Public Libraries and the Right to the [Smart] City

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 55-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Blewitt
Keyword(s):  
Public Libraries ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Freedom Of Information ◽  
Library Services ◽  
Traditional Role ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Access To Knowledge ◽  
The Right ◽  
Funding Cuts

The future of public libraries has been threatened by funding cuts and new digital technologies which have led many people to question their traditional role and purpose. However, freedom of information, ready access to knowledge and information literacy in all its digital and analog guises are more important than ever. Thus, public libraries remain significant spaces and places where people can socially interact and learn. In many countries public libraries are reinventing themselves and part of this process has been the redesign of library services and the design and construction of new library building and facilities that articulate the values, purpose and role of what has been termed ‘the next library'. Following discussion of new library developments in London, Birmingham and Worcester in the UK, Aarhus in Denmark and Helsinki in Finland, the article concludes that public libraries are now both social and media spaces as well as being important physical places that can help city dwellers decide what type of urban world they want to see.

Public Libraries and the Right to the [Smart] City

2018 ◽  
pp. 1720-1735
Author(s):  
John Blewitt
Keyword(s):  
Public Libraries ◽  
Freedom Of Information ◽  
Library Services ◽  
Traditional Role ◽  
Ready Access ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Access To Knowledge ◽  
The Right ◽  
Funding Cuts

The future of public libraries has been threatened by funding cuts and new digital technologies which have led many people to question their traditional role and purpose. However, freedom of information, ready access to knowledge and information literacy in all its digital and analog guises are more important than ever. Thus, public libraries remain significant spaces and places where people can socially interact and learn. In many countries public libraries are reinventing themselves and part of this process has been the redesign of library services and the design and construction of new library building and facilities that articulate the values, purpose and role of what has been termed ‘the next library'. Following discussion of new library developments in London, Birmingham and Worcester in the UK, Aarhus in Denmark and Helsinki in Finland, the article concludes that public libraries are now both social and media spaces as well as being important physical places that can help city dwellers decide what type of urban world they want to see.

Libraries and Preservation of Indigenous Knowledge in Developing Countries

2014 ◽  
pp. 169-179
Author(s):  
Abdulmumin Isah ◽  
M. T. Bashorun ◽  
K. T. Omopupa
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Indigenous Knowledge ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Library Services ◽  
Cultural Institutions ◽  
Traditional Role ◽  
Information And Communication

This chapter traces the role of libraries in the preservation of Indigenous Knowledge (IK) in developing countries. It also highlights the nature of indigenous knowledge and the traditional role of libraries at preserving it for posterity; it discusses current issues surrounding the management of IK in libraries, archives, and other cultural institutions. It examines the various use of indigenous knowledge by array of information users within and outside the libraries. It x-rayed the traditional library services of identifying, acquiring, organizing, and presentation of IK to the adoption of Information and Communication Technologies. It concludes with the challenges in IK preservation and suggests measures that can be taken to alleviate the challenges.

How Public Libraries are Keeping Pace with the Times: Core Services of Libraries in Informational World Cities

Libri ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 68 (3) ◽  
pp. 181-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Born ◽  
Maria Henkel ◽  
Agnes Mainka
Keyword(s):  
Best Practice ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Knowledge Society ◽  
Public Library ◽  
Library Services ◽  
World Cities ◽  
Increasing Demand ◽  
The Times ◽  
Changing Role

Abstract In a survey of 31 informational world cities, we investigate the state of the art public library core services. For this study, we applied the core service catalog developed by (Mainka, A., S. Hartmann, L. Orszullok, I. Peters, A. Stallmann, and W. G. Stock. 2013. “Public Libraries in the Knowledge Society: Core Services of Libraries in Informational World Cities.” Libri 63 (4): 295–319. 10.1515/libri-2013-0024), counted the services offered by the libraries and compared findings with the results from 2013, allowing us to calculate a score for each library and rank them accordingly. An overall improvement of the range of services was observed, with North American libraries taking the top three positions in the ranking. To get a clearer picture of the challenges facing libraries today, personal interviews were also conducted with (chief) librarians, especially concerning developments such as maker spaces, increasing demand for information literacy instruction and the changing role of physical library space. The results presented in this paper highlight best practice examples of library services in prototypical cities of the knowledge society.

scholarly journals Translation, Copyright & Authority

Pólemos ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 361-391 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Cunningham
Keyword(s):  
Institutional Change ◽  
Critical Point ◽  
Copyright Law ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Right

Abstract The UK copyright law regime presents the right to adapt as the sole, authoritative instrument in matters of legitimising translation; a legal “Big Other” conferring an otherwise unreal objective commodity status on what are instead always only ever individual and subjective acts of translation. Drawing primarily on the work of Theo Hermans, and the experiences of poet Jack Underwood in unsuccessfully attempting to formally translate poems by Mascha Kaléko, this article argues for (a) the development and (at the very least) implicit recognition of deviationist and subversive translative replies within – or at the very least alongside – the traditional UK legal schema and (b) a softening of the UK right to adapt by application of the integrity moral right to translations. In addition, a deeper quasi-Ungerian notion of institutional change that accommodates both principles (e. g. legitimate translations can, of course, be argued to exist, to which copyright accords) and counterprinciples (there are also, however, in the long term only multiple acts of translation, some preferred and commoditized, some existing outside that sphere, less functional and more creative/expressive but no less important and not to be prevented for those reasons) can also be advanced. Finally, a much broader critical point regarding the nature and role (or non-role) of law in the context of creative practices more generally can also be presented.

Impact and performance measurement in public library services in the UK

2004 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 96-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bill Macnaught
Keyword(s):  
Performance Measurement ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Public Library ◽  
Cultural Development ◽  
Keynote Address ◽  
Library Services ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Uk

The paper was presented as a response to Curtis's keynote address published immediately preceding. Bill Macnaught is Head of Cultural Development at Gateshead Council, UK, with responsibility for public libraries. He contextualised Curtis's statements, with reference to the Gateshead experience.

Alternative Dispute Resolution and Individual Workplace Rights: The Evolving Role of Fair Work Australia

2011 ◽  
Vol 53 (5) ◽  
pp. 718-732 ◽  
Author(s):  
Therese MacDermott ◽  
Joellen Riley
Keyword(s):  
Dispute Resolution ◽  
Alternative Dispute Resolution ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Traditional Role ◽  
Adverse Action ◽  
Recognition And Enforcement ◽  
Workplace Rights ◽  
The Right ◽  
Resolution Processes

This article examines the dispute resolution practices of Fair Work Australia that are evolving to deal with individual workplace rights, as its traditional role shifts away from conciliating and arbitrating collective industrial disputes. The workplace rights enshrined in the ‘general protections’ provisions in Part 3-1 of the Fair Work Act 2009 protect employees and prospective employees from any ‘adverse action’ taken against them because they are exercising a workplace right, or because they fall within one of the protected categories, such as the right to be free from discrimination. A broad range of alternative dispute resolution processes is now available to Fair Work Australia in dealing with such disputes. Alternative dispute resolution processes are seen as a way of avoiding costly and time-consuming litigation, and in some circumstances can improve access to justice for individuals. This article explores whether Fair Work Australia is likely to adopt different dispute resolution approaches from its traditional conciliation practices when managing ‘general protections’ applications, and whether the framework for dealing with these disputes will facilitate fair recognition and enforcement of workplace rights.

Assessing mobile application components in providing library services

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Mansouri ◽  
Nooshin Soleymani Asl
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Applications ◽  
Mobile Application ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Mobile Apps ◽  
Library Services ◽  
Statistical Population ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Essential Components ◽  
The Right ◽  
Descriptive Survey

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the essential components needed to develop a practical mobile application for providing library services to its users.Design/methodology/approachThe study was conducted in a descriptive-survey format. The statistical population constituted the libraries worldwide using mobile applications to provide library services to the users of academic and public libraries. The data were collected through the content-analysis method, World Wide Web and checklists.FindingsIt was found that services such as search, ask a librarian, database, renew, circulation and library hours were frequently used at academic libraries, while the services of search, search through barcode scanners and database were mostly common at public libraries. According to the users of academic and public libraries, circulation and renew, search, ask a librarian and library hours were considered as the most essential services to be included in library mobile applications.Practical implicationsMost libraries usually use mobile apps subjectively. Thus, it is important to identify the most important components of their usage and present them in a suitable pattern. The findings of this study identified the most important components in the design and development of mobile apps and proposed the right model for their integration into libraries.Originality/valueThe practical mobile application proposed here for library services is applicable to all types of libraries and provides an appropriate pattern for mobile application designers.

scholarly journals ‘To be understood as to understand’: A readability analysis of public library acceptable use policies

2019 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 713-725 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elaine Robinson ◽  
David McMenemy
Keyword(s):  
Public Libraries ◽  
Public Library ◽  
Library Services ◽  
Information And Communications Technologies ◽  
Testing Procedures ◽  
Flesch Reading Ease ◽  
Ease Score ◽  
Acceptable Use Policies ◽  
The Uk ◽  
High Level

Acceptable Use Policies (AUPs) are documents stating the limitations users must agree to when first accessing information and communications technologies (ICTs) in organisations, such as employers, educational institutions and public libraries. AUPs lay out the parameters of acceptable use expected of someone accessing the ICT services provided, and should state in clear and understandable terms what behaviours will attract sanctions, both legal and in terms of restricting future access. Utilising a range of standard readability tests used to measure how understandable documents are, the paper investigates how readable the AUPs presented to public library patrons in the UK are in practice. Of the 206 AUPs in use across the local government departments who manage public library services 200 were obtained and subjected to a range of readability testing procedures. Four readability tests were used for analysis: the Flesch Reading Ease, the Coleman-Liau Index, the Gunning Fog Index and the SMOG Grade. Results for all four readability tests administered on all AUPs raise significant questions. For the Flesch Reading Ease score only 5.5% of AUPs scored at the standard readability level or higher (60+), and 8% scored at a very high level of difficulty akin to a piece of scientific writing. Similarly, for SMOG, only 7.5% of the 200 AUPs scored at the recommended level of 10. Likewise, very few AUPs scored at levels recommended for a general audience with either the Gunning Fog Index (11.5%) or the Coleman-Liau Index (2%). With such variability in readability, the fitness for purpose of the average AUP as a contract patrons must agree to can be called into question. This paper presents the first ever analysis of the readability of library AUPs in the literature. Recommendations are made as to how public library services may improve this aspect of practice.

Digital Libraries and Web Linking

2011 ◽  
pp. 273-293
Author(s):  
Maria G. Sinanidou
Keyword(s):  
Digital Libraries ◽  
Copyright Protection ◽  
World Wide ◽  
The Other ◽  
Digital Era ◽  
The One ◽  
Access To Knowledge ◽  
The Right ◽  
Flow Of Information

In the digital era knowledge and information are becoming more and more online accessible. In this perspective, libraries have a vital function in respect of copyright protection and accessibility to knowledge. On the one hand, web services are facilitating flow of information and access to knowledge; on the other hand, Internet moots questions regarding copyrights protection. The main purpose of linking is the creation of the World Wide Web as a thesaurus of knowledge and information. Nevertheless, digitization projects on an international level are already experiencing conversely issues, mainly because of copyright. Purpose of this chapter is to discuss some of these issues deriving from the linking, particularly for digital libraries. What is the relation between the scope of digital libraries on the one hand and of copyright on the other one? What is the role of the various stakeholders, i.e. the libraries and the right holders?

The right to healthcare

2020 ◽  
pp. 195-208
Author(s):  
Ann Marie Gray
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Social Care ◽  
Health And Social Care ◽  
Human Rights Act ◽  
Human Rights Act 1998 ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter explores the relationship between human rights and health and social care. It begins by setting out the main international mechanisms, at UN, EU and ECHR levels, and the obligations they place on governments. It then discusses the impact of international and domestic human rights instruments through an examination of developments in social care policy, and with regard to reproductive health care rights in Northern Ireland. It also highlights issues relating to devolution and the implementation of human rights in the UK and in particular the role of the Human Rights Act (1998).

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