Library & Information Science books

Libraries are supposed to serve all people in the community, but some still struggle to provide support for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). In an age of increasing social consciousness and awareness of diversity, individuals with IDD deserve the greatest attention and support to achieve equality, yet how to do so remains a legitimate question as most library services are not yet prepared to offer the help needed. In Libraries and Reading, expert authors Matthew Conner and Leah Plocharczyk examine the modern history of libraries and diversity, the recent legislative history of those with IDD such as No Child Left Behind and mainstreaming policies; learning theories such as social constructivism, cognitivism, preliteracy, and Universal Design for Learning; and case studies of library outreach around the globe. Including real-world examples, they show how we can make big changes through small steps.  In a climate of tightened budgets and severe demands on public literacy resources, the moral imperative of helping those with IDD runs up against practical barriers. Conner and Plocharczyk go to the foundations of social justice in Cultural Studies to show how the means of integrating those with disabilities into libraries and communities can be found in our everyday practices.

This latest volume of the Advances in Librarianship series presents original research exploring the modern state of democracies and social institutions, the contributions of libraries to the health and progress of democracies, and the political problems currently facing libraries as institutions. It details the best practices of library programs that provide political literacy education and promote civic engagement within communities. These practices include ways in which libraries can help diffuse political polarization, address significant policy issues of our day, promote political information literacy, support civic engagement, and facilitate participation in democratic processes. Libraries and the Global Retreat of Democracy: Confronting Polarization, Misinformation, and Suppression is structured in three sections - questions of personal and state democracy, investigations of how the information infrastructure shapes these democracies, and explorations of the ways that libraries can and do contribute to democracy. Situating libraries within political conversations, highlighting their centrality to these discussions, Libraries and the Global Retreat of Democracy focuses on how libraries coordinate their work in political and information literacy and how these efforts can be improved, he recommendations and examples within which will serve as inspiration and motivation to its readers.

There are 50 million people globally living with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, and tens of millions further who are their caregivers. As a public service, it is important that library and information professionals learn to serve and assist those with dementia.   Designed for seasoned professionals and library science students alike, this book first presents a complete overview of the spectrum disease known as Alzheimer’s dementia, as well as a basic understanding of the information needs of dementia caregivers. It then explores best practices, guidelines, and concrete ideas for serving those with dementia and their caregivers, including:   Customer service and communication, with evidence-based suggestions for working with this population; Information resources to best meet the reference needs of the community, as grounded in LIS user studies and health informatics;  Collection development for ongoing and appropriate mental and social stimulation of those experiencing cognitive decline; and  Programming ideas for both communities, with a wide variety of focus and content.  Lifelong learning, mental stimulation, and social connections are central to libraries’ core mission. Readers, both from library and information science and in related social services and social sciences disciplines, will gain a comprehensive toolkit for service both to those in cognitive decline and their caregivers, meeting the needs of both communities with thoughtful and innovative practices.

The results of decades of research shows that children and adolescents encounter challenges and obstacles in searching for information and retrieving relevant results, and have difficulty interpreting results within various information environments. However, a recent paradigm shift points to the changed information behavior of the new generation of users; children and adolescents born after the advent of the Web. Technologically savvy, they skim and surf for information, multi-task, search collaboratively, and share information on social networks. This book comprises innovative research on the information behavior of various age groups and special populations. It provides studies and reflections on designing systems that help the new generation cope with a complex knowledge society. In addition to information scholars, this book will also be of interest to information professionals, librarians, educators, Web designers, and human-computer interaction researchers.

An important component of library administration and organization in the modern age is managing projects. Once the realm of technology and business gurus, formal project management tools, techniques and schemas have become more commonplace in libraries. Using formal project management components can help libraries achieve their desired outcomes with less stress for employees. However, there can be an entry barrier to project management, since the concepts are still somewhat out of the range of the usual library administration experience. This volume of Advances in Library Administration and Organization attempts to put project management into the toolboxes of library administrators through overviews of concepts, analyses of experiences, and forecasts for the use of project management within the profession.

At the heart of any discussion about the future of libraries is the future of librarians—and how well our instructional programs, especially the Master of Library Science (MLS) degree, prepare them for their careers. Building on the Re-envisioning the MLS initiative from the University of Maryland’s iSchool and the Information Policy & Access Center (iPAC), this book continues the critical conversations around preparing future librarians.  Library and information science (LIS) programs are the foundation of librarianship, and their design requires input from everyone in the field—from academics designing programs and courses, to practitioners reflecting on how prepared (or unprepared) they are to serve their communities, to hiring authorities considering qualifications of candidates. The second installment of this two-part volume explores many of the challenges and opportunities inherent in the future of the MLS degree, including  the changing nature of the communities that libraries serve and how LIS education should address these changes, how archival training must accommodate big data,  the specialized skill sets librarians need on the job, and  how best to prepare librarians for their role as educators. These conversations will never be fully resolved, as LIS education must continue to evolve to ensure the efficacy of libraries and the librarians at the heart of the work.

At the heart of any discussion about the future of libraries is the future of librarians—and how well our instructional programs, especially the Master of Library Science (MLS) degree, prepare them for their careers. Building on the Re-envisioning the MLS initiative from the University of Maryland’s iSchool and the Information Policy & Access Center (iPAC), this book continues the critical conversations around preparing future librarians.  Library and information science (LIS) programs are the foundation of librarianship, and their design requires input from everyone in the field—from academics designing programs and courses, to practitioners reflecting on how prepared (or unprepared) they are to serve their communities, to hiring authorities considering qualifications of candidates.  The second installment of this two-part volume explores many of the challenges and opportunities inherent in the future of the MLS degree, including  the changing nature of the communities that libraries serve and how LIS education should address these changes, how archival training must accommodate big data,  the specialized skill sets librarians need on the job, and  how best to prepare librarians for their role as educators. These conversations will never be fully resolved, as LIS education must continue to evolve to ensure the efficacy of libraries and the librarians at the heart of the work.

The rampant health injustices that occur daily throughout the world are exacerbated by health information injustice – something which libraries and librarians play an instrumental role in addressing. This volume brings together librarians, LIS students, educators, and researchers, to discuss the many ways that information professionals and libraries serve as agents of securing health information justice.  Kicking off with an introductory chapter which covers the central concepts of health information injustice, the following chapters focus on the roles of libraries and librarians in improving consumer health literacy and reducing health disparities in their communities. In the final chapter, the editors draw on the authors’ work to highlight the ways in which libraries and librarians are moving us closer to health justice, and they also discuss how the COVID-19 pandemic is both illuminating and intensifying health disparities, reinforcing the need for libraries and librarians to continue their important roles as agents of health information justice to ensure the physical and intellectual accessibility of information for all.

Rural and small public libraries provide invaluable services to their communities. These information institutions operate in areas that, when compared to national averages, have poor broadband accessibility and weaker connection speeds, low home internet adoption rates, higher unemployment rates, and less per capita access to doctors and other healthcare providers. Public libraries help to bridge these divides and help to mitigate the impact of these geographic and socioeconomic disadvantages. However, librarians are only able to do so much when they are funded by limited, primarily local revenues and are not able to achieve economies of scale that come with larger service population bases. Thus, this volume begins by defining the challenges that rural and small libraries face before shifting to an analysis of ways that these obstacles can be overcome or mitigated. Building off of this foundation, the authors explore ideas for enhancing community partnerships and outreach, using rural and small public libraries as centers for local cultural heritage activities, and training rural public librarians to better serve their publics. The authors of this volume bridge the gap between academic research and practical application, creating a volume that will allow rural librarians, trustees, and their allies to argue for greater support and enact change to benefit their service communities.

This volume contains two Open Access Chapters Volume 1 of the two part collection Stories and Lessons from the World’s Leading Opera, Orchestra Librarians, and Music Archivists, explores the current trends and practices in the field of music performance librarianship. Featuring interviews and conversations from over twenty orchestra, opera, and ballet librarians and archivists working for some of the world’s leading performing arts and educational institutions from North and South America, this book is a helpful resource to librarians, and archivists who need to manage artifacts in a variety of situations in the world of performing arts. For music and library science professors, this serves as a useful teaching tool or reference material by allowing students to gain a glimpse into the profession of music performance librarianship. Finally, this book functions as a unique and important reference tool for all students who are considering a career in music performance librarianship or a profession in archives in the world of performing arts.