Volume 63, Issue 4

PLOS ONE (formerly PLoS ONE) is an international open access online journal published by the Public Library of Science. The periodical covers all science and medicine categories and has published as many as 28,852 documents from 2007 to 2011. PLOS ONE will be used to show the range of journal metrics and informetric methods regarding validity, practicability and informative value. To assess this data as specifically as possible and to address all relevant factors, the evaluation is split into five dimensions, each of which involves distinct metrics. The five dimensions are journal output, journal content, journal perception, journal citations and journal management. Each of them is pointed out in the process of the analyses, and all significant evaluation results are presented. The results show that PLOS ONE has experienced an enormous development. Because of a relatively low rejection rate of 31%, its openness towards a multitude of different research areas, an internationally large peer review community, and its open access, a plurality of documents can be published in comparison with a print-journal or other online periodicals. The results of the evaluation indicate that PLOS ONE should be assessed from numerous perspectives because there are a variety of indicators beyond the impact factor that can be made use of in order to evaluate exhaustively the standing of the journal as well as its prestige and impact.

The Better Beginnings READ! 3 pilot initiative, conducted through public libraries in Western Australia, sought to engage adult readers who were either emerging readers or who had ‘lost the reading habit’ in a three month reading challenge. The challenge involved adult readers reading three items in three months and being rewarded for their involvement through certificates and prizes. In seeking to make contact with those adult readers, it was suggested that librarians or library officers make contact with various community groups or businesses, or with adults directly. This qualitative study examined how the initiative was implemented and promoted in three libraries and identified the range of issues that had impact on its implementation. The study collected data from participants at each site in two stages: during the implementation of the initiative; and at the conclusion of the initiative. The study found that librarians and library officers either acted as drivers, themselves, or needed coordinators of community groups to act as co-drivers to enhance the implementation of the initiative. Various issues at each site affected the implementation of the initiative and a consideration of these issues enabled this study to offer recommendations for future implementation of similar initiatives.

This is a case study on information literacy (IL) practices in university libraries in Nigeria, the UK and the US. An online questionnaire was used for data collection. University libraries in the UK and US provide IL training in all the areas mentioned compared to university libraries in Nigeria. There are differences between university libraries in UK, US and Nigeria in IL training delivery methods. However, barriers such as lack of facilities, lack of understanding of IL, students’ nonchalant attitude towards attending IL sessions, and low acceptance of the online approach were identified as factors militating against librarians’ efforts when advocating and providing IL training in the university libraries in Nigeria, while barriers such as lack of time allotted for teaching IL skills, students tendency to be apathetic and bored, and a lack of understanding of what IL is were mentioned by the libraries studied in the UK and US. To have effective IL training programmes, university authorities in developing countries should see the need to provide the necessary facilities such as computers with stable Internet access in university libraries, regular power supplies, and training of librarians on IT. Most of all, librarians should collaborate with other stakeholders in their institutions to ensure an IL policy formulation and implementation in their institutions.

Informational Cities are the prototypical spaces of the knowledge society. Public libraries play an important role as parts of the digital, smart, knowledge and creative infrastructures of these Informational Cities. Libraries have economic value as location factors in the two spaces of Informational Cities, the physical and the digital. For this reason, we divided the library services into two main groups, namely the digital library and the physical library. For 31 specified Informational World Cities, we empirically analyzed the core services of their public libraries via content analysis of the libraries’ Web pages. Additionally, we studied these libraries’ social media activities. Many libraries provide free e-resources (above all, e-books, e-journals and bibliographical databases) to their customers. Libraries offer digital reference services, mainly via e-mail and Web forms. Their presence in social media is dominated by posts on Facebook and Twitter. Nearly all public libraries we analyzed represent attractive architectural landmarks in their region. Besides offering spaces for children, the libraries provide rooms for learning and getting together and, to a lesser degree, modular working spaces. Most libraries provide Wi-Fi inside their buildings; more than half of those we investigated work with RFID technology. The prototypical public library in the knowledge society has two core services: (1) to support citizens, companies and administrations in their city and region with digital services, namely e-resources as well as reference services, and to communicate with their customers via social media; and (2) to provide physical spaces for meeting, learning and working, as well as areas for children and other groups, in a building that is a landmark of the city.

The discussion and analysis of the diverse outreach activities in this article provide guidance and suggestions for academic librarians who are interested in outreach and community engagement of any scale and nature. Cases are draw from a wide spectrum and are particularly strong in the setting of large academic libraries, special collections and programming for multicultural populations. The aim of this study is to present the results of research carried out regarding the needs, demand and consumption of European Union information by users in European Documentation Centres (EDC). A quantitative methodology was chosen based on a questionnaire with 24 items. This questionnaire was distributed within the EDC of Salamanca, Spain, and the EDC of Porto, Portugal, during specific time intervals between 2010 and 2011. We examined the level of EU information that EDC users possess, and identified the factors that facilitate or hinder access to EU information, the topics most demanded, and the types of documents consulted. Analysis was made of the use that the consumer of European information makes of databases and their behaviour during the consultation. Although the sample used was not very significant owing to its small size, it is a faithful reflection of the scarce visits made to EDCs. This study can be of use to managers of EDCs, providing them with better knowledge of the information needs and demands of their users. Ultimately this should lead to improvements in the services offered. The study lies within a frame of research scarcely addressed in specialized scholarly literature: European Union information.

The problem of education for librarians in Singapore came into being in the late 1950s and early 1960s as the country prepared for independence from the British Empire. Initial plans for a library school could not garner the political support necessary for their realization so that library education was instead provided through the Library Association (U.K.) and its facility for taking exams by correspondence. When the Association decided to discontinue this facility, alternatives were sought. At first a part-time course of studies was developed by the Library Association of Singapore (LAS) and certified by the Public Service Commission, but criticism of this programme led to renewed calls for a library school in Singapore. The rapid proliferation of digital information technology gave the library community the leverage it needed to finally realize this dream in 1993.

This paper outlines the approaches that can be used in the deployment of an information service for geography teachers in a developing country in Africa. The paper is based on a study of Lesotho geography teachers’ information behaviour that aimed to guide the design of information service for these teachers. It enumerates the process of designing an information service for these teachers including a user needs assessment. The study used triangulation by using multiple data collection methods on three sets of participants. Data were collected from in-service geography teachers using focus group discussions, from prospective geography teachers with a questionnaire and from stakeholders involved in geography education in Lesotho through interviews. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and content analysis were used to analyse the data. The paper presents the working context of the geography teachers, their information needs and preference for information sources and communication channels. It also proposes a collaborative information service model for the geography teachers. This includes an implementation agency involving the information specialists, subject specialists and stakeholders working together to assist teachers with information. The paper outlines modalities for the implementation of the information service. It ends with possible strategies for evaluating the impact of the information service to check the achievements against the set objectives. It concludes that the information service model can be adapted as a prototype for other teachers across the curriculum as well as in other developing countries in a setting similar to that of Lesotho.

Since 2005 at least fifteen community and public libraries have been deliberately set alight in South African townships and informal settlements, reportedly by individuals or groups from the communities which these libraries were intended to serve. This has given rise to dismay, horror and outrage among librarians. This article seeks to situate the deliberate destruction of libraries in a broader international context before focusing on the South African context of what are commonly called “service delivery protests.” An overview is given of some recent scholarly analyses of violent protests in South African communities in an attempt to answer four questions: (1) what were the circumstances in which libraries were set alight? (2) who did this? (3) were libraries deliberately targeted or were they simply collateral damage? and (4) if libraries were deliberately targeted, what motivated this? A fifth question concerns how the South African library profession responded to these incidents. Using the burning of the Ratanda Library on 20 March 2012 as a case study, the article explores the response of the South African library profession to the incident. In an analysis of the content of contributions posted on the discussion list and website of the Library and Information Association of South Africa (LIASA), four main groups of themes are identified. These concern expressions of revulsion, the impact of the incident, professional action, and underlying societal issues. The article concludes with some observations on the responses of the South African library community.