A survey concerning perceptions of academic librarians was conducted at a large, 4-year university with three populations: librarians, faculty, and undergraduate students. The high response rate and the use of an instrument based on previous studies offers the possibility of longitudinal comparison and the identification of relationships between groups within one environment. Results will be presented in a series of articles, beginning with this paper's study introduction and literature review of librarian, faculty, and student perceptions of librarians. Subsequent papers will present results from the three surveys and offer analysis across the three groups. The literature review focused on research studies of U.S. and Canadian academic libraries since 2000 with relevance to these major research questions: perceptions about what librarians know (expertise and skills), what librarians do (role and duties), and what librarians are like (motivations and affective behaviours). Librarians' perceptions of themselves as critically important yet underappreciated seem to have persisted, perhaps because they are the only group to see the university-wide scope of their jobs, whereas, non-librarian faculty and students have a more limited views of the profession. In contrast to previous studies, recent literature suggests that course-integrated information literacy (IL) instruction has increased the visibility of librarians as educators to both faculty and students. The influence of popular media on students' perceptions seems less powerful, opening the door wider for library marketing and branding programs.
This article presents a model of Australian social work with unaccompanied asylum-seeking young people which aims to build hope, agency and meaning for the social worker and the young person. Informed by Foucault's understanding of resistance, the model encourages social workers to pay attention to little practices of freedom through the development of professional relationships which address counselling needs, practical advocacy and social change within complex socio-political, cultural and therapeutic contexts. A case vignette of 'Ali' applies the model in practice. The article concludes with an exploration of the model's potential for international transferability.
Social work practice informed by human rights and trauma frameworks can be empowering and enabling. While both frameworks are complex and contested, their implementation ''from below'' via praxis can maximise benefits for social work with people who have experienced trauma and human rights abuses, such as those from refugee backgrounds. This article presents an exploration of this practice approach through the presentation of the story of Zillah and Amman, a fictionalised composite of many real refugee experiences. Taking as examples the education and child protection systems, the discussion highlights how theory to practice integration requires cross-cultural engagement, critical reflection, dialogue, and an understanding of human rights ''from below''.
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