Results pdfs

Here are the individual pdfs,

• Summary How are public libraries engaging with Library 2.0
• Full text How are public libraries engaging with Library 2.0
• Bibliography How are public libraries engaging with Library 2.0
• Appendix 1 Expanded results of blog search inc sample posts
• Appendix 2 Survey
• Appendix 3 Survey results

Also relevant are the del.icio.us bookmarks which I will continue to update whenever I find new UK public library blogs. The UK Library Blogs wiki points you in the direction of blogs set up by or about library blogs, this specific page lists institutional blogs – if you know about one that isn’t on there then please add it in or let me know about it – this research is ongoing as far as I’m concerned and I’ll be delighted to receive feedback.

How are public libraries engaging with Library 2.0 RESULTS (at last)

Well thank you for your patience. I have finally chopped up bits of my dissertation into pdfs in what I hope will be a useful way. I’ll just put some of the abstract into the body of this post to give a flavour for readers to decide if they’d like to read further. I’m going to email this portion of the research to all those survey respondents who indicated an interest  in learning more and point them here to get more info.

Abstract

Background.

There has been much debate on whether or not Web 2.0 applications have a role to play in the modern library and to what extent. In this context so-called social networking applications are referred to as Library 2.0 and they have divided opinion throughout the profession as to their applicability and worth within public libraries. A few interested parties have conducted their own research into this area but there are very few peer-reviewed studies as yet. Preliminary research suggested UK public libraries are not engaging with Library 2.0.

Aims.

This research aimed to discover the level of engagement of UK public libraries with Library 2.0.  Blogging was the application that was studied in order to narrow the focus of the research to a scope that was achievable given the time constraints, thus as many UK public library blogs as possible were sought. Further to this, this research aimed to discover the attitudes and behaviours of public librarians towards the use of Library 2.0 in their libraries.

Methods.

A literature review was conducted relating to the uptake of Library 2.0 in public libraries, including finding examples of uptake, attitudes and behaviours towards Library 2.0 and other related general research.UK public library blogs were sought and content analysis performed on them to investigate their purpose and success. Finally a survey was devised and sent to all the UK public library authorities as well as many other recipients in the public library sector.

Results.

The literature suggested that public libraries are lagging behind other sectors in engagement with Library 2.0, and blogging specifically; very few peer-reviewed studies have been conducted to date. There is a move towards deriving and utilising standardised methods for blog evaluation to determine success. Twenty UK public library blogs were found, 13 still active, 6 inactive and 1 defunct. 498 people responded to the survey and a wide range of attitudes and behaviours were discovered.

Conclusions.

This study has identified early adopters of blogging in UK public libraries. In taking blogs as a microcosm of the wider Library 2.0 milieu this study has identified several emerging trends that may warrant further study regarding the lack of uptake of Library 2.0; these include technological barriers presented by IT departments and wider organisational culture; apathy of library staff, lack of engagement; a feeling that social networking has no relevance to what a library should be doing; a lack of time to devote to content creation; and use of other methods of communication deemed more appropriate.

The shine is off blogging for libraries.

Despite the heat being very much on (deadline for dissertation 30th September) I cannot stop wandering in to new writings and research on the subject of public library blogs – I mostly have to turn the router off to get any writing done. This latest from Walt Crawford makes very interesting reading, especially as I was one of the 80 people who bought his book! It seems that a lot of blogs have fallen by the wayside, lay becalmed and unloved. I think the jump-on-the-bandwagon era is over and now business cases need to be made and sound evaluations of social software are being made before enthusiastically setting off into the echo chamber. This means that my discussion  and conclusions will be quite different to what they would have been if I had completed and submitted last September, there is the benefit of a little more distance and discernment now.

Dust jackets in the bin?

Why do hardback books still come with a dust jacket? Surely there’s no need. As I was reading my hardback “Naked Conversations” (a book on the benefits of blogging) on the train this morning, the dust jacket kept slipping around and irritating me so I removed it as I always do. Underneath, the book was beautifully printed on the cover with exactly the same artwork; so why the need for a dust jacket? That’s the viewpoint from a reader – they’re annoying, they don’t protect the book as they’re only on it when I’ve finished reading it, and how robust is a piece of paper compared to the book anyway?

Now from the librarian’s point of view – those things need processing, putting in plastic such as Adjustaroll, time-consuming and expensive, whether you do it yourself or your library supplier does it for you. That’s if you’re a public librarian. In academic libraries they often just bin them; nightmare for the shelver / browsing student – you end up with rows of dull-coloured books with the title rubbed off.

Why can’t everyone just print the book up with the cover art and dispense with the dust jacket entirely? Surely printing technology has made it that far, if some printers can do it then why not everybody?

I appreciate that in days of “yore” that just wasn’t possible but now? And book collectors can just cope with it, it’s the content of the book that’s important. Can’t be doing with “purists” like that: books are meant to be read, artwork admired, classic cars driven and trainsets to be ripped from the box and played with till they break.

Having said that, I wish hardbacks were bound properly instead of this proliferation of crappy perfect-bound hardbacks so that the spines don’t break when you press them open with your cross-legged knees whilst trying to eat and read in the sunshine. Enough ranting.

Naked Conversations is proving to be an interesting read and directly related to my dissertation. What particularly interests me is that this book is aimed squarely at the business world but there is much in there that is relevant and useful for the public library. I am moving towards the opinion that libraries need to look to the business world for strategies of survival and move past that to flourish. I’m not saying we need to make money or anything so crude, just that there are many tools and techniques already developed that we could adopt.