The present study aimed to identify students' perceptions of issues arising from and factors influencing on-line group interaction and dynamics in computer conferencing in higher education by recording the perceptions of a group of students who acted as members of on- line groups. The emergent objectives were to develop recommendations and guidelines for the effective deployment of on-line group interaction and elements of a possible model. The research has taken an inductive interpretative approach applying qualitative methods. Interviews were the main tool of data collection and the grounded theory approach, as developed by Strauss and Corbin in 1990, adopted for the analysis of the interview data. The analysis was also assisted by the use of the Atlas. ti software, specially designed for analysis of qualitative data. Issues of validity of qualitative research, following Lincoln and Guba's (1985) proposed criteria of establishing "trustworthiness" such as credibility, transferability, dependability and confirmability were addressed and discussed in connection to the current study. Findings of the study were placed around five main categories addressing ways group participants utilised in order to express themselves in the computer conferencing environment, issues of participation, decision-making procedures, conflicts and disagreements, and finally co-ordination issues. A number of factors affected the categories arose were identified. Relationships between the categories proposed and the code named lack of communication cues were also identified. Conclusions drawn from the study formulated guidelines and recommendations on computer conferencing issues and factors found to affect interaction among the group participants in the text-based on-line environment and proposed elements of a theory following the grounded theory procedures. Suggestions and points for further research along with implications for practice were also included.

The economics and value of information have been analysed in this study. Efforts have been made to deepen our understanding of the value of information in information work. The literature of information science and economics were reviewed but suitable ready-to-use methods and techniques for the assessment of the value of information in the research work tasks were not found. A dual approach to the value of information was developed from the theoretical analyses and later tested in empirical studies: (1) The exchange value of information products, services, channels and systems should be studied using economic methods. (2) The value-in-use of information should be studied using the cognitive approach which takes the user, the use and the effects of use of information into consideration. The approach was used in the empirical studies in a research organization. A model was developed for optimizing the value of information for research work. The following 'management actions' are needed: (1) ensure that results of research are 'published'; (2) ensure that there is a rich information environment for research; (3) encourage joint efforts in information seeking and use; (4) ensure that information found is actually put to use; (5) improve the seeking of methodological information; and (6) ensure that the time used for information seeking and use is appropriate to the project. Data for the model have to be collected in respect of the present state of affairs under investigation concerning each of the above actions.

This study evaluates the contribution made by the prison library to the rehabilitation of adult male offenders. The research was undertaken in ten prison establishments in England and Wales, and examined a diverse sample of the inmate population. A qualitative methodology was employed, using semi-structured interviews. In total, 124 interviews with inmates, 62 interviews with staff and 20 interviews with ex-offenders recently released from custody, were conducted. The project examines different components of prison library operations and their impact upon the rehabilitative process. Principally, the role of the library as an educational resource, as an information provider and as a source for recreational reading are analysed. In addition, the influence of religious material supplied by the library is also discussed. Throughout the study particular reference is made to the value of cognitive-behavioural interventions with offenders. Through such interventions inmates can begin to take responsibility for their own actions and address their own pattern of offending. A library service can support such interventions in three principal ways: empowering the prisoner with information, providing help with a range of practical skills and helping change inmates, attitudes and behaviours. A key factor examined is the potential of the library to provide an appropriate learning environment for prisoners to tackle these issues and internalise pro-social responses. The central conclusion of the study is that there has been a failure of all parties to fully realise the rehabilitative potential of the prison library. Four main factors are identified -a lack of appreciation of the unique environment in which prison libraries operate, the persistence of the view that the prison library is simply another branch of the public library service, the narrow perception of the role of the prison librarian and a failure to integrate the work of the library with the work of the prison.

No description available.

The central focus of the present research is a survey of libraries located in, and associated with, the museums and related institutions of the Greater London area. This investigation arises from an awareness of a general absence in the literatures of both the library and museum professions concerning the role and function of these special libraries. A first means of analysis involved an historical survey illustrating the evolution of museums and libraries in England, with particular reference to the South East. This preliminary stage in the research confirmed the historical significance of London in terms of the development of the two communities, locally and nationally, as well as providing a contextual basis from which to approach the present state and status of the museum library. A statistical survey of eighty-four museum institutions and their libraries in the Greater London area comprised the second stage of analysis. The survey population was grouped by sectors as defined, with some modification, by the official advisory body, the Museums and Galleries Commission. Five categories represented the survey sectors under examination: National, Central Government, Local Authority, University and Independent. During the 1993-94 period, data were gathered on individual institutions in each sector through the use of a designed questionnaire and in-person interviews concerning various aspects of library operation and function, namely; Administration and Staff; Finance; Collections; Catalogues; Services; and Networks. Findings suggested that broad parameters existed in what constituted a museum library, i.e., ranging from a service facility to an informal curatorial collection. Consequently, organisation of the library and its role in relation to the parent body varied accordingly. More defined roles generally corresponded to those institutions supporting libraries which were formally organised and professionally staffed. The levels of public access, collections management and services were also significantly related to the sector under which an institution was grouped. These designations indicated, for instance, that the Nationals had the most comprehensive library facilities and services, whereas smaller institutions across the remaining sectors showed considerable variation in library provision. By default, the funding arrangements specific to certain groups and/or maintaining bodies had a documented effect on the state of the museum libraries surveyed. In general, a greater number of libraries are housed in or associated with museums than described in available sources. However, their role as information partner to the museum organisation is not significant on all levels of provision, particularly as an internally networked resource for the study of respective collections and as an accessible facility for the research public. This limitation in potential may be due to its perception within both the organisation and the wider community, although insufficient allocations to the parent body and the library itself are additional factors.

Library inventories are widely acknowledged for their importance in intellectual history, but there are few detailed studies of library classification in this context. The discussion centres on the inventories of 36 English private libraries from 1521 to 1640, with a view to understanding what could have prompted a compiler to adopt one system of arrangement instead of another. Nine of the inventories are transcribed from unpublished manuscripts, including lists of the books of William Paget, 4th Baron Paget (1617), William Somner (1639), and a previously unidentified catalogue of the books of the physician William Rant (1595). The classification of books was a matter of some concern at the time: the problems raised by library classification were beginning to attract the attention of writers on the subject, and a compiler's approach was not always as haphazard as it may seem at first. On the whole, however, the classification of books was more spontaneous than deliberate, and it is for this reason that it was often finely attuned to the professional concerns and personal interests of owners, as well as to the cultural climate of the time (religious controversies, interest in languages other than Latin). The medieval trivium was losing its momentum in the classifications of the period, and mathematics, for centuries associated with the quadrivium in classifications, was viewed in a new light under the influence of Neo-Platonism. New trends in library classification appeared side by side with age-long practices, thereby underscoring the deeply transitional nature of the period.

This dissertation investigates the technology for storage and access to data in museums, focusing on requirements for collections management and the information needs of visitors. The various components of museum information systems, including data structures and terminology, recording media, computer software and hardware, manual systems, and management procedures are comprehensively examined through case studies at the National Maritime and Science Museums. The first case study describes and assesses manual and computer based techniques developed for the storage and retrieval of records in the Archaeological Research Centre at the UK National Maritime Museum. The types of data which the system encompasses were derived from a wide range of sources, including both land based and underwater fieldwork; archaeological, historical and ethnographic research; routine curatorial activities, including conservation; and research into the conservation of waterlogged materials. Further aspects considered included the collection of data in the field, and the development of a framework on which the analysis of boat finds could be based. Archaeological and museum record keeping, and contemporary developments in computer technology are reviewed. The design, development and use of the system are described, and the system is assessed against the initial specification and in the light of users' experience. The second case study builds on the experience of the first, and examines the requirements for a visitor information system at the Science Museum in London.Sources which are used include an analysis of overall visitor needs, specific requirements for object based information and public interest in information as exhibited through the use of the Museum's World Wide Web pages. Building on these studies and the experience of other museums providing such a facility, a model system is outlined, including visitor orientation and information points within the Museum and external access to information.The data requirements of this system are tested against the types of information which are already available in the museum. An overall approach to designing the system is described. In conclusion a comparison is made between the information requirements for collection management and visitor information. Technological issues including data structures and database design are reviewed, and the costs of various options are considered.

Using Panizzi's 1837 declaration to the Trustees of the British Museum as the model, the acquisitions policy for a national library is a statement of the need to acquire the national printed archive followed by an indication of the desirable coverage of foreign publishing. Minimum requirements to achieve this are adequate finance, a knowledgeable staff, sufficient space for both the staff and the collections and the ability to make resources available. The role of Panizzi in ensuring the status of the British Museum Library as the national collection has been well documented. Less well known is the part played by his subordinates and successors in helping him and in ensuring that his ideals were implemented and amplified. The more notable of these have been neglected by library history, the more pedestrian completely forgotten. The period from the later 1850s through the 1880s were years of liberal funding and acquisitions growth matched only by that of the first decade of the British Library. It seems possible that even the recent halcyon days will not match the extraordinary development of the collections during the earlier period. Legal deposit, even though difficult to enforce overseas, and a system of international exchanges played an important role when government was forced to curtail the generous grant. It is not feasible to draw firm conclusions about the percentage of world publishing acquired by the British Museum Library as most countries do not yet have accurate figures for their printed output, nor is it possible to be definite about the quantities procured by the Library since the basis for reporting additions changed frequently. In order to gain a picture of what and how material was obtained it was necessary to make lists of registers and receipt books now in the departmental archives. These lists are reproduced in tables and appendices.

The thesis comprises 5 chapters, including the conclusion. The first chapter is a review of the history of Middle Eastern studies and relevant collections in the UK together with an account of the four official reports commissioned by the UK Government on Oriental and African Studies in the UK. The second chapter is an account of a questionnaire based survey of Middle Eastern collections in the UK, which looks at 62 collections. The third chapter is a social survey, based on questionnaires and interviews on the information needs of library users in the UK with Middle Eastern interests. The fourth chapter is a statistical analysis of certain bibliographical tools on the Middle East (English) and in Middle Eastern languages. Following these analyses the findings from chapter 2 on collections, chapter 3 on users, and chapter 4 on bibliographical sources are compared in order to investigate the correlations between these elements. Having demonstrated the particular significance of the collection of libraries specialising in the Middle East to the conduct of Middle Eastern studies in the UK, ways in which the collections and services of these libraries might be improved are examined.

No description available.