Search results

Homelessness has been a growing problem in many countries since the 1980s. The purpose of this paper is to examine homeless peoples’ perspectives on public library services, and to compare these with the attitudes of library staff.

Eight interviews have been conducted with rough sleepers and formerly homeless library patrons to examine their experiences, needs and expectations or the library. In addition, four library staff have been interviewed about their attitudes to services for members of the homeless community.

Most rough sleepers and formerly homeless patrons who participated in this research viewed the public library as a safe place because it offered a welcoming atmosphere, access to a variety of resources and services targeted at the homeless. Nonetheless, sleeping has always been a major reason for their use of the library. Most staff members agreed that providing services targeted toward rough sleepers changed the dynamic between staff and the homeless patrons, but there was some disagreement between staff members about whether targeted services were the most appropriate approach.

Understanding homeless and rough sleepers’ expectations for public library services may be useful in revising policy and developing services for this community. In particular, developing partnerships with organisations supporting the homeless is an effective way of developing relevant services for this often-marginalised group.

Little research has considered public library services from the perspective of homeless people. This research is intended to fill that gap.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the development of institutional repositories in New Zealand, exploring factors affecting the adoption and success of institutional repositories from the perspective of the library managers who established them, and from the perspective of the academic community.

Data from a series of interviews with library managers are compared with the findings from a randomised national survey of academics.

The responses of the library managers suggest that they are positive about the value of their institutional repository, and the progress made towards recruiting content for it. Data from the survey of academics indicate that academics have been slow to embrace the concept of institutional repositories, and show little interest in using repositories for increasing the accessibility of their own work, or to access the work of others. The number of deposits remains low, mirroring patterns throughout the world, and subject or disciplinary repositories appear to have greater value to the academic community.

The future long‐term sustainability of institutional repositories depends on gaining a stronger commitment from the academic community, or developing different goals, against which their success might be measured.

The study is the first random survey of academic staff across all disciplines, and an entire country, and the findings have a very high level of generalisability.