<p>Libraries in Aotearoa New Zealand have their roots in Western worldviews and understandings of knowledge which are distinctive from those of the Indigenous Māori population. These differences can lead to cultural clashes where traditional library approaches and values are incompatible with the needs of Māori stakeholders or collections, including approaches to access, cataloguing and classification and working with the Māori language. Given these differences, it is appropriate for non-Māori librarians to look for ways to extend their understanding of Māori knowledge systems to address some of these topics. The central focus of this research is how non-Māori librarians in Aotearoa learn about or engage with (make sense of) mātauranga Māori (a basic translation of which is ‘Māori knowledge’). To address this question, learning about and engaging with mātauranga Māori was conceptualised as a form of information behaviour, and a methodology based on Dervin’s Sense-Making was developed. Twenty-five non-Māori librarians in Aotearoa were interviewed about their own experiences of learning and engagement in terms of the key facets of Dervin’s model: Situations, Gaps, Bridges and Outcomes, and also with a particular focus on factors which helped or hindered them from bridging their knowledge Gaps (Helps and Barriers). Three focus groups of Māori librarians were asked about their experiences with their non-Māori colleagues’ engagement with mātauranga Māori in order to present a more balanced view of the current situation. As well as emphasising the large scale of their knowledge Gaps in relation to Māori knowledge, interviewees highlighted Gaps in the areas of Māori and Libraries and Language and Cultural Protocol. Bridges identified were Courses, Books and Text Resources and People and Situations. Both Helps and Barriers consisted of significant internal aspects, where elements of interviewees’ existing knowledge and experience or aspects of their personalities were either things that helped them proceed or acted as potential Barriers. These were in some cases closely related; for example, Fear was a potential Barrier in a lot of cases, but having the strength of character to push past that fear was also something that helped some interviewees. Focus group participants highlighted a number of similar Helps and Barriers that they had observed in their non-Māori colleagues. A significant finding of this research was the lack of external impetus for non-Māori librarians to engage with mātauranga Māori within their professional contexts. In the majority of instances discussed by interviewees, they spoke of not having any problems because of what they did not know. Alongside this, interviewees and focus groups pointed out a tendency for non-Māori librarians to rely excessively on their Māori colleagues for cultural support, even when they could use their own reference or searching skills to find answers for themselves or clients. Both interviewees and focus group participants were questioned on the topic of the Library and Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa (LIANZA) Professional Registration scheme and the inclusion of mātauranga Māori as a mandatory element in the Body of Knowledge. None of the interviewees were deterred by the inclusion of mātauranga Māori as a mandatory element and many commented that it was important. However, in the view of both interviewees and focus group participants, LIANZA Professional Registration is not playing a major role in encouraging non-Māori librarians to engage with mātauranga Māori in a meaningful way. This study also had a methodological aspect, considering the appropriateness of Dervin’s Sense-Making as a suitable conceptual approach to the study of non-Māori librarians learning about and engaging with mātauranga Māori. Due to a number of factors including the strong Anglo-American orientation of the model and the differences between some interviewees’ conceptualisations of their journeys of learning and engagement and the Sense-Making approach, it is concluded that Dervin’s Sense-Making is not the most compatible framework for conceptualising non-Māori librarians’ processes of learning about and engaging with mātauranga Māori. This could not be resolved by suggesting an addition or alteration to the existing model, and so a practical model has been developed for non-Māori librarians who wish to find ways to move their engagement forward. </p>
<p>Libraries in Aotearoa New Zealand have their roots in Western worldviews and understandings of knowledge which are distinctive from those of the Indigenous Māori population. These differences can lead to cultural clashes where traditional library approaches and values are incompatible with the needs of Māori stakeholders or collections, including approaches to access, cataloguing and classification and working with the Māori language. Given these differences, it is appropriate for non-Māori librarians to look for ways to extend their understanding of Māori knowledge systems to address some of these topics. The central focus of this research is how non-Māori librarians in Aotearoa learn about or engage with (make sense of) mātauranga Māori (a basic translation of which is ‘Māori knowledge’). To address this question, learning about and engaging with mātauranga Māori was conceptualised as a form of information behaviour, and a methodology based on Dervin’s Sense-Making was developed. Twenty-five non-Māori librarians in Aotearoa were interviewed about their own experiences of learning and engagement in terms of the key facets of Dervin’s model: Situations, Gaps, Bridges and Outcomes, and also with a particular focus on factors which helped or hindered them from bridging their knowledge Gaps (Helps and Barriers). Three focus groups of Māori librarians were asked about their experiences with their non-Māori colleagues’ engagement with mātauranga Māori in order to present a more balanced view of the current situation. As well as emphasising the large scale of their knowledge Gaps in relation to Māori knowledge, interviewees highlighted Gaps in the areas of Māori and Libraries and Language and Cultural Protocol. Bridges identified were Courses, Books and Text Resources and People and Situations. Both Helps and Barriers consisted of significant internal aspects, where elements of interviewees’ existing knowledge and experience or aspects of their personalities were either things that helped them proceed or acted as potential Barriers. These were in some cases closely related; for example, Fear was a potential Barrier in a lot of cases, but having the strength of character to push past that fear was also something that helped some interviewees. Focus group participants highlighted a number of similar Helps and Barriers that they had observed in their non-Māori colleagues. A significant finding of this research was the lack of external impetus for non-Māori librarians to engage with mātauranga Māori within their professional contexts. In the majority of instances discussed by interviewees, they spoke of not having any problems because of what they did not know. Alongside this, interviewees and focus groups pointed out a tendency for non-Māori librarians to rely excessively on their Māori colleagues for cultural support, even when they could use their own reference or searching skills to find answers for themselves or clients. Both interviewees and focus group participants were questioned on the topic of the Library and Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa (LIANZA) Professional Registration scheme and the inclusion of mātauranga Māori as a mandatory element in the Body of Knowledge. None of the interviewees were deterred by the inclusion of mātauranga Māori as a mandatory element and many commented that it was important. However, in the view of both interviewees and focus group participants, LIANZA Professional Registration is not playing a major role in encouraging non-Māori librarians to engage with mātauranga Māori in a meaningful way. This study also had a methodological aspect, considering the appropriateness of Dervin’s Sense-Making as a suitable conceptual approach to the study of non-Māori librarians learning about and engaging with mātauranga Māori. Due to a number of factors including the strong Anglo-American orientation of the model and the differences between some interviewees’ conceptualisations of their journeys of learning and engagement and the Sense-Making approach, it is concluded that Dervin’s Sense-Making is not the most compatible framework for conceptualising non-Māori librarians’ processes of learning about and engaging with mātauranga Māori. This could not be resolved by suggesting an addition or alteration to the existing model, and so a practical model has been developed for non-Māori librarians who wish to find ways to move their engagement forward. </p>
Objectives -To discover the ways in which the public library was used by immigrant women, with a particular focus on the library as a meeting place.Design -Semi-structured qualitative interviews conducted in the participants' native languages. Setting -Public libraries in Norway.Participants lived in one of two cities both with a population of approximately 40,000 and a somewhat lower number of immigrants than the national average.
A Review of: Lynn, V. A., Bose, A., & Boehmer, S. J. (2010). Librarian instruction-delivery modality preferences for professional continuing education. Journal of the Medical Library Association, 98(1), 57-64. Objective — To establish the preferred modality for professional continuing education (CE) among members of three library associations. The primary hypothesis was that face-to-face training is the preferred modality, and the secondary hypothesis was that younger librarians are more likely to favour online or blended training modalities. In addition, the authors sought to investigate which factors influence participants' decisions to take up training. Design — Online questionnaire. Setting — Three library associations based in the United States of America. These were the American Library Association (ALA), the Special Libraries Association (SLA), and the Medical Library Association (MLA). Subjects — A random sample of 328 members of the ALA (86 participants), SLA (63 participants), and MLA (291 participants). Some participants were members of more than one association. Methods — Participants were recruited to complete an online survey via direct e-mail contact (MLA), messages on email discussion lists (SLA) and social networks (ALA). The survey asked about participants' experience of, and preference for, five different training modalities for CE. These were: face-to-face (classroom instruction), web-based synchronous (with real-time participant-instructor interaction), web-based asynchronous (with instructor involvement, but not in real time), blended (a combination of different modalities), and webcasts (live online presentations with limited participant-instructor interaction). Participants were then asked to rank factors which would influence their decision to undertake CE courses. The factors were cost, opportunity to socialize/network, time away from work, learning at their own pace, and having immediate access to either the class instructor or other participants. Participants were also given space to comment on both CE modalities and influencing factors. Main Results — There was a statistically significant preference for face-to-face instruction in this sample, being preferred by at least 73.1% of participants in all age ranges. Younger librarians did not display a preference for online or blended training modalities. There was a significant difference in second preference between ALA and MLA members, who both preferred Web based asynchronous training, and SLA members, who preferred the web-based synchronous format. Participants' preferences for all modalities apart from face to face were significantly different depending on whether or not they had experienced the particular modality. Cost was ranked as the most influential factor in the decision to undertake CE by members of all three library associations (significant at P
Objectives – To examine patterns of Inter-Library Loans and Document Supply (ILL) in a large network of libraries over a period of five years, in order to establish whether ILL services are being used to replace journal subscriptions. The authors also aimed to establish which journal titles were most requested in their network, to inform future acquisitions policy. Design – Longitudinal study using transactional data collected from the Italian Network for Inter-Library Document Exchange (NILDE) for the period 2005-2009. Setting – The Italian library sector. Subjects – Member libraries of NILDE, which is the largest ILL network in Italy with several hundred libraries. These consist primarily of university libraries, but also hospitals and health research institutions, public research institutions, and not-for-profit and public organisations. Methods – ILL request data collected from the NILDE network software were analyzed. Figures were retrieved for the number of different journal titles requested per year of the study overall and by individual institution. Further analysis was undertaken on requests for more recent articles, those published up to five years prior to being requested. This involved creating a list of the most requested titles for each year, and then compiling a core collection of journals that were requested 20 or more times in each year of the study. These core titles were analyzed for trends by subject and publisher, and for any significant correlations between either Impact Factors (IFs) or citation counts and ILL requests for particular journals. Main Results – The data revealed that the number of ILLs processed through NILDE increased every year during the period of the study. The majority of journals were only requested a small number of times in the five year period of the study, with 60% being requested five times or less. In the majority of instances, institutions were not borrowing the same title regularly. Analysis of the core collection of journals revealed that these repeated requests of the same title were mainly in the biomedical sciences and science and technology subject areas, and that these journals were often produced by smaller publishers who were not included in consortia purchasing. There was no correlation between journal impact factors (IFs) and ILL requests, but there was a statistically significant correlation between citation counts and ILL requests. Conclusions – ILL numbers are increasing despite big deals and consortia purchasing. The majority of requests are for articles that are two years old or older, and the authors suggest that this indicates that ILLs do not influence journal subscriptions. The authors suggest that ILLs may have increased during the course of the study (and may continue to do so) due to the current global financial crisis and its impact on library acquisitions.
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