Public Libraries
OranusO Tajedini; Fahime Babalhavaeji; Naser Kamaladini
Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this research is to investigate the problems and obstacles of disabled people accessing library information and also providing a suitable model for their access to information through public libraries.
Method: This research was done in a mixed way by combining the methods of content ...
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Purpose: The purpose of this research is to investigate the problems and obstacles of disabled people accessing library information and also providing a suitable model for their access to information through public libraries.
Method: This research was done in a mixed way by combining the methods of content analysis (qualitative approach) and factor analysis (quantitative approach). In this research, first, by using interviews with 8 experts, including library librarians and researchers in the field of rehabilitation and disability, In this research, the desired information was extracted using the semi-structured interview method, and the influential factors were obtained by examining and coding them. In the final stage, by setting up a questionnaire based on factors extracted from semi-structured interviews, electronically it was distributed among the disabled and at the end 159 questionnaires were completed and received. Analysis and evaluation were done using SPSS and Smart PLS software.
Findings: The findings of the research show that the respondents consider the three parameters of accessibility, librarians and equipment to be very important in the access of disabled people to libraries. So that in the analytical results in the Smart PLS software, in the standard mode, for the variables of the model, i.e. accessibility, the value was 0.849, the role of librarians was 0.709, and the equipment was 0.53.Also, the goodness-of-fit index (GOF), which represents the final and overall evaluation of the model, was 0.41. Since the appropriate value of this factor is 0.36 and above, the research model is evaluated in terms of good fit.
Conclusion: The results of the research confirm the five influencing variables in the access of the disabled to library information. The revealed factors based on the degree of importance from the most to the least are:
Accessibility to the library, the role of librarians are equipment, rules and resources. Therefore, by taking into account these variables, it is possible to solve the problems of disabled people's access to library information to a large extent.
