Review of: Lund, Nils Windfeld (2024). Introduction to documentation studies: complementary studies of documentation, communication and information. London: Facet Publishing, ISBN 9781783301898

Purpose The aim of this study is to contribute to extended knowledge about the role of standardization of university library operations and its consequences.

Design/methodology/approach This research employs a practice-theoretically oriented analysis method with a focus on documents. The Chilean standards for university libraries, which are in focus, are conceptualised as a site that encompasses those who drafted them and librarians who are expected to follow them. The study can be termed a document ethnography, which in this case includes the methods of interviewing and document analysis.

Findings Whereas commonalities among libraries are in focus for the drafters, librarians are foregrounding context-related particularities and local practices. This results in a collision between different purposes and interests regarding how to use standards. The librarians perceive that standards are primarily intended for management and that they provide little support for everyday work. In accordance, to librarians, the work done by people in managerial positions regarding standards often seems opaque or obscured. Furthermore, for librarians, even though standards are ubiquitous, they are not visible in the daily work.

Originality/value The document ethnography as a research approach is drawn from the field of science and technology studies and has not previously been used in library research. Standards for university libraries have not been studied in this way before, either in Chile or elsewhere. The study has contributed to making “the dark sides of standards” within the Chilean academic library landscape visible.

Introduction. To do a good job, public librarians must stay informed and updated on matters related to their work. Seeking and making use of information is ubiquitous in librarians’ everyday work life but this part of their work is elusive and hard to identify. This paper presents a study of how Swedish public librarians keep updated with professional information. It aims to elucidate the parts of this work that occur silently and often outside of formal working hours. Method. The empirical data consists of recorded and transcribed interviews with librarians at Swedish public libraries. Analysis. The activity focused on in the study is conceptualised using the theoretical concept of articulation work, which is used to describe and analyse how various tasks are linked together into an overarching whole recognised as the abstract phenomenon of work. Results. The analysis shows how information seeking and use constitute a fundamental part of the work but also plays a significant role in the library's efforts towards direction and development. Conclusion. Failing to make visible this information practice may contribute to reducing the legitimacy of the activity, ultimately leading to this fundamental element not receiving the time and space it seems to require.

It is argued that developing digital abilities is key for today's knowledge society. They facilitate engaging with pervasive information communication technologies and manipulating information. Governments have invested vastly in formal education aimed at developing digital abilities. Policies and directives driving this venture need to be examined. Otherwise, their potential risks being thwarted. Grounded in concepts derived from Laclau and Mouffe, five public policy documents central to Chile's Secondary Vocational Education and Traning (S-TVET) system underwent a synchronic heuristic discourse analysis as understood under relational-ontology. Findings indicate that all analysed documents are articulated with a myth of an information society. Additionally, two prominent discourses were identified: an instrumentalization discourse and an empowerment discourse. When referencing S-TVET, however, the most salient discourse is that of instrumentalization. Instrumentalization discourses render digital abilities under a narrow corporate fixed set of decontextualised skills, and risk thwarting their potential.

Den språkliga mångfalden växer i Sverige (Parkvall, 2019). Av Sveriges befolkning är 20 % födda utomlands (SCB, 2022). Av 2017 års SOM-rapport (Höglund, 2017), vilken presenterar en mätning av befolkningens biblioteksvanor, framgår att utrikes födda besöker biblioteken ”i något större utsträckning” (s. 336) än personer födda i Sverige. Folkbibliotekens verksamheter för nyanlända har utökats och blivit mer mångfacetterade under de senaste sju åren, men trots det – eller möjligen på grund därav – finns fortsatt stora behov av fler språk och breddad representation bland folkbibliotekens personal (Pilerot & Hultgren, 2017; Pilerot & Lindberg, 2018).

Med finansiering från Kulturrådet under rubriken Stöd till stärkta bibliotek i hela landet har folkbiblioteken i Göteborg, Kungsbacka och Alingsås genomfört ett projekt under rubriken Nyanlända biblioteksguider. Syftet med projektet beskrevs i ansökan till Kulturrådet bland annat som att biblioteken skulle stärkas med språklig och kulturell kompetens genom att anställa relativt nyanlända personer som biblioteksguider. I korthet har projektet inneburit att 18 utrikes födda personer har erbjudits en sju månader lång anställning vid biblioteken. Inom ramen för anställningen har de även deltagit i en utbildning benämnd Introduktion till biblioteksarbete vilken omfattade sju halvdagslånga träffar. Projektet inklusive utbildningen grundades i en förstudie som syftade till att ”utveckla de deltagande bibliotekens gemensamma kunskapsbas och beredskap för att med ökad språklig och kulturell kompetens möta de behov och den efterfrågan som uppstått i och med att biblioteken i allt högre grad besöks och används av nyanlända” (Pilerot, 2019, s. 3). Resultaten från förstudien stärkte antagandet om behovet av att utöka personalgrupperna på de ingående biblioteken så att fler och olika kulturella erfarenheter och fler språk bereddes plats på biblioteken. Därigenom kan bibliotekens personal i större utsträckning möta de behov som en heterogen användargrupp i allt högre grad ger uttryck för.

I det uppdrag som tilldelades Bibliotekshögskolan i Borås ingick dels att utforma och genomföra den utbildning som guiderna deltog i och dels att följa och studera projektet som helhet. I föreliggande bidrag fokuserar vi på resultaten från forskningsstudiedelen i uppdraget. För en detaljerad redovisning av upplägg och genomförande av kursen Introduktion till biblioteksarbete hänvisar vi till vår rapport (Pilerot & Ögland, 2022).

Information literacy research is growing in importance, as evidenced by the steady increase in dissertations and research papers in this area. However, significant theoretical gaps remain.

Information Literacy Through Theory provides an approachable introduction to theory development and use within information literacy research. It provides a space for key theorists in the field to discuss, interrogate and reflect on the applicability of theory within information literacy research, as well as the implications for this work within a variety of contexts. Each chapter considers a particular theory as its focal point, from information literacy and the social to information literacy through an equity mindset, and unpacks what assumptions the theory makes about key concepts and the ways in which the theory enables or constrains our understanding of information literacy.

This book will provide a focal point for researchers, practitioners and students interested in the creation and advancement of conceptually rich information literacy research and practice.

- Despite vast amounts of existing research regarding digital ability development, there is a dearth of studies that systematize and evaluate the instructional techniques and tools reported as being used to develop them. The aim of this study is to contribute to the state of knowledge regarding the instructional techniques and tools reported as being used by teachers to develop digital abilities. To such an end, a systematized literature review was conducted. For the extraction of articles, a specific search code was used within the Web of Science All Collections, including SciELO, databases. Without setting a year-limit, and concluding the search on the 24 of April 2021, 613 articles were found. Sixty cleared selection criterion and, ultimately, 17 contributed to the purpose of the review. Findings show that a majority of articles report on classroom interventions and not on classroom observations. Additionally, they also suggest that six instructional techniques were employed by all studies: analyzing multiple perspectives of a same learning assignment, using authentic problems, collaboration, providing feedback, giving progressive autonomy to students and asking them to share their work. Regarding methodology, a preferred approach is the use of pre-post test design with a small number of cases and where non-probabilistic sampling and self-reported questionaries are favored.