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This article describes a survey investigating the opinions of children’s librarians on the subject of electronic books. A questionnaire was sent by post to those responsible for public library services for children at each of the 208 local government authorities in the UK. The response rate was 77 per cent. Notable conclusions include the fact that there was a positive attitude towards including electronic books as part of the children’s library service, and a high proportion of libraries offered access to them, the majority through main libraries. A small majority of libraries were offering electronic books for reference use within the library, rather than lending them out like printed books. Many of the librarians believed that electronic books can attract new members to the library, and that offering electronic books will change their role. Respondents believed that electronic books are durable, and can exist alongside the printed items within the library.

This paper investigates the potential electronic textbooks (e‐textbooks) have to augment the learning and education of children.

The study consisted of a total of 60 pupils, split into five groups of 12 participants (six boys and six girls). Each of the five groups were in turn split into two sub‐groups of six (three boys and three girls): one sub‐group used the printed textbook, while the other used a CD‐ROM on a laptop computer. The pupils completed a group test and an individual multiple choice test on information found in the textbooks.

The study showed that the e‐textbook was widely accepted by the participants, and motivated group participation. Those using the e‐textbook achieved significantly higher test results on average in the group test. Higher (but not significant) average results were achieved by e‐textbook users in the individual test.

An acknowledged limitation of the study is that the textbooks used for the study were not identical in content. They were equivalent according to subject and recommended age range, but did not contain specifically the same information. Further studies would benefit from making use of an electronic version which is identical, or more similar, to a printed textbook. It would also be worthwhile to investigate the effects of long‐term use once the novelty value of the electronic book has subsided.

The paper aims to fill the gap in the original literature on the subject of how children relate to and learn from electronic textbooks. The research is of particular interest to teachers, librarians and parents.

Indicates the state of public library materials funds and budgets 1998/99 to estimates for 2000/01, based on a response rate of 91 per cent of UK local authorities. Provides detailed tables which indicate that the position is neutral. Overall total library expenditure increased in line with general inflation which kept pace with book, but not periodical, price increases. There was a decrease of 2.5 per cent in total materials expenditure, but audio‐visual expenditure grew. Staff numbers reduced mainly affecting non‐professional staff.

One measure of any nation's long‐term commitment to culture, reading and learning is surely its investment in the provision of library and information services to children. The aim of this article is to describe the approach to charting the UK's performance and to identify some issues of global relevance.

Separate questionnaires were circulated to all public library authorities and schools library services in the UK. The distribution of questionnaires is carried out electronically. Potential respondents are contacted by e‐mail and the questionnaire is included as an attachment. Up to 2000‐2001, questionnaires were distributed on paper by post.

A ten‐year review of data allows one to draw the conclusion that little is changing dramatically. The last ten years have seen a remarkable change in the nature and magnitude of information media. The computer has transformed the way in which children interact with one another and the wider world and books can be bought with the groceries at the supermarket. In this scenario, the children's library is necessarily evolving. The question is: is it doing it fast enough?

It is difficult to maintain complete comparability in a series of this kind because one is dealing with a range of dynamic factors. For example, in the case of new authorities and rearranged boundaries. As a result, in many cases questionnaires relating to the 1995‐1996 period were sent to the relevant new authorities for retrospective completion. This may have resulted in a higher level of missing and/or incomplete data for that period.

Provides useful information, not only to academic institutions and libraries, but also to parents.

In response to a need for ‘consideration of the conceptual overlap between information seeking and information literacy’ (Julien & Williamson, 2010), this chapter explores their development. Since the 1960s there has been an ongoing stream of research called ‘information behaviour’ (IB). This has taken various forms and shifted its focus in terms of the topic studied and epistemological orientation. Since the 1990s there has been another stream of parallel research focusing on people’s information capabilities called ‘information literacy’ (IL). Both concern the interaction and experience of a person or a group with information. The former focuses on the social, psychological, behavioural and environmental aspects of people’s IB. The latter focuses on the person and the capabilities they need to interact with information which may be studied from a social, psychological, behavioural and environmental perspective. IB has traditionally placed an emphasis on observed or recorded information seeking, within a broad context of factors that may affect behaviour. In contrast, IL research places greater emphasis on specific cognitive and behavioural processes associated with information seeking and use. Both IB and IL throw light on people’s information experience. Over time, shifts in focus have been associated with changes in epistemological orientation. We now see a rich array of approaches for investigating people’s IB and IL. This reflects the multifaceted nature of these domains, that is social, organisational and individual. This chapter charts the relationship between these two fields of research and highlights their complementarity.

Libraries are closing or reducing opening hours in the UK due to budgetary cuts. Library provision for children is consequently diminishing and libraries have to justify their existence. Therefore a reliable methodology for assessing the importance of libraries is vital to demonstrate their value to children’s literacy. Two methodologies were combined to study children visiting children’s mobile libraries (CMLs). The purpose of this paper is to consider whether the combined, qualitative methodology was the correct choice.

Aspects of each methodology are examined for their appropriateness for researching children. The compatibility of their philosophical stance and the validity of combining ethnography and grounded theory is explored and questioned.

It is found that grounded theory and ethnography were the optimum combination to form a powerful research tool that allows children to be active participants in research. The combined methodology was successful because the ethnographic elements allowed the researcher to enter to the children’s world, whereas the grounded theory elements provided a structural framework, exploration into a novel research topic and ensured that a valid conclusion was drawn.

It is unusual for qualitative methodologies such as grounded theory and ethnography to be combined in order to study learning in a non-pedagogic, library environment. This paper is valuable reading for librarians, or educationalists wishing to examine how libraries aid literacy because it verifies the benefits of the combined methodology of grounded theory and ethnography and provides a template which can be used by other researchers.

The purpose of this paper is to report the outcomes of a Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC)‐sponsored study to determine the current state and trends in different forms of scholarly output used in teaching and research; and the nature and extent of problems associated with their use.

A total of 60 UK HE institutions were chosen at random and a selection of departments within these was contacted. An online questionnaire was distributed to the selected departments; resulting in responses from 304 academics across a broad range of subjects and institution types.

The study showed that printed output was still the preferred option in both teaching and research, although electronic journals now have a well‐established presence. Web‐based material is increasingly provided in teaching and used in research but this includes primarily traditional tools such as reading lists and links to scholarly resources. Some content creation was evident. Use of web 2.0 was not extensive, although respondents were making use of Institutional Learning Environments. Academics were aware of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) issues but not always clear about their responsibilities in this area.

The study revealed an essentially conservative approach to the developments in digital information. This may have been due to the sample size which was relatively small, and the age profile which clustered around the 45‐65 years range. In the case of research the influence of the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) was clear.

No equivalent study has been reported on the transition between traditional and new forms of scholarly output used in teaching and research. In this fast developing area this research provides a benchmark for future studies.

This paper seeks to report the results of research conducted to model the information‐seeking behaviour of graduate students at Kuwait University and the factors influencing that behaviour.

The research employed a number of different approaches: a questionnaire survey to 800 graduate students studying at Kuwait University; a questionnaire survey to 180 academics at the university; semi‐structured interviews with eight academics; face‐to‐face and online interviews with 11 university library staff, four focus groups with 24 students and three focus groups with ten faculty staff.

Significant factors influencing students' information‐seeking behaviour were found to be related to library awareness, information literacy, organisational and environmental issues, source characteristics, and demographics (specifically gender and nationality).

The research focused on graduate students at a Kuwait University which is affiliated to the government sector, however, the information seeking model is more widely applicable, particularly to other developing countries.

Proposed is an information‐seeking model that extended two other relevant and influential models of information‐seeking behaviour. The extended model shows promise for its intended utility in identifying factors that influence the information behaviour of graduate students.