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Books in Library and information science

Supporting librarians, information professionals, and researchers, this portfolio covers digital libraries, information retrieval, and data management. It features technological innovations, cataloging standards, and user-centered services that enhance access, preservation, and knowledge dissemination.

  • Digital Disruption and Electronic Resource Management in Libraries

    • 1st Edition
    • Nihar K. Dr. Patra
    • English
    Digital Disruption and Electronic Resource Management in Libraries identifies issues in the management of e-resources. The paradigm shift from Electronic Resources to Electronic Resource Management (ERM) has meant significant change for libraries and their users. One of the most important functions of a library is to provide information in electronic format. Libraries provide access to a wide variety of resources. A major challenge for libraries and librarians is therefore the management of this diversity of e-resources. ERM has emerged in this context. This book gives theoretical and practical information to assist librarians with ERM. It discusses broad trends and specific topics in the current landscape. It is devoted to theory, history, lifecycle, ERM systems, and the management of e-resources.
  • Collective Action 2.0

    The Impact of Social Media on Collective Action
    • 1st Edition
    • Shaked Spier
    • English
    Collective Action 2.0 explores the issues related to information and communication technologies (ICTs) in detail, providing a balanced insight into how ICTs leverage and interact with collective action, which will have an impact on the current discourse. Recent events in different authoritarian regimes, such as Iran and Egypt, have drawn global attention to a developing phenomenon in collective action: People tend to organize through different social media platforms for political protest and resistance. This phenomenon describes a change in social structure and behavior tied to ICT. Social media platforms have been used to leverage collective action, which has in some cases arguably lead, to political revolution. The phenomenon also indicates that the way information is organized affects the organization of social structures with which it interoperates. The phenomenon also has another side, which is the use of social media for activist suppression, state and corporate surveillance, commodifi cation of social processes, demobilization, or for the mobilization of collective action toward undesirable ends.
  • Staff-Less Libraries

    Innovative Staff Design
    • 1st Edition
    • Carl Gustav Johannsen
    • English
    Staff-Less Libraries: Innovative Staff Design considers the challenges of this approach, its pros and cons, identifies international experiences, and discusses best practices. It presents a step-by-step approach to implementing a staffless library and/or services, and seeks to inspire professionals to share experiences and optimize their library. Staff-less public libraries, enabled by technological developments, represent a significant and innovative aspect of the development of public libraries. The concept radically enlarges the availability of user access to public libraries. Some Danish public library branches have, for example, increased their weekly opening hours from 20 to 80 hours per week. In Denmark, the concept has been quite successful, increasing the number of staff-less libraries from 81 public library units in 2011 to 260 in 2014. From a longer view, however, the staff-less library concept contributes to the modernization of public libraries by further opening the library. Many library professionals have been surprised by the near absence of vandalism through the staffl-ess opening hours. According to the latest trend, the staffless library model is gradually moving from thinly populated rural areas and suburban neighborhoods to urban contexts. This book explores the concept, hence furthering the debate.
  • Innovation in Public Libraries

    Learning from International Library Practice
    • 1st Edition
    • Kirstie Nicholson
    • English
    Innovation in Public Libraries: Learning from International Library Practice examines the recent activities of successful and innovative libraries around the world, presenting their initiatives in areas including library design, events and programs, and creating customer experiences. This timely guide provides an overview of these libraries’ successful experiences and identifies emerging global trends and themes. The author offers library practitioners guidance on how to pursue these trends in their own library environment, identifying achievable goals when planning building and design improvements, and developing customer interactions in order to emulate the experiences of international libraries.
  • Academic Libraries and Toxic Leadership

    • 1st Edition
    • Alma Ortega
    • English
    Academic Libraries and Toxic Leadership examines a phenomenon that has yet to be seriously explored. While other so-called feminized professions, such as nursing, have been studied for their tendency to create toxic leadership environments, thus far academic librarianship has not. This book focuses on how to identify a toxic leader in an academic library setting, how to address toxic leadership, and how to work toward eradicating it from the organization. In addition, it discusses which steps can be used to prevent libraries from hiring toxic leaders.
  • Scholarly Communication at the Crossroads in China

    • 1st Edition
    • Jingfeng Xia
    • English
    Scholarly Communication at the Crossroads in China follows the dichotomy paradox to focus on both achievements and challenges at every step of the scholarly communication process, highlighting Insights and trends in academic infrastructure and scholarly behaviors within the context of local economic, political, and technological development. Since China adopted an open-door policy in the late 1970s, it has experienced a dramatic economic transformation. With a growth rate around 10% over the past three decades, China is now the second largest economy by nominal gross domestic product and by purchasing power parity in the world. Economic success has impelled restructurings in almost all aspects of the social and cultural settings. Among other changes, the new pursuits of education, research, and scholarship have redefined the academic community with its development across generations and ideologies.
  • The End of Wisdom?

    The Future of Libraries in a Digital Age
    • 1st Edition
    • Wendy Evans + 1 more
    • English
    The End of Wisdom? The Future of Libraries in a Digital Age assembles opinion pieces, forecasts, strategy options, and case studies from leading worldwide politicians, academics, educators, authors, publishers, captains of industry, senior public sector workers, library directors, IT gurus and other key players in the field of information provision who discuss their views on the hypothesis surrounding the "end of libraries" and the "death of books." The contributions – ranging in length from 500 to 2000 words are analyzed and summarized to create a rich picture of current trends and likely futures for libraries of all types, with digital options discussed in detail.
  • Media and Information Literacy in Higher Education

    Educating the Educators
    • 1st Edition
    • Dianne Oberg + 1 more
    • English
    Media and Information Literacy in Higher Education: Educating the Educators is written for librarians and educators working in universities and university colleges, providing them with the information they need to teach media and information literacy to students at levels ranging from bachelor to doctoral studies. In order to do so, they need to be familiar with students’ strengths and weaknesses regarding MIL. This book investigates what university and college students need to know about searching for, and evaluating, information, and how teaching and learning can be planned and carried out to improve MIL skills. The discussions focus on the use of process-based inquiry approaches for developing media and information literacy competence, involving students in active learning and open-ended investigations and emphasizing their personal learning process. It embraces face-to-face teaching, and newer forms of online education.
  • Re-Inventing the Book

    Challenges from the Past for the Publishing Industry
    • 1st Edition
    • Christina Banou
    • English
    Re-Inventing the Book: Challenges from the Past for the Publishing Industry chronicles the significant changes that have taken place in the publishing industry in the past few decades and how they have altered the publishing value chain and the structure of the industry itself. The book examines and discusses how most publishing values, aims, and strategies have been common since the Renaissance. It aims to provide a methodological framework, not only for the understanding, explanation, and interpretation of the current situation, but also for the development of new strategies. The book features an overview of the publishing industry as it appears today, showing innovative methods and trends, highlighting new opportunities created by information technologies, and identifying challenges. Values discussed include globalization, convergence, access to information, disintermediation, discoverability, innovation, reader engagement, co-creation, and aesthetics in publishing.
  • Beyond Mentoring

    A Guide for Librarians and Information Professionals
    • 1st Edition
    • Dawn Lowe-Wincentsen
    • English
    Beyond Mentoring: A Guide for Librarians and Information Professionals looks at mentorship, mentorship programs, what works, what doesn’t, and different techniques, such as group and peer mentoring. The book considers many aspects of mentoring, various programs, and their successes and failures, going beyond the usual types of mentoring by looking at newer models. An example of the cohort model from the American Library Association Emerging Leader model is included as a case study. In addition, another case study on the Sunshine State leadership Institute provides a toolkit for building your own program. The final section of the book offers perspectives and tools that people can use in designing their own programs.