Abstract
According to the most recent statistics by the US Department of Justice (“Correctional Populations in the United States, 2014,” accessed September 25, 2016 at http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/cpus14.pdf), more than 2.2 million people are incarcerated in the United States. Without access to fully stocked and staffed libraries or a connection to the Internet, a broad swath of this population faces significant barriers to accessing a broad range of information sources. This study analyzes the problem of information access for incarcerated people. The dataset was drawn from five semesters of classroom engagement with the New York Public Library (NYPL) letter service, with 290 reference letters having been answered between September 2013 and May 2015. The method of discourse analysis was used to analyze the information needs of people in prisons and jails in the context of information worlds. Geographic distribution and user satisfaction are also analyzed. The research discussion produced the following insights into “life in the round” (Elfreda A. Chatman, “A Theory of Life in the Round,” Journal of the American Society for Information Science 50 (3):207–17) of people in prisons and jails that emerged from the analysis of the data: the continuing relevance of reference sources; the fact that prison produces anxiety about employment/re-entry; and the development of a mode of discourse through the letter service. The study concludes that information needs of the users often are created by the prison itself. The analysis tells us more about how information works in prisons and jails. Understanding the information needs of incarcerated people offers insight for librarians and libraries seeking to better serve incarcerated populations. Future research should address the information that incarcerated users have, not what those of us on the outside imagine they do not.
References
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Appendix
Code Family: Directories
Quotations: 204
Codes (12):
| Associations | 31 quotations |
| Broadcast directory information | 7 quotations |
| Business directory information | 56 quotations |
| Corporate information | 9 quotations |
| Educational directories | 18 quotations |
| Government directory info | 31 quotations |
| Housing directory info | 5 quotations |
| Legal directories, people information | 11 quotations |
| Periodical directory information | 14 quotations |
| Public figure directory information | 21 quotations |
| Social services directory info | 17 quotations |
Code Family: Employment
Quotations: 96
Codes (2):
| Employment opportunities | 44 quotations |
| Entrepreneurship | 61 quotations |
Code Family: Entertainment
Quotations: 51
Codes (8):
| Baseball | 2 quotations |
| Drawing | 1 quotation |
| Entertainment | 10 quotations |
| Fan club | 2 quotations |
| Music | 23 quotations |
| Puzzles, games, crosswords, etc. | 1 quotation |
| Song lyrics | 7 quotations |
| Sports | 6 quotations |
Code Family: General reference
Quotations: 66
Codes (34):
| 3D printing | 2 quotations |
| Alphabet systems | 1 quotation |
| American Sign Language | 1 quotation |
| Biographical information | 3 quotations |
| Birthstones | 1 quotation |
| Bitcoin | 1 quotation |
| Black history | 5 quotations |
| Brain scanning | 1 quotation |
| Calendars | 1 quotation |
| Chinese calendar | 1 quotation |
| Chinese constitution | 1 quotation |
| Computers | 2 quotation |
| Cooking | 1 quotation |
| Document printing | 1 quotation |
| Dogs | 1 quotation |
| Friendship bracelets | 1 quotation |
| Gangs | 1 quotation |
| Geographic information | 8 quotations |
| History | 17 quotations |
| Holidays | 3 quotations |
| Hot dogs | 1 quotation |
| Kit cars | 1 quotation |
| Math | 1 quotation |
| Moon phases | 1 quotation |
| Name origins | 1 quotation |
| Nobel peace prize | 1 quotation |
| Numerical systems | 1 quotation |
| Plants | 2 quotations |
| Rainbows | 1 quotation |
| Rattlesnakes | 1 quotation |
| Secret societies | 2 quotations |
| Transcripts | 1 quotation |
| Translation services | 1 quotation |
| Weather information | 1 quotation |
Code Family: Government information
Quotations: 74
Codes (7):
| Census information | 1 quotation |
| Federal government | 42 quotations |
| Government information | 10 quotations |
| International government | 2 quotations |
| Local government | 5 quotations |
| Patents, trademarks, copyright | 8 quotations |
| State government | 17 quotations |
Code Family: Housing information
Quotations: 27
Codes (6):
| Halfway houses | 6 quotations |
| Housing information | 11 quotations |
| Public housing information | 1 quotations |
| Purchasing housing | 5 quotations |
| Shelters | 3 quotations |
| Transitional housing | 1 quotations |
Code Family: Legal information
Quotations: 81
Codes (9):
| Americans with Disabilities Act | 1 quotation |
| Family law | 4 quotations |
| Freedom of Information Law | 3 quotations |
| Gun laws and legislation | 1 quotation |
| Legal information | 48 quotations |
| Rights of incarcerated people | 22 quotations |
| Rights of the formerly incarcerated | 5 quotations |
| State law | 2 quotations |
| Stop and frisk | 1 quotation |
Code Family: Nature
Quotations: 900
Codes (3):
| Practical | 589 quotations |
| Recreational | 312 quotations |
| To be determined | 2 quotations |
Code Family: Professional licenses
Quotations: 11
Codes (7):
| Auction license | 1 quotation |
| Barber license | 1 quotations |
| Car dealer’s license | 2 quotations |
| Driver’s license | 2 quotations |
| Exterminator license | 1 quotation |
| Sanitation department | 2 quotations |
| Vendor’s license | 4 quotations |
Code Family: Religion and spirituality
Quotations: 29
Codes (7):
| Catholicism | 2 quotations |
| Hinduism | 1 quotations |
| New age | 5 quotations |
| Religion | 19 quotations |
| Religion and spirituality | 4 quotations |
| Satanism | 2 quotations |
| Tantric yoga | 1 quotations |
©2016 by De Gruyter
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- A Theory of Metadata Enriching and Filtering
- A Study on Research Trends in Public Library Research in Korea Using Keyword Networks
- The Contribution of Effective Library and Information Services to Academic Achievements at Some Selected Universities in Ghana
- Information Needs in Prisons and Jails: A Discourse Analytic Approach
- The Economic Value of Book Loans – The Case of the Municipal Library of Prague
- Breathing Life into Rare Book Collections: The Digitization of the Taiga Skit Old Believers Library
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- A Theory of Metadata Enriching and Filtering
- A Study on Research Trends in Public Library Research in Korea Using Keyword Networks
- The Contribution of Effective Library and Information Services to Academic Achievements at Some Selected Universities in Ghana
- Information Needs in Prisons and Jails: A Discourse Analytic Approach
- The Economic Value of Book Loans – The Case of the Municipal Library of Prague
- Breathing Life into Rare Book Collections: The Digitization of the Taiga Skit Old Believers Library