****Apologies for cross posting****
List members might like to know that reports based on
research funded by the Library and Information Commission are still
emerging. Report details will continue to be added to the LIC website. It is
therefore worth checking the site periodically for new items.
Listed below are 2 recent reports which I do not think have
been announced before. Unless noted otherwise the reports are available for
£12.00 from the British Thesis Service, The British Library Document Supply
Centre, Boston Spa, Wetherby, West Yorkshire LS23 7BQ tel: +44 (0) 1937
546229 fax: +44 (0)1937 546286 email: [log in to unmask]
1)A Mass Observation of the public library
2)The legal deposit of local publications: a case study of Leicestershire,
Leicester and Rutland
A Mass Observation of the public library
by Alistair Black and Melvyn Crann
iv,27p
LIC research report 69
ISBN: 1902394402
The prime aim of this project was the generation of an extensive, open
access public commentary on public library activity and status. The evidence
collected shows where the institution stands in the public eye. It points to
why public libraries are used, what they do well, what they do badly and,
above all, what they mean to the general public. The documents assembled are
freely available at the Mass-Observation Archive to researchers, such as
public library policy-makers and strategists looking to deepen their
understanding of the social context in which public libraries operate. It is
anticipated that the data-set will be useful to future researchers: in the
short term to analysts of the institution seeking to contextualise their
work with reference to a temporal benchmark of public attitude and use. The
report contains a preliminary analysis of volunteers' written commentaries,
as well as a discussion of methodological issues which concludes that the
Mass-Observation method should be viewed as a legitimate and valuable
approach in researching the role, value and effectiveness of the public
library.
The legal deposit of local publications: a case study of Leicestershire,
Leicester and Rutland
by Richard Harris, John Feather and Margaret Evans
75p
LIC research report 70
ISBN 1902394410
This report describes the publishing activity of local organisations in
Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland and finds that an estimated 7,500
organisations have produced at least one publication in the last year, or at
least one publication for every 133 members of the population. The report
then describes the current collecting activity within Leicestershire and at
the British Library, and concludes that local publications can only be
collected at a substantial level by local agencies, and not the legal
deposit libraries. The current good practice within the county should form
the basis for development of the National Published Archive for local
publications. The report identifies a number of issues raised by the concept
of using local agencies in an extended National Published Archive. Issues of
co-ordination, standard setting, resourcing, cataloguing, storage and
networking are raised in discussions with local and national stakeholders.
The report concludes with a number of recommendations by which the coverage
of local publications can be improved, locally and nationally.
Sarah Woodward
Communications Assistant
Resource: The Council for Museums Archives and Libraries
[log in to unmask]
www.resource.gov.uk
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