Volume 20, Issue 1

More than one million residents were displaced by Hurricane Katrina and the New Orleans Flood. Uprooted from their lives and dispersed across the country, survivors found themselves hundreds of miles away from home. Some found comfort and much needed information in public libraries. This article discusses the library experiences of survivors as revealed through an online survey and in-depth interviews. The study, conducted from August to October of 2006, found that nearly one-half of survey respondents and 40% of interviewees used libraries following the disasters. The reasons for their visits included Internet access, information and technology assistance, mental escape, and refuge. Participants also discussed how the destruction of libraries added to their sense of loss and how the restoration of libraries gave them a sense of hope.

Through women outnumber men at a ratio of approximately 4:1 in the library and information science (LIS) field as a whole and 3:1 in academic librarianship, past studies suggest that male-authored LIS print journal articles outnumber female-authored articles both in number and in citations received. The amount of citations received can serve as an indication of status within the LIS profession and can affect chances for professional advancement. This study uses citation analysis to measure patterns of gender, authorship and citation within the LIS e-journals LIBRES and Information Research, and compares these results to Hakanson’s (2005) citation analysis of gender and citation patterns in three core LIS print journals.
Results of this study suggest gendered affinity in citation and reference behavior. Findings include that from 1995-2007 more men than women published articles in LIBRES and Information Research; that both men and women referenced more male-authored articles; that men referenced male-authored articles at a greater rate than women referenced female-authored articles; that articles by women received more citations overall; and that men cited articles by men at a greater rate than they cited articles by women.
Though female authorship was proportionately higher in the two LIS e-journals than in the three core LIS print journals, the imbalance in citation and reference patterns suggest that gender influences both male and female authors’ choice of references, as well as the amount of citations that authors receive.

Despite widespread use of Internet search engines, the online catalogue is still the main pathway to the collection of a particular library. The use of Internet search engines does, however, have implications for user expectations around the online catalogue, and search strategies when using the online catalogue. There is much research on online catalogue use that predates search engine use, and there is a need for more up-to-date research, particularly on the use of online catalogues in public libraries. This paper reports on an analysis of transaction logs of end users of the online catalogue of a large public library in Australia, the State Library of Victoria. It compares searches over four years, taking into account the search settings and search strategies and looking at search success, including the reasons for search failure. The paper also introduces the concept of abandonment rates to online catalogue search, defining a metric that adds to the useful information that can be determined from transaction logs. The paper uses the findings as the basis for its concluding recommendations for how public library users can be assisted to find what they are looking for on the library catalogue.

South Africa came out of apartheid rule in 1994. This transition has brought with it its own set of challenges including that of access to information, an essential pillar in upholding a democracy. In this transitional period, South Africa is reliant on every possible institution to contribute to the growth of its fledgling democracy.
It is clearly evident from the literature that democratic societies are dependent on such institutions as public libraries to uphold fundamental principles of democracy. This paper reflects on the public library, within the South African context, as an essential institution in the growth and sustainability of democracy through equitable access to information and knowledge. The paper discusses issues such as the public library and its role in equitable access to information, the contradictory environments within South Africa, recreational reading and the public library scenario, lifelong learning, and the public library and the educational system. Other issues such as support for indigenous materials and adult literacy are also addressed in the paper.
The authors conclude that the real concern in South Africa today is the gulf between the “haves”, of any colour, and the “have-nots” and the capacity of the public library to bridge that gap via its contribution to the reduction of illiteracy, poverty and unemployment, the scourge of Africa and South Africa. It is a given that public libraries play a critical role in the propagation of democracy, especially in a continent that has been plagued by dictatorships and military rule.