Public Libraries
Mehdi Rrahmani; Fatemeh Fahim nia; Speide Fahimi Far
Abstract
Aim: The aim of this study was to identify and prioritize the risks of Iranian public library services. Method: The present study was applied in terms of purpose and combined research in terms of method. In the present study, hyper-combined (qualitative) techniques, kappa coefficient calculation, and ...
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Aim: The aim of this study was to identify and prioritize the risks of Iranian public library services. Method: The present study was applied in terms of purpose and combined research in terms of method. In the present study, hyper-combined (qualitative) techniques, kappa coefficient calculation, and Delphi (quantitative) techniques were used. The scope of the research included all articles published in the period 1990 to 2020 in Persian and English. The statistical population is a meta-combination of all articles published between 1990 and 2020 that are indexed in various databases; Were examined. In the Delphi technique, the research community includes all specialists in the field of information science and knowledge, public libraries, management, and information technology who already have a history of cooperation with libraries; Was. To determine the exact number of people in the community, all researchers who have conducted research in the subject areas presented in the table above were identified. Then 24 subjects were selected by purposive sampling. Result: Based on published sources, 69 risks in 8 categories. According to experts, the most important challenge facing libraries that have received the highest score from Iranian experts is the loss of library content, inability to purchase new resources or disconnect library resources due to lack of funds, economic issues, censorship, virtualization, Sanctions, etc., which can be a major challenge for public libraries. Challenges of not promoting and encouraging cultural institutions to lead the community to public libraries and increase library competitors (search engines, databases, Internet cafes, etc.) in providing the information needed by customers (given that competitors can provide content in a more user-friendly way to customers Are also in second place and can pose a risk to public libraries. Discussion and Conclusion: Due to the rapid growth of information resources and the diversity of information resources, the library should choose several ways to retrieve the information needed by customers and using interlibrary loan methods, joint sharing of databases and the possibility of sending retrieved resources through Email responds to customers' information needs. Also, the method of selecting the resources of the public libraries of the country is centralized and the library does not have a direct influence on the selection of resources. Therefore, the way of selecting resources should be reviewed and the ways of choosing books by the target community should be expanded, that is, users should be able to choose the books they need through social networks, comments box and suggestions on the library website.
