Search results

Mobile technology has redefined the way people communicate and interact. In education, the number of academic institutions developing and offering mobile information services is growing steadily. The purpose of this paper is to identify the use of mobile technology by the Library Science and Information Systems undergraduate students in Greece.

A questionnaire was developed drawing from the relevant literature and sent to undergraduate students studying Library and Information Science during the 2014-2015 academic year.

It was found that students employed mobile phones for entertainment purposes whereas laptops and desktop computers for performing education-related tasks. Laptops and desktop computers were again mostly used to access library services, namely the OPAC, reference books, journals.

Academic institutions need to offer services and adopt online learning platforms supported in mobile devices. Students from other disciplines and their acceptance of mobile technology should be explored.

This study identifies the specific mobile devices that students use to perform a variety of activities, educational and social, as well as the reasons for doing so.

This study aims to investigate public library users’ perceptions of information professionals. Specifically, it focuses on exploring users’ perceptions regarding librarians’ status, work duties, performed work and educational background.

The method of questionnaire was used to enquire on the users’ perceptions of six different public libraries in the wide area of Attica, Greece. Between November 2014 and February 2015, 320 questionnaires were distributed, and, in total, 291 users participated in the study with response rate 90.9 per cent.

This research revealed that public library users have a positive image of the librarians’ status, duties and work performed. Users acknowledge that it is important for librarians to obtain a bachelor’s degree in library and information science (LIS) education and specialized LIS knowledge, as well as general, pedagogical and new technologies knowledge to perform their tasks. Overall, “serving of people” predominates as a task and a series of collection-oriented tasks.

Perceptions of non-users of public libraries and public librarians themselves were not examined in this study. In addition, some user groups based on level of education (e.g. doctoral degree) had a low level of participation.

It is one of the few studies that examined public library users’ perceptions of information professionals.

This paper aims to identify through a systematic review the roles that archivists adopt in a changing archival landscape and to illustrate any similarities between the roles of archivist and librarians.

The systematic literature review approach was adopted for the purposes of this research. Specifically, peer-reviewed literature published in English between 2000 and 2015 was considered. The relevant papers were retrieved based on specific search terms run on related databases.

The analysis showed that the traditional roles of record-keeper and collection manager were still relevant, whereas new ones, namely, digital archivist, archivist as educator and dual archivist/librarian, started to prevail. The technological developments as well as the social and educational changes seemed to have affected the emergence of these new roles, whereas the need for collaboration and communication among archivists, librarians and researchers was evident in many roles, namely, archivist as educator, dual archivist/librarian and archivist as researcher.

This literature review explored the different roles that archivists adopt within their work context and not the archivists’ skills, duties and responsibilities.

To provide an in-depth survey and review of innovation in library and information services (LIS) and to identify future trends in innovative research and its practical application in the field.

An in-depth review and summation of relevant literature over the last twenty years, along with an analysis and summary of the other papers in the volume.

Innovation in library and information work varies between the evolutionary and the discontinuous. A taxonomy of innovatory approaches to development and provision in the sector is provided, along with a detailed listing of the key elements of successful and not-so-successful innovative practice.

The work is dependent on existing literature rather than direct empirical work. However, because it draws together all major aspects of the topic, it has the potential to be used as a springboard for further generic studies and also specific programmes of work.

The need for innovation in LIS will be ever more pressing. The present chapter provides a necessary and rigorous overview of the necessary elements required for success in this area. It will be useful as a reference tool for intending researchers in library and information provision in a wide range of environments.

Because the chapter brings together a substantial body of information on the topic of innovation, it provides a comprehensive study of major developments and likely future trends in the field.

Innovation is proven to be an essential element of every organisation that wants to achieve survival and sustain its presence. Libraries as information organisations are transformed into innovation incubators because of the fluid information environment, the social and economic influences and their desire to advance the public good. The Greek public libraries of Nafpaktos, Levadia and Veria are known examples of libraries that have successfully embraced change and innovation. This research aims to identify, through a content analysis of these specific public libraries’ websites, the innovative services they offer to the community.

It was found that the chosen public libraries offer a wide range of innovative services (e.g. Media Lab, Information Centres). No matter the challenges the Greek public libraries are facing, they have developed the necessary internal mechanisms to change the difficulties into opportunities and chance for excellence.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an in-depth insight on librarians’ use of the social networking site Facebook as a way to connect and promote interaction with library users. A series of common practices for building and maintaining a Facebook page for information professionals are thoroughly and critically presented.

Two methods were employed for the purposes of this study. Specifically, a systematic review was adopted to identify all the relevant literature concerning librarian’s use of Facebook, and a content analysis of the literature to identify the specific Facebook features used, the way these were employed by librarians, and the reasons these specific features were chosen.

In total, 12 Facebook features used by librarians in the literature were identified through content analysis. The creation of the librarian’s Facebook Profile was the most important featured employed followed by Groups Messages, Wall Posts, Events and Friends.

This study extents a literature review paper (Vassilakaki and Garoufallou, 2014). Therefore, only papers published between 2005 and 2012 and assigned to categories “librarians creating profiles on Facebook”, “Librarians personal experiences on Facebook” and “exploring librarians’ perspectives” were considered with the view to focus on librarians’ views and the way they use Facebook to connect with users.

This study contributes in providing the baseline for creating a series of best practices for librarians use of Facebook for professional purposes. Furthermore, it provides a valuable insight on the specific ways information professionals use Facebook successfully.

Library and Information Science (LIS) has for a long time tried to gain legitimacy. In an ever changing environment due to technological and economic developments, the motivations behind choice of LIS are still of great interest. The purpose of this paper is to provide a systematic review of studies investigating the motivations that determine the choice of LIS.

Different search terms were run on different but relevant databases. A number of inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied and in total 45 papers were judged as relevant to choice of LIS discipline. A thorough analysis of these papers’ content revealed three main themes: choice of LIS, choice of LIS specialty and career change to LIS.

A variety of different motivations for choosing LIS were identified. The same motivations were reported in all groups (high school students, students, professionals). Specifically, love of books and reading, nature of library work, desire to help people were among the most reported motivations. LIS was also chosen as a second career by different professionals mainly due to changes in their first career work environment, the nature of library work, the desire to use knowledge and the transferable skills in their new career.

This study considered only peer-reviewed research published between 2000 and 2014 in English. Specifically, it focussed on the motivations that specific groups chose to study LIS both as first and second career.

Library schools could raise awareness among high school students regarding the value, role and importance of LIS.

This paper examines the factors influencing the choice of LIS in a changing information environment, and sheds light on the individuals’ decision-making process attracted to LIS.

The paper aims to present a critical review on the adoption and use of Twitter in libraries. Twitter, a microblogging service, is becoming more and more popular among libraries as a means of reaching users and as a marketing tool for their services.

The method of systematic review is used to identify, collect and critically present all relevant literature. Papers’ aims were analyzed to identify the emergent themes and sub-themes in an effort to gain a better understanding of libraries’ use of Twitter.

A systematic and critical analysis of the literature revealed the specific reasons why a library should adopt Twitter; the specific examples and thoughts on how Twitter could be used to promote libraries’ interests; the different ways Twitter had affected diverse aspects and functionalities of libraries; and the attempts to provide guidelines for librarians.

This literature review has implications for research in that libraries could explore the way public view their presence on social networking sites such as Twitter to better gain from it. In addition, it indicates what libraries should expect when they adopt Twitter. This study reviews only papers published between 2007 and 2013 in the English language.

This paper contributes in identifying, collecting, analyzing and critically presenting published research referring to the adoption of Twitter in the field of Library Science. In addition, it identifies and discusses the main issues librarians and libraries need to consider, when faced with the challenge of adopting Twitter.

The aim of this paper is to discuss the challenges that the current economic crisis has posed for Greek public and municipal libraries.

This is a viewpoint paper discussing the past, present and future directions that Greek public and municipal libraries have adopted or should adopt in the context of the present economic crisis.

Greek public and municipal libraries ought to see the economic crisis as a challenge for development, improvement and the promotion of their presence and role in the community which they serve.

The paper discusses the factors affecting the past and present situation relating to public and municipal libraries in Greece and addresses the future challenges for promoting development and innovation.

This paper aims to provide a systematic review of the specific roles information professionals have adopted in the past 14 years. It aims to identify the roles reported in the literature concerning developments in the Library and Information Science (LIS) profession.

This study adopted the method of systematic review. Searches were conducted in February and March 2014 on different LIS databases. From a total of 600 papers, 114 were selected, based on specific inclusion and exclusion criteria. A thorough full-text analysis of the papers revealed six roles that librarians have adopted: teachers, technology specialists, embedded librarians, information consultants, knowledge managers and subject librarians.

New and evolving roles were identified, mainly in the context of academic libraries. Librarians’ educational responsibilities and their active involvement in the learning and research process were highlighted in all role categories identified. Collaboration among faculty and librarians was reported as a way of ensuring successful instruction. Librarians’ personal views of their new and emerging roles were more frequently reported; further research is needed to shed light on academics, students and other users’ perceptions of librarians’ engagement in the learning process.

The study considered only peer-reviewed papers published between 2000 and 2014 in English. It focused on information professionals’ roles and not on librarians’ skills and their changing professional responsibilities.

This review paper considers the development of the LIS profession in a changing environment and offers an understanding of the future direction of the LIS profession.