Abstract: Abstract Information, culture, and memory centers are increasingly anchored to urban redevelopment projects within historically marginalized communities challenged by contemporary social and economic disparity. This paper situated libraries, archives, and museums within a sociocultural context to examine the role of cultural heritage institutions in gentrification. Librarians, archivists, curators, and community advocates in Detroit, Michigan shared their viewpoints and experiences of gentrification. Using a modified Delphi process, respondents explored the need for policy, service delivery, and programming assessment in a city of color at-risk to gentrification-induced displacement. This mixed research study was implemented using a concurrent triangulation design. A three-round e-Delphi survey (round one: n = 32; round two: n = 31; round three: n = 30) was conducted from May 2017 to August 2017. A panel of experts was selected composed of information, culture, and community workers who practiced: (a) at an anchor institution; (b) in a neighborhood undergoing gentrification; or (c) with community members seeking to stay put in transitioning neighborhoods. Qualitative and quantitative data were analyzed using inductive analysis and descriptive statistics. A nonparametric statistical test, Kendall’s Coefficient of Concordance (W), measured the extent of agreement among the e-Delphi panelists’ rankings of issues and recommendations (identified by the panel members) regarding the role of cultural heritage institutions in gentrification and displacement. Thirty panel members (93%) in the first round of the survey indicated that it was important for cultural heritage institutions to assess if revitalization partnerships contributed to gentrification-induced displacement. The panel generated 25 propositions in the second round of survey, which they ranked in the third and final round of the survey. Kendall’s W for the rank ordering of the five most important issues (W = 0.008; X2 = 15.815; df = 6; p = 0.015) and ten most important recommendations (W = 0.050; X2 = 24.467; df = 17; p = 0.085) indicated a very weak level of agreement. The implication of this finding suggested a need for further exploration. This study adds to the global investigation on the role of cultural heritage institutions in gentrification and displacement and contributes to an emerging body of knowledge in cultural heritage informatics in the U.S.

Abstract: Abstract This study aimed to investigate the information literacy (IL) self-efficacy of business students in Pakistan using a cross-sectional survey research design. The data were collected through a questionnaire containing an information Literacy Self-Efficacy Scale along with personal and academic variables. The results revealed that the business students were confident and competent in basic IL skills whereas they were less comfortable in developing and limiting search strategies, referencing, managing citations, using different types of libraries and lacking advanced levels of IL skills. In addition, there was no correlation of students’ perceived IL self-efficacy with gender, social background, ICT trainings received, and IL instructions received. Conversely, the students’ age, program of study, stage of study, and ICT proficiency appeared to be predictors of IL self-efficacy. The results generated pragmatic insights which can be used as a guide in developing useful directions for a need-based information literacy curriculum as well as programs.

Abstract: Abstract In a digital library, an increasingly important problem is how to prevent the exposure of user privacy in an untrusted network. This study aims to design an effective approach for the protection of user privacy in a digital library, by consulting the basic ideas of encryption and anonymization. In our proposed approach, any privacy data, which can identify user’s real identity, should be encrypted first before being submitted to the library server, to achieve anonymization of user identity. Then, to solve the problem of querying encrypted privacy data, additional feature data are constructed for the encrypted data, such that much of the query processing can be completed at the server-side, without decrypting the data, thereby improving the efficiency of each kind of user query operation. Both theoretical analysis and experimental evaluation demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach, which can improve the security of users’ data privacy and behavior privacy on the untrusted server-side, without compromising the availability (i. e. accuracy, efficiency, and usability) of digital library services. This paper provides a valuable study attempt at the protection of digital library users’ privacy, which has a positive influence on the development of a privacy-preserving library in an untrusted network environment.

Abstract: Abstract We examined the status of information communication technology (ICT) use among the older population in China and investigated their use of ICT in health communication and the factors that impacted their ICT adoption. A total of 215 people who were 45 or older participated in the study. A questionnaire survey was conducted to collect data on the participants’ social demographic characteristics, health condition, ICT use and ICT-based health communication activities. The data were analyzed using Chi-square test, one-way ANOVA, univariate logistic regression and multiple logistic regression. The results showed that 38.1 % of the participants reported being in a good health while 14.9 % were living with no chronic disease. The utilization of ICT was low, especially for computer and digital monitor devices. Only 4.7 % of the participants reported seeking health information online via computer and 7.4 % seeking health information using their cellphone, while 32 % and 14.9 % of the participants contacted healthcare providers or other patients via cellphone. Findings suggest a digital divide exists between the older population and other age groups in China. The older population need to increase the use of digital monitor devices and other ICT to facilitate their self-management process for healthcare purposes. eHealth literacy should be promoted among the older population to increase the adoption and use of ICT in health communication. Future intervention program developers and service providers should tailor their products and services to benefit the older population, especially those with low incomes, limited education and little experience of using ICT.

Abstract: Abstract LIS research on youth incarceration frequently highlights literacy and education as means by which youth may escape or evade systems of incarceration These adult-structured positions often fail to take into account the perspectives and experiences of youth who are actively experiencing incarceration. Through an analysis of youth contributions to The Beat Within, this research includes the perspectives of youth who are incarcerated in order to build an understanding of how literacy, representational materials and education factor into how they navigate the systems of surveillance, policing and incarceration that shape their lives.

Abstract: Abstract The goal of ResearchGate (RG) is to help users exchange scholarly information around the world. This study drew on adaptive structuration theory (AST) to investigate the social structure of RG, which had been largely overlooked by prior research. Data were crawled from RG and results were presented based on content analysis. For the social structure embedded in RG, the most frequent updates of structural features and spirit occurred in the first two years. Six representative updates for information exchange were analyzed and the newly embedded social structures were presented. For the social structure emerging in using RG, users were more willing to answer questions than ask questions, which countered intuition. Three categories were elicited to present the purpose and expectation of questions. Users were more willing to publish publications than publish projects. Compared with reading publications and projects published by others, users seldom commented on them. For the comparison between the two social structures, this paper analyzed and compared the two social structures in terms of three types of information exchange, finding that the social structure emerging in using RG differed from that embedded in RG. We suggest that this paper could potentially help the two social structures of RG promote the optimization of each other.

Abstract: Abstract Nationwide surveys of researchers in Finland in 2007 and 2016 distributed with the assistance of FinELib, the Finnish national consortium, show that researchers use a growing range of sources to find and access scholarly articles and that some reading patterns are changing. The percentage of articles found by searching and browsing are decreasing, while researchers are using more social ways to locate articles. Research social networking sites are rated as important to their work. They read more on-screen, although still print some material out for final reading. Reading patterns for books are different, as researchers still rely more on printed books than e-books, in spite of an increase in e-book collections through their libraries. This study shows a continuous process of incremental change, enabled by changes in scholarly publishing, social networking, and library collection decisions. More changes can be expected, as researchers adopt systems and patterns that fit with their work patterns and make the finding, locating, and reading of scholarly materials easier. Libraries must both lead and adapt to these new reading patterns by providing links and access to a variety of journal services and by maintaining a balance of print and e-book collections.

Abstract: Abstract RDS are usually cross-disciplinary, centralised services, which are increasingly provided at a university by the academic library and in collaboration with other RDM stakeholders, such as the Research Office. At research-intensive universities, research data is generated in a wide range of disciplines and sub-disciplines. This paper will discuss how providing discipline-specific RDM support is approached by such universities and academic libraries, and the advantages and disadvantages of these central and discipline-specific approaches. A descriptive case study on the author’s experiences of collaborating with a central RDS at the University of Cambridge, as a subject librarian embedded in an academic department, is a major component of this paper. The case study describes how centralised RDM services offered by the Office of Scholarly Communication (OSC) have been adapted to meet discipline-specific needs in the Department of Chemistry. It will introduce the department and the OSC, and describe the author’s role in delivering RDM training, as well as the Data Champions programme, and their membership of the RDM Project Group. It will describe the outcomes of this collaboration for the Department of Chemistry, and for the centralised service. Centralised and discipline-specific approaches to RDS provision have their own advantages and disadvantages. Supporting the discipline-specific RDM needs of researchers is proving particularly challenging for universities to address sustainably: it requires adequate financial resources and staff skilled (or re-skilled) in RDM. A mixed approach is the most desirable, cost-effective way of providing RDS, but this still has constraints.

Abstract: Abstract Research depends on prior results. The cycle of transforming research output to disseminated knowledge is changing to engage more researchers to openly discover and thereby shape future contributions to scholarship. No established framework helps librarians understand the opportunities that transition offers librarians. However, through four propositions, this paper addresses some of the changes facing academic librarians as they expand their roles: 1) Research cycles embrace interactive sharing and reuse of data; 2) Managing open research data expands librarians’ roles; 3) Intellectual entrepreneurship roles provide a model to empower others; 4) Librarians demonstrate their entrepreneurial leadership by creating partnerships outside the library. Now academic librarians have opportunities to strengthen their role in how higher education shapes research by shifting greater focus toward research data management [RDM]. Two seasoned administrators and librarians illustrate pathways to prepare academic librarians for these new roles. They offer two practitioners’ impressions of the demands and opportunities for librarians to extend their expertise to support RDM, and illustrate how academic librarians have begun doing so through professional association work (through the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL)) and at one academic library (at Drexel University). They urge academic librarians to step out of their comfort zones of organizing, preserving and servicing discovery of information resources and embrace emerging roles for which their values and expertise have prepared them. If librarians ignore these opportunities, they risk being bypassed in efforts to ensure that managing research data and scholarship are central to research protocols.

Abstract: Abstract We are living in a time where plagiarism is a highly critical issue in the publish-or-perish stage of academic life. There have been many efforts to address this issue by holistic socio-cognitive variables but they do not seem explanatory enough in context-specific areas. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the root causes of plagiarism in a specific context, i. e. Iranian universities, by offering a structural model to reveal the building blocks of this phenomenon. Setting the goal, we chose Corbin and Strauss’s (2008) Grounded Theory (GT) approach, avoiding its paradigmatic cliché that a theoretical model emerges only from data without any pre-assumption. The research population included faculty members, PhD candidates and master’s students selected from universities in Tehran, Iran. Open theoretical sampling and, then, discriminative sampling were used. Fifty-one interviews, two newspaper interviews, and three focus groups were conducted. The interviewees were accessed through universities’ library and information centers. Taken together, 56 interviews were transcribed and codified. Lincoln and Guba’s (2008) criteria were used to control the quality of the research process. “Indifference” to plagiarism is the central phenomenon and “cultural depositories” plus “governmental capitalism” were found to be the root factors. These two factors may lead to “Bureaucratic university” (Moodie 2006) as a context for the emergence of “research formalism”, “uncritical education” and “scholastic habitus”. All these factors, together with direct reflexive elements including bad exemplars, the irresponsibility of professors, immoral trade-off, unscientific evaluation, insignificant differentiation, and vindications, lead to “indifference”. One of the research’s implications is that plagiarism in Iran seems not to result from individual-psychological factors but from cultural, economic, legal and organizational factors. Another implication is that in the investigation of social or organizational problems we should take a look at the concept of normality. We explored the factors tending to make a problem a normal phenomenon. We also pinpointed the things making people indifferent to a problem, factors pushing abnormal phenomenon to the realm of normality, and elements constituting the origins of the current order of things which are mysteriously silenced and practically behaved.

Abstract: Abstract Service delivery remains a challenge in post-apartheid South Africa, notwithstanding the proactive legislations that have been in place since the end of apartheid in 1994 to ensure that municipalities enhance the developmental path through service delivery. Given the increasing interest in prioritising knowledge sharing in municipalities, this article advocates for knowledge sharing as a tool to improve service delivery at South African municipalities. It investigates knowledge sharing at the Overstrand municipality in Cape Town, South Africa and adopts a qualitative approach, using convenient sampling and semi-structured interviews. South Africa is a multicultural country where municipalities are recovering from the inequalities and disparities of apartheid. The article identifies methods of knowledge sharing; establishes the barriers to effective knowledge sharing; and suggests ways in which knowledge sharing could be enhanced at the municipality. Data was collected from the different departments of the Overstrand municipality. The findings reveal that knowledge sharing continues to remain a challenge although participants understood and recognised its importance. A lack of trust, poor communication between senior and junior colleagues, a lack of incentives and recognition, fear of losing one’s job and the absence of a formal strategy, relevant information and communication technology make knowledge sharing challenging. The article recommends a formal knowledge management strategy; a knowledge sharing culture; the use of ICTs for knowledge management and the need for leaders to champion knowledge sharing in all the departments of the Overstrand municipality. Although there is emerging research on knowledge management in the public sector, there is a dearth of research on municipalities.

Abstract: Abstract Results of an online survey distributed to faculty, PhD students, and researchers throughout Finland in 2016 show that library resources, journal articles, and books are important parts of scholars’ research and work life. The survey was disseminated through FinELib to heads of libraries, who were then asked to distribute it to their academic staff, researchers, and PhD students. The purpose of this study was to examine the value of readings obtained from library collections. To help answer this question, participants were asked about the amount and value of their reading and where they obtained readings, which allowed comparison of how the value of the library collection differs from other sources. The study found that researchers use many ways to identify and obtain articles, and the library collection is identified as one important source. Scholars use the library’s collection mostly to obtain articles for research and those articles help to inspire new ideas. Overall, this study demonstrates the importance of access to scholarly publications for scholars, from the library and elsewhere, such as open access sites and research sharing platforms.

Abstract: Abstract Book stack illuminance was recorded by a luminometer from September 2016 through September 2017 based on tracking-observation in two libraries at the University of Illinois at Urbana and Champaign in the US and the Jiangsu University Library in China. Independent-samples T test and one-way analysis of variance were used for records data analysis. Further, an experiment was designed to measure the effects of book stack lighting environment on readers’ book-searching behaviors. Independent-samples T test was used for experiment data analysis. It was found that the seasonal illuminance of book stacks changed irregularly, which meant that two hypotheses (1 and 2) central to this study were not fully supported, and the day-night illumination differences on the stacks was significant in UIUC libraries for three seasons, and completely significant in JSU Library. In the course of behavior experiments, stack lighting had no significant effect on American participants’ searching performance, while the results in the library of China were diametrically opposite. Therefore, the lighting system in book stacks should be optimized through choosing the appropriate light sources, adjusting the approaches to book stack lighting and, even more, considering readers’ expectation and perception during library lighting designing, so as to increase their efficiency in book-searching.

Abstract: Abstract This article employs a comparative historical perspective to narrow the gap in the existing knowledge of the origins of the trans-Atlantic information explosion phenomenon that dates back to the early decades of the twentieth century. The author examines the root cause of the unprecedented growth of the overall amount of documents through the lens of the rapid expansion of scientific and technical advances across the world and subsequent spread of modern technologies, particularly those applied to scientific and technical information (STI). The study’s focus is on two superpowers of the era: the thriving Soviet military-industrial complex that went hand in hand with the rise of the STI management system in the mid-twentieth century United States. By exploring the practices of a range of U.S. and Soviet information agencies, this research draws parallels with the current information overload and informs our judgment about the challenges and possibilities in scientific and scholarly research brought about by today’s global information age.

Abstract: Abstract International student enrollment in US colleges and universities benefits the US economy in many ways and increases diversity on campus While much research on international students exist, we know very little about the experiences of international doctoral students. In this study, we explored the information needs, seeking behaviors, feelings, and overall experiences of 33 international doctoral students during the process of applying for doctoral study in the US. We used in-depth interviews and a questionnaire to collect the data. Findings show that the students used Experiential Resources (EXR) and Authorized Resources (AUR) to meet their information needs. Students faced issues and challenges in using university and academic programs websites and had negative feelings about the application process. Students made several suggestions for enhancing their experiences, including making websites more usable. The findings have implications for improving the usability of websites and for providing better services to support the students’ information needs and information seeking behaviors.

Abstract: Abstract This study was conducted to assess the cultural value of the library by performing a perception survey for public library librarians and users. We have undertaken the processes of deriving a preliminary evaluation index based on domestic and foreign research results, determining the final evaluation index, and assessing the library’s cultural value within the scope of librarians and users, among others. As a result of conducting this research, we have divided the evaluation areas around cultural values into four areas of development: local culture, succession and promotion of cultural heritage, contribution to local residents’ cultural enjoyment, and formation of community culture in general. As a result of analyzing by evaluation area, the area of the formation of community culture turned out to have the highest average of 3.92, followed by an average of 3.84 for the area of contribution to the local residents’ cultural enjoyment, 3.82 for the area of development of local culture, and 3.53 for the area of the formation of community culture. Furthermore, respondents demonstrated the highest level of agreement to the evaluation item, stating that libraries contribute to resolving the cultural gap, within the area of formation of community culture.

Abstract: Abstract The Beibei Public Library (1928–1950) dedicated itself to social education in the rural areas of Chongqing. Examining this library in light of rural reconstruction, this study considers how libraries are affected by the attitudes and behaviors of social elites, officials, government policies, wars, conventional thinking etc. The Beibei Public Library is studied in terms of three aspects: indoor service, itinerant libraries, and additional services. Moreover, this study examines how librarians catered to peasants’ needs, promoted knowledge dissemination, and helped mold new lifestyles in rural China. This case study contributes to research on Chinese rural libraries in the first half of the twentieth century.

Abstract: Abstract Focusing on the main research question of what the critical roles and competencies of data curation are in supporting research data life cycle management, this paper adopts a multi-case study method, with data governance frameworks, to analyze stakeholders and data curators, and their competencies, based on different contexts from cases from enterprises and academic libraries in mainland China. Via the context and business analysis on different cases, critical roles such as data supervisor, data steward, and data custodian in guaranteeing data quality and efficiency of data reuse are put forward. Based on the general factor framework summarized via existing literature, suggestions for empowering data curators’ competencies are raised according to the cases. The findings of this paper are as follows: besides digital archiving and preservation, more emphasis should be placed on data governance in the field of data curation. Data curators are closely related but not equivalent to stakeholders of data governance. The different roles of data curators would play their own part in the process of data curation and can be specified as data supervisor, data steward, and data custodian according to given contexts. The roles, competencies, and empowerment strategies presented in this paper might have both theoretical and practical significance for the fields of both data curation and data governance.

Abstract: Abstract First-time mothers have a unique and varied set of information needs, but at present, these needs are seldom adequately addressed by libraries in China. As a first step in making libraries more helpful to this group, this study reports the results of a series of interviews aimed at understanding new mothers’ current information seeking behaviors. Thirty-seven first-time mothers (children from first year of birth to six years of age) took part in semi-structured in-depth interviews, answering questions about their information demand, information source selection (and factors influencing this selection), and obstacles encountered in the process of information search. It was found that first-time mothers’ information-seeking behavior varies from stage to stage, e. g. between pregnancy and the immediate postpartum period. Internet search plays an important role because of its perceived convenience and accessibility, but trust is the key factor during the process of information selection, regardless of source. Overall, the mothers we interviewed seldom use the library. This paper puts forward some suggestions to remedy that situation: libraries might consider opening a first-time-mothers reading room, increasing cooperative promotions with other institutions, providing diversified service projects, and organizing reading-promotion activities for first-time mothers at different stages. If implemented, these suggestions promise to help mothers navigate the transitions of pregnancy, childbirth, and childcare.

Abstract: Abstract Despite the increasing focus on the protection and promotion of the cultures of ethnic minority groups in China, the multicultural services in China’s public libraries have not yet been strengthened. This paper reports on a research study that aimed to develop a framework of library multicultural services to serve as a conceptual basis for the development of these types of services in China’s public libraries and in particular for those libraries located in China’s ethnic minority regions. Yanbian Library, the regional central library of China’s Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, was selected as a case study, with 10 library professionals approached and interviewed using a semi-structured interview script. All interviews were digitally recorded, transcribed, and analysed using a thematic analysis approach. The analysis pointed to 21 multicultural services in five main themes: multicultural user services, multilingual collection development, development of multicultural service teams, marketing of multicultural services and management of multicultural services. Although this study is situated in China, the research findings are of potential interest to library and information professionals, educators and researchers worldwide.