. This hypothesis was proven right, because none of the evaluated field received worse average than 2.0. A library event was top rated (1.12) as well communication with the library staff was top-rated (1.39) whereas the orientation in the library received the worst rating (1.52). The respondents of the semi-structured interviews expressed their satisfaction with the library services. Especially some of them mentioned the importance of a friendly environment and positive attitude from the side of the library employees.

The third and last hypothesis assumed that immigrants' reasons for not using libraries are different from the reasons of the majority population of the Czech Republic. This hypothesis can be proven properly by taking into consideration that the five most common reasons for not using libraries do not match. The most frequently given reason why immigrants do not use libraries is a different way of getting books – buying books, getting e-books from the Internet or borrowing books from their friends. Downloading texts in one's own mother tongue from the Internet was identified as a beaten track for some immigrants to obtain literature.

More than forty per cent of the respondents learn about the libraries thanks to personal recommendation. Public relation activities could focus more in this direction to recruit new users. Respondents mainly use libraries for borrowing books and also as a place where to study. If a cultural institute of the immigrants' country of origin is available they then often prefer using its library. If public library resources specific to immigrants are mentioned, the research proved their interest in bilingual books and Czech textbooks. Nearly all respondents said that they would be able to communicate with the library staff in Czech. Most of them also speak some of the global languages.

The complete text is going to be published in New Library World Journal.

The study was supported by the Charles University in Prague, project GA UK No. 278615.

References

Cizinci s povoleným pobytem [Foreigners with a residence permit]. (2014). In Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic. Retrieved from http://www.mvcr.cz/soubor/05-2015-tab-internet-stav-k-31-5-2015-xls.aspx.

IFLA Library Services to Multicultural Populations Section (2009). Multicultural Communities: Guidelines for Library Services (3rd ed.). Retrieved from http://www.ifla.org/publications/multicultural-communities-guidelines-for-library-services-3rd-edition.

IFLA/UNESCO. (2009). Multicultural Library Manifesto: The Multicultural Library – a gateway to a cultural diverse society in dialogue. Retrieved from http://www.ifla.org/publications/iflaunesco-multicultural-library-manifesto.

Obyvatelstvo [Population] (2015). In Czech Statistical Office. Retrieved from https://www.czso.cz/csu/czso/obyvatelstvo_lide.

Trávníček, J. (2011). Čtenáři a internauti: obyvatelé České republiky a jejich vztah ke čtení (2010) [Readers and Internet Users: Czech Citizens and Their Relationship to Reading (2010)]. Brno: Host ve spolupráci s Národní knihovnou České republiky.

To offer ebooks in libraries: a way to break down physical barriers to knowledge and culture

Rafael Peregrina, Stéphanie Pouchot

rafael.peregrina@hesge.ch, stephanie.pouchot@hesge.ch

Haute école de gestion de Genève, HES-SO // Haute Ecole Spécialisée de Suisse Occidentale Route de Drize 7, 1227 Carouge(Suisse)

Aurélie Vieux

aurelie.vieux@unige.ch

Université de Genève, Division de l’information scientifique (DIS), Rue Général-Dufour 24, 1204 Genève (Suisse)

Benoît Epron

benoit.epron@enssib.fr

Ecole nationale supérieure des sciences de l’information (enssib), 17 boulevard du 11 novembre 1918, 69100 Villeurbanne (France)

Keywords:Ebook, Library, Access, Highlighting

Abstract

As institutions of public service, libraries play a major role in providing a democratic and egalitarian access to information and culture. Their missions are defined in several manifestos and codes of ethics (UNESCO, 1994; IFLA, 2012; IFLA, 2014). In such a context, integration of digital resources into libraries collections has created new difficulties, due to:

the complexity of organizing and making these contents easily available;

visibility and promotion aspects.

This, not only because the mission of libraries cover access to every kind of resources, digital or not, but also because it is one of the patrons’ expectations.

Based on the results of a research project held in collaboration with some french and swiss libraries (Epron, Pouchot, Dillaerts and Prinz, 2014; Pouchot, Vieux, Peregrina, 2015), the aim of the poster is to set out some solutions to better integrate ebooks solutions into libraries’ offer and to optimize the communication actions about this kind of resources. Our suggestions are divided into two kinds of recommendations: on one hand, those dealing with content access, on the other hand, the ones regarding communication.

First, patrons may have difficulties to identify, find, access and read ebooks. Their needs and wishes here may concern the devices as well as the content selection and providing.

We encourage libraries to:

Supply the patrons with preloaded reading devices;

Offer personalized access to ebooks;

Propose downloadable lists of ebooks.

For example, specific contents can be selected according to topics such as civic engagement or social development.

Then, given that ebooks have appeared quite recently in libraries’ collections and that this kind of resources are intangible, this offer is often little-known by patrons. Furthermore, users do not always have sufficient technical and informational knowledge to access and read ebooks. Thus, it is necessary to inform them about:

the simple fact that this digital offer exists;

the scope of the offer;

technical aspects and constraints linked to these digital documents’ use (e.g. formats, devices, access protocols…);

the support provided by their library (help, training, workshops…).

Some actions can be undertaken to develop the ebooks’ potential and use:

To deliver appropriate and accurate information about ebooks by developing new services based on information literacy, use of ebooks and digital reading devices advice ;

To train patrons and to encourage them to self-study in this field;

To efficiently communicate to highlight ebooks.

In this way, libraries should offer a wide access to knowledge, regardless the medium, especially since digital contents break down physical barriers and can reach people with disabilities or far from (digital) reading (elders, prisoners…).

This short paper presents the results of a research project aiming at testing the ways patrons perceive and evaluate a whole digital offer (contents and devices) in some french and swiss libraries (Epron, Pouchot, Dillaerts and Prinz, 2014; Pouchot, Vieux, Peregrina, 2015).

Providing ebooks may support them to accomplish their missions but raises some issues. Thanks to a literature review and lending reading devices experimentations, we propose some solutions to better integrate ebooks into libraries’ offer and to optimize the communication actions about this kind of resources.

Digital influence

As institutions of public service, libraries play a major role in providing a democratic and egalitarian access to information and culture. Their missions are defined in several manifestos and codes of ethics (UNESCO, 1994; IFLA, 2012; IFLA, 2014).

In such a context, integration of digital resources into libraries collections has created new difficulties, due to:

the complexity of organizing and making these contents easily available;

visibility and promotion aspects.

This, not only because the mission of libraries cover access to every kind of resources, digital or not, but also because it is one of the patrons’ expectations.

Some guidelines

We listed and explained the basic aspects that must be taken into account by a library wishing to provide ebooks: they concern organizational matters and management support [1]. The technical aspects are also discussed (open format, hardware/software requirement, etc.) as well as the human resources significance. Our suggestions are divided into six recommendation sheets collected into two groups: on one hand, the advices dealing with content access, on the other hand, the ones dedicated to communication. Each sheet presents the context in which the action is relevant, general problems to solve, possible answers, recommendation for the implementation, impacts for the team and some specific promotion ideas. Concrete actions are also suggested, they may vary depending on the type of library (academic, school or public).

Facilitating access to resources

First, patrons may have difficulties to identify, find, access and read ebooks. They express wishes and needs that may concern the devices as well as the content selection and providing. For example, they would like to be informed about digital resources and loan conditions, to have an instant, easy and/or personalized access, and to have the opportunity to test and discover several devices types.

We encourage libraries to:

Supply the patrons with preloaded reading devices with a selection of ebooks on a specific theme, literary genre or a chosen target audience. In that way, users no longer have to worry about difficulties they may have to find and download contents or about technical problems.

Offer online personalized access to ebooks based on the patrons profile and/or interests. Libraries must adapt and overcome some of their practices by providing an access not only by type of document (printed vs. digital), but based on the expectations and needs. For example, depending on the type and role of the library, the contents can be organized by:

Levels of study

Language ability

Hobbies, interests o etc.

Propose downloadable lists of ebooks. For example, specific contents can be selected by type of topics such as civic engagement or social development. As it is difficult for a library to offer downloadable files because of the restrictions imposed by publishers, they can offer digital shelves and sets of contents via streaming aggregators. An alternative to this commercial offer is proposed by download platforms [2]. They offer a selection of free ebooks organized by themes and/or ages that can be used by libraries.

Informing to encourage the use

Then, given that ebooks have appeared quite recently in libraries’ collections and that this kind of resources are intangible, the offer is often little-known by patrons.

Users are facing several barriers while experiencing digital reading. Among them, the economical factor (digital devices are expensive), difficulties related to information literacy or aspects related to the intelligibility of the offer. Furthermore, users do not always have sufficient technical and informational knowledge to access and read ebooks: many of them think they know how to proceed but only few of them really have all the required skills. Thus, it is necessary to inform them about:

The existence and nature of the offer; as for printed books, it is for example essential to inform and communicate about what is available and to promote new acquisitions;

The extent and scope of the offer;

The added value of digital contents; for example the screen settings or the possibility to increase the font size. Moreover, many users ignore the fact that there are applications allowing to handle, manage, read and annotate digital documents.

How to access ebooks; depending on publishers, several access mode exists. Full text paper are available via wi-fi of the institution, from outside via the VPN or only by asking a librarian. Moreover, search interfaces are different from one to another. The way of searching and finding the ebooks may also differ.

The restrictions and DRM; it is necessary to install a dedicated software on reading devices to open and read ebooks. There also might be constraints linked to these digital documents’ use (e.g. formats, devices, access protocols).

The support provided by their library (help, training, workshops…).

Some actions can be implemented to develop the ebooks’ potential and use:

To deliver appropriate and accurate information about ebooks by developing new services based on information literacy, use of ebooks and digital reading devices advice;

To train patrons and to encourage them to self-study (for example using video tutorials) in this field;

To efficiently communicate to highlight ebooks. relying on marketing techniques to highlight digital resources and using social media to create a community.

Moreover, both, in physical and virtual spaces, communication actions can be undertaken. For example materializing and making ebooks visible by using QR codes pointing to the online versions or making them more visible on the website (list of favorites, new acquisitions...) or on social networks.

Removing barriers

In this way, libraries should offer a wide access to knowledge, regardless the medium, especially since digital contents break down physical barriers and can reach people with disabilities or far from (digital) reading (elders, prisoners…). Libraries do have a real role to play to fight digital divide. If some countries such as Canada have already reached an advanced level, some others cautiously begin the ebooks integration process (for example Switzerland). It is one of the big challenges today and it needs to be integrated and supported by the collaborators.

References

Epron, B., Pouchot, S., Dillaerts, H., Printz, P. (2014). Offre numérique en bibliothèque spécialisée :appréhender la perception des usagers via une expérimentation de prêt de dispositifs de lecture nomades, le projet Calliopê. Les Enjeux de l'Information et de la Communication, 15(1), 67-81. Retrieved from http://lesenjeux.u-grenoble3.fr/2014/05-Pouchot-et-al/index.html.

United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (1994). UNESCO Public Library Manifesto. Retrieved from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0011/001121/112122eo.pdf

International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (2012). IFLA Code of Ethics for Librarians and other Information Workers. Retrieved from http://www.ifla.org/news/ifla-code-of-ethics-for-librarians-and-other-information-workers-full-version.

International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (2014). Lyon Declaration on Access to Information and Development. Retrieved from http://www.lyondeclaration.org/content/pages/lyon-declaration.pdf

Pouchot, S., Vieux, A., Peregrina, R. (2015). Calliopê.ch :recommandations pour la mise en place d'une offre de ebooks en bibliothèque. Retrieved from https://hesso.tind.io/record/682/files/PDF.pdf

Notes

[1] A mindmap of the results is also available online: https://www.mindmeister.com/fr/559963687/recommandations-pour-la-mise-en-place-d-une-offre-de-ebooks-en-biblioth-que.

[2] For example http://bibebook.com or http://ebookenbib.net.

Community Oriented Libraries and the Third-Space in African Libraries

Emily Purcell, Kimberly Stelter, and Thomas Mukonde

ecpurce2@illinois.edu

Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Keywords: Youth Libraries, Democratization, Cultural Studies

Abstract

Libraries are a “third-space” where patrons can experience barrier-free access to information and expression outside of home and work spaces. In Zambia, imposed western social values and structures have influenced how libraries and these other spaces provide access to information and allow users to interact in these spaces. To this extent, Lubuto Library Partners is a non-profit library organization that provides access to information and a novel, democratic space for distribution of ideas, creating this “third-space” in sub-Saharan Africa. The Lubuto Mentoring program is an example of democratization of library spaces that subverts the imposed western social structures, reintroduces pre-colonial values and emphasizes reciprocal sharing and circulation of information. Traditional African spaces for transmission of information have been reintroduced in the library setting and allowed traditional modes of communication and sharing of information to be integrated into the program. Democratization of Lubuto Libraries can also be seen in collection development which has become tailored to the specific information needs of patrons. Tailoring collection development to provide information that is not outdated or carelessly chosen allows for greater circulation of information and ideas due to the material being more relevant and trusted by patrons. Ultimately, customizing collections and the physical library space to meet patron needs demonstrates that libraries have the potential to be places that alter social structures and values that have impeded democracy.

Libraries as Third-Spaces

For well over a century, public libraries have served as important hubs of information transmission and dissemination. Historically, libraries were powerfully organized absolute spaces, much like a cathedral or a temple (Elmborg, 2011). This idea is echoed by Andrew Carnegie, who stated that libraries provide access to, “the precious treasures of knowledge and imagination through which youth may ascend.”

Shifting cultural values, the invention of chain bookstores, and the dawn of the digital age have, however, lead to a dramatic changes in the library environment. Libraries have compensated for this shift by redefining their mission around providing access to new technologies and user-centered learning spaces (Agresta, 2014). In annexes where bookshelves once stood, many libraries have created computer labs, children and teen spaces, and makerspaces. These spaces encourage community collaborations, educational growth, and creativity that would not have been possible in traditional library programming.

These aforementioned changes exemplify the notion of modernized libraries as what sociologist Ray Oldenburg calls “third-space”, a welcoming space that is neither work nor home. Third-spaces are “anchors of community life and facilitate and foster broader, more creative interaction” (Pennington, 2012). Other examples of third-spaces include taverns, coffee shops, and cafes.

Traditional Library Models and African Spaces

Traditional and modern transmission of information in the majority of rural Africa is primarily oral communication (Sturges, 2002). Oral literacy and knowledge are often ignored in favor of formal and institutional models in library spaces. Western modern library models prove ineffective in these environments as collections are not tailored to community needs and interests, but assume written materials and literacy (the ability to read and write) are more valuable than other forms of information sources and literacies. Often published materials are not in local languages due, in part, to the fact that roughly 1000 different languages are spoken throughout Africa. Additionally, about 80% of new books are published in languages imposed through colonialism and are still the favored languages of publication (Sturges & Neill, 2002).

In Africa, donations from various charities and organizations are often irrelevant and inappropriate for community needs, however it is considered better to have some books rather than none at all (Sturges & Neill, 2002). The assumption is that these libraries are able to provide all the information needs for the community, but in the context of oral culture this exchange of information is unilateral and not as nuanced as oral communication where interaction and sharing of information amongst the community is reciprocal.

With this in mind that the community has knowledge to contribute, a model that would improve libraries and their functionality in Africa is one that is both collaborative and participatory. This model allows the community to come together, exchange ideas, and in turn foster democracy and the transmission of information. The community centered library trend has reemerged in urban spaces like Melbourne, Australia, which has plans to create libraries that are more like "community centers" that "provide access to library services, informal open space... lifelong learning opportunities, [and] meeting spaces” (Carroll & Reynolds, 2014). This model of library is not new or novel, but existed in rural 19th century Australian communities. These libraries are described as being places of "community engagement" accessible to all and used for both education and recreation; these spaces were able to develop individually without the limitations and influence of a local government entity enforcing a national identity (Carroll & Reynolds, 2014).

Today what plagues African libraries from meeting their communities information needs is that the physical structure of libraries do not foster a communal environment. Namely, the structures were designed and borrowed from cultures and environments with different ideals and conditions than their own. The quality and relevance of materials is often low in such collections and the dependence on foreign aid for collection development that contain materials that often have cultural, political and economic agendas in line with the donor's perspectives and not those of the community (Sturges & Neill, 2002).

Case Study: Lubuto Library Partners and the Lubuto Mentoring

Lubuto Library Partners (LLP) build robust library buildings for the youth of Africa, particularly the marginalized, and then trains local staff in offering quality services. While they do accept donations of books, they are selective in what they include in their collections. These libraries function as community hubs. Several programs, such as LubutoMentoring draw patrons to the library.

The programming in LLPs is integrated, different programs are “purposefully linked in order to be mutually reinforcing” (Lubuto Library Partners, 2013). LubutoMentoring was designed as a motivational mentoring program for teenagers. It blends the traditional African talking circle and folktales with stories from other cultures. Each session is based on a certain positive character trait such as honesty, courage or love.

LubutoMentoring creates an open and safe space for discussing issues that are important for teens. Many come from homes where they have little chance to speak up. School teachers also rarely encourage open debate. The program, and an architectural feature of the libraries – the talking circle, encourage a civic awareness and democratic ethos among the youth.

Picture 1: Lubuto Mentoring at Lubuto’s Fountain of Hope Library in Lusaka, Zambia .

Picture 2: Lubuto’s Mumuni Library, located in Zambia’s Southern Province

Picture 3: Reading time at Lubuto’s Mumuni Library

References

Agresta, M. (2014, April 22). What will become of the library? Slate Magazine. Web.

Bernier, A., & Males, M. (2014). YA spaces and the end of postural tyranny. Public Libraries, 53(4), 27-36. Library & Information Science Source. Web.

Carroll, M., & Reynolds, S. (2014). There and back again: Reimagining the public library for the twenty-first century. Library Trends, 62(3). Project Muse. Web.

Elmborg, James K. (2011) Libraries as the spaces between us. Reference & User Services Quarterly 50(4), 338-50. Web.

Lubuto Library Partners. (2013). Empowering youth through integrated library programming. Washington, D.C. and Lusaka, Zambia: Lubuto Library Project. Print.

Gewald, J., Hinfelaar, M., & Macola, G. (2008) One Zambia, Many Histories: Towards a History of Post-colonial Zambia. Leiden: Brill. Print.

Lundu, M. (1995). The library in the service of society: Philosophical foundation. Pretoria: Info Africa Nova. Print.

Oldenburg, Ray. (1999). The great good place: Cafés, coffee shops, bookstores, bars, hair salons, and other hangouts at the heart of a community. New York: Marlowe. Print.

Pennington, T. M. (2012). Third Space: Creating a Library Environment That Opens Doors For Value, Collaboration, and Student Achievement. Unpublished master’s thesis, University of Central Missouri, United States. Web.

Sturges, P., & Neill, R. (2002). The quiet struggle: Information and libraries for the people of africa. Omnie, 2002. Web.

Acknowledgments

The Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Terry L. Weech, P.h.D

Lubuto Library Partners

The Panoptic Principle and Information Access in UK Public Libraries

Elaine Robinson

elaine.robinson@strath.ac.uk

University of Strathclyde

Computer and Information Sciences Department

Computer & Information Sciences Livingstone Tower 26 Richmond Street

Glasgow, G1 1XH

Keywords:Surveillance, Public Libraries, Privacy, Foucault, Panopticism

Abstract

The Panopticon is a type of prison, envisaged by the philosopher Jeremy Bentham in the late 18th century. It is a building that allows maximum surveillance of inmates, without them being able to tell whether or not they are being watched. The fact that the inmates cannot know when they are being watched means that all inmates must act as though they are watched at all times, effectively controlling their own behaviour constantly.

Michel Foucault, in Discipline and Punish, noted that the panoptic method of surveillance can be seen in various aspects of life, including schools, hospitals and other institutions. Since the panoptic principle's inception, its application to surveillance theory has been widely adopted into various areas of study, however, surveillance in libraries and its relation to the panoptic principle have been mostly limited to discussions which focus on public libraries in the Victorian era.

Thusly, this study sought to find out more about surveillance in public libraries, and whether any sort of panoptic principle is exhibited. This was done through the language analysis of public library Acceptable Use Policies (AUPs) and how much language is devoted to caring and controlling aspects of surveillance: it has been suggested that surveillance is not intrinsically good or bad, but operates on a spectrum from “care” to “control”. Public library AUPs from 30 random English councils were selected. It was apparent that despite stemming from the desire to care for the patrons of the public library, the AUPs use a high amount of language that is controlling in nature. The use of this language coupled with surveillance techniques used in the public library such as the Internet filter and actual surveillance of computers by library staff has interesting implications regarding panoptic theory. This suggested that much of the surveillance of patrons in public libraries is controlling in nature and because the public library patron has to necessarily adapt their behavior to use the public library computer the public library does therefore exhibit aspects of the panoptic principle. That is, it uses methods of both overt and covert surveillance to curb library users' behavior to what it deems is acceptable.

An online survey of library staff was also carried out to find out attitudes towards surveillance in libraries. Whilst it was noted that striking a balance between protecting patrons, individual privacy and freedom of access can be difficult, library staff generally see surveillance as a necessary tool to protect their patrons noting that the public library is a shared space, and paid for with public resources. There was concern however, that sometimes the line between protection and censorship can be crossed, as it is not always easy to tell where the line is.

The public library embodies the idea of free and uninhibited access to information. If it is apparent that these institutions are, in actual fact, restricting this access, this has serious implications for the public's access to information.

Background

This study investigated the use of surveillance and the application of the panoptic principle in the public library. The Panopticon was first envisioned by the social reformer and utilitarian philosopher Jeremy Bentham, in the 18th Century. It was designed to be a type of inspection-house, used for penitentiary purposes. It consisted of a central watch-tower, surrounded by a ring of cells, each cell was individually separated and the ring shape allowed for a 360 view of the cells from the central watch-tower, whilst the guards themselves are obscured. This design would, predicted Bentham, facilitate in controlling the prisoners. If each cell housed a single inmate, cut off from all other inmates, and they were also constantly aware of the watch-tower, this would lead them to behave well (Bentham and Quinn, 2001).

The idea of the panoptic principle – using observation as a way to control behavior - was then explored by the French philosopher Michel Foucault. He suggested this method of control can be found in other areas of daily life, including schools and hospitals (Foucault, 1991).

Since Foucault explored this idea, the idea of visual power has been applied to various aspects of life, including the school (Gallagher 2010) motherhood (Henderson et al., 2010) and the city (Koskela, 2000) in terms of the library however, it has mostly been restricted to historical, rather than present day, analysis (Black, 2001, 2005; Hewitt, 2000). Thusly, I decided to investigate the use of surveillance and the panoptic principle in the public library, and whether it conflicts with the library and the librarian’s mission.

David Lyon (2001, 2003, 2007) suggests that surveillance is neither unambiguously good or bad, rather, it rests on a spectrum that runs from ‘care’ to ‘control’. Sometimes, residing in both sides of the spectrum at once (Monahan, 2011). So whilst a teacher may be looking after children by observing them, there is also a disciplinary side of this surveillance, by attempting to curb or control children’s bad behaviours.

Research Methods and Results

With this in mind, I decided to apply the themes of care and control to the public library Acceptable Use Policy (AUP). The AUP is the gateway to using the public library computer and the ideal AUP should be an informative, helpful document, establishing “safe and responsible online behaviors” (Becta, 2009, p.6). The AUP is an important document for the patrons of the library and its language is an ideal object for analyzing care and control.

30 AUPs were randomly selected online from library websites and the documents were coded using the NVivo software suite. Words, phrases and sections were coded as they related to the themes of care and control, under different ‘nodes’: misuse; banning; monitoring control; monitoring care; and monitoring neutral. These nodes were gleaned from the language and context of the documents. The AUPs tended to be short documents, averaging around 3 pages long. The nodes were as follows:

Misuse – 30 AUPs featuring node

Banning – 29 AUPs featuring node

Monitoring Control – 23 AUPs featuring node

Monitoring Care – 15 AUPs featuring node

Monitoring Neutral – 7 AUPs featuring node

‘Banning’ and ‘misuse’ were featured in all 30 of the AUPs. In 2 of the AUPs, misuse covered over 50% of the whole document. ‘Monitoring control’ was coded in 23 AUPs, ‘monitoring care’ was coded in 15 AUPs, and ‘monitoring neutral’ was coded in 7 AUPs.

After the AUP analysis a survey was created to find out attitudes of those who work in public libraries regarding surveillance and AUP content. The survey consisted of several rated questions where library workers were asked to rate how ‘appropriate’ or ‘inappropriate’ a statement is. These statements were directly lifted from the AUPs used for content analysis. There was then a series of open-ended questions regarding surveillance and the librarian’s role. Respondents were recruited using the LIS-LINK and LIS-PROFESSIONAL mailing lists of the National Academic Mailing List Service JISCMail. Thus, the survey was made sure to be entirely voluntary and the specific audience for the survey was being targeted directly. A range of statements from the AUPs were used, reflecting the full range of the care and control spectrum. The choice of response was as follows:

Very Appropriate

Appropriate

Neutral

Inappropriate

Very Inappropriate

The statements used were:

‘Library staff will monitor your use of the Internet and other computer software, remotely or by visual checks’

‘We do not filter web-sites for content’

‘Our management system records every time you use a computer, and what software you use. We keep this information for statistical purposes and to improve our services to you’

‘The Council can and will monitor access to internet sites, and access to any material in breach of these terms may be subject to further action. We reserve the right to check your internet usage logs without informing you’

‘The Council is not opposed to satire or controversial thought as such, but only sites whose content would, if circulated, interfere with the freedom of others to a greater extent than acceptable in a democratic society, are defamatory, pornographic etc.’

‘Data regarding use of the internet including email communication may be monitored and/or intercepted and held to ensure compliance with this

Acceptable Use Agreement’

‘The Library and Information Service will also promote web pages that meet users’ needs and interests.’

Surveillance has been seen as a "necessary evil" (Barnard-Wills and Wells, 2012,p.230) something that is used for protection and safety, but also has an impact on individual privacy. This view was echoed in the survey responses. 73% of the respondents stated that “library staff will monitor your use of the Internet” is ‘somewhat appropriate’ or ‘very appropriate’ and 86% stated surveillance is a necessary tool for protection. In regards to the more controlling aspect of library surveillance however, respondents were more divided: ‘data regarding use of the Internet including email communication may be monitored and/or intercepted and held to ensure compliance with this Acceptable Use Agreement’. Although 29% of the respondents chose ‘appropriate’ 17% also chose ‘somewhat inappropriate’ and ‘inappropriate’. The respondents of the survey noted that being able to strike the balance between protection and privacy is difficult and sometimes protecting the welfare of others can cross a line into censorship. Several respondents also noted that the library is a shared space, paid for with public resources, so patrons should expect some kind of a limitation on their activities.

Discussion

The public library must serve the community. It is a publicly funded institution. It has to stand up for individual rights, whilst also being mindful of the larger community which it serves. Access that is unfettered and completely without restriction, leaves the library vulnerable to being used for nefarious purposes, and also potentially means shunning ethical responsibility: as Hauptman states, "to abjure an ethical commitment in favor of anything, is to abjure one’s individual responsibility" (Hauptman, 1976, p.293) However, the mission of the library is to provide access to information, and even if someone else may feel uncomfortable with certain types of material, that does not mean it should be denied to someone else: "Librarians must give information assistance which is requested, even if the possible use of the information by the patron may be personally objectionable to the librarian". (Juznic et al, 2001, p.76)

References

Barnard-Wills, D., & Wells, H. (2012). Criminology and criminal. Criminology & Criminal Justice, 12(3), 227-237.

BECTA. (2009). AUPs in context: Establishing safe and responsible online behaviours. Retrieved from http://www.open.edu/openlearnworks/mod/oucontent/coursedownloadsresource.php?id=942

Bentham, J., & Quinn, M. (2001). Writings on the poor laws (Vol. 6). Oxford University Press.

Black, A. (2001). The Victorian information society: Surveillance, bureaucracy, and public librarianship in 19th-century Britain. The Information Society, 17(1), 63-80.

Black, A. (2005). The library as clinic: A Foucauldian interpretation of British public library attitudes to social and physical disease, ca. 1850-1950. Libraries & culture, 40(3), 416-434.

Foucault, M. (1991). Discipline and punish: The birth of the prison (A. Sheridan, Trans.). London: Penguin. (Original work published 1977).

Gallagher, M. (2010). Are schools panoptic?. Surveillance & Society, 7(3/4), 262-272.

Hauptman, R. (1976). Professionalism or culpability? an experiment in ethics. Wilson Library Bulletin, 50(8), 626-627.

Henderson, A. C., Harmon, S. M., & Houser, J. (2010). A new state of surveillance? An application of Michel Foucault to modern motherhood. Surveillance & Society, 7(3/4), 231-247.

Hewitt, M. (2000). Confronting the modern city: The Manchester Free Public Library, 1850–80. Urban History, 27(01), 62-88.

Juznic, P., Urbanija, J., Grabrijan, E., Miklavc, S., Oslaj, D., &Svoljsak, S. (2001). Excuse me, how do I commit suicide? Access to ethically disputed items of information in public libraries. Library management, 22(1/2), 75-80.

Koskela, H. (2000). ‘The gaze without eyes’: Video-surveillance and the changing nature of urban space. Progress in Human Geography, 24(2), 243-265.

Lyon, D. (2001). Surveillance society: Monitoring everyday life. McGraw-Hill Education (UK).

Lyon, D. (2003). Surveillance after September 11 (Vol. 11). Polity.

Lyon, D. (2007). Surveillance studies: An overview. Polity.

Monahan, T. (2011). Surveillance as cultural practice. The Sociological Quarterly, 52(4), 495-508.

Intellectual freedom and censorship in Norwegian public libraries

Lili Shakhsi

lili.shakhsi@gmail.com

Oslo University college (HiOA) - Hogskolen i Oslo og Akershus Postboks 4 St. Olavs plass 0130 Oslo, Norway

Keywords: Intellectual Freedom, Censorship, Public Libraries, Library Polices

Abstract

Intellectual freedom is the liberty of seeking and receiving information from different angels without any limitation. It provides free access to expressions of all types of ideas by exploring the cause and movements. Totally intellectual freedom is encompasses the freedom to hold, receive and disseminate ideas.

Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication or other information which may be considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, politically incorrect or inconvenient as determined by governments, media outlets, authorities or other groups or institutions. The censor wants to prejudge materials for everyone.

Intellectual freedom is based on democratic systems in each and every country. State power is being used by censorship authorities to impose their view of what is truthful and appropriate, or offensive and objectionable. In modern life it is expected that people become socially and intellectually mature and self-governor. This fact requires well established information services for increasing the people's awareness. Libraries are one of the important knowledge sectors that providing all types of materials for letting people to inform themselves. On the other hand libraries have been pressured by censors to support and remove the public access from information they judge inappropriate or dangerous, so that no one else has the chance to read or view the material and make up their own minds about it.

This research is aiming to identify the influence of the censorship polices in Norwegian public libraries `content curation with qualitative prospect. This study will be done in number of public libraries in Oslo because of its international interface. Curation of educational and informational materials for adults will be followed by semi structured interviews with public library professionals.

The main expectation is distinguishing the curation policies from censorship. And observe the application of intellectual freedom in public libraries. Also it will explore the content creators and curators `integration with the work follow in spite of their personal preferences. Moreover, it is also valuable to check whether there are any materials that have been added or removed from shelves because of some social political conditions of the country or not.

The expected outcome could be scrutinizing the practical ways of the freedom administration in Norway and becoming familiar with probable barriers of some informational presentation.

NOTE: This research is under the process, literature review and data collection is not completely done.

Public Libraries and E-Democracy

Martina Vujnović, Martina Dragija Ivanović and Boris Badurina

mvujnovic@student.unizd.hr, mdragija@unizd.hr

University of Zadar, Department of Information Sciences, Zadar, Croatia

Faculty of humanities and social sciences, Department of Information Sciences, Osijek, Croatia

Keywords:Public Libraries, E-democracy, Provision of Information, Library Services, Small Towns

Abstract

The role of public libraries in promoting values of democratic society becomes more prominent every day. Due to changes that occur daily in the socio-political plan in Croatia, the challenges set in front of the public libraries lead to questioning the role and the importance of public libraries in smaller communities. The public libraries in major Croatian towns have relatively stable sources of funding, library services reach high standards and are innovative and quality thanks to the professional and skilled staff. However, there are very few such towns in Croatia. Most daily and constant population migrations in Croatia are towards Zagreb, the capital. But according the last census, people mostly live in smaller towns.

The offer of cultural, sports, social and educational opportunities varies according to geographical location, from the developed central part of the Croatia (northwest) to the devastated population of Lika - Senj County. Recommendations of the European Union aim at reducing disparities and the digital divide which mainly stems from the lack of information and communication technology and lack of skills and competencies required for active participation (or function independently) in the information society.

This paper presents the results of a study carried out in the town of Gospić, a small town that is the administrative center of Lika - Senj County which is located in the region of Lika, the highland area of central Croatia. Gospić is the third smallest county center in Croatia with the same problems as the whole county. These are: population decline and a lack of social and economic activities.

The aim of this research was to gain insight into what kind of services should the libraries provide to their customers and which they already provide and how. The problem of population sparseness and the problem of concentration of services in major towns put the emphasis in the research on services related to the provision of information to citizens and library users. The information in question is the ones which, according to the author, are necessary for quality life of the entire population of the town. These are, for example, information about the town where the library operates, information on social and other rights, information on public e-administration and events related to these issues, in order to strengthen e-democracy. The respondents were librarians in the public libraries in Gospić and members nongovernmental organizations.

Introduction

With every day we are more aware of the need for democratization and an emphasis on democratic values in society and the need to promote it. Furthermore, every day, with the development of society and the media, we are becoming more aware of the role of e-democracy in a sea of democratic processes and the notion of social capital, as two possibilities for improving the society that we live in. The importance of e-democracy was recognized in 2009 by the Council of Europe, when it adopted a Recommendation of the European Council of Ministers to Member States on electronic democracy (e-democracy). [1] Effective democratic processes, good governance and the involvement of citizens and civil society are important in preventing conflicts, promoting stability and facilitating economic and social progress and cohesion at all levels. [2] It is no coincidence that the recommendation was made precisely on the 60th anniversary of the adoption of the UN Declaration on Human Rights, because one of the fundamental rights of every human being is democracy and the right to development and learning. This right is recognized by another organization [3] and has led to the adoption of the Lyon Declaration on Access to Information and Development. [4] This Declaration aims at reducing digital inequality since improved access to information and knowledge in society, fueled by the availability of information and communication technologies, supports sustainable development and improves people's lives. [5] On the other hand, social capital can be seen as involvement in a network, and it is the connective tissue of every community, especially local.

There are numerous definitions of social capital, but all of them are based on one assumption – and that is the idea that relationships between people are important! [6] Therefore, adopted values and norms are important in the development of society and this involvement in the network of social relations is an opportunity for libraries to improve the conditions of life for all individuals involved in these networks. On the other hand, the digital divide, as an important form of inequality of the information age (Castells), cannot be bridged, and can only be reduced to the extent in which social inequalities are reduced. [7] Public libraries are the ones that have the ability to reduce the digital gap by educating citizens and adopting new programs, all with a purpose of strengthening e-democracy and improving the quality of life of citizens.

The city of Gospić in relation to digital inequality

The City of Gospić is the administrative center of Lika – Senj County and is its political, cultural, educational and social center. The City of Gospić according to the 2011 census [8] has only 12,745 inhabitants, which ranks it in the second largest group of cities with a population from 10,001 to 15,000 inhabitants (20% in the proportion of the number of cities). The group is made of 29 other cities. Even larger group is the group of cities that have between 5,001 and 10,000 inhabitants, and there is 42 such cities in Croatia. This confirms the thesis that Croatia is a country of small cities, cities that need special attention in order to become real centers for their citizens, together with public libraries. As a small city, Gospić has no innate predispositions for social and cultural opportunities such as larger cities do. But with the development of social capital (which includes the concept of social and socio-cultural capital) [9] we are creating for ourselves opportunities to strengthen all aspects of life in the city. Strengthening of social capital can be directly promoted by the libraries with their activities that develop and consolidate connections within it. In all of that lies the opportunity and the need for the establishment of the library as an important part of the information, social and cultural life. Lika – Senj County is the most sparsely inhabited – it is the biggest Croatian county and has the lowest number of inhabitants. Only 9.51 inhabitants live on 1 sq. km. All of this in advance creates a predisposition for inequality, and not just a digital one. According to the Lyon Declaration, information intermediaries such as libraries, archives, civil society organizations and the media should connect and strengthen the communication between the civil and governmental sector in order to strengthen ties and enhance communication and organization of information, which promotes the development of society. They can accomplish that in several ways, by providing information on rights, public services, labor and education; recognizing the current problems in society; connecting different regional and cultural groups; allowing access to information, heritage and documents; allowing the engagement of civil society; and facilitating education for the purpose of understanding and organizing the services of the highest benefit for the society. [10] Following these guidelines, it was necessary to examine how the library itself in the current form of operation contributes to the development of society and the fulfillment of the above mentioned points.

Independent public library Gospić as a part of democratic processes in the city of Gospić

Independent public library Gospić (hereinafter referred to as SNK Gospić) started operating in 1947 and was officially established in 1953. Library’s starting fund was 4 000 volumes. Until 1978 it had been operating in various forms, and was then moved to newly renovated premises of the Cultural Center, it significantly increased its fund and started with all-day work for users, it started organizing numerous cultural programs etc. In 1986 the library established Registry Office that is responsible for libraries in Lika – Senj County. In 1991 its work was interrupted by war, damage to its fund and space. Soon, during the war, with the help of the Ministry of Culture the library was opened again, it restored its fund and received numerous new members. From August 1, 2000 it has been functioning as an independent institution. [11] During 2014 the process of relocating the library into a new independent space was finished.

Current fund of SNK Gospić amounts to 66,330 volumes and has ? members. Today, the library is slowly taking a part in all of the important events at the national and city level. It organizes workshops, book promotions, presentations, but is all of that enough to make it actively involved in the life of the citizens? Library’s operations can be based on 5 essential factors: finances, employees, communities, fund and services. SNK Gospić operations surely depend on financing as one of the most important segments for further development of services. SNK Gospić was established by the City of Gospić and the City is also its primary financier. In 2014 the library’s budget amounted to HRK 892,418.00 [12], which, combined with funds from the Ministry still only funds basic supply of materials and service development since more than half of funds are earmarked for financing employee expenditures. Library staff is one of the most important segments in the work of any institution. The number of employees in the library perhaps is satisfactory, but the library is certainly in a need for skilled staff (librarians) and that need is continuous due to the lack of finances for employment. Quality fund and services are the foundation for the community and for its development and connectivity, particularly through civil society organizations. We hope to get an insight into the adequacy of those services through this research, which is only the beginning and the foundation for a deeper investigation of this problem.

Field research

The aim of the research is to get an answer to the question of how civil (NGO) sector organizations view library services and their quality and sufficiency in order to determine how much library actually helps them in their work and how the library could actually help successful development of communities in which we live.

The study was conducted at the beginning of December 2015, from December 10th to 20th among the members of SNK Gospić, in a form of a semi-structured interview. The respondents, five of them, apart from being members of SNK Gospić are also active members of non-governmental organizations and associations. The interview was also conducted with library staff, i.e. the librarian in order to determine their perception of sufficiency of the services offered by their library in terms of operations of various NGO organizations.

Research results

The research confirmed the expected result - and that is that NGO organizations have not so far in their work cooperated with the library and have not identified the library as a possible strategic partner in their work. Furthermore, the library has so far not offered concrete solutions that would help NGO organizations in their work. In addition to the standard services offered, a continuous cooperation with the civil sector has never been realized. Activities that take place in the library are mostly adapted to children (workshops) and promotions and book readings. Subjects complain of inadequate advertising of events, that they learn about the majority of events only after the fact, but are generally satisfied with the offer the library has, especially after relocation.

Although current services are of high quality, they are not numerous and the belief is that services should be of greater and wider spectrum. The respondents stress the need for establishing the library as a third living space in which people can stay in their spare time. In addition, some of the respondents pointed out the need for this precisely because Gospić is a small city, and children and adults do not have any other options regarding where they can spend their spare time. In general, respondents consider that the city is deprived of events and offer and they state they would appreciate the effort of any institution which would aim to allow greater involvement of the citizens. Furthermore, one of the respondents stressed the desire of parents of children with special needs to receive help in integrating such children into society - mutual learning with peers, learning assistance, children staying in care of volunteer associations while the parents are at work, learning to read etc. In addition, all respondents emphasized the definite need for greater involvement of libraries in the area of encouraging reading and promoting general knowledge. The possibilities are many , there are numerous opportunities since there are NGO organizations that are willing to cooperate. The opportunity lies in library space since many NGO organizations do not have their own space and they need co-operation with the library. Often we witness that the library is invisible in the eyes of a part of citizens, which is where non-governmental and civil sector can help by promoting the library among its members.

Conclusion

The quality of life of a community is reflected through several segments, such as sustainable development, human and social capital. But, in order to strategically develop a community, it is also necessary to draft development vision and plan and direct it in every part of the community. An educated and inter-connected community is the fundamental basis for development and improvement of society we live in and the development of e-democracy. Despite the fact that in conducted interviews we can observe that the connection between NGOs and the library is not fully developed today, we are aware that there is certainly room for improvement. Further work on realizing the needs of the civil sector can finally create the conditions for change and facilitate improvement of the content and offer that have a direct effect on the quality of life. We hope that favorable ties will be created in the future and that social capital will strengthen in the area of the City of Gospić and Lika – Senj County.

References and citations

Bakken, F. (2002.) Uloga knjižničarskog društva u promicanju slobodnog pristupa informacijama. Okrugli stol Slobodan pristup informacijama u službi kulturnog razvitka, 35-42.

Bušljeta Tonković, A. (2015.) Održivi razvoj središnje Like: Prinosi analizi ljudskog i socijalnog kapitala. Zagreb-Gospić: Institut društvenih znanosti Ivo Pilar i Državni arhiv u Gospiću

Horvat, A. & Živković, D. (2012.) Između javnosti i privatnosti: Knjižnice u vremenu e-knjige. Zagreb: Hrvatska sveučilišna naknada

http://www.dzs.hr/Hrv/censuses/census2011/results/censustabshtm.htm

http://www.gospic.hr/images/stories/Sluzbeni_vjesnik/2015/vjesnik_0515.pdf

http://www.gospic.hr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=117&Itemid=57

http://www.lyondeclaration.org/content/pages/lyon-declaration-hr.pdf

Krištofić, B. (2007.) Digital Inequality. Sociologija i prostor, 176. 165-182

Pare, R. E-Democracy and E-Government: How Will These Affect Libraries? URL: http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED472848.pdf.

Tropina Godec, Ž. (2009.) Informiranost građana i slobodan pristup informacijama javnog sektora. Hrvatska i komparativna javna uprava, 8. 323-340

Notes

[1] http://www.coe.int/t/dgap/democracy/Activities/GGIS/CAHDE/2009/E-democracy%20Rec_CROATIAN.pdf

[2] Ibid

[3] International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA)

[4] http://www.lyondeclaration.org/content/pages/lyon-declaration-hr.pdf

[5] Ibid

[6] Bušljeta Tonković, A. (2015.) Održivi razvoj središnje Like: Prinosi analizi ljudskog i socijalnog kapitala. Zagreb-Gospić: Institut društvenih znanosti Ivo Pilar i Državni arhiv u Gospiću

[7] Krištofić, B. (2007) Digital Inequality. Sociologija i prostor, p. 176

[8]http://www.dzs.hr/Hrv/censuses/census2011/results/censustabshtm.htm (16.12.2015.)

[9] Bušljeta Tonković, A. (2015.) Održivi razvoj središnje Like: Prinosi analizi ljudskog i socijalnog kapitala. Zagreb-Gospić: Institut društvenih znanosti Ivo Pilar i Državni arhiv u Gospiću

[10] http://www.lyondeclaration.org/content/pages/lyon-declaration-hr.pdf () 12.10.2015.)

[11] http://www.gospic.hr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=117&Itemid=57 (20.12.2015.)

[12] http://www.gospic.hr/images/stories/Sluzbeni_vjesnik/2015/vjesnik_0515.pdf (22.12.2015.)

Workshop

The Declaration of Lyon an international tool for a local action?

Razzouq Amzil, Camille Delaune, Sarah Guinet, Julie Palomino, Laure Papon-Vidal, Sandhia Vasseur

razzouq.amzil@enssib.fr, camille.delaune@enssib.fr, sarah.guinet@enssib.fr, julie.palomino@enssib.fr, laure.papon-vidal@enssib.fr, sandhia.vasseur@enssib.fr

Master PBD, Enssib, Université de Lyon, France

Raphaëlle Bats

raphaelle.bats@enssib.fr

Responsable Mission Relations Internationales / International Relations Officer, Responsable par interim Master PBD

Keywords: IFLA, International, Sustainability, Democracy, Access Information, Information, Sustainable Development

Abstract

The Lyon Declaration, launched at IFLA Lyon 2014, aims at making register the access to information as an engine and a final goal of the sustainable development, as it can favor the equalities, fight against the discriminations and the poverty, empower the individuals to be active citizens, etc. (IFLA, Lyon Declaration, 2014). This statement was thought from the start to defend this vision at the UN congress with one goal: to make register the access to information in the program of the 2030 Agenda (following the Agenda 21). It is now done since summer 2015 and this success must be greeted. However, in a paradoxical way, this text met a number of resistances on the side of the professionals.

To be able to understand this Declaration, we are going to ask three different questions :

Is it possible to use the Lyon Declaration in an international background ?

Is it reasonable to speak of sustainable development ?

How can the Lyon Declaration be a way to improve information access ?

So, the general problem that we raise is to know to what extent this Declaration could be a political tool with a huge symbolic value.

We will wonder if this symbolic goal fits an international situation, in regard of international signatories.

International associations and libraries have a key role in sustainable development. For that, they give access to information. The Declaration is an inspiration to reach the international library model. The fact that libraries can organize them internationally shows that the Lyon Declaration could have a concrete application and moreover is a strong weight for the librarian’s world to be given a voice in the sustainable development struggle.

More than 170 institutions have committed to sign. They do not necessarily come from the world of libraries. This statement groups many sectors (university, education, development agency, media agency, etc.). Their common goal is to provide access to information. Associations are a necessary defense of equitable access to information and help build sustainable communities. The signatories are international and have very varied geographic and professional backgrounds. Libraries provide access to information and hence to knowledge on sustainable development, and they are places of information regardless of the country. We can say the Declaration has a real weight, only because it has been signed (and so approved) by the United Nations; the international dimension is obvious. But does every country hear it the same way ?

Therefore, we need to speak about sustainable development, which is a key notion in our Declaration because it’s one of the first principles which is stated. IFLA defines the sustainable development as a way “to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future”. We can distinguish two different meaning of sustainable development which are both distinct and linked. The first meaning is an ecological one: the sustainable development is a way to protect natural resources. The second meaning is more restricted, it’s a societal development: it’s a way to develop societies, including in an intellectual way. Sustainable development from an ecological view point is a two-tier development. Indeed, countries which have already started their development in a sustainable way will have an ability to follow their goal; whereas countries which haven’t started the greening of their libraries will encounter difficulties in this process, often because of financial barriers (Sam McBane and Ned A.Himmel, 2010). For some others, the environmental issue is linked to the new technologies (Pierre-Antoine Chardel, 2012). The societal development is nevertheless a librarian thing, and the Declaration offers us to see how libraries can help to develop the world.

This societal aspect is also a key point of libraries’ missions. In fact, libraries have always played a major role in the development of society. A library allows citizens to be a part of their society. So libraries should work on their territorial environment. For instance, they could work with collectivities, lead territorial projects related to the community. They could offer documents and activities linked to the economic and social backgrounds of the population. They can do that through partnerships (Marie Deniau, 2015) and responsive technology (Catherine Muller, 2015).

So, there are two kind of criteria that lead to sustainable libraries. The first one is based on the Declaration of Rio (1992): health, social equity, quality of life, participation of citizens, access to knowledge. The second one relies on the role that libraries play in their territorial environments. We can therefore see that libraries work on two different definitions of "sustainable development". The stake of ecology is present in our occidental societies: so librarians want to work on that particular issue. Nevertheless, not everyone can have access to sustainable development. It is a limit of this Lyon Declaration, sustainability. It normally supports alphabetization and universal development. Orientating the reference model on sustainable development could then create a gap between people in need and wealthy citizens, with different preoccupations and needs.

The Declaration also questions the notion of accessing information and brings the notion of digital data. It first implies having the necessary technology and physical materials. The countries that have the information technologies have two ways of using them (Olivier Le Deuff, 2010) : partially or totally. Indeed, most of the libraries only use the « basic » functionalities of the web, but some others have really embraced those new ways of mediation, considering them as a true growth of the profession. From a more general point of view, accessing information is a major factor for accessing citizenship, since knowledge and culture are essentials in developing the « informational process » (Stoyan Denchev et Iréna Pétéva, 2010). That implies that technologies have to fit socio-economic objectives for each nation. But some nations in development cope with several difficulties (Mohan Munasinghe, 1989): technical ones, national ones and international ones. Anyway, the introduction of new technologies in developing countries is the result of the « globalization » (Bert Hoffmann, 2004), and this process increases the contradictions between national political sphere and worldwide economic sphere. So, digital data, its trade and promotion can be effective only if there is already technological materials and Internet access. In this case, digital data become essential for citizen participation and sustainable development (both societal and ecological). But for some countries, information technology must be implanted in the first place in the cultural and political sphere. We are here facing a paradox from the Lyon Declaration : it sure promotes the access to information and its development in developing countries, but it doesn't seem to take barriers and acquiring difficulties into account. The Declaration appears here more like a model to pursue, rather than an actual grass-root tool. It just reminds some of a librarian's objectives and might even redefine his work, but that is effective only in developed countries. Nevertheless, the Lyon Declaration is a real political tool for developing countries in a way that it shows an international support for accessing information.

We can conclude that libraries are a central place to accumulate and spread information. This Declaration is a way to encourage librarians to improve their sustainable development : for those who haven’t started it yet, they should; for those who have already started, they should go on. This tool is essentially political, because even if libraries are not obliged to do something, by signing (ratifying) the Declaration, they take a political commitment. That’s one small step for man, but one giant step for librarians.

Bibliography

McBane, S., A.Himmel, N., How Green is my Library ?, 2010

Berhault, G., Développement durable 2.0 l’internet peut-il sauver la planète?, 2008

Caraco A., Place des « bibliothèques à l’heure du développement durable », Bulletin de la BBF, 2008

Chardel, P.-A., Conflits des interprétations dans la société de l’information, 2012

Denchev, S., Pétéva, I., Culture de transparence, Société, information, bibliothèques, 2010

Deniau, M., La mutualisation dans le secteur culturel, I2D – Information, données & documents 2015/3 (Volume 52), p. 41-41

Deniau, M., Etude exploratoire sur les nouvelles pratiques de mutualisation ou de coopération inter-organisationnelles dans le secteur culturel, Département des études, de la prospective et des statistiques, Ministère Culture et de la Communication, 2014

Le Deuff, O., La Bibliothèque 2.0, Genèse et évolutions d’un concept, Les Cahiers du Numérique, 2010

Muller, C., Interfaces documentaires innovantes, I2D – Information, données & documents 2015/3 (Volume 52), p. 15-16

Resources links

https://www/actualitte.com/article/monde-edition/les-nations-unies-font-entrer-l-acces-a-l-information-dans-les-objectifs-pour-2030/59875

http://bsa.biblio.univ-lille3.fr/blog/2011/01/bibliotheques-et-developpement-durable/

http://www.biblogtecarios.es/rafaelibanez/la-declaracion-de-lyon/

http://bibliomancienne.com/2009/04/11/le-jour-des-bibliotheques-durables-2/

http://es.calameo.com/read/004059613c9bd68863335

http://www.convergences.org/blog/17-objectifs-3-engagements/

http://www.enssib.fr/bibliotheque-numerique/documents/40696-declaration-de-glasgow-sur-les-bibliotheques-les-services-d-information-et-la-liberte-intellectuelle.pdf

http://www.fesabid.org/federacion/noticia/declaracion-de-lyon-sobre-el-acceso-a-la-informacion-y-desarrollo

https://www.iaea.org/About/Policy/GC/GC59/GC59InfDocuments/French/gc59inf-1_fr.pdf

http://www.ifla.org/files/assets/alp/BSLA/impact-report/IFLA_BSLA_impactreport_2012.pdf

http://www.ifla.org/FR/publications/manifeste-d-alexandrie-sur-les-biblioth-ques--la-soci-t--de-l-information-en-action

http://www.ifla.org/files/assets/wsis/Documents/alex-manifesto-libs-info-society-fr.pdf

http://www.ifla.org/node/9871

http://www.infobibliotecas.com/es/blog/?tag=libro-electronico

http://pourlaculture.ville.montreal.qc.ca/declaration.php

http://quefaire.paris.fr/programme/116459_les_bibliotheques_de_paris_pour_le_climat

http://www.uha.fr/developpement-durable/quest-ce-que-le-developpement-durable

http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/70/L.1&Lang=F

http://www.un.org/fr/ga/coi/

http://www.vagabondages.org/post/2013/05/09/Réseaux-internationaux-de-bibliothécaires

The Cross-border Copyfight,
A copyright workshop for library professionals

Karolina Andersdotter

katja.andersdotter@kcl.ac.uk

Department of Digital Humanities, King's College London, London, United Kingdom

Keywords: Information Policy, Intellectual Property Rights, Copyright, Collective Rights Management, Libraries and Copyright

The future of copyright and libraries is a question well debated in both political, professional and academic arenas and holding a workshop is a way to integrate research, practice and education so that the LIS professionals of the future are able to tackle these issues without necessarily having to have a law degree.

The workshop will contain an introduction to the topic ”libraries and copyright” based on the cultural history of copyright (starting with the Statute of Anne from 1709) and then to focus on an overview of how European national libraries and library organizations discussed copyright and libraries when responding to the public consultation on the review of EU copyright rules (the so-called InfoSoc Directive) issued by the European Commission. The consultation was open between 05.12.2013 to 05.03.2014 and the objective was „to gather input from all stakeholders on the review of the EU copyright rules“. Both national, European, and global library organizations sent in replies and based on their opinions and argumentation the workshop will discuss what issues libraries are facing with copyright today.

On the basis of this information, participants will contribute with experiences of copyright and libraries from their countries and/or work settings. As EU copyright is a central point in the workshop, we will then either work with argumentation concerning copyright in a library management situation or perform a SWOT analysis of the copyright/library situation in EU debate today. The desired result would be a description of the situation at hand and an action plan with measures for developing copyright in a regional, national or international library environment.

References

Andersdotter, K. (2015). Cross-border Copyfight: European libraries re-thinking the InfoSoc Directive. (Student paper). Uppsala universitet.

Libraries and refugees,
Les bibliothèques et les réfugiés :
reaffirmation of a social and political role

Raphaëlle Bats, Thomas Chaimbault

raphaelle.bats@enssib.fr, thomas.chaimbault@enssib.fr

Enssib, Université de Lyon, Centre Gabriel Naudé,Lyon, France

Keywords: Refugees, Empowerment, Library, Citizenship, Democracy

2015 was placed in France, as in all Europe, under the sign of the political questioning. The year began in France with attacks of Charlie Hebdo, satiric newspaper, and of the Hyper Cacher, but also with the great match of January 11th, which showed the need for the French citizens to redefine and to give a new meaning to the expression “living together”, as this one had become unstable cause of the censorship, the threat and the temptations of mixture and rejection. On this occasion, libraries showed their faith in the freedom of expression and in democracy, as showed it the Spring issue of the BBF "Beloved Freedom" (BBF, 2015).

Few months later, the citizenship and the “living together”, the commitment and the solidarity, are once again questioned. Refugees' massive influx and the new visibility of the camps of refugees and migrants in France, and quite particularly that of the city of Calais, upset the European and shook the politicians. But, what actions do libraries? « The politics is a matter of the action, the action is demonstration, the demonstration is appearance of the actors and the appearance of the actors is revelation of what is at stake in any collective life: an existence appearing to all and drawing by its actions the space of this appearance that institutions and justifiable authorities have to guarantee and citizens to update. » (Etienne Tassin, 2012, p 203).

The refugees, taken here in a visibility which they usually try to escape (Etienne Tassin, 2015), question in three ways the role of the library in the democracy: First, how these new inhabitants, welcomed by numerous municipalities on the French territory, are going to become active citizens, without knowing the language, the culture and even though, for some of them, they have no political culture of democracy. Libraries had a wide experience in language learning, in transmission of culture, we shall take the measure of their political role: help these inhabitants to seize the world which surrounds them, to become an actor and as said Merleau-Ponty: "to transform our freedom to think, in a freedom to understand".

Second, we shall determine how to welcome refugees who are sometimes present for a temporary moment (as in the case of camps), to accompany them, to bring them assistance and resources, in a time by definition as well finished than indefinite. Besides, the library has to build footbridges within all the refugees, who, despite the common idea are not a single community but who really represent various communities and multiple cultures.

Finally, we shall not deny the concerns of "already inhabitants" about possibilities to build a “living together” with a new population? Is solidarity enough to build a strong sociability? The refugees thus question the role of the library in its capacity to create social links between various inhabitants, various cultures, to create collectively a common democratic project.

The arrival of the refugees in France, as well as the interest for the camps on the territory, is already obvious in the French and Belgium librarianship as show it the conference about migrants and libraries, organized by the BPI and the library of Calais (France) in September 2015, the master thesis of Thibault Keromnes (Keromnes, 2015) in June 2015, or the actions led by the library of Florennes (Belgium).

Nevertheless, it is important to find new tracks of action and for this, a workshop in an international congress seems to be the good tool and would allow us to exchange about ideas of practice, general thoughts on the political role of libraries. The workshop will be organized in three moments.

The first moment will open a debate on willingly provocative sentence, to underline the specific issues of the refugees’ arrival for libraries.

The second one will be the necessarily time of definition, and then will draw a landscape of libraries’ actions to face these situations.

At last, the group will work on case studies to exchange ideas and thoughts. The practical cases will make the group deal with the fictional arrival of refugees, more or less numerous and sometimes hosted in transit camp, in small, medium or big cities, where libraries are managed by teams of volunteers or professionals.

References

BBF Dossier. (2015). Liberté Chérie. Bulletin des Bibliothèques de France, (5). http://bbf.enssib.fr/sommaire/2015/5

Keromnes, T. (2015). Le rôle des bibliothèques et de la documentation dans les camps de réfugiés en Afrique et au Moyen-Orient. Villeurbanne, Rhône, France.

Mirabail, L. (2014). Lecture publique et immigration(s): l’accueil des primo-arrivants dans les bibliothèques françaises. Villeurbanne, Rhône, France.

Stimart, A-F. (2015). Quand la bibliothèque de Florennes rencontre le public Fedasil. In Lectures, La revue des bibliothèques, Bruxelles. n° 193, p 46-48

Tassin, É. (2012). Le maléfice de la vie à plusieurs: la politique est-elle vouée à l’échec ? Montrouge, France: Bayard.

Tassin, É. (2015, septembre 25). Une journée sur les routes de l’exil. Les nouveaux chemins de la connaissance. France Culture.

Facebook, WhatsApp, what else? Social media and search engines:
Do we need alternative systems?

Hugo Blacquière, Jasper van Huizen, Jessica Koerts

h.blacquiere@st.hanze.nl, j.v.huizen@st.hanze.nl, j.koerts@st.hanze.nl

Hanze University of Applied Sciences Groningen, School of Communication, Media & IT, Groningen, The Netherlands

Young Mu Chang

yo.chang@st.hanze.nl

Keimyung University, Institute of Social science, Daegu, Republic of Korea

Daniil Naumetc

d.naumetc@st.hanze.nl

HAMK Valkeakoski, Institute of Automation & Engineering, Hämeenlinna, Finland

Keywords: Data Protection, Social Network Services, Search Engines, Alternatives for SNS, Dark Net

Abstract

In the last years there has been a growing critique on SNS, mainly because of privacy issues. This posed a question: How are alternatives dealing with privacy and the other critiques? What are these alternatives? Are these alternatives better in function and design? The data used to answer these questions comes from our qualitative research such as an experiment with alternatives, social media monitoring and expert interviews with sociologist, new media and communication theorists. We answer these questions in our interactive workshop.

“Social media are contradictory because they simultaneously empower and exploit users” (Abu-Shaqra, 2014). Everybody knows the advantages and the disadvantages of Social Networking Services (SNS), like privacy risks. There are many alternatives to the mainstream SNS that are less harmful to the individual users and will protect their personal data.

There has been critique on the activities of SNS and search engines just like the growing critique on SNS itself. Most critique is about data collection and other privacy issues. There has recently been done research on the subject of alternative for commercial SNS by sociologists, new media and communication theorists. (Gehl, 2014).
They state that alternative SNS should provide systems that are not ruled by commercial logic and can offer a more empowering social-digital experience to users. Even though alternative SNS may never become as popular or as big as their contemporary counterparts they are still worth focusing on. These alternative SNS can grant new visions or a new way to think about SNS, new media and (on-line) social interactions because these alternatives are working from the perspective of privacy, transparency and openness. (Gehl, 2015).

In our workshop we will present four alternative SNS and show the participants the advantages and disadvantages of these alternatives. The alternatives that we will show are: App.net, Path.com, Telegram Messenger and DuckDuckGo. The workshop will be based on the findings of our research. Besides desk research we used qualitative research on alternative SNS and search engines. We have focussed on three research methods to do an in-depth exploration about social network alternatives. We started with an experiment, testing four alternative SNS. After the experiment we used social media monitoring to get insight in the general public’s opinion of our four alternatives. Next to that we did expert interviews with the social media experts Robert W. Gehl, Geert Lovink, Michael Stevenson and Javier de Rivera. During our research we have also taken a look into Dark Net/TOR. In our workshop we will discuss the positive and negative aspects of the dark net and the dangers it has. The workshop participants will get a better insight into the disadvantages of contemporary SNS & SE and we will show them the unknown potential of the alternatives.

References

Abu-Shaqra, B. (2014). The dialectics of empowerment and exploitation of using social media. Global Media Journal -- Canadian Edition, 7(2), 75-81.

Bartlett, J. (2014). The Dark Net. London: William Heinemann.

Deibert, R. (2013). Black Code: Surveillance, Privacy, and the Dark Side of the Internet. Oxford: Signal.

Gehl, R. W. (2014). Critical Reverse Engineering: The Case of Twitter and Talkopen. Salt Lake City: The University of Utah.

Gehl, R. W. (2015). The case for alternative social media. Salt Lake City: University of Utah.

Be an Open Scientist

Ina Blümel

University of Applied Sciences and Arts Hannover (HsH) - Abteilung Information und Kommunikation (IK): Expo-Plaza 12 D-30539 Hannover, Germany

Abstract

In many areas, the web has already changed everyday working practices in science. The internet is now used at all stages of the research cycle, creating new possibilities for communication and cooperation. The internet will dramatically alter research and publishing processes. This upheaval towards more open, collaborative digital science means that libraries will also be faced with new challenges.

The workshop addresses open science oriented scholarly information and communication at different levels of the research life cycle. This can include increased sharing of research outputs, e.g. research data or open access publications, participatory science and innovative models for global scientific collaborations, enabled by digital technologies such as the web.

Participants will get to know innovations particularly important for librarians, do exercise on different tools and workflows and discuss open science oriented potentials to increase research efficiency, maximize the visibility and impact of all forms of research outputs and enable greater engagement with the public.

Students will need computers and internet access to do some hands-on exercises. There is no special software required.

Government documentation and open government in the library:
from transparency to empowerment

Mathilde Cussac, Giorgia Plachesi, Camille Espy, Mathilde Gaffet, Océane Chauvet, Marie Larochelle

mathilde.cussac@enssib.fr, giorgia.plachesi@enssib.fr, camille.espy@enssib.fr, mathilde.gaffet@enssib.fr, oceane.chauvet@enssib.fr, marie.larochelle@enssib.fr

Master PBD, Enssib, Université de Lyon, Lyon, France

Keywords: Open Access, Democracy, Transparency, Government Information, Open Government, Empowerment

Government documentation is everything produced by a government like decrees, laws, but also forms, procedures, practical sheets etc. The open government documentation is the data released by governments and made available to the citizens. The access to this documentation takes different forms according to countries. The municipal or university libraries can subscribe to this documentation. In the USA, the distribution of the government documentation is assumed by the Federal Depository Libraries Program, which feeds municipal or university libraries throughout the USA, in return for promotion and accessibility to the public in the consultation of these documents.

Access to government documentation allows each citizen to develop a sense of empowerment. This concept designates the power of action of individuals and groups of people. In that way it’s as much a process as the result of the process. We will base ourselves on Bacqué and Biewener’s influential work (2013) to develop this point, its benefits and limits.

Citizens demand more transparency and access to government documentation and government data, which allows them to understand the environment better in which they live and to be able to criticize it, comment on it, reuse it, etc.

The question of access to government documentation in libraries is a new challenge. It is more and more mentioned in the official literatures (manifesto, referent texts, act, law, etc.) and there are only few countries, such as Canada or the USA, that already offer access and mediation. Moreover, the professional literature shows that nothing has been truly made in most of the countries. Yet, there are some projects that come from other structures, which mainly aim to spread open data and knowledge. Therefore the idea would be to draw inspiration from them and apply these experiences according to our structures, staff and material.

Following this presentation of the different questions at stake, we ask you to consider the issues by having a concrete approach.

In this workshop, the participants will be gathered into groups and play the roles of citizens, government or librarians. They will be presented with case studies and explore how libraries and governments work (or don’t) together to empower citizens.

Reference

Bacqué, M.-H., & Biewener, C. (2013). L’empowerment, une pratique émancipatrice. Paris, France: La Découverte, DL 2013.

Afripédia: rebalancing access and visibility on Wikipedia

Emma Gagneux, Bridget Bowers, Nicolas Garcia, Colin Harkat, Moussa Diouf, Valancia Pamela Njalle Engome

emma.gagneux@enssib.fr, bridget.bowers@enssib.fr, nicolas.garcia@enssib.fr, colin.harkat@enssib.fr, moussa.diouf@enssib.fr, valancia-pamela.njalle-engome@enssib.fr

Master PBD, Enssib, Université de Lyon, Lyon France

Keywords: Open Access, Democratization, Information, Sustainability, Africa, Digital Divides

Launched in 2012 by Wikimédia France, the Institut français, the Agence universitaire de la francophonie, the Afripédia project has the objective "to rebalance the access and the production of contents" in Wikipedia for and by French-speaking Africans (Projet:Afripédia. (2015a). This informational project answers several democratic questionings:

First, in providing offline connection to Wikipedia’s resources to individuals with unstable or absent Internet connections with the utilization of the free software, Kiwix, the encyclopedia acts as a portable library. Information, as the vehicle of culture and knowledge, is central to political participation. Second, the participation of the citizens in the political landscape also depends on the capacity of the individuals to write their own history and narrative, and to spread it. Africa is one of the least visible continents on the Internet. According to Adama Sahna, one of the directors of the Anglophone sister project, WikiAfrica,

The absence of information diversified and updated on Africa is notable (…). The two billion people who use the Internet as the main information source have limited possibilities to improve their knowledge on the history of Africa, and on the topical questions or the future prospects of the continent.” (Sanneh, 2013).

With the arrival of more African “wikipedians”, the philosophy and economy of creative commons is becoming more balanced.

More than three years after its launch in 2012, the collaborative efforts of libraries, universities and individuals to enlarge Afripédia has a steady success. Hundreds of pages and articles and thousands of editions continue to be made by Afripédia contributors (Wikiscan 2016).

Meanwhile the Digital Divide, across its geographical, social and creative levels, has been closing. With the evolving digital landscape of Africa, the Afripédia project should also expand its mission to adapt to the distinct African culture for a maximal distribution of knowledge. Hortense Volle, in her study on the impact of new medias and the promotion of African culture, highlights the natural link between communication and information technologies and development with African arts:

Africa, in its deep identity, is mainly immaterial. It does not fix its memory by text. It emphasizes the visual, the oral, the aural, and the arts. So, contrary to what was developed, Africa is neither oral, nor written (…) The Internet seems to be made for this culture (Volle 2004).

Wikipedia, therefore, remains a porous resource while immaterial culture continues to be difficult to diffuse on this platform, notably that of the oral tradition.

This workshop will consist of a presentation of Afripédia as well as an analysis of the digital situation across Africa. The role-playing game that follows will interrogate upon one of the constraints of Afripédia’s model: the diffusion of African immaterial culture. The game will be set up to encourage an exchange on the question of the roles of the library in the production, transmission, preservation and visibility of African culture in all its diversity.

References

Projet:Afripédia. (2015a, March). On Wikipédia.

Projet:WikiAfrica. (2015b, September). On Wikipédia.

Sanneh, A. (2013, avril). Où est l’Afrique sur l’Internet? OMPI Magazine.

Statistiques sur Wikipédia.fr (2016, January). « Catégorie:Utilisateur participant au projet Afripédia”. On Wikiscan.

Volle, H. (2004) La promotion de l’art africain contemporain et les N.T.I.C., Paris: L’Harmattan.

How tablets can help children with learning disabilities

Hésione Guémard

hguemard@gmail.com

Ecole nationale supérieure des sciences de l'information et des bibliothèques (ENSSIB) – Lyon, PRES Université de Lyon - 17-21, avenue du 11 Novembre 1918 - 69623 Villeurbanne cedex, France

Abstract

Tablets are available in some French libraries. However the use with young generations have been hard to understand and thus there is a lot of debate about it. A theory called the 3-6-9-12 theory was developed by Serge Tisseron meant for a wide range of users that demonstrate how children can apprehend screens provided that a few conditions are observed. For the librarian professionals, BibApps group, composed of psychologists, librarians and games specialists, is in constant research on the digital creation and the youth mediation. This research helps the mediation at work in libraries through discovery workshops: digital story time, game time and app discovering workshops. These events are created through the app selection by the professionals who ultimately go back to their adviser function. Workshops use application catalogs (like Declickids and Souris Grise), which are flourishing on the web, to advise professionals and parents. Thus tablets are becoming a source of innovation for youth mediation. This tool provides a first rate access to culture and information for the young public with learning disabilities. Indeed, applications answer the important need of support and provide new possibilities, using game resources. That way, in order to share their knowledge with this rare public, professionals are advised to take advantage of the tablet so as to understand the issues and to explore all the possibilities of this tool. In the first part, the workshop's purpose will be to highlight the role of the tablet as a tool that provides access to culture and information for everybody. Then it will feature a panel of this tool's possibilities as a part of libraries to the participants. The tablet will be presented as an object of discovery, games, stories and imagination. The second part will consist in forming groups of up to five persons; each team will be invited to test, an app for children on a tablet. Some groups will be testing an app for children with learning disabilities. After a trial period, within their group, participants will be invited to discuss the pros and cons of the app with their group, a spokesperson in each team will sum up their arguments. So the workshop's goal will be to encourage the sharing of experiences about the introduction of tablets inside libraries as well as both their advantages and inconvenient in the democratization of culture.

Technical Challenges to Privacy: Practical Training for Librarians

Monica Ihli

mihli1@utk.edu

University of Tennessee - UT (USA) (UT) - The University of Tennessee Knoxville, TN 37996 United States of America, United States

Abstract

Thanks to technology, libraries in the present day are able to offer many new services that were once unheard of, such as elaborate search and discovery systems, electronic delivery of documents, and online reference services. This technology also gives us the power to know more than ever about how patrons engage with library services. We have the power to know everything about our patrons, but does this give us the right to that information? And what is the potential for unintended consequences to the privacy of patrons? Privacy itself is in many ways a culturally relative concept and threats to privacy may be perceived differently from one nation to the next. But in a technologically advanced society, the discussion of privacy cannot be avoided. If librarians want to understand how technology challenges privacy, they do not have to be computer programmers. They do not need advanced technical skills. If librarians develop a basic understanding of what kinds of information can be collected about patrons by common technology systems, then they can advocate for responsible and ethical privacy policies within their own institutions. This is the kind of practical knowledge that participants will gain in this workshop.

The workshop will be divided into four parts: First, participants will be introduced to major concepts and concerns of privacy in libraries, as found in current literature. Next, the workshop will progress into live product demonstrations and example files of data showing the type of information about users that library technologies are capable of automatically recording. These demonstrations of technology will include a cloud-based integrated library system, discovery system, authentication proxy server, and online reference service. The third element of the workshop will be an interactive exercise, in which participants will be divided up into teams. Each team will be given examples of data and information that could have been collected about a hypothetical user, without the user realizing it. Through this exercise, workshop participants will see how easy it is to combine the information like the pieces of a puzzle, and in a way which violates the anonymity and the privacy of the user. Finally, the fourth element of the workshop will focus on how to develop institutional policies for implementing technology and data-collection processes responsibly. Best practices for preserving patron privacy in the context of technology will be suggested, but workshop participants will also be challenged to contribute their own ideas for how institutions can be transparent and ethical in preserving patron privacy.

Ethics for Information Professionals

Boris Jacob

boris.jacob@hu-berlin.de

Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin School of Library and Information Science, Dorotheenstr. 26, 10117 Berlin, Germany

https://www.linkedin.com/in/borisjacob

Jenny Delasalle

jennydelasalle@gmail.com

Freelance Librarian

https://de.linkedin.com/in/delasalle

Keywords: Information Ethics, Professional Codes, Ethical Codes, Ethical Practice, Digital Curation

Abstract

Information technology plays an increasingly important role in both our professional and private lives. On the one hand, many core services the library offers to its users are technology based, and libraries are using external (scientific) social media and web2.0 applications too. On the other hand there are many information services outside of the library domain, users rely on, like news or e-book reading apps. All these services function under specific conditions which influence the way information can be used. With the increase of technology use, ethical questions are increasing too. Questions concerning the (long term) accessibility of information services for example, and to what extend the information can be re-used legally and technologically, or questions about the intellectual privacy of the user. We think that information professionals need to be able to identify possible ethical problems that arise from using information technology, they need to be able to solve them, and they need to be able to educate patrons about it.

In this workshop we want to present and discuss with the audience how students and information professionals can learn to identify possible ethical problems, and how they acquire the means with which to solve them. The Workshop is based on our teaching experience of information ethics at the Berlin School of Library and information Science in Berlin. Our speakers teach this module and originate from Germany and Great Britain respectively, with backgrounds in libraries, cultural institutions and publishing.

Information services are evolving in the digital age, as is our profession. Ethical questions are raised in the digital space that challenge the information professional: there are fewer precedents from inside the profession and at the same time, plenty of examples from outside of our profession that might not match our codes of ethical conduct. Issues of privacy and security of data, appropriate online behavior, and reputation management are all relatively new to our profession, yet becoming relevant as our digital services incorporate new features such as users’ reviews, online profiles and community discussion. Traditional issues of customer service, treating patrons equally, of collection management, and contributing to information literacy building amongst the population take on new aspects in the digital age.

How can we equip the information professionals of today and tomorrow to identify and appropriately handle ethical dilemmas that they might come across in their work? What role is there for our professional codes of conduct? What aspects of the law govern our work and could actually be usefully revised and modernized?

The workshop focused on discovering the answers to these questions, using a framework designed as part of a Digital Curation masters degree module at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Students on this module come from a variety of international backgrounds, bringing different cultural perspectives to the issues investigated. The module itself is called “Information ethics and legal aspects” and uses a very participatory teaching method, to encourage students to explore these new territories of ethics in the digital world. They draw on and share their various cultural perspectives, as well as experiences from other but related professional sectors such as journalism and marketing.

BOBCATSSS 2016 workshop participants came from an equally diverse cultural background and with a wider range of professional experience. The authors’ workshop framework asked the participants to identify what constitutes an ethical dilemma, helping us to identify one when we come across it. Themes that were discussed included: 1) Plagiarism & Copyright, 2) Neutrality (equality of service) and moderation, 3) “Digital” literacy & digital divides, 4) Accessibility, Availability & Openness of Information, 5) Protection of privacy (confidentiality of service), and 6) Quality of Information, Collection Building.

At first participants discussed in groups and later shared their results with the plenary, where two main findings about the discussion on ethical dilemmas were identified.

First, the format of an open discussion about possible dilemmas with people from different professional and cultural backgrounds was valued very highly. It helped participants become more aware of other people’s issues and problems, as personal biases.

Second, using existing ethical codes from your own profession, but also from other information related professions helps in the discussion, especially as information technology plays an increasingly important role in both our private and professional lives. Examples are the twelve ethical principles from the UK’s CILIP or the principles for client and other services from Germany’s BID. Many issues are also explored in IFLA’s code of ethics.

Being an information professional is about informing and empowering ourselves to handle ethical dilemmas appropriately and it includes things like reporting any conflicts of interest. We can expand the ethics conversations in our workplaces and promote the accessibility of quality information and the empowerment of those who use our services. We can also set good examples to others within and outside of our profession.

References

CILIP (2004). Ethical Principles. Retrieved September 9, 2016 from: http://www.cilip.org.uk/cilip/about/ethics/ethical-principles

IFLA (2012). IFLA Code of Ethics for Librarians and other Information Workers. Retrieved September 9, 2016 from: http://www.ifla.org/news/ifla-code-of-ethics-for-librarians-and-other-information-workers-full-version

Lison, Barbara (2007). BID - Federal Union of German Library and Information Associations - Ethical Principles of the Library and Information Professionals. Retrieved September 9, 2016 from: http://www.bideutschland.de/download/file/Ethik%20und%20Information_englisch.pdf

Role playing in Libraries: promoting reading for children

Linda Voropajeva, Andris Krumins, Elina Sniedze, and Lelde Petrovska

linda.voropajeva@gmail.com , krumins.andris@yahoo.com , elina.sniedze@gmail.com , petrovska.lelde@gmail.com

University of Latvia – Latvia

Keywords: Workshop, Role Playing, Children, Promotion of Reading

Abstract

The library has become more than just a place to get books. In recent years, more and more children come to the library with other goals in mind: meeting friends, participating in events, playing games and so on. In fact, there are children that come to the library often, yet rarely take home any books - they are simply uninterested in the books offered. There are so many other distractions at the library that the child does not take the time to even look at the books on offer.

Yet, most of the children that come to the library (both those that read books and those who do not) are interested in playing games. All kinds of games: board games, computer games, even games they devise on their own. Thus there exists a great opportunity for librarians to promote the reading of books.

Role playing games are a great way of encouraging children to actively participate in creating their own stories and then acting them out, or acting out stories created by someone else. The children get an opportunity to set their creativity free, to act out their fantasies.

If this process is guided by a librarian, by creating and molding the world within which the story takes place, an interest about the world can be created in the child. An interest in the book, from which this world comes.

The aim of the researchers is to set up a workshop. At first, the theoretical basis of role playing will be briefly explained as well as the process of setting up for a session of role playing [1].

Afterward, such sessions will be carried out. This will be done by splitting up the attendants of the workshop into smaller groups, which each will have a game master conducting the session. Each of the parallel mini-sessions will be based on a different work of fiction in order to demonstrate the versatility of role playing.

Notes

[1] Cason Snow, (2008) "Dragons in the stacks: an introduction to role-playing games and their value to libraries", Collection Building, Vol. 27 Iss: 2, pp.63 – 70

Global Trends, Local Voices:
Libraries responding to the IFLA Trend Report

Inga Lunden

City of Stockholm

Frédéric Blin

frederic.blin@bnu.fr

Bibliothèque Nationale et Universitaire de Strasbourg

Keywords: Future, Trends, Privacy, Technology, Access

The IFLA Trend Report identifies five high level trends in the global information environment, spanning access to information, education, privacy, civic engagement and technological transformation. While it sets out existing and likely future trends which characterize the new digital paradigm, it doesn't forecast the future of libraries.

How libraries evolve to remain relevant in the new information landscape is perhaps the most urgent question facing the profession today. Since the launch of the IFLA Trend Report in 2013, librarians around the world have been discussing the trends and how they challenge our profession to think in new ways, addressing the impact of new technology on our communities and our users. In a hyper-connected environment, where access to information is integrated into every aspect of our lives, and data about our behavior is collected at every moment, what is the role of the library and the librarian? What do we need to consider? How do we need to change?

Through an interactive workshop at BOBCATSSS 2016, IFLA engaged LIS students in these discussions. As you imagine the future of libraries, where should our priorities be? What trends are most likely to impact our users' ability to freely access information? Where must IFLA focus attention to ensure that the values of libraries continue in the potential future?

Following a short presentation on the findings of the IFLA Trend Report, participants discussed each of the five focus areas of the IFLA Trend Report: access to information, online education, privacy and data protection, enabling new voices, and the impact of connected devices. The main elements of the discussion were the following:

Trend 1: New Technologies will both expand and limit who has access to information.

Librarians need to know more about the poorest members of society, and especially the information poor

Putting content and information online is not sufficient: librarians need to work towards building capacities to access information, for instance through collaborations with tech and telecom societies. But nowadays, with mobile phones, technology is available, libraries need to also work on the nature of information they give access to

Link between access to information and sustainable development. Focus for the Lyon Declaration. How can librarians convince politicians that a global change is necessary?

Trend 2: Online Education will democratize and disrupt global learning.

Libraries can teach how to access pedagogical information and resources

Libraries must help people learn how to value information.

Public libraries have a role in online education because their public is not an academic public, and need more help

Online education is about democracy: public libraries must be facilitators

Internet governance is important for free online education, because of the risk that Internet will soon be a closed and fragmented environment

Importance of computer literacy for modern democracy: to provide an free public internet access point is a prerequisite to democracy

Trend 3: The boundaries of privacy and data protection will be redefined.

Libraries have always been protective of privacy. Currently confronted with a risk linked to collection of private data following access to e-books. Libraries should know that there are other tools that protect and don’t ask for personal data: they should choose alternatives to the “big tools” of private companies

“How can you increase democracy by decreasing democracy? People will always find a new way”: librarians need to be aware of this issue

Trend 4: Hyper-connected societies will listen to and empower new voices and groups.

Governments blame technology, but in fact it’s people – not technology – who commit acts

Often there is a confusion between “public data” and “personal data stored in public tools”. There is a need for better data protection legislation, and better civic engagement

Role of libraries to enlighten people on the issues at stake

Trend 5: The global information environment will be transformed by new technologies.

There is an economic interest for curated content

New technologies may allow new form of expression and transform the economy of information

Why don’t libraries hire journalists?

The workshop structure offered the opportunity for student to share their thoughts about the future of societies and the evolving roles of libraries. The findings of the BOBCATSSS workshop were considered by IFLA, enriching an updated version of the Trend Report that was launched in August 2016 (http://trends.ifla.org/files/trends/assets/trend-report-2016-update.pdf).

Data curator: who is she/he?

Anna Maria Tammaro

annamaria.tammaro@unipr.it

IFLA Library Theory and Research

Terry Weech

weech@illinois.edu

Graduate School of Library and Information Science University of Illinois - Urbana- Champaign

Heidi Kristin Olsen

Heidi-Kristin.Olsen@hioa.no

Høgskolen i Oslo og Akershus

Ana Pervan

ana.pervana@gmail.com

Library and Information Management International Labour Organization

Keywords: Data Curator, Open Science, Cyber-infrastructure, Open Data

Abstract

The Workshop introduces a project recently funded by the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA), under the auspices of its Library Theory and Research Section. The main aim of the project is to identify the characteristics of the tasks and the responsibilities of the data curators, in both the international and interdisciplinary contexts. This IFLA project is surveying a representative set of data curators and their institutions, in order to develop a “data curator ontology” that should help to better define the profession and develop appropriate educational curricula. The first results of this survey and others problematic areas of the profile will form the starting point for discussion at this workshop.

The role of data curator has become an important position, stimulated by the emerging need of curating data produced by scholars and government and research institutions. Is this the role of data scientists? Or cultural heritage professionals? Or computer scientists? or is it a completely new role?

Recent studies are providing valuable input towards constructing this understanding. Among these, there is a project recently funded by the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA), under the auspices of its Library Theory and Research Section. The main aim of the project is to identify the characteristics of the tasks and the responsibilities of the data curators, in both the international and interdisciplinary contexts. This IFLA project is surveying a (representative) set of data curators and their institutions, in order to develop a “data curator ontology” that should help to better define the profession and develop appropriate educational curricula. The first results of this survey and others problematic areas of the profile will form the starting point for discussion at this workshop.

The main goal of the Workshop is to achieve understanding of the main trends in Europe in the interdisciplinary and international research in managing data collections and related areas. The organizers will continue the dialog begun at BOBCATSSS through the IFLA Project Website.

The expected participants in this workshop are information professionals (data curators, librarians, data managers, etc.) involved in the management and preservation of research data, scholars interested in understanding the new requirements for publishing research results, representatives of memory institutions (potential employers of information professionals), teachers and educators from institutions providing education and training to future information professionals.

Workshop Program

The workshop organizers will report on the ongoing results of the IFLA Project “Data curator: who is she/he?”. Then, small group discussion will be stimulated to encourage participants to share their opinions and perceptions of the data curator role.

Schedule

Welcome and introduction

Anna Maria Tammaro, Ana Pervan

Data curator: US research and practice

Terry Weech, Krystyna Matusiak

Data curator: Nordic countries research and practice

Heidi Kristin Olsen

Table Discussion with participants

Wrap up and Conclusion

Anna Maria Tammaro

References

European Union (2010) Riding the Wave: How Europe can gain from the rising tide of scientific data. Final report of the High level Expert Group on Scientific Data http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/ict/e-infrastructure/docs/hlg-sdi-report.pdf

Strand : Open Access and Open Data

Super-Open Librarians: become the new heroes of a free and open information strategy

Guillemette Trognot, Marie Latour, Myriam Gorsse, Pauline Laurent, Adrien Malavasi

guillemette.trognot@insa-lyon.fr, marie.latour@enssib.fr, Myriam.Gorsse@scd.upmc.fr, pauline.laurent@bnf.fr, adrien.malavasi@enssib.fr

Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon, France

Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Sciences de l'Information et des Bibliothèques, Villeurbanne, France

Keywords : Open Access, Academic Research, Information Activism, Gamification

Material : Seat and tables in the room placed for four groups , Material of visioconference, Wifi, A computer and a material of projection

Abstract

To oppose attempts at restricting access to information and at reinforcing the protection of intellectual property(Scheufen, 2015), new strategies to spread academic knowledge are now emerging. New open access ways (Andre, 2005), either free or open, are available for scholars to enable them to find and share information (“Budapest Open Access Initiative | French Translation,” 2001).

However, these possibilities are not fully made use of due to a lack of information, of expertise or due to distrust of all or some of the proposed solutions. The goal of this workshop is to teach academic librarians to find their bearings among the available offers and to help its users build a consistent strategy with these new tools.

The purpose here is not to propose or impose ready-made solutions. On the contrary, the aim of the workshop is to bring participants to think about the major issues of Open Access and to help them to provide to their users an enlightened support.

To this end, this workshop will use digital gaming strategies (Sanchez, 2014), which make it possible to pass on complex notions in a pleasant atmosphere through a genuine process flow (Genvo, 2013). A « game of which you are the hero » using multimedia writing techniques will be proposed. This will be a blended workshop, combining face-to-face and distance learning.

The workshop will fall into three phases:

Phase 1 (15’): a face-to-face introduction to what is at stake in free and open access.

Phase 2 (45’): The participants are required to take on the role of an academic librarian who is to give advice to master’s, PhD students, as well as scholars, about the resources they can use, the legal framework to consider, the best way to make their research visible. They will have to make appropriate choices, since they will have an impact on the professional careers and actions of the users.

Thus, by a game-play, the participants will solve puzzles corresponding to the four major issues of Open Access: finding a suitable position between activism constraints and legal constraints in Open Access (Maurel, 2016b), making up their mind on the controversial subject of academic social networks (Gouzi, 2013), finding the right place of Open Access (Chanier, 2004) in a publication strategy facing financial (Consortium Couperin, n.d.) and visibility (Legendre, 2016) challenges, using free data in compliance with laws and human rights (Maurel, 2016a)

This phase will also be hosted remotely through a videoconferencing system and will allow regular discussion time about the choices made by each participant.

Phase 3: (30’) The participants are invited to give their feedback on the game and to put forward and share their conclusions on free and open access after this experiment. This exchange is an opportunity to think about these issues still being debated and, possibly, to develop new solutions together.

If this workshop is successful, The University of Guyana and INSA retain the right to develop the present pedagogical materials as a part of their own training lessons or events.

Bibliography

Andre, F. (2005). Libre Accès aux Savoirs/Open Access to Knowledge. (Futuribles, Ed.). Futuribles. Retrieved from https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00949250

Budapest Open Access Initiative. (2001). Retrieved August 26, 2015, from http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/boai-10-translations/french

Chanier, T. (2004). Archives ouvertes et publication scientifique: comment mettre en place l’accès libre aux résultats de la recherche? Paris: l’Harmattan.

Consortium Couperin. (n.d.). Perceptions de l’OA par les marchés financiers : Open Access France. Retrieved from http://openaccess.couperin.org/perceptions-de-loa-par-les-marches-financiers/

Genvo, S. (2013). Penser les phénomènes de ludicisation à partir de Jacques Henriot. Sciences du jeu, (1). Retrieved from http://sdj.revues.org/251

Gouzi, F. (2013, November 29). Réseaux sociaux académiques….Le débat ! [Billet]. Retrieved from http://openarchiv.hypotheses.org/1883

Legendre, O. (2016, April 1). La nasse dorée de l’open access – (Gaol Road to Open Access) [Billet]. Retrieved from http://alambic.hypotheses.org/5845

Maurel, L. (2016a, May 1). Quelle réalité pour le principe d’Open Data “par défaut” de la loi Lemaire ? Retrieved from http://scinfolex.com/2016/01/05/quelle-realite-pour-le-principe-dopen-data-par-defaut-de-la-loi-lemaire/

Maurel, L. (2016b, July 1). :: S.I.Lex :: Retrieved January 7, 2016, from http://scinfolex.com/

Sanchez, E. (2014, November). Le paradoxe du marionnettiste (thesis). Université Paris 5 Sorbonne Descartes. Retrieved from https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01141017/document

Scheufen, M. (2015). Copyright versus open access: on the organisation and international political economy of access to scientific knowledge. Cham, Switzerland, Suisse.

Intellectual freedom versus internet providers

Colin Takken, Irene Ensing, Elena Dramova & Bastiaan van Wijk

c.l.takken@st.hanze.nl , i.ensing@st.hanze.nl , elena.dramova@gmail.com, b.h.d.j.van.wijk@st.hanze.nl

Hanze University of Applied Sciences, School of Communication, Media & IT, Hanzeplein 7, Groningen, Netherlands.

Yujie Tang

ta.tang@st.hanze.nl

Communication University of China, International Journalism and Communication, 1 Dingfuzhuang E St, Chaoyang, Beijing, China.

Keywords: Net Neutrality, Intellectual Freedom, Equal Access to Knowledge, Users Confidentiality

Abstract

Network neutrality is affecting our daily life more than we can imagine. Think of a moment when your favorite television series does not load properly via Netflix, due to others who are using the same internet connection? After attending the workshop “Intellectual freedom versus internet providers”, you will probably be happy that your television series needs some time to buffer.

Network (net) neutrality means that owners of networks, that compose and provide access to the Internet, do not control how consumers lawfully use that network and are not able to discriminate against content providers access to that network. It enables and protects free speeds and intellectual freedom, which is the right to seek and receive information without restrictions.

In the recent history, there have been many incidents regarding net neutrality. In 2010, the Federal Communications Commission(FCC) passed rules that mobile operations and providers cannot block services that offer same services as the carrier’s.

One of the biggest incidents happened in 2012, when mobile provider AT&T blocked Apple’s FaceTime. While releasing iOS 6, Apple’s newest mobiles operating system, FaceTime was not restricted to Wi-Fi connections anymore. Unless AT&T customers subscribed to a new, more expensive data plan, they were not able to use FaceTime via mobile devices.

After different public interest groups readied a formal complaint against AT&T, the company started to allow FaceTime on almost every data plan, except old and grandfathered data plans in January 2013.

As a result of this incident, the complaint was never filed and there was never any official action taken by the FCC. The groups that united against AT&T were not satisfied with the outcome, because AT&T still retained the right to decide which applications were allowed on its network.

Net neutrality is getting more attention and attracting many stakeholders to think about this topic. A lot of questions remain unanswered. How does it affect people’s daily life? What would our Internet experience be without net neutrality?

The primary goal of the workshop is to let people experience what life could be with or without net neutrality and how it could influence your daily life online. Creating awareness about this topic and getting new insights in the topic is also an additional advantage.

References

Ammori, M. (2014) The Case for Net Neutrality – What’s Wrong With Obama’s Internet Policy. Retrieved on 09-30-2015 from: https://www.foreignaffairs.org/articles/united-states/2014-06-16/case-net-neutrality

Bourreau, M., Kourandi, F., Valletti, T. (2015) Net Neutrality with Competing Internet Platforms. The Journal of Industrial Economics. Volume LXIII March 2015. Retrieved on 09-30-2015 from: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/joie.12068/pdf

Cheng A S, Fleischmann K R, Wang P, et al. Values of stakeholders in the Net neutrality debate: Applying content analysis to telecommunications policy[C]//System Sciences (HICSS), 2010 43rd Hawaii International Conference on. IEEE, 2010: 1-10.

Cheng, H.K., Bandyopadhyay, S., Guo, H. (2010) The debate on net neutrality: a policy perspective. In Information systems research, volume 22, issue 1. P60-82. Retrieved on 09-30-2015 from: http://wpubsonline.informs.org/doi/abs/10.1287/idtr.1090.0257/

Gans, J.S. (2014) Weak versus Strong Net Neutrality. Journal of Regulatory Economics. Volume 47 April 2015. Retrieved on 09-30-2015 from: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11149-014-9266-7

Levin, B. (2014) Lessons in Government Acton in a Changing Landscape. Retrieved on 09-30-2015 from: http://scholarship.law.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1556&context=commlaw

Meisel, J. (2015) Development of Net Neutrality Rules: Is The Third Time a Charm? Rutgers Computer and Technology Law Journal. Retrieved on 09-30-2015 from: https://litigation-essentials.lexisnexis.com/webcd/app?action=DocumentDisplay&crawlid=1&doctype=cite&docid =41+Rutgers+Computer+%26+Tech.+L.J.+166&srctype=smi&srcid=3B15&key=4f22465995dee11 04e67920c6a38f4b8

Sankin, A (2014) The worst Net Neutrality Violations in human history. Retrieved at 29-09-2015, from: http://www.dailydot.com/politics/net-neutrality-violations-history/

Shein, E. (2012) AT&T blocks FaceTime, Net neutrality complaint filed. Retrieved at 01-05-2016 from: http://www.informationweek.com/consumer/atandt-blocks-facetime-net-neutrality-complaint-filed/d/d-id/1106448?

Get related 2.0

Sofia Arangüena, Hielke Koning, Stijn Merkelijn and Marcel Visscher

s.aranguena.lopez@st.hanze.nl, h.h.koning@st.hanze.nl, s.h.merkelijn@st.hanze.nl, mr.visscher@st.hanze.nl

Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Institute for Communication, Media & IT Zernikeplein 11, 9747 AS Groningen

Keywords: Changes of Social Relationships, Internet, Social Media, Online Behaviour, Scenario Planning, Educational Trends

Social media is sometimes used in working relations and in educational settings. In other words, social media are not only used for private purposes. We were curious to know whether this use would be increasing during the past few years and what the experiences are.

According the Association K.U. Leuven (2014), the use of social media is less suitable for education. At the same time they found that social networking sites in itself have sufficient functionalities to call themselves Learning Management Systems. A study of Stichting Mijn Kind Online and Kennisnet (2013) showed that 16% of the Dutch youth in the age of ten to seventeen years were connected to one or more teachers on social media. Ten percent of the students also followed a teacher on Twitter or WhatsApp. Kennisnet (2015) claims that three out four children approach their parents if they have questions about their homework. Fifty-three percent is looking for contact with the teacher, while 33% is trying via search engines to find the answers they need.

A study by Moreno et al. (2015) shows that professionals more often use social media for personal purposes (65%) than for professional purposes (56%). Reyneke (2013) found that managers and employees attached great importance to face-to-face communication and attending meetings to discuss internal affairs in organizations. Zerfass et al (2014) state that female managers more often choose to contact employees via email (40%) than male managers (34%). Male managers prefer face-to-face communication (27%) and the phone (11%) compared to female managers (20% and 9% respectively). A study of My Job Group (2010) showed that 55% of the managers and employees approached their friends, family members or colleagues on social media during working hours. Sixteen percent of those respondents spent thirty minutes a day on social media with private purposes and 6% even more than an hour a day.

A study from Orsini & Evans (2015) states that students prefer social media, and especially Facebook as a source of information. For students, social media can be an extension of the classroom with the options to interact with other students and teachers. That is one of the reasons why students not only use Facebook and other social media for their own personal connections, but also for professional networking, study and research. In the same survey was found that the students wanted to use social media to interact with their teachers, especially before and right after class. Not only students, but also teachers filled in a survey. Teachers preferred Facebook, Skype and YouTube as most popular social media. But still, there was a group of 22% that did not use any kind of social media.

There are benefits of using social media during classes. The learning satisfaction from the students is increased and students feel more connected with their course. Another benefit is the growing collaboration and interactions with other students and teachers with social media. Also, mentoring students outside of the class is an option that is available thanks to social media. Group discussions, document uploading and digital questions, all options are possible (Orsini & Evans, 2015).

During the workshop, the research findings of the literature review and the results of interviews with teachers, students, managers and employees are discussed. Also, we introduce a quiz about the Internet usage and the use of social media in different countries and we talk and reflect about questions how the participants experienced the changes of social relationships in their own lives. Much information is already available, but without Internet and social media, we ask the participants to use their own creativity and experiences to make predictions about the future communication between teachers and students and managers and employees.

References

Association K.U. Leuven (2014). De Sociaal Genetwerkte Leraar. Reviewed on November 19, 2015, from: https://associatie.kuleuven.be/schoolofeducation/projecten/literatuurstudie.pdf  

Kennisnet (2015). Monitor jeugd en media 2015. Reviewed on November 21, 2015, from: https://www.kennisnet.nl/fileadmin/kennisnet/publicatie/jeugd_media/Kennisnet_Monitor_Jeugd_en_media_2015.pdf

Moreno, A. et al (2015). Does social media usage matter? An analysis of online practices and digital media perceptions of communication practitioners in Europe. Public Relations Review, 41 (2), p. 242-253.

My Job Group (2010). Social media in the workplace. Reviewed on November 19, 2015, from: http://www.myjobgroup.co.uk/socialmediawhitepaper/SocialMediaWhitepaper.pdf

Orsini, A.C. & Evans, P.A. (2015). Social Media as a teaching strategy: Opportunities and barriers. Advances in Health Profession Education. Reviewed on January 9, 2016, from: 

http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Cesar_Orsini/publication/272564610_Orsini_C.__Evans_P._Social_Media_as_a_Teaching_Strategy_Opportunities_and_Barriers._Advances_in_Health_Professions_Education._20151(1)44-46/links/5519298e0cf273292e70b750.pdf

Reyneke, A. (2013). Expectations on the use of Facebook for employee engagement [Google Scholar]. Reviewed on November 20, 2015, from: http://dspace.nwu.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10394/10007/Reyneke_A.pdf

Stichting Mijn Kind Online & Kennisnet (2013). Samen leren: tieners en trends. Reviewed on November 19, 2015, from: http://mijnkindonline.nl/sites/default/files/uploads/Samen%20leren%20-%20Tieners%20en%20sociale%20media_1.pdf

Zerfass, A. et al (2014). European Communication Monitor 2014. Excellence in Strategic Communication. Brussels: EACD/EUPRERA, Helios Media.

Material demands

For the workshop, we need the following materials:

About thirty chairs (for the participants);

About thirty tables (for the participants);

A computer with an Internet connection;

Whiteboard;

Beamer (for displaying the visual presentation);

Large sheets of A3 paper;

Paper sheets for the participants (A4 paper);

Markers;

Post-its (in different colors);

Pens

Thematical table of contents

Intellectual freedom and Censorship Libraries

Hacker culture libraries and intellectual freedom
Milan Balać, Mia Kuzmić and Iva Magušić-Dumančić

French Libraries Post-Charlie Hebdo: Between Freedom of Expression and the Neutrality of Cultural Institutions
Raphaëlle Bats

Green Libraries - partners for realizing fully citizenship
Petra Hauke

Do Erasmus students have the same rights using library resources studying abroad
Julija Ingelevič

Student's information needs in democratic society and the role of public libraries
Robert Janus and Darko Lacovic

The Role of Public Libraries in Communities Impacted by Natural Disasters
Monique Lassere

A Comparative Analysis of the State of Intellectual Freedom in the United States and Israel as Judged Against IFLA’s FAIFE Committee Standards
Emily Metcalf

"I Go There If I feel Welcome": Use of Czech Libraries by Immigrants
Kateřina Nekolová and Petra Černohlávková

Social Networking: Information Sharing, Archiving and Privacy
Benedicta Obodoruku

Intellectual freedom and censorship in Norwegian public libraries
Lili Shakhsi

Intellectual freedom versus internet providers
Colin Takken, Irene Ensing, Elena Dramova, Bastiaan van Wijk and Yujie Tang

Public Libraries and E-Democracy
Martina Vujnović, Martina Dragija Ivanović and Boris Badurina

Information values in conflict: How libraries navigate occasions of dissonance between freedom of information and the right to privacy
Winn W. Wasson

Enforcing and Reinforcing the Responsibility of Information Professionals to Defend Intellectual Freedom
Terry Weech

Open Access and Open Data

Public libraries as tools for democracy
Svanhild Aabøand and Ragnar Audunson

Towards Better Social Learning: Contributions from Sentiment Analysis
Jihad Al Ansari and David McMenemy

Citizen Scholarship using Web2.0 : Tools in Library and Information Science Journals
Kendra Albright and Theo Bothma

The Cross-border Copyfight, A copyright workshop for library professionals
Karolina Andersdotter

Be an Open Scientist
Ina Blümel

Video Streaming in Academic Libraries: Enabling Participation in a Democratic Society
Rebecca Ciota and Emily Hardesty

Mobile library service in Baranya County
László Csobán, Fruzsina Farkas and Zsófia Pajor

An Analysis of International Library Aid to Africa: Cultural, Economic, and Political Impacts
Cailín Cullen

Government documentation and open government in the library: from transparency to empowerment
Mathilde Cussac, Giorgia Plachesi, Camille Espy, Mathilde Gaffet, Océane Chauvet and Marie Larochelle

Target Groups and Activities: Six Swedish Public Libraries’ use of Facebook
Emmelie Ernsth and Johanna Svensson

Afripédia: rebalancing access and visibility on Wikipedia
Emma Gagneux, Bridget Bowers, Nicolas Garcia, Colin Harkat, Moussa Diouf and Valancia Pamela Njalle Engome

Film education and film preferences of the LIS students as important factors for the development of diverse film collections
Laura Grzunov, Barbara Konjevod and Mirko Duić

Accessible safe Internet for children: project of Russian libraries
Elena Kolosova and Alexandra Gubanova

BOISSY Archive: an innovative project which seeks to develop the reflection on text-markup standard to enhance research in French eighteenth century theater
Joséphine Loterie

Libraries on the Semantic Web: Finding new professional ways and implement them to the benefits of citizens
Márton Németh

To offer ebooks in libraries: a way to break down physical barriers to knowledge and culture
Rafael Peregrina, Aurélie Vieux, Stéphanie Pouchot and Benoît Epron

The Role of Social Factors in the Design of Information Systems and Services for Open Data
Danielle Pollock and Suzie Allard

Disseminating knowledge beyond scholarly journals: coverage of Library and Information Science literature in Wikipedia
Aida Pooladian and Ángel Borrego

The Panoptic Principle and Information Access in UK Public Libraries
Elaine Robinson

How Can Public Libraries Support Active Citizenship and Regional Vitality? Case Study: Vallila Library, Helsinki City Library
Ph.D Harri Sahavirta

Open Science as a Service: Status and future potential from a German non-university research institution perspective
Regina Schmitt and Jana Rumler

Data curator: who is she/he?
Anna Maria Tammaro, Terry Weech, Heidi Kristin Olsen and Ana Pervan

Super-Open Librarians: become the new heroes of a free and open information strategy
Guillemette Trognot, Marie Latour, Myriam Gorsse, Pauline Laurent and Adrien Malavasi

Student-teacher Facebook friendship and privacy awareness
Lucija Žilić, Drahomira Cupar, Josip Ćirić and Krešimir Zauder

Protecting Privacy

Security level of DRM technologies
Zsuzsanna Arany and Andor Nagy

Youth as Citizen?: Libraries and Youth Civic Engagement
Jeanie Austin

E-book reading data protection in libraries
Estelle Beck

How your library can help to set you free from mass-surveillance ?
Damien Belveze

Facebook, WhatsApp, what else? Social media and search engines: Do we need alternative systems?
Hugo Blacquière, Jasper van Huizen and Jessica Koerts

Is the library a true reflection of information's democracy?
Patricia Boubaker Nobilet

Social media and privacy defense strategies
Stjepan Horvat, Sanja Lapiš and Marta Matijević

Technical Challenges to Privacy: Practical Training for Librarians
Monica Ihli

Librarian as publisher
Alexander Kouker and Conor Murphy

Librarian's Code of Ethics - Does It Help?
Andris Krumins, Elina Sniedze and Linda Voropajeva

The Role of Public Libraries in Communities Impacted by Natural Disasters
Monique Lassere

Censorship in the School Library: four reasons to consider and some ideas to promote Intellectual Freedom
Carla Ollé Vera

Legal deposit at the Sultanate of Oman: the Law of Press and Publications and it is role in building Omani culture democracy
Dr. Naifa Eed Saleem, Dr. Abdullah Khamis Al Kindi and Khalifah Marhoon Al-Rahbi

The Role of Libraries in Democratic Cultures

Public libraries as tools for democracy
Svanhild Aabøand and Ragnar Audunson

The Declaration of Lyon an international tool for a local action?
Razzouq Amzil, Camille Delaune, Sarah Guinet, Julie Palomino, Laure Papon-Vidal and Sandhia Vasseur

Diversity of film collections in European public libraries
Mihaela Anđić, Matea Kotarac and Mirko Duić

Youth as Citizen?: Libraries and Youth Civic Engagement
Jeanie Austin

Hacker culture, libraries and intellectual freedom: Analysis of hacker and hacktivist scene in Croatia and its collaboration with Croatian libraries
Milan Balać, Mia Kuzmić and Iva Magušić-Dumančić

Libraries and refugees, Les bibliothèques et les réfugiés : reaffirmation of a social and political role
Raphaëlle Bats and Thomas Chaimbault

E-book reading data protection in libraries
Estelle Beck

Modern Times, Modern Librarians: A Comparison of Historical and Modern Library Services of Hungary and the United States
Alyson Bell and Brigitta Jávorka

Living Library in Reader Development
Judit Béres

Global Trends, Local Voices: Libraries responding to the IFLA Trend Report
Frédéric Blin and Inga Lunden

Is the library a true reflection of information's democracy?
Patricia Boubaker Nobilet

Video Streaming in Academic Libraries: Enabling Participation in a Democratic Society
Rebecca Ciota and Emily Hardesty

The Search That Dare Not Speak Its Name: LGBT Information and Catalog Records
Jessica Colbert

User Experience in the Italian Academic Libraries context: may we start?
Carla Colombati

Mobile library service in Baranya County
László Csobán,Fruzsina Farkas and Zsófia Pajor

An Analysis of International Library Aid to Africa: Cultural, Economic, and Political Impacts
Cailín Cullen

French think tanks analysts and librarians: the cart of communication comes before the horse of knowledge
Lucile Desmoulins

Target Groups and Activities: Six Swedish Public Libraries’ use of Facebook
Emmelie Ernsth and Johanna Svensson

How tablets can help children with learning disabilities
Hésione Guémard

Film education and film preferences of the LIS students as important factors for the development of diverse film collections
Laura Grzunov, Barbara Konjevod and Mirko Duić

Green Libraries - partners for realizing fully citizenship
Petra Hauke

Do Erasmus students have the same rights using library resources studying abroad
Julija Ingelevič

Libraries, Pornography, and the Internet: An Evolving Conversation
Annabella Irvine

Ethics for Information Professionals
Boris Jacob and Jenny Delasalle

Student's information needs in democratic society and the role of public libraries
Robert Janus and Darko Lacovic

Redesigning the physical space for access and exchange of knowledge: Tracking the Traffic at the University of Oslo Library
Glenn Karlsen Bjerkenes and Ida Maria Zaborowski

Librarian as publisher
Alexander Kouker and Conor Murphy

Roleplaying in Libraries: promoting reading for children
Linda Voropajeva, Andris Krumins, Elina Sniedze and Lelde Petrovska

Analysis of cultural events in the library with the aim of promoting literature
Katarina Mandić, Maja Stazić, Drahomira Cupar and Martina Dragija Ivanović

Design thinking for libraries — Libdesign project
Pavla Minaříková and Roman Novotný

Democracy in the works council libraries. A case study: The Social Welfare Institutions for staff in the electrical and gas industries (CCAS - France)
Giovanna Montano

Social Networking: Information Sharing, Archiving and Privacy
Benedicta Obodoruku

Censorship in the School Library: four reasons to consider and some ideas to promote Intellectual Freedom
Carla Ollé Vera

To offer ebooks in libraries: a way to break down physical barriers to knowledge and culture
Rafael Peregrina, Aurélie Vieux, Stéphanie Pouchot and Benoît Epron

Disseminating knowledge beyond scholarly journals: coverage of Library and Information Science literature in Wikipedia
Aida Pooladian and Ángel Borrego

Community Oriented Libraries and the Third-Space in African Libraries
Emily Purcell, Kimberly Stelter and Thomas Mukonde

The Panoptic Principle and Information Access in UK Public Libraries
Elaine Robinson

How Can Public Libraries Support Active Citizenship and Regional Vitality? Case Study: Vallila Library, Helsinki City Library
Ph.D Harri Sahavirta

Living libraries: a commitment to think and transform the city
Florence Salanouve

Legal deposit at the Sultanate of Oman: the Law of Press and Publications and it is role in building Omani culture democracy
Dr. Naifa Eed Saleem, Dr. Abdullah Khamis Al Kindi and Khalifah Marhoon Al-Rahbi

Public Libraries and E-Democracy
Martina Vujnović, Martina Dragija Ivanović and Boris Badurina

Enforcing and Reinforcing the Responsibility of Information Professionals to Defend Intellectual Freedom
Terry Weech

Student-teacher Facebook friendship and privacy awareness
Lucija Žilić, Drahomira Cupar, Josip Ćirić and Krešimir Zauder

Let's relive the symposium day by day

THURSDAY 28 - ENSSIB

HENRI LEMAITRE ROOM
JORGE LUIS BORGES ROOM

8:30 am – 9:15 am
Keynote: Päivikki Karhula on Privacy

9:15 am – 10:30 am
Poster session (3x5 min)

1. BOISSY Archive : an innovative project which seeks to develop the reflection on text-markup standard to enhance research in French eighteenth century theatre. Joséphine Loterie

2. Accessible safe Internet for children: project of Russian libraries. Elena Kolosova, Alexandra Gubanova

3. Syrtis: New Perspectives for Semantic Web Adoption. Joffrey Decourselle

Paper session (2x20 min)

1. Open Science as a Service: Status and future potential from a German non-university research perspective. Regina Schmitt, Jana Rumler

2. The Role of Social Factors in the Design of Information Systems and Services for Open Data. Danielle Pollock, Suzie Allard

Paper session (3x20 min)

1. A Comparative Analysis of the State of Intellectual Freedom in the United States and Israel as Judged Against IFLA's FAIFE Committee Standards. Emily Metcalf

2. Information values in conflict: How libraries navigate occasions of dissonance between freedom of information and the right to privacy. Winn Wasson

3. Is the library a true reflection of information’s democracy? Patricia Nobilet

9:15 am – 10:30 am Workshops

SUZANNE BRIET WORKSHOP ROOM: How tablets can help children with learning disabilities. Hésione Guémard

EUGENE MOREL ROOM: Intellectual freedom versus internet providers.Bastiaan van Wijk, Colin Takken, Tang Yujie, Irene Ensing, Elena Dramova

HENRI LEMAITRE ROOM
JORGE LUIS BORGES ROOM

9:15 pm - 10:30 pm
Council meeting EUCLID (at Enssib Library)

10:30 am – 11:00 am
Coffee break

11:00 am – 12:15 am
Poster session (3x5 min)

1. Libraries, Pornography, and the Internet: An Evolving Conversation. Annabella Irvine

2. The Panoptic Principle and Information Access in UK Public Libraries. Elaine Robinson

3. Intellectual freedom and censorship in Norwegian public libraries. Lili Shakhsi

Paper session (2x20 min)

1. Libraries on the Semantic Web: Finding new professional ways and implement them to the benefits of citizens. Márton Németh

2. Towards Better Social Learning: Contributions from Sentiment Analysis. Jihad Al-Ansari

Paper session (3x20 min)

1. Censorship in the School Library: four reasons to consider and some ideas to promote Intellectual Freedom. Carla Ollé Vera

2. Public libraries as tools for democracy. Svanhild Aabo, Ragnar Audunson

3. Youth as Citizen? : Libraries and Youth Civic Engagement. Jeanie Austin

11:00 am – 12:15 am Workshops

SUZANNE BRIET WORKSHOP ROOM: The Declaration of Lyon, an international tool for a local action? Laure Papon-Vidal, Julie Palomino, Camille Delaune, Razzouq Amzil, Sandhia Vasseur, Sarah Guinet

EUGENE MOREL ROOM: Be an Open Scientist. Ina Blümel

HENRI LEMAITRE ROOM
JORGE LUIS BORGES ROOM

12:15 pm – 1:15 am
Lunch time

1:15 pm – 2:30 pm
Poster session (3x5 min)

1. Design thinking for libraries – Libdesign project. Pavla Minaříková, Roman Novotný

2. The Search that Dare Not Speak Its Name: LGBT Information and Catalog Records. Jessica Colbert

3. Lubuto Libraries : Exemplars of The Potential of Youth Libraries in Promoting Democratic Ideals. Emily Purcell, Thomas Mukonde, Kimberly Stelter

Paper session (2x20 min)

1. Mobile library service in Baranya County. László Csobán, Fruzsina Farkas, Zsófia Pajor

2. Target Groups and Activities- a Survey of Six Swedish Public Libraries use of Facebook. Emmelie Ernsth, Johanna Svensson

Paper session (3x20 min)

1. Student’s information needs in democratic society and the role of public libraries. Robert Janus

2. Citizen Scholarship using Web 2.0 Tools in Library and Information Science Journals. Kendra Albright, Theo Bothma

3. Disseminating knowledge beyond scholarly journals: coverage of Library and Information Science literature in Wikipedia. Aida Pooladian, Angel Borrego

1:15 pm – 2:30 pm Workshops

SUZANNE BRIET WORKSHOP ROOM: Facebook, WhatsApp, what else? Hugo Blacquiere, Jessica Koerts, Jasper van Huizen, Daniil Naumetc, Young Mu Chang

EUGENE MOREL ROOM: Data curator: who is she/he? Anna Maria Tammaro, Terry Weech, Krystyna Matusiak, Heidi Kristin Olsen, Ana Pervan

HENRI LEMAITRE ROOM
JORGE LUIS BORGES ROOM

2:30 pm – 3:45 pm
Poster session (3x5 min)

1. Video Streaming in Academic Libraries: Enabling Participation in a Democratic Society. Rebecca Ciota, Emily Hardesty

2. To offer ebooks in libraries: a way to break down physical barriers to knowledge and culture. Rafael Peregrina, Aurélie Vieux, Stéphanie Pouchot, Benoît Epron

3. “I Go There If I Feel Welcome”: Use of Czech Libraries by Immigrants. Kateřina Nekolová, Petra Černohlávková

Paper session (2x20 min)

1. Legal deposit at the Sultanate of Oman: the Law of Press and Publications and it is role in building Omani culture democracy. Naifa Saleem

2. An Analysis of International Library Aid to Africa: Cultural, Economic, and Political Impacts. Cailin Cullen

Paper session (3x20 min)

1. The library as a stronghold of privacy in the digital age: a three-tier framework. Katharina Leyrer

2. Librarian’s Code of Ethics – Does It Help? Andris Krumins, Elina Sniedze, Linda Voropajeva

2:30 pm – 3:45 pm Workshops

SUZANNE BRIET WORKSHOP ROOM: Technical Challenges to Privacy: Practical Training for Librarians. Monica Ihli

EUGENE MOREL ROOM: Governmental documentation and open government in library: from transparency to empowerment. Mathilde Cussac, Giorgia Plachesi, Camille Espy, Mathilde Gaffet, Océane Chauvet, Marie Larochelle

HENRI LEMAITRE ROOM
JORGE LUIS BORGES ROOM

3:45 pm – 4:15 pm
Coffee break

4:15 pm – 5:00 pm
Paper session (1x20 min)

Democracy in the works council libraries. A case study: The Social Welfare Institutions for staff in the electrical and gas industries (CCAS - France). Giovanna Montano

Poster session (4x5 min)

1. Living Library in Reader Development.Judit Béres

2. Public libraries and e-democracy. Martina Vujnović, Martina Dragija Ivanović, Boris Badurina

3. How your library can help to set you free from mass-surveillance? Damien Belveze

4. The Role of Public Libraries in Communities Impacted by Natural Disasters. Lassere Monique

Paper session (2x20 min)

1. Film education and film preferences of the LIS students as important factors for the development of diverse film collections. Laura Grzunov, Barbara Konjevod, Mirko Duić

2. Do Erasmus students have the same rights using library resources studying abroad? Julija Ingelevič, Jurgita Rudžionienė

4:15 pm – 5:00 pm Workshops

SUZANNE BRIET WORKSHOP ROOM: Super-Open Librarians. Marie Latour, Myriam Gorsse, Gilles Morinière, Guillemette Trognot

EUGENE MOREL ROOM: Afripédia: rebalancing the access and the production of contents in Wikipédia. Emma Gagneux, Bridget Bowers, Nicolas Garcia, Axelle Beurel, Moussa Diouf, Colin Harkat, ValanciaPamela Njalle-Engome

| HENRI LEMAITRE ROOM | JORGE LUIS BORGES ROOM
7 :00 pm | Dinner & Party @ Le Transbordeur |

FRIDAY 29 - ENSSIB

HENRI LEMAITRE ROOM
JORGE LUIS BORGES ROOM

9:30 – 10:15 am
Keynote: Denis Merklen on The Role of Libraries in Democratic Culture
Paper session (2x20 min)

1. User Experience in the Italian Academic Libraries context: may we start? Carla Colombati

2. Redesigning the physical space for access and exchange of knowledge: Tracking the traffic at the University of Oslo Library. Ida Maria Zaborowski, Glenn Bjerkenes

10:15 am – 11:30 am
Paper session (3x20 min)

1. Hacker culture, libraries and intellectual freedom: Analysis of hacker and hacktivist scene in Croatia and its collaboration with Croatian libraries. Mia Kuzmić, Iva Magušić Dumančić, Milan Balać

2. Librarian as Publisher.Kouker Alexander, Conor Murphy

3. Modern Times, Modern Librarians. Alyson Bell, Brigitta Jávorka

Paper session (3x20 min)

1. Enforcing and Reinforcing the Responsibility of Information Professionals to Defend Intellectual Freedom. Terry Weech

2. French think tanks analysts and librarians: the cart of communication comes before the horse of knowledge. Lucile Desmoulins

3. After Charlie Hebdo: The French libraries between freedom of expression and neutrality of the cultural institutions. Raphaëlle Bats

10:15 am – 11:30 am Workshops

SUZANNE BRIET WORKSHOP ROOM: Ethics for Information Professionals. Boris Jacob, Jenny Delasalle

EUGENE MOREL ROOM: Global Trends, Local Voices: Libraries responding to the IFLA Trend Report . Frédéric Blin, Antoine Torrens, Inga Lunden, Christina de Castell

HENRI LEMAITRE ROOM
JORGE LUIS BORGES ROOM

11:30 am – 11:45 am
Coffee break

11:45 am – 12:45 am
Paper session (3x20 min)

1. Social media and privacy defence strategies. Stjepan Horvat, Sanja Lapiš, Marta Matijević

2. Social Networking: Information Sharing, Archiving and Privacy. Dr. Benedicta Obodoruku

3. Student-teacher Facebook friendship and privacy awareness. Lucija Žilić, Drahomira Cupar, Josip Ćirić, Krešimir Zauder

Paper session (3x20 min)

1. Living libraries : a commitment to think and transform the city. Florence Salanouve, ABF Legotheque

2. Green Libraries – partners for realizing fully citizenship. Petra Hauke

3. How can public libraries support active citizenship and regional vitality? Harri Sahavirta

11:45 am – 12:45 am Workshops

SUZANNE BRIET WORKSHOP ROOM: Libraries and refugees: Les bibliothèques et les réfugiés: reaffirmation of a social and political role. Raphaëlle Bats, Thomas Chaimbault

EUGENE MOREL ROOM: Get related 2.0: The future of professional relationships and social media. Marcel Visscher, Stijn Merkelijn, Hielke Koning, Sofia Arangüena

HENRI LEMAITRE ROOM
JORGE LUIS BORGES ROOM

12:15 pm – 1:15 am
Lunch time

1:45 pm – 2:30 pm
Paper session (2x20 min)

1. Security level of DRM technologies. Andor Nagy, Zsuzsa Arany

2. E-book reading data protection in libraries. Estelle Beck

Paper session (2x20 min)

1. Analysis of cultural events in the library with the aim of promoting literature. Katarina Mandić, Maja Stazić, Drahomira Cupar, Martina Dragija Ivanović

2. Diversity of film collections in European public libraries. Matea Kotarac, Mihaela Andić, Mirko Duić

1:45 pm – 2:30 pm Workshops

SUZANNE BRIET WORKSHOP ROOM: Roleplaying in Libraries. Promoting reading for children. Linda Voropajeva, Andris Krumins, Elina Sniedze, Lelde Petrovska

EUGENE MOREL ROOM: The Cross-border Copyfight. Karolina Andersdotter

| HENRI LEMAITRE ROOM | JORGE LUIS BORGES ROOM
3:30 pm – 4 :15 pm | Closing Ceremony |

Scientific committee

Benjamin Adam (Université Paris Descartes, France)
Raphaëlle Bats (Enssib, France)
Emilie Biega (Enssib, France)
Lydie Catelon (Enssib, France)
Camille Delaune (Enssib, France)
Sarah Flambard (Université Paris Descartes, France)
Camille Hervé (Enssib, France)
Lucile Joly (Université Paris Descartes, France)
Katharina Leyrer (Enssib, France)
Danielle Pollock (University of Tennessee-Knoxville)

Organization Bobcatsss 2016

Coordination team

Raphaëlle Bats (Enssib, France)
Lydie Catelon (Enssib, France)

Content team

Camille Delaune (Enssib, France)
Camille Hervé (Enssib, France)

Financial team

Alexis Ben Fredj (Université Paris Descartes, France)
Pauline Laurent (Enssib, France)

Social program team

Hésione Guémard (Enssib, France)
Marjorie Lebreton (Université Paris Descartes, France)
Giorgia Plachesi (Enssib, France)
Marine Rousseau (Université Paris Descartes, France)
Florie Boy (Enssib, France)

Marketing team

Erwann Cuat Dit Cœur (Université Paris Descartes, France)
Lucile Joly (Université Paris Descartes, France)
Katharina Leyrer (Enssib, France)
Sarah Flambard (Université Paris Descartes, France)
Noémie Jouhaud (Enssib, France)

Logistic team

Paul Faure (Enssib, France)

Technical team

Mathilde Delaporte (Enssib, France)

Publishing and editorial team

Fanny Blanchard (Enssib, France)

Valentin Famelart (Enssib, France)

Katarina Leyrer (Enssib, France)

Guilhem Martin Saint-Léon (Enssib, France)

Paulin Ribbe (Enssib, France)

Laure Fabre (Enssib, France)

Sponsors

They support us !

Index

A

Academic Freedom 1

Academic Libraries 1, 2

Academic Research 1

Access 1, 2, 3

Access Information 1

Access to Culture and Information 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Active Citizenship 1

Advocacy 1

Africa 1, 2

Alternatives for SNS 1

Altmetrics 1

Archiving 1

Artificial Intelligence and Sensitive Analysis 1

Associations 1

Awards 1

B

Baranya County 1

Bibliobus 1

C

Catalog 1

Censorship 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

Changes of Social Relationships 1

Children 1

Citations 1

Citizen Scholarship 1

Citizenship 1

Civic Engagement 1, 2, 3, 4

Civil Rights 1

Collection Development 1

Collective Rights Management 1

Communities of Practice 1

Community Development 1

Controlled Vocabulary 1

Copyright 1

Critical Thinking 1, 2

Cultural Democratization 1

Cultural Equality 1

Cultural Event 1

Cultural Heritage Catalogs 1

Cultural Studies 1

Cyber-infrastructure 1

D

Dark Net 1

Data Curator 1

Data Exchange Formats 1

Data Protection 1

Data Security 1

Data Sharing 1

Defending Privacy 1

Democracy 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Democratization 1, 2

Design Thinking 1

Digital Curation 1

Digital Divides 1

Digital Humanities 1

Digital Literacy 1

Digitization 1

DRM 1

E

Ebook 1, 2, 3

Ecological Footprint 1

Economics and Technology 1

E-democracy 1

Education 1, 2

Educational Trends 1

E-government 1, 2

Empowerment 1, 2

Engagement 1

Environmental Sustainability 1

Equal Access to Knowledge 1

Ethical Codes 1

Ethical Leadership 1

Ethical Practice 1

Ethics 1, 2

European Public Libraries 1

F

Facebook 1

FAIFE 1

Film Collection 1, 2

Film Education 1

Film Preferences 1

Foucault 1

FRBR 1

Freedom of Expression 1, 2, 3

Future 1

G

Gamification 1

Gender 1

Government Information 1

Government Policy 1

Green Libraries 1

H

Hacker Culture and Ethics 1

Hacktivism 1

HCD 1

Highlighting 1

Human Libraries 1

Human Rights Education 1

Hungary 1

I

IFLA 1

Immigrants 1

Information 1, 2, 3

Information Access 1

Information Activism 1

Information Activity 1

Information Ethics 1

Information Literacy 1, 2

Information Needs 1, 2

Information Policy 1

Information Sharing 1

Information Society 1

Information Systems 1

Information Technology 1

Information-seeking Behavior 1

Integration 1

Intellectual Freedom 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Intellectual Property Rights 1

Intercultural Library Services 1

International 1

International Aid 1

Internet 1, 2

Internet Development 1

K

Knowledge Communities 1

Knowledge Sharing 1

L

Law of Press and Publications 1

Legal Deposit 1

Leibniz Association 1

LGBT 1

Librarianship 1

Libraries and Copyright 1

Libraries and Publishing 1

libraries Networks 1

Library 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Library and Information Science 1, 2

Library Polices 1

Library Services 1, 2

Library Staff 1

Literature 1

Living Libraries 1

Living Library 1

M

MARC 1

Mediation 1

Metadata Migration 1

Mobile Library Services 1

Municipal Decision Making 1

N

Net Neutrality 1

Neutrality 1

New Services 1, 2

Non-governmental Organizations 1

Non-university Research Institution 1

O

Observational Studies 1

Omani Culture Democracy Sultanate of Oman 1

Online Behaviour 1

Open Access 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Open Data 1, 2, 3

Open Government 1

Open Information 1

Open Science 1, 2

P

Panopticism 1

Participatory Design 1

Participatory Projects 1

Pluralism of Collections 1, 2, 3

Pornography 1

Prejudice 1

Printers 1

Privacy 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Privacy Defense Strategies 1

Privacy on Facebook 1

Privacy Protection 1

Professional Codes 1

Professional Development 1

Professionalism 1

Promotion of Reading 1

Provision of Information 1

Public Image on Social Networks 1

Public Libraries 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

Public Service 1

Public Services 1

Publishers 1

Q

Qualitative Survey 1

R

Reader Development 1

Reading Data 1

Reflective Learning 1

Refugees 1

Research 1

Research Methods 1

Right to Privacy 1

Role of Libraries 1

Role Playing 1

S

Scenario Planning 1

Scholarly Communication 1

School Library 1

Search Engines 1

Security 1

Semantic Web 1, 2

Service Departments 1

Service Design 1, 2, 3

Small Towns 1

Social Aspects 1

Social Cohesion 1

Social Factors 1

Social Justice 1, 2

Social Media 1, 2, 3, 4

Social Network Services 1

Social Networking 1

Social Responsibility 1

Social Role 1

Stereotype 1

Streaming 1

Students 1, 2

Student-teacher FB Friendship 1

Subject Headings 1

Surveillance 1

Sustainability 1, 2

Sustainable Development 1

T

Target Groups 1

Technology 1

Text Encoding Initiative 1

Threat 1

Tools for Citizens 1, 2

Transparency 1

Trends 1

Trust 1

U

User Experience 1

User Privacy 1

Users Confidentiality 1

V

Variety of Viewpoints 1, 2

Vulnerability 1

W

Wikipedia 1

Workshop 1

X

XML 1

Y

Youth 1

Youth Libraries 1