Academic literature on the topic 'Senior librarian'

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the concept of mentoring of young librarians in South East Nigeria so as to improve their research and scholarly publications. Design/methodology/approach The study confined its scope to 135 librarians in the five different federal universities in South East Nigeria. In all, 100 (80 percent) of the librarians were sampled. The instrument for data collection was questionnaire which contained 30 items derived from the research questions. The descriptive survey research design was used as research method. Librarians were grouped into young librarians (assistant librarian and librarian II) and higher librarians (librarian I, senior librarian, principal librarian, deputy university librarian and university librarian); for a comprehensive analysis of the study. Findings The findings of the study among others reveals that young librarians are a bit knowledgeable and conversant about the term “mentoring” but not equitable when compared to that of other higher librarians in matters of scholarly publication. Also there is evidence of mentoring in place in these libraries for boosting the research prowess of librarians, but in an informal form. The librarians believed that most times the mentee’s inability to open up during interaction, and unconstructive criticisms from mentors to their mentees; are serious challenges to successful mentoring for improved scholarly publications. Originality/value Research studies focusing on mentoring young librarians on research and scholarly publications in Nigeria, are rare. Furthermore, librarians are not conversant with the concept of mentoring and which mentoring practices and programs are currently in place in their libraries to boost their research prowess. Also, adopting a mentor and what to expect from both mentors and mentees concerning research publications are salient areas explored in the work. This study will raise important issues that relate to research publications of both librarians and other academic researchers especially in this research impact-factor driven world of ours.

Objective – To examine the human resources environment in Canadian libraries in order to assess readiness to accommodate change and to identify opportunities for human resources planning. The “8Rs” of the study were defined as recruitment, retirement, retention, remuneration, repatriation, rejuvenation, re-accreditation, and restructuring. Design – This study was undertaken in three phases over nearly three years through the use a variety of methods including literature review, analyses of existing data (Statistics Canada and library school graduate data), telephone interviews (with senior library administrators), focus groups (with representatives from Canadian Association of Research Libraries, Canadian Urban Libraries Council and Alberta Association of Library Technicians), print surveys (library institutions) and web-based surveys (of professional librarians and paraprofessional library staff). Setting – Canadian libraries that are not component branches of a system, and that employ professional librarians. Subjects – Stage I: 17 senior library administrators participated in telephone interviews and three focus groups were conducted. Stage II: Surveyed library administrators representing institutions. A multi-stage stratified random sampling technique was used to ensure geographical representation from each of Canada’s provinces and territories. Full census participation was conducted for members of the Canadian Association of Research Libraries and the Canadian Urban Libraries Council. The print survey instrument was distributed to 1,357 subjects; 461 completed surveys were returned (response rate of 34% with results for the total sample accurate within plus or minus 3.8 per centage points, 95 times out of 100). Stage III: Surveyed professional librarians and paraprofessional staff. Multi-stage random sampling was used to ensure representation of library staff from all library sectors and sufficient sub-sample sizes. Of the 12,472 individuals in the sampling frame, 8,626 were notified of their selection to participate in the web-based survey. Corrections were made to e-mail addresses and 7,569 e-mail invitations with the survey URL were sent successfully. Of the 8,626 potential respondents, 3,148 librarians and paraprofessionals participated (for a response rate of 37%). A non-random Canada-wide call for participation was distributed to library staff who had not been represented in the sampling frame via the listservs of 56 library associations. This provided an additional 1,545 respondents and the total sample size increased to 4,693 for a confidence interval of plus or minus 1.2%, 95 times out of 100. The non-random data from the Canada-wide call was kept in a separate dataset file. Methods – Stage I began with a literature review and analysis of existing Statistics Canada and library school graduate data. Three focus group sessions with representatives from Canadian Association of Research Libraries, Canadian Urban Libraries Council and Alberta Association of Library Technicians were held and in-depth telephone interviews were conducted in May 2003 with 17 senior library administrators. Transcripts were thematically coded and summarised. The interview guide is available as Appendix E of the report. The results of Stage I were used to inform the design of the two survey instruments (Stages II and III). Stage II was a 17-page print survey informed by insights gathered in Stage I and was sent to library directors in the summer of 2003. The print mail-out of the institutional survey was sent to libraries that employed at least one librarian and were not a component branch of another system. A copy of the institutional survey is available as Appendix C of the report. Stage III was a web-based survey of librarians and paraprofessional library staff undertaken in the summer of 2004 using random and non-random sampling methods. This survey was developed from insights gathered in Stages I and II. A copy of the individual survey is available as Appendix D of the report. Main results – The analytical focus of the 275-page report is on the broad Canadian library sector. Data and analysis are provided by type of library, type of staff, and by geographical regions where sufficient response rates have allowed reporting. Although the role of the paraprofessional is examined in many sections of the report, the principal focus is on the professional librarian. Nine sections of the report present results, analysis and strategic human resource planning implications. Highlights for the broad Canadian library environment are briefly described below. Each section of the report provides further breakdown by library sector, type of position, career stage and other variables that provide significant insight. Workplace Demographic Characteristics (Section C) This section provides demographic information about those in supervisory or management roles (62% of librarians), union density (67% of librarians and 79% of paraprofessional staff), longevity in career, part-time employment, and gender, along with other characteristics. Results conclude that visible minorities and Aboriginal staff are under-represented across all types of libraries and that few libraries recognise the credentials of immigrant librarians. Recruitment to the Profession and to the Organization (Section D) Positive exposure to libraries and librarians is the best predictor of librarianship as a career choice and there were no significant differences in the original motivations for choosing the professional librarian career between new professionals and senior librarians. In response to the open-ended question about motivation for choosing librarianship, none of the librarian respondents (n=1,823) indicated leadership, managing libraries or supervising others as their reason (p. 52). Many respondents indicated reasons for choosing the profession that are in alignment with the values of librarianship, but few indicated reasons that reflect the real nature of the librarians’ role. The average age of new librarian recruits is 37 (with little variation between sectors). Thirty per cent of paraprofessionals are interested in pursuing an MLIS degree; 29 per cent are not interested because they are satisfied with their current role. The major barriers for paraprofessionals wishing to pursue the MLIS degree are inadequate or unrecognised credentials (21% - although 45% of paraprofessionals have an undergraduate degree), geographic distance (33%), lack of money (48%), and lack of time (49%). Eighty per cent of libraries report that the major barrier to recruiting is budget constraints; other barriers include small size of library (60%), organizational hiring freeze (54%), inadequate librarian pay (54%), geographic location (52%), inadequate pool of qualified candidates (51%), and inadequate pool of interested candidates (50%). The ten most important and difficult-to-fill competencies when recruiting varied significantly for each sector: leadership potential, ability to respond flexibly to change, and ability to handle high-volume workload were the three highest-ranked competencies across all libraries. Retirement (Section E) Canadian libraries experienced librarian retirements (11% of total current workforce) and paraprofessional retirements (7% of total current workforce) between 1997 and 2002. During this period, 79 per cent of librarians retired before age 65. Forty per cent of librarians over age 50 estimate that they will retire between 55 and 60. Only 9 per cent of libraries have a succession plan. Staff Retention: Inter- and Intra-organizational Mobility (Section F) Librarians are satisfied with their work and stay in their organization because they like the job (85%), co-workers (84%), and workplace (79%). Seventy-seven per cent of senior librarians and 87% of senior paraprofessionals have been at their current library for more than 10 years. Sixty-nine per cent of librarians believe they are qualified to move to higher level positions, but 69% of institutions state that limited librarian turnover contributes to a lack of promotional opportunities. Education (Section G) Seventy-five per cent library administrators agree that MLIS programs equip graduates with needed competencies, but 58% recommended that the programs provide more management, business and leadership training. Seventy-six per cent of administrators believe that they have little or no input into curriculum content of MLIS programs. Overall evaluation of MLIS education by recent librarian entrants is not positive. Only forty-four per cent indicated that the program provided a realistic depiction of the job, while only 36% said the program provided a realistic expectation of work in their library sector. Recent librarian entrants (67%) were satisfied with the overall quality of their MLIS program, but few indicated that their program provided them with the necessary management skills (25%), leadership skills (20%), or business skills (12%) for their position. Recent library technician entrants were more satisfied (81%) with their programs’ success in providing general skills (87%), and providing a realistic depiction of the job (72%). Continuing Education (Section H) New librarians (72%) need a significant amount of ongoing training, but only 56% believe that their institution provides sufficient training opportunities. Only 30% of libraries have a routine method for determining training needs of librarians and fewer (13 %) have an evaluation method for training outcomes. In most cases, about half of those who received training reported that it improved their job performance. Quality of Work and Job Satisfaction (Section I) Librarians and paraprofessionals are satisfied with their jobs (79% for each) and librarians (72%) and paraprofessionals (61%) agree that their salary is fair. Most libraries offer a wide range of benefits to their employees, including life insurance (95%), pension plan (92%), and medical benefits (88%). Librarians (80%) and paraprofessionals (70%) are satisfied with their benefits. Although a low percentage of librarians agreed that they have little job stress (24%) and only 39% found their workload to be manageable, 62% of librarians agree that their work allows work, family and personal life balance. The statistics are slightly more positive for paraprofessionals. There is a gap between the desire to be treated with respect (98% for all workers) and the perception that respect is conveyed (77% of librarians and 75% of paraprofessionals). A similar gap exists between desire to be involved in decision-making and actual involvement. The two most important factors for job satisfaction for all library workers are respectful treatment and a job that allows them to learn new skills and grow. Numerical Librarian Demand-Supply Match (Section J) Libraries hired more librarians than they lost in 2002, for a net three per cent increase. Many library administrators believe that there will be a five-year increased demand for librarians (77%) and paraprofessionals (81%). The short-term supply (next 5 years) of new librarians to replace departures due to retirements is predicted to have the capacity to fill 98 per cent of the current librarian positions; the capacity to replace library technicians is 99 per cent. The long-term supply (next 10 years) of new librarians to replace departures due to retirements is predicted to have the capacity to fill 89 per cent of the current librarian positions; the capacity to fill technician positions is identical. These predictions are based on no growth in the number of positions in the future. Match Between Organizational Job Function Demand and Individual Staff Supply of Skills, Abilities, Talents, Interests (Section K) Libraries report that increased use of information technologies (87%) and re-engineering (61%) have contributed the greatest change in the roles of librarians. Libraries report that more librarians have been required to perform a wider variety of tasks in the past five years (93%) and that this trend will continue over the coming five years (94%). A high percentage of libraries (86%) reported that over the past five years librarians have been expected to perform more management functions and 56% of mid-career and senior librarians believed this had occurred. Libraries (88%) believe that this trend will continue; only 44% of librarians indicate interest in performing management functions. Mid-career and senior librarians report that job stress has increased over five years ago. Requirements to work harder (55%), perform more difficult tasks (56%), perform a wider variety of tasks (69%), and perform more managerial functions (56%) are the contributing factors. The performance of a wider variety of tasks and more difficult tasks was significantly related to the assessment by librarians that their jobs were more enjoyable, interesting, rewarding and challenging. Institutions (78%) reported the increased need for paraprofessionals to perform librarian tasks over the past five years and believe that this will continue (77%). Only 28% of paraprofessionals believe they are currently required to perform more librarian tasks. Conclusion – The need to confirm the existence and magnitude of the crisis that will be created by upcoming retirements in Canadian libraries was a primary motivator for this study. Conclusive results were obtained that should inform each sector and geographic area in Canada. The percentages of staff over the age of 55 (librarians: 25%; paraprofessionals: 21%) is much greater than that of the Canadian workforce (11%). If there is no growth in the number of positions needed, there will be no short-term supply-demand crisis to fill the gaps left by retirements. There will be a librarian and technician shortage in ten years (a shortfall of 11% of the current supply) and a more significant crisis if the predicted growth in staffing is factored in. Recruitment to the librarian and technician professions is critical and the paraprofessional staff may be a potential pool of future MLIS candidates if the accessibility issues associated with the programs are addressed. Only nine per cent of organizations have a succession plan in place. There is great opportunity for the development of strategic solutions. In response to the open-ended question about motivation for choosing librarianship, no respondent indicated leadership, managing libraries or supervising others as their reason. This is of concern when 62% of librarians today work in a managerial role. Management and leadership skills are a significant concern for recent graduates, administrators, and librarians, with all indicating that the workplace needs are greater than the current preparedness. More cooperation with MLIS programs and professional associations is essential to ensure that leadership and management skill development are supported through the curricula and continuing education planning. Organizations must also develop and support a culture where leadership is encouraged and expected, and recognised. There is a need for further development of continuing education opportunities, and training needs assessment and outcome assessment programs may be beneficial. Paraprofessionals and new librarians are less satisfied with the workplace training opportunities available to them than librarians in later stages of their careers. Role change will continue in libraries and planning will be essential to ensure that restructuring reflects the competencies that will be needed in the new mix. Workload and job stress appear to be rising and will require careful monitoring. There may be opportunity to define roles for “other” professionals in libraries. Library staff have a tendency to stay in their institution for much of their career, making decisions in the recruitment and hiring processes of critical importance. Loss of employees due to turnover is not a problem for most libraries, but the lack of turnover has affected the promotional opportunities for those who desire upward mobility. An interesting recommendation was made that two or more libraries may realise both cost savings and benefits through the sharing of staffing resources. If issues surrounding credentials can be addressed, there may be a potential pool of future immigrant librarians.

Purpose – Asian Americans (AAs) are underrepresented in leadership roles in academic libraries in the USA. Instead of exploring the factors contributing to their under-representation, the purpose of this paper is to focus on exploring the major factors that have helped AA academic librarians, albeit small in number, to attain, maintain, and advance further into leadership positions in academic libraries. Design/methodology/approach – A survey was conducted to garner responses from AAs who have held or currently hold senior leadership positions in American academic libraries. In total, 12 participants participated in the study: five women and seven men. The participants included three retired deans/directors/university librarians; seven deans/directors/university librarians; one associate dean/associate director/associate university librarian; and one assistant dean/assistant director/assistant university librarian. The participants represented a multiplicity of institutions, including community colleges, Ivy League institutions, and small as well as large private and public universities. Findings – The results of the survey revealed several important success characteristics of AA academic library leaders, including wanting to serve, willing to assume leadership roles, taking non-AA traditional career path, seeking visibility, and developing communication skills. Originality/value – This is the first and most comprehensive study on AA academic library leaders in the USA. Its goals are to: fill a gap in the literature on AAs and academic library leadership; raise awareness about the challenges facing AAs in their efforts to attain leadership positions in US academic libraries; and highlight some characteristics of successful AA academic library leaders that aspiring AA academic leaders will want to develop.

The problem faced by the Library of Islamic University of Indonesia (UII) is still 70.37%of librarians who have Diploma and Senior High School, so it is not in accordancewith the existing standards, that is the qualification of university librarians withminimum education of Bachelor (S1) in Library Science. The purpose of this study isto determine the effect of organizational culture on the competence of UII librariansin living their profession. The subject of this research is UII Librarian as many as 27people spread in several places, among others: in Directorate of UII Library, Faculty ofEconomics UII and Faculty of Law UII. During this time the librarian is still havingdifficulty in his career as a librarian, it is evident that almost every semester there aresome librarians who get warning letter from UII leaders related to their obligation toapply DUPAK (List of Proposal of Credit Rate Submission). The research is intendedto know the role of UII Library’s organizational culture towards the development oflibrarian competence of UII. The results showed that the level of organizational cultureUII Library and the level of competence Librarian UII perceived respondents in veryhigh category with the respective perceptions of 81.76 and 84.25. There is a positiveinfluence between organizational culture on the competence of Librarian UII withsignificance value 0.014 <0.05 (0.014) smaller than 0.05). While the level of correlationbetween variables X with variable Y there is influence of 47.8% (0.478), wherethe value is in the classification is.

This article is based on a case study. It covers a two-year period during which the principal authors, a social work faculty member and a senior librarian, collaborated to discover why undergraduate seniors were having difficulty locating fifteen required scholarly journal articles needed to begin to write their individual topic-specific senior thesis. The first part of this article discusses how the authors uncovered what the problem was and the second part describes how the authors redesigned the course in light of these findings. Implications for both social work education and the collaborative role of library information science are discussed.

This article describes a job exchange between April Yasamee, Senior Library Assistant, Design Subject Librarian, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK and Mary Mavroudis, School Liaison Librarian, Applied Communications, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia. They exchanged jobs for three months between April and July 2007. April arrived in Melbourne just after the start of the academic year. Mary reached London at the beginning of the summer term and the exam period. The article takes the form of email correspondence between them, as they adapt to their new university libraries, noting the differences and similarities between the two institutions.

AbstractHester Swift, Foreign and International Law Librarian, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, and Peter Clinch, Senior Subject Librarian for Law, Cardiff University delivered this paper at the recent BIALL Annual Conference.

A Review of: Reinsfelder, T.L., & Anderson, J.A. (2013). Observations and perceptions of academic administrator influence on open access initiatives. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 39(6): 481-487. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2013.08.014 Abstract Objective – To better understand the roles and influence of senior-level academic administrators, such as provosts, on open access (OA) activities at the institutional level, including whether librarians perform these activities regardless of administrative interest. Design – Web-based survey questionnaire combined with multiple regression analysis. Settings – The research was conducted online using surveys emailed to potential participants at not-for-profit public and private academic institutions in the United States with a FTE of greater than 1000. Subjects – Academic library directors at selected colleges and universities. Methods – Using directory information from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and filtering institutions according to not-for-profit status, size, and special focus, a survey sample of 1135 colleges and universities was obtained. Library websites were used to acquire contact information for library directors. In summer 2012 the 43-item survey questionnaire was distributed to respondents online using Qualtrics. The four primary variables were each comprised of multiple questionnaire items and validated using factor analysis, and the data was explored using multiple regression. Main Results – The survey received 298 respondents for a 26% response rate, though the number of incomplete responses is not stated. Among four stakeholder groups (faculty, publishers, librarians, and senior academic administrators), library directors perceived librarians as having the greatest influence in regards to the adoption of open access (mean = .7056), followed by faculty (.3792), administrators (.1881), and publishers as having a negative impact (–.3684). A positive correlative relationship was determined between Administrator Attention to Open Access—a key variable operationalized by combining eight questionnaire items—and the variables Librarian Commitment to Open Access, Faculty Commitment to Open Access, and Faculty Proclivity Toward Open Access, with the latter especially the case at lower levels of administrator support. Regarding institution size, library directors perceived a higher likelihood of faculty adherence and librarian commitment to OA at large institutions (over 20,000). A given institution’s public or private status and geographic region were not significant predictors of faculty or librarian commitment or adherence to open access. Conclusions – The study finds that academic library directors perceive librarians to have the strongest influence upon adoption of open access, and senior academic administrator attention to open access is positively linked to the OA activities of faculty and librarians. Larger institutions are considered to have greater commitment to OA, potentially due to differing missions according to institution type. The authors recommend that open access advocates consider administrator roles and target administrator support when seeking to increase participation in OA.

Purpose Advancement in Information and communication technologies (ICTs) has revolutionised Library and Information Science (LIS) education and libraries. Both theory and practice have been transformed completely. LIS education programmes have become highly competitive and must be market-driven and technology-oriented. At the same time, academic libraries have been transformed and have become dynamic. Fostering a close collaboration between LIS educators and practitioners can multiply their strength and abilities by sharing educational resources and theoretical and practical knowledge. This paper aims to present the findings of a study carried out to investigate the current status of collaboration among LIS educators and library practitioners at the University of Botswana. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected using self-administered structured questionnaires from both LIS educators at the Department of Library and Information Studies (DLIS) and practicing librarians working at the University of Botswana Library (UBL). To follow-up some of the issues, an interview was carried out with a subject librarian and a focus group discussion method was used to discuss some of the challenges from the findings. Findings The major collaborative activities from the DLIS staff were identified as the following: creating awareness of library resources and promoting library usage among students, facilitating library material selection and inviting librarians as guest lecturers to teach in the classroom. The main collaborative activities from practicing librarians were found to be the following: delivering information literacy instruction, providing professional/practical experience to students and information sharing with the DLIS teaching staff. The major challenges were identified as the following: different cultures of educators and librarians, lack of need to collaborate and lack of formal policy at the department and the university level. Research limitations/implications The UBL has 51 library staff members. All the librarians were not included in this research study, only senior librarians and library management were involved in the study. No theoretical framework was used to carry out the study. The questionnaire was designed based on the general literature in the field of professional collaboration among faculty and educators in the information profession. The follow-up interview and focus group discussion were conducted to address the collaborative activities and challenges that were acknowledged by at least 50 per cent of the participants. Issues with less than 50 per cent responses were considered insignificant to follow-up. Follow-up interview was conducted only with one subject librarian. As all subject librarians have the same job profile and undertake the similar activities, it was assumed that one subject librarian can represent others. Originality/value This research paper contributes to the body of literature. It may be useful for other LIS schools and libraries that work in similar environments, and it also opens up avenues for further research on this topical issue.

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore senior librarians’ perceptions of successful leadership skills in the 21st century. Library organizations in the postindustrial environment of the 21st century operate in a new context involving digitization, global libraries, cultural diversity, cultural intelligence, and cross-cultural management. This new context requires a postindustrial paradigm of leadership emphasizing influence and collaboration as defined by Rost (1991). The purposive sample used for this case study consisted of 10 senior library leaders. The data gathered consisted of demographic information and responses to six open-ended interview questions. Data were entered, coded, and analyzed for themes and patterns using NVivo 10 software. The analysis revealed significant emergent themes relating to successful library leadership skills. Results from this case study suggest successful library leadership skills in the 21st century involve two levels: foundational level and interpersonal level. At the foundational level are technical and knowledge skills, which are the building blocks for the next level of interpersonal skills. Interweaving these interpersonal skills are persuasion skills and collaborative skills, both at the core of the postindustrial paradigm of leadership. These two levels of skills, with an emphasis on persuasion skills, should form the basis of succession planning programs for next generation librarians. Implementing such programs could lead to increased leadership diversity, greater job satisfaction, improved job performance and effectiveness, helping the retention of librarians, and easing staff shortage. Further studies are recommended.

This investigation focused on censorship by librarians in senior high schools in Virginia during the 1985-86 school year. Emphasis was placed on determining the subject matter that the librarians censored, the means by which censorship was exercised, and the factors that were influential in causing these individuals to engage in such activity.;The primary method of securing data for the study was a questionnaire developed by the researcher and mailed to the head librarian in every senior high school in the state of Virginia. Responses were received from 68 percent of those surveyed.;Based on an analysis of the data generated by the survey the following conclusions were reached: (1) the librarians in the study placed restrictions on the acquisition and use of a wide variety of subject matter, with every subject category listed on the questionnaire being restricted in some manner by at least 8.7 percent and as many as 86 percent of the respondents, (2) the librarians were significantly more restrictive with fictional materials than with nonfictional materials; (3) the tactic most commonly employed to control the acquisition and use of controversial materials was to purposely avoid purchasing those materials; (4) there was no relationship between characteristics associated with the librarians or the communities or schools in which they worked and the extent to which these individuals were restrictive; and (5) the librarians' own personal convictions about what should or should not be made available to the users of their libraries were more influential in causing them to censor than were pressures to censor, either real or imagined, that were generated by persons or groups in the school or community.;Based on these findings, a number of recommendations were offered aimed at accomplishing two major tasks: first, insuring that professional preparation programs for school librarians include a strong emphasis upon the importance to American education of the principles of intellectual freedom and the proper procedures for selecting and defending library materials, and, second, establishing within the schools a network of support to insure that in the event of a controversy over library materials, the librarian will not be asked to stand as the lone defender of students' rights to read and to know.

The ways that people use libraries have changed drastically over the past few decades. Proliferation of computers and the internet have led to the purpose of libraries expanding from being only places where information is stored, to spaces where people teach, learn, create, and collaborate. Due to this, the ways that people occupy the space in a library have also changed. To keep up with these changes and improve patron experience, institutions collect data to determine how their spaces are being used. This thesis involves the development a system that collects, stores, and analyzes data relevant to occupancy to learn how a space is being utilized. Data is collected from a temperature and humidity sensor, passive Infrared sensor, and an Infrared thermal sensor array to observe people as they occupy and move through a space. Algorithms were developed to analyze the collected sensor data to determine how many people are occupying a space or the directions that people are moving through a space. The algorithms demonstrate the ability to track multiple people moving through a space as well as count the number of people in a space with an RMSE of roughly 0.39 people.

This study was designed to ascertain, analyse and compare the perceptions of College Librarians and their associates about the role responsibility which College Librarians in libraries in New South Wales Colleges of Advanced Education (CAEs) were actually assuming and ideally should be assuming as part of their role as library managers. Using as its basis a theoretical framework of role and role-related concepts, as developed by social psychologists such as Kahn et al. (1964), a role set group of Principals, Registrars and Senior Library Staff was identified as the survey population. A review of the literature about CAEs and their libraries and overseas studies about the role of library managers assisted with the development of a role responsibility questionnaire. Data from the questionnaire was analysed in respect of actual and ideal role responsibility and any gaps between actual and ideal role responsibility. Gaps between perceptions of actual and ideal role responsibility between College Librarians and associates may indicate a potential for role conflict for persons enacting the role of College Librarian. This study found statistically significant results in respect of both actual and ideal role responsibility between College Librarians and Senior Library Staff, which indicated that there was not clear agreement between the two groups about either the role responsibility currently assumed by College Librarians and that which ideally should be assumed. In respect of the gap between actual and ideal role responsibility, however, there was no statistically significant result between College Librarians and associates, indicating that the potential for role conflict resulting from divergent perceptions between role set groups was not evident. This does not preclude the potential for role conflict from other sources.

Teaching older adults to use computers requires taking into account the effects of the aging process. Techniques which work for a younger generation will not necessarily be successful with older novices, but modifications which improve the outcome for older students also work well with younger learners. This article explains how computer trainers at the Palm Beach County Library System's North County Regional Library created a mousing class and modified existing classes to create a series of four classes designed specifically for older adults who have never used a computer before. The article also summarizes the difficulties older adults face in learning to use computers, and ways to improve the learning outcome.

Organisations require a leadership cohort that can drive transformation from within, if they wish to adapt innovatively towards ensuring sustainable relevance in a volatile and highly competitive global market. The same applies to academic library services that serve the needs of their respective institutions. Yet, as indicated by various studies, little attention is paid to the nature of leadership required to take academic libraries forward in an age where, especially in the South African academic environment, the maxim of “business unusual” holds true. Transformational leadership is described as visionary and adaptive leadership aimed at increasing morale and motivation of staff, with an emphasis on follower development and empowerment towards self-leadership, driving entrepreneurial activities (Goethals, Soreson and Burns 2004b: 1558). The study explores aspects of the nature of transformational leadership, as well as the extent to which transformational leadership behaviours and attributes are perceived as being evident among the middle and senior library staff members at the Rhodes University Library. The Full Range Leadership Model (FRLM) provided the framework for this study, and the Team Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (TMLQ) was adapted and administered (via the Mind Garden Transform Hosting Solution) to all 42 staff members of the Rhodes Library. The data analysis was done based on the collated on the Mind Garden Transform Hosting Solution. Based on the analysis of the data, it was concluded that the RUL leadership team is perceived as being predominantly transformational in nature, but with evidence to suggest that transactional and non-leadership behaviours occur more frequently than are conducive towards innovation. This conclusion is supported by the assessment of the perceptions of leadership outcomes that indicate perceived levels of some ineffectiveness, some dissatisfaction and insufficient extra effort on the side of the leadership team.
Mini Dissertation (MIT)--University of Pretoria, 2017.
Information Science
MIT
Unrestricted

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD
The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of school libraries in supporting an inquiry based approach for teaching and learning science subjects in senior secondary schools in Ekiti State, Nigeria. The significance of this study revolves round the prominence given to science education being a mechanism for realising national advancement in Nigeria. This was emphasised in the Nigeria National Policy on Education (2013) as the Federal Government of Nigeria adopted science education as an instrument for effecting national development. This study addressed the following research questions: What is the status of secondary school libraries in Ekiti State, Nigeria? To what extent does the quality of library resources influence science curriculum implementation? To what extent do science teachers advocate using information resources beyond textbooks?

A lack of transportation services for the increasing number of senior citizens in Calgary presents a challenge for planners and decision makers alike. Transportation services offered by Access Calgary, Calgary Transit, and volunteers are unable to meet the current needs of this growing segment of society. Difficulties accessing transportation services mean that many seniors find it challenging to meet such basic needs as grocery shopping, or to visit libraries, parks, fitness, and recreation centers, or to attend medical appointments. This research focused on providing a unique alternative transportation service that would be acceptable and accessible for seniors in Calgary by integrating GIS and OR methods as a planning tool for a senior shuttle service provided by the Calgary Motor Dealers Association (CMDA).

The purpose of this chapter is to review and analyze the role of libraries and librarians in Management College student empowerment of career guidance, career counseling, and overall career development in Trichy and Pudukkottai districts. This study creates awareness about different careers among the students and librarians towards career development activities programs. This study may help to create responsiveness among the Management College and librarians to find out how to cater to their students and enhance students' personality, skills, confidence, and students' employability to develop their career. This study assists libraries to study and provide better infrastructure and programs pertaining to student needs. The 584 valid questionnaires were coded after data collection. The obtained data were tabulated and analysed using the statistical packages Microsoft Excel and SPSS. Hypotheses were tested and findings were drawn in the light of objectives of the investigation. The results were reported in the form of thesis, tables, charts, and figures used wherever necessary to make the presentations clear, simple, and easy. The study demonstrated that one-fifth of the respondents were agreed the following statement related career choice of the MBA graduates such as “I am capable of making my own career choice,” “I seek my parent's advice for career choice,” “I consult the librarian in making any career choice,” “I consult the placement officer in making career choice,” “I consult my friends before making any career choice,” “I seek advice of my seniors in making career choice,” “ I consult the alumni of my institute in making career choice,” and “I go by the market trend in deciding my career choice.” Nearly half of the respondents were neutral about the above mentioned statement, and the remaining one-third of the respondents disagreed about various career choices. Further, it is observed from the study that 49.3% of the respondents were neutral with overall level of career choice, 30.0% of the respondents disagree with overall level of career choice, and the remaining 20.7% of the respondents agreed with overall level of career choice.

This chapter reports on a study of leadership development and succession planning at The University of the West Indies Libraries. The research shows that in the absence of formal succession planning, leadership training takes place in tandem with the staff appraisal and career development process. The annual appraisal and assessment system provides the opportunity for staff who aspire to leadership positions to be guided in their career development and thus be better prepared when vacancies arise. The benefits provided to academic, senior administrative and professional staff—for example, funding for travel and professional activities, special leave for scholarly pursuits and other career development opportunities—are utilised by librarians to advance their careers. The chapter highlights the importance of strict adherence by library administration to the annual appraisal and assessment processes and staff use of organisational support for career development as integral components in leadership development and succession planning and implementation.

In 1989 Odin Teatret established the Holstebro Festive Week (Denmark), and did so by involving the entire city and its inhabitants. The Festive Week promptly became an on-going event, which takes place every three years in June. What characterises the Holstebro Festive Week in particular? And how has this event influenced the city and its citizens in the longer run? In other words, how can an event like the Festive Week contribute to enriching a city for more than just a week? When I interviewed the Mayor about the Festival and the theatre’s role in the event, he said: “What the theatre brings us is popular and I think it is crucial that we get common experiences in which we can mirror ourselves – in the selfish society we are currently living in. In Holstebro we have become dependent on Odin Teatret, which makes us take part and which has become a common denominator for the entire city. It is a gift that we have Odin Theatret” (interview with the author, June 2011). 1 It is a rather unusual statement for a mayor to make that a theatre is a gift for a city and that it has become a ‘common denominator’ 2 for the city – and, what is more that the city has become dependent on the theatre. In this chapter I will reveal and explore how Odin Teatret involves the entire city. I will try to give a clear answer as to why the Mayor described the theatre as a ‘common denominator’. In my investigation of the theatre’s approach to the Festive Week I use my personal experience and knowledge from my time as assistant manager at the theatre (1987-88). Most of my research has been carried out in the form of field studies conducted during the Festival Weeks in 2008 and 2011. During both festivals I spent one week in Holstebro and the surrounding villages watching and observing how the local audience responded to the activities. In addition I carried out a series of semi-structured interviews with representatives from Holstebro: the head of police, the Deputy Mayor, the director of a travel agency, a librarian, a policeman, the Chairman of the Cultural Affairs Committee of the City Council, the head of city planning, the project leader from the Odin Theatre and a senior lecturer living in Holstebro and working at Aarhus University and finally the Mayor.

This paper presents a set of software tools for interrogating and processing time series data. The functionality of this toolset will be demonstrated using data from a specific deployment involving multiple sensors deployed for a specific time period. The approach was developed initially for Datawell Waverider MKII/MKII buoys [1] and expanded to include data from acoustic devices in this case Nortek AWACs. Tools of this nature are important to address a specific lack of features in the sensor manufacturers own tools. It also helps to develop standard approaches for dealing with anomalous data from sensors. These software tools build upon an effective modern interpreted programming language in this case Python which has access to high performance low level libraries. This paper demonstrates the use of these tools applied to a sensor network based on the North West coast of Scotland as described in [2,3]. Examples can be seen of computationally complex data being easily calculated for monthly averages. Analysis down to a wave by wave basis will also be demonstrated form the same source dataset. The tools make use of a flexible data structure called a DataFrame which supports mixed data types, hierarchical and time indexing and is also integrated with modern plotting libraries. This allows sub second querying and the ability for dynamic plotting of large datasets. By using modern compression techniques and file formats it is possible to process datasets which are larger than memory datasets without the need for a traditional relational database. The software library shall be of use to a wide variety of industry involved in offshore engineering along with any scientists interested in the coastal environment.

The scholarly publishing ecosystem is being forced to adapt following changes in funding, scholarly review, and distribution. Taken alone, each changemaker could markedly influence the entire chain of research consumption. Combining these change forces together has the potential for a complete upheaval in the biome. During the 2019 Charleston Library conference, a panel of stakeholders representing researchers, funders, librarians, publishers, digital security experts, and content aggregators addressed such questions as what essential components constitute scholarly literature and who should shepherd them. The 70-minute open dialogue with audience participation invited a range of opinions and viewpoints on the care, feeding, and safekeeping of peer-reviewed scholarly research. The panelists were: James King, Branch Chief & Information Architect at the NIH; Sharon Mattern Büttiker, Director of Content Management at Reprints Desk; Crane Hassold, Senior Director of Threat Research at Agari; and Susie Winter, Director of Communications and Engagement, Springer Nature. The panel was moderated by Beth Bernhardt, Consortia Account Manager at Oxford University Press. Beth posed questions to the panel and each panelist replied from their vantage point. The lively discussion touched on ideas and solutions not yet discussed in an open forum. Such collaborative approaches are now more essential than ever for shaping the progress of the scientific research community. In attendance were librarians, editorial staff, business development managers, data handlers, library collection managers, content aggregators, security experts and CEOs.