Public libraries are facing a great challenge to succeed in serving their increasingly diverse communities. This thesis focuses on the acquisition of foreign-language books in public libraries and attempts to address the question whether libraries have special strategies to select and acquire foreign-language books. Particular attention is paid to fiction, the main genre offered by public libraries. To help answer the thesis question, the author compares the acquisition strategies of the Municipal Library of Prague and the Zentral- und Landesbibliothek Berlin using structured interviews with the key persons responsible for the acquisition of foreign-language books. As a background, the author provides a literature review of foreign-language materials in public libraries and specifically, the acquisition strategy for those materials (i.e. including case studies, research projects and trends from the Czech Republic, the US, Canada, Australia, Sweden, Denmark and Netherlands). This knowledge foundation is considered in the comparison of the two libraries and their acquisition strategies. The comparative study confirms the trends highlighted in the literature review, such as outsourcing, approval plans and gifts as common ways of acquiring foreign- language literature. This thesis further contributes...

L’objectif général de cette recherche de développement vise à évaluer à l’aide d’une grille de critères didactiques développée si les albums disponibles dans la collection de la didacthèque de l’Université de Montréal répondent aux besoins liés à la didactique du français des étudiants au baccalauréat en enseignement primaire et éducation préscolaire. Puisque la poursuite de cet objectif général se fait par l’entremise d’un objet développé, soit une grille d’évaluation des albums composés de critères didactiques, afin de suivre les quatre phases de développement d’un objet, trois objectifs spécifiques sont déployés. Le premier objectif spécifique sert à dégager les critères propres à la didactique du français à considérer pour évaluer les albums dans les didacthèques. Des entrevues semi-dirigées avec des enseignantes expertes dans l’utilisation des livres jeunesse (n=7) et des chargées de cours en didactique du français (n=5) ont permis d’analyser les besoins pour le développement de la grille d’évaluation, ce qui correspond à la première phase d’une recherche de développement. Le deuxième objectif spécifique vise à élaborer la grille d’évaluation des albums basée sur des critères propres à la didactique du français. Cela est effectué dans un mouvement itératif, entre les deuxième et troisième phases de la recherche de développement, soit celle qui concerne la conception de l’objet et celle qui en permet l’évaluation. Par conséquent, six grilles sont passées par différentes phases d’évaluation et de conception, dans un mouvement de va-et-vient. La sixième version, mise à l’essai sur la collection d’albums de la didacthèque de l’Université de Montréal, correspond à la quatrième phase d’une recherche de développement. Elle est en accord avec le troisième objectif spécifique qui est de mettre à l’essai la grille d’évaluation développée basée sur des critères didactiques sur une collection d’albums d’une didacthèque. Les résultats de notre mise à l’essai et les résultats obtenus par notre grille nous amènent à constater avec nuance l’adéquation entre les albums disponibles et la communauté servie par la didacthèque, et plus précisément les étudiants au baccalauréat en enseignement primaire et éducation préscolaire. Cependant, il semble que la désuétude observée des titres de l’échantillon peut avoir une incidence sur d’autres critères évalués. / The main purpose of this designed-based research (DBR) is to assess with a developed criteria grid whether the picturebooks available in the collection of the Université de Montréal Curriculum materials center (CMC) meet the needs related to the teaching and learning of French of undergraduate students in Preschool and Elementary Education program. Since the pursuit of this general purpose is done through an object developed in a DBR, which is an evaluation grid for picturebooks composed of criteria useful for teaching and learning of French, the three specific purposes follow the four phases of that type of research. The first purpose serves to identify convenient criteria to the teaching and learning of French to be considered in order to assess the picturebooks in a CMC. Semi-structured interviews with primary teachers who are experts in the use of children’s books (n=7) and instructors in teaching and learning of French (n=5) made it possible to analyze the needs for the development of the evaluation grid, which corresponds to the first phase of a DBR. The second specific purpose is to develop the picturebooks evaluation grid based on criteria relating to the teaching and learning of French. This is done in a iterative movement, between the second and the third phases of a DBR. Those phases are related to the design of the object and his evaluation. As a result, six grids went through those different phases of design and evaluation, back and forth. The sixth version, tested on the picturebooks collection of the Université de Montréal CMC, corresponds to the fourth phase of a DBR. This phase is consistent with the third specific purpose, which is to use the developed criteria grid to assess a picturebooks collection of a CMC (n=175) using the evaluation grid based on criteria useful for teaching and learning of French. The results obtained by our grid lead us to note with nuance the adequacy between the available picturebooks and the community served by the CMC, and more specifically undergraduate students in Preschool and Elementary Education program. However, it appears that the observed obsolescence of the sample may have an impact on other observed criteria.

Small-scale Business Enterprises (SBEs) lack proper mechanisms for supporting the provision and access to business information that can nurture their development in Kenya. This study investigated the role that public libraries could play in supporting the development of SBEs in Meru County with a view to developing a model that would enable public libraries to effectively support the development of SBEs. The study used the pragmatic paradigm to explore the identified phenomena. It applied the mixed methods approach and survey research design; collected data from 355 SBEs, 21 staff from three public libraries and two staff from the enterprise development unit of Meru County. Data was collected using questionnaires, interviews and document analysis. The response rate was 83.4% and 95% for SBEs and public library staff respectively. The descriptive and inferential statistics were used with the help of SPSS and Excel. Thematic analysis was applied on qualitative data. The study found that the factors that influence the development of SBEs are anchored in the environmental, cultural and personality factors of SBEs. SBEs have a myriad of business information needs which are sector-specific and cut across all the stages of business development. To fulfil these needs, most SBEs consult informal information sources and places. Technology-related tools were a popular means of accessing business information. Public libraries were poorly stocked with business information sources while business information services were in a desolate state. The study concludes that public libraries have facilitative and functional roles of providing business information solutions to SBEs by collaborating with like- minded stakeholders. The availability and accessibility of business information sources and services at public libraries is critical in addressing the information needs of SBEs. The study recommends repositioning of public libraries as business community development centres by providing value-based information sources and services. Public libraries need to revise their collection development policy, increase budget allocation, establish business information centres, seek partnerships, improve ICT facilities, ensure adequate staffing, engage business services librarians, open more libraries and widen their business outreach activities for effective support of SBEs. Policy framework and support systems for symmetrical access to business information, and entrepreneurial training for SBEs and for public library staff are needed. The proposed model of public library’s support for the development of SBEs is valuable and contribute to knowledge in business development. / Information Science / D. Litt. et Phil. (Information Science)