Volume 65, Issue 4 -

Public libraries continually struggle to define their social value, and economic or educational rationales are commonly submitted to this end. In contrast to these approaches, public sphere theory emphasizes the political and social justice aspects of public libraries. Existing library literature has established strong associations between public sphere theory and public libraries, and a tentative model of the public sphere in public libraries has been developed. It is not yet clear, however, how a public sphere model of public libraries might benefit the profession. This paper therefore explains how a conceptual model of the public sphere in public libraries can serve as a potential framework and research agenda for the public library sector. A model of the public sphere in public libraries contains three main arenas of discourse: governance, legitimation, and commons. Each of the arenas represents values that are central to public librarianship. Practitioners and scholars in the public library sector can use the public sphere model to orient research and practice. This paper explains each arena in detail and discusses the model’s relevance as a philosophy and research agenda.

The purpose of this study was to explore the situation of print publication in Pakistan and further develop feasible and reliable methods/techniques that can be used to measure the level of compliance to the depository law of the country. This study was the first attempt of its kind in measuring the compliance level of Pakistani publishers using the check list techniques which has been contiguous for four years 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013. The sample technique (indicator A1.1.4.2 b) was selected by considering numerous list checking techniques, either proposed by ISO, ISO/TR 28118:2009 or Koninklijke Bibliotheek (KB) studies and Penzhorn studies. 200 commercial publishers from Lahore and Rawalpindi, in an equal ratio, were selected through convenience sampling. The analysis of existing data was carried out to obtain figures indicating the number/percentages of books delivered as legal deposit. It revealed a compliance rate of 18% to 30% which is very low in view of most countries who claim to have 100% or nearly a 100% compliance. The compliance of larger publishers is better as compared to medium and smaller publishers. The compliance rate of English books is comparatively better but Urdu books and especially Islamic books’ compliance rate is not up to the mark. It also revealed that the publication of PNB (Pakistan National Bibliography) was not consistent till 1999 but after that period the national bibliography was published annually. However, the coverage of the 2014 publication was late. This type of exploration has never been conducted previously and the main goal of this project is related to its innovative and creative role in recognizing the applied matters that are confronted in the jurisdiction of depository law in Pakistan and this study will help to initiate more detailed and comprehensive studies.

In recent years, stronger collaboration between China’s public cultural institutions had led to the creation of several public digital cultural resources integration projects, yet certain factors have still hindered the development of the digital integration. In this study, the potential impeding factors were found via literature research and interviews. A questionnaire survey was conducted to investigate the opinions of employees at China’s public cultural institutions regarding these factors. It can be concluded from the survey that the barriers are the institutions’ lack of willingness and capacity to cooperate, segmented management systems, lack of management for the integration projects, intellectual property problems, insufficient policy support, lack of unified standards, lack of diverse sources of funding, and lack of awareness by governments and institutions. The solutions are also discussed.

Equal access has serious implications for the growing chasm in learning in remote areas and in economically disadvantaged communities. To help bridge the digital divide for children in remote areas, engaging communities to provide the needed resources in remote schools is essential. With an aim to promoting teachers’ adaptation of tablet reading and teaching among remote schools, a platform for sharing experiences and exchanging ideas among teachers was developed. College students also volunteered for follow-up mobile reading promotion in order to provide needed human resources for tablet reading integration among disadvantaged communities. Collaborative efforts by the university and teachers in remote schools provided a case for study. The main issues explored in this study were: (1) how teachers in remote areas adapted tablet reading in the classroom, and (2) what university students experienced from promoting tablet reading. This paper presents a qualitative analysis of integrating volunteer services and civic engagement in promoting tablet reading, and highlights the mutual benefits, challenges, and recommendations for future implementation. Various data resources were integrated into the inductive analysis, and different resources were used for triangulating the reported phenomena. The study concludes that the teachers obtained experience of tablet reading, and the college students experienced innovative volunteer-service opportunities. The collaboration among the society, the university, and learning sites were all essential for promoting tablet reading among children in remote areas.

The success of agricultural development programmes in developing countries largely depends on the nature and extent of the use of mass media in the mobilisation of people for development. The media, which offers unique opportunities to disseminate information, can play an important role in informing citizens about social, academic, and economic issues, amongst others. This is also true in the agricultural sector. Radio for example, is an inexpensive medium, and therefore enjoys a wide range of diffusion, even among rural and less literate people who have access to fewer information resources. The purpose of this study was to investigate how the print and electronic media sources are contributing to the communication of information relating to agricultural development in Zimbabwe. A questionnaire was distributed to all media houses in Zimbabwe. The results indicate that there is a significant coverage, by the media, of issues relating to agriculture and the agriculture industry. The broadcast media in particular, make efforts to reach out to a range of audiences who speak minority languages such as Kalanga, Venda, Sotho, Doma, Yao, and Shangaan. However, the media face challenges, including a lack of subject specialists, language barriers, constraints on financial and material resources, and poor road infrastructure that inhibits travelling. This study recommends training, short courses on agriculture reporting, and courses that provide information on the available resources to improve the quality of news and information regarding agriculture-related issues reaching mainly rural audiences of farmers in Zimbabwe.

This article explores the professional experiences of library and information science (LIS) graduates who pursue non-library roles. The changes impacting the LIS profession make this an important topic as Masters of Library and Information Science programs are increasingly marketing their programs as preparing students for a wide range of professional opportunities. In particular, this article explores some of the types of non-library roles pursued by LIS graduates, the transferable competencies that allow LIS graduates to transition into these work roles, how these professionals develop the skills and competencies that they need to transfer into new employment opportunities, and the desired career paths and career planning activities of LIS graduates working in non-library roles. These data were collected in a grounded theory study involving 20 LIS graduates working in a range of non-library roles. This research may help LIS educators to better prepare their students for diverse career opportunities and LIS program administrators to promote their programs to a wider range of potential students.