Perception of Local Residences on Multicultural Library Service: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

As Korea becomes a multi-cultural society, Korean government ministries are enforcing various multi-cultural services. Especially, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, which is in charge of public libraries, is operating multi-cultural services for cultural diversity. The trends in the research on the multi-cultural services in public libraries, however, are rather on adaptation of the multi-cultural people in Korea than on the cultural diversity. In this exploratory study, we investigated the perception of local residences on multi-cultural library services with several in-depth interviews with the local residences not only for the adaptation but also for the cultural diversity. The results shows that they tended to regard public libraries as an institution of local life-long education, and then they think public libraries can take a role for coping with social adaptation and prevention of social problems in terms of multi-cultural population. Based on the results, public libraries would better consider to inform their roles in this multi-cultural society to their local residences based not only on adaptation but also on cultural diversity. For this, the libraries would develop programs, in which both multi-cultural and non-multi-cultural people can be participated, to encourage communication between them.

Librarians’ support in improving health literacy: A systematic literature review

“…It appears that the offered health literacy programs in the context of structured learning environment are relatively few. Therefore, formal LIS education need to provision and offer health literacy related courses in the curriculum (Oh and Kim, 2018; Rubenstein, 2017; Spring, 2016).…”

“…A limited number of studies (Oh and Kim, 2018; Rubenstein, 2017; Spring, 2016) explored the health literacy related topics offered in Library and Information Science schools’ curricula. These three studies examined different educational contexts for librarians.…”

“…These three studies examined different educational contexts for librarians. Oh and Kim (2018) provided insight into health-related courses offered at the graduate level for ALA-accredited LIS programs through a syllabi analysis. Rubenstein (2017) touches upon public librarians’ knowledge and skills of offering health literacy programs and assistance in health information retrieval and access.…”

“…Rubenstein (2017) touches upon public librarians’ knowledge and skills of offering health literacy programs and assistance in health information retrieval and access. However, both Oh and Kim (2018) and Rubenstein (2017) stressed the need for librarians to have the proper education in health literacy related matters and to develop the necessary skills to assist users with locating and using relevant resources and understanding basic terminology. It is interesting that the most health-related courses offered (Oh and Kim, 2018): “health information resources,” “health informatics,” and “consumer health information” correspond to the current health literacy needs and the skills that librarians should acquire during their graduate studies.…”

“…However, both Oh and Kim (2018) and Rubenstein (2017) stressed the need for librarians to have the proper education in health literacy related matters and to develop the necessary skills to assist users with locating and using relevant resources and understanding basic terminology. It is interesting that the most health-related courses offered (Oh and Kim, 2018): “health information resources,” “health informatics,” and “consumer health information” correspond to the current health literacy needs and the skills that librarians should acquire during their graduate studies. Finally, MOOCS were discussed in the context of Health Librarianship and how librarians could liaise between people and information (Spring, 2016), in an attempt to highlight librarians’ role in promoting health literacy in an academic context (i.e.…”