Start Again! Entry 1 - Analysis of Reading: "Perceptions of Libraries and Information Sources"

Hey! Back to business. For my first reading, I chose to take a look at the article "Perceptions of Libraries and Information Resources". I downloaded this report as a .PDF and was surprised to find that this report is rather... lengthy. About 290 pages of lengthy. It is, however--mercifully--split into five sections, with an Introduction and Conclusion. As I don't think I'd be doing it (or my brain) much of a service by trying to summarize or interpret 290 pages in one post, I've decided to cover my analysis in parts, as well, starting today with the Introduction.

Introduction to Perceptions of Libraries and Information Sources



As readers, we are first introduced to a concept apparently first presented in a report from 2003, that posits an overall "dissonance" between "library consumer" and Libraries, I suppose, as a person-less entity. This dissonance is derived from what the library consumer seems to desire from a library experience but which the Library--or the 2003 Library-Entity--does not seem to provide. The idea of a disconnect between library consumers and Libraries causes some rather probing questions in the author(s) of the PLIS report (we're calling it that now): How are libraries perceived by today’s information consumer? "Do libraries still matter? On what level? Will library use likely increase or decrease in the future?"

To answer these and other questions, the OCLC (Online Computer Library Center) Market Research Team with the aid of other OCLC staff and hundreds of Librarians conducted a study, the goals being to know more about " . . . people’s information-seeking behaviors, how familiar people are with the variety of e-resources libraries provide for their users and how libraries fit into the lives of the respondents."

In large part, the study seems to deal primarily with the library consumer's awareness of electronic resources available and how library consumers perceive what the author(s) refer to as the "Library" brand. Though I think the technicalities of the survey for the most part were well over my head, I did gather that the availability of Internet resources and the library consumer's awareness was key in the study--which, in the end, proved more to "confirm" ideas than to illuminate.

As I said, a great deal of the Introduction was well over my head as it discussed results of the various surveys, even though there were several helpful (and colorful!) charts provided. If I have more to add to the reading of the Introduction I certainly will do so, but I feel I should probably end here, as there is a great deal to wade through in Part 1 of PLIS!