Sue Reynolds

Learning Spaces in Academic Libraries – A Review of the Evolving Trends

This paper presents a review of the professional discourse regarding the evolution of information and learning spaces in academic libraries, particularly in the first decade of the twenty-first century. It investigates the evolution of academic libraries and the development of learning spaces focusing on the use of the terms which have evolved from the information commons concept. The literature review is primarily guided by an effort to make clearly visible the connections and distinctions between different models for the use of space in academic libraries for delivering information and learning services, up to the very recent occurrence of “maker spaces”. Attention is given to the language used to describe the different models and to changing historical factors, purposes, pedagogical influences, and attributes of each model for better recognition of shifts and emerging trends.

Passionate Practitioners: Engaging Not Just the Head but also the Heart.

This conceptual paper will discuss how Australian library and information science (LIS) educators have adapted passion-based learning theory for the post-graduate environment. The learning environment has been developed to both facilitate the acquisition of short-term employability skills for the industry and also to allow students to connect more deeply with the rich and diverse culture of their new profession and wider LIS community.

Crossing borders: Evaluating a work integrated learning project involving Australian and Vietnamese students

The value of work integrated learning (WIL) is well-established in the education of information management (IM) professionals. Adding value to WIL through cross-cultural or cross-disciplinary experiences is considered in this article. Using online communication, simulation activities, and onsite work, students from RMIT Melbourne and RMIT Ho Chi Minh City were involved in planning, negotiating, and delivering specific projects in the Da Nang General Hospital (DNGH) in Vietnam as part of their WIL . Evaluation of the whole project was undertaken through the collection of data from an online survey which rated the importance and performance of specific elements of the project. Feedback from focus group interviews was also collected and has informed the evaluation. The analysis of the data revealed positive participant perceptions of the outcomes of the project and its importance which may be taken into consideration by similar cross-cultural projects.

A Nineteenth Century Library and Its Librarian: Factotum, Bookman or Professional?

The recurring question of ‘what is a librarian?’ was of as much interest in the new Colony of Victoria in the nineteenth century as it is in the 21st century. From 1854 to 1864, during a protracted endeavour to convince the colonial government to include in its civil establishment, and thus pay for, a librarian for the Supreme Court Library, the designation ‘librarian’ was applied expediently to various people performing a variety of tasks in the Library, depending on the arguments being presented to the Government by the Library Committee, which included Sir Redmond Barry, or by the Government in response.

Engaging with our future: the role of educators, practitioners, professional associations and employing organisations in the co-creation of information professionals*

Abstract This article considers the shared role of library and information studies (LIS) educators, practitioners, employing organisations and the professional associations in the development of LIS graduates and new professionals. The application of a passion-based approach to student learning, and the encouragement of ‘scholarly citizenship’ in students, helps to develop graduates who are already engaged with, passionate about and committed to the profession they are about to enter. However, new professionals need to be further enculturated into the profession and practice of LIS and nurtured in order for their passion to be sustained and good professional and organisational ‘citizenship’ developed. Passion and engagement are closely connected with good citizenship in the academy, workplace and profession where citizenship is a willingness to contribute beyond the usual requirements of participation, employment or membership. This article first describes why people enter the information professions and then presents a variety of strategies for academic programs and the information profession to develop the values of passion, engagement and citizenship in new professionals.

Highways and byways: future directions for Australian public libraries

It is important for libraries to confront and successfully adapt for the future needs of users in a world which is continually and rapidly changing. The Australian Library and Information Association believes that Australian libraries are part of a worldwide network of libraries and that the future success of Australia’s public library networks will be determined in part by the future successes, or failures, of public libraries on a global scale. In order to do the planning required, libraries in Australia and internationally are envisioning their future. This research analysed a range of forecasting reports in order to identify the themes and trends that are most likely to have an impact on how Australian public library services are offered, operated, funded and used into the future, a future which is in flux and uncertain. A range of published documents address the predicted future of libraries. These documents cover various time spans, from 2012 out to 2030, and vary in their predictions. The intent of this research project was to map the themes determined from the individual published documents in varying contexts (date span and geographic location) to produce an overview of convergence and divergence. The reports examined are not an exhaustive coverage of the literature that currently exists on the topic of the future of Australian public libraries, let alone the future of libraries generally on a global scale, but the results of the project indicate both agreement and disagreement, enabling a wider view than might be seen by individual organisations.

There and Back Again: Reimagining the Public Library for the Twenty-First Century

The redefining of the scope and function of the public library in the twenty-first century, and reconstruction of the virtual and physical space it occupies, appear to have taken public libraries on a journey to “there and back again.” In some of the debates surrounding contemporary challenges, we can discern echoes from previous generations as they too debated the primary role of the public library in the community, the nature and purpose of services and resources provided, and the best way to meet community needs. Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, many of the solutions reached by twenty-first century libraries have much in common with the solutions of previous generations. Reflecting early public library activities, today’s responses include the introduction of nonstandard classification schemes; the expansion of programs to enhance recreational and educational pursuits; the integration of multiple community services within the library; and provision of a variety of community learning, creative, and recreational spaces. Using the development of public libraries in Australia as a case study, and a critical narrative approach, this paper will argue that the vision for the function and purpose of the public library in the twenty-first century is not a new one but, perhaps unconsciously, a return to historical foundations.

Libraries, Librarians and Librarianship in the colony of Victoria

This paper examines the role of Redmond Barry in the establishment and management of the four major institutional libraries established in the Colony of Victoria after its separation from New South Wales. The libraries of the Parliament, University, Supreme Court, and the Melbourne Public Library were all instigated by Redmond Barry, a judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria. They are considered with the aim of determining if Barry saw each as requiring the same management strategy from a personal view of how libraries should be run, or if they reflected the management strategies of other libraries of the same type established in the same time period.

Succession Planning in Vietnamese Libraries: Challenges and Solutions

Research into succession planning was first conducted in the business, educational, government, not-for-profit and healthcare sectors and introduced in libraries in the late twentieth century, There is limited literature addressing library succession planning generally, and no literature related to the concept as it exists in Vietnam. Library succession planning has been in existence for over 20 years internationally but has only recently been introduced in libraries in Vietnam. Vietnamese libraries have an embryonic recruitment culture where the concept of succession planning is often unknown or little understood by staff at all levels of the library, from general staff to senior managers and board members. Additionally, the implementation of succession planning in Vietnamese libraries faces many challenges including availability and suitability of staff for management positions, the political environment, and succession processes themselves. This chapter examines these issues as they impact on the information sector, focusing on academic and public libraries in the Mekong Delta area of Vietnam. Based on interviews and a survey of library leaders and staff, and underpinned by transformational leadership theory, this chapter considers existing succession planning processes and makes recommendations on how these processes may be adjusted and developed to meet and overcome challenges in Vietnamese libraries, and beyond.

“Disaffection in the library”: shaping a living centre of learning

Purpose – To most minds libraries exist at the periphery of debates over education and educational reform. However, the purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how, in 1910, the Melbourne Public Library (now the State Library of Victoria) was central, rather than peripheral, to a conflict which focussed on the role of the library in education and how the library and its collection could best be organised to meet this purpose. It will be argued that libraries and the way they are organised act as indices of the dominant views about education and can be seen as social and educational artefacts. As artefacts they encapsulate community beliefs about how learning could best occur at a given time and what knowledge was esteemed, made available and to whom.Design/methodology/approach – To illustrate this point of view and illuminate the broader issues, this paper will use a particular set of events and a particular group of protagonists in Australian history as a case study.Findings – This case study illuminates...