Ny form för framtiden? Uppfattningar om identiteten hos de nya högskolebiblioteken i Malmö och på Södertörn
(2000)Division of ALM, Digital Cultures and Publishing Studies
- Abstract
- There are reasons to believe that recent changes in the Swedish academic library environment create new images of identity. New information technology, changed educational methods and increasing numbers of students in higher education heavily influence the professional basis for librarians. The purpose of this essay is to examine and describe how the images of identity are conceived and expressed by staff in two university colleges in Sweden, Malmö University and Södertörn University. We define identity as the images of what the library is, what it is aiming to be in the future, what it should do and how. In a qualitative study attitudes towards and opinions of the role of the library in the university environment are investigated.... (More)
- There are reasons to believe that recent changes in the Swedish academic library environment create new images of identity. New information technology, changed educational methods and increasing numbers of students in higher education heavily influence the professional basis for librarians. The purpose of this essay is to examine and describe how the images of identity are conceived and expressed by staff in two university colleges in Sweden, Malmö University and Södertörn University. We define identity as the images of what the library is, what it is aiming to be in the future, what it should do and how. In a qualitative study attitudes towards and opinions of the role of the library in the university environment are investigated. Strategic focus, the library s role as a sub-organisation and the organisational culture are central aspects of our analysis. Both libraries have chosen similar strategies in order to create a learning environment in close co-operation with its users. Both have flat organisations, similar media acquisition policies, and ambitions to be a workplace for the students. However, the libraries have chosen different ways to cope with the situation of being loyal to its superiors, the university management, on the one hand, and meeting the needs of its users on the other. In Malmö, the university library has chosen a visionary and pro-active strategy in order to meet the expected needs of its users today and in the future. This may cause problems in getting support from the university management for the implementation of the vision. In Södertörn, the university library operates in a pragmatic and reactive way in order to meet the demands of the users today and at the same time adhere to the expectations and policies of the university management. It is possible that such a pragmatic library strategy will encounter difficulties in adapting to changing user requirements. An academic library that is encouraged to assume an educational identity, and is fully integrated in the educational organisation and operations of the university, will be more active and successful - in making students and faculty information literate. This would allow academic libraries to play an essential role in improving the general learning environment in the Swedish universities. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/1333979
- author
- Schmidt, Henrik and Åkerberg, Anna
- supervisor
- organization
- year
- 2000
- type
- H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
- subject
- keywords
- högskolebibliotek, bibliotek, bibliotekens roll, Documentation, information, library science, archivistics, Arkiv- och bibliotekskunskap, dokumentation
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 1333979
- date added to LUP
- 2000-01-19 00:00:00
- date last changed
- 2014-04-11 14:17:03
@misc{1333979,
abstract = {{There are reasons to believe that recent changes in the Swedish academic library environment create new images of identity. New information technology, changed educational methods and increasing numbers of students in higher education heavily influence the professional basis for librarians. The purpose of this essay is to examine and describe how the images of identity are conceived and expressed by staff in two university colleges in Sweden, Malmö University and Södertörn University. We define identity as the images of what the library is, what it is aiming to be in the future, what it should do and how. In a qualitative study attitudes towards and opinions of the role of the library in the university environment are investigated. Strategic focus, the library s role as a sub-organisation and the organisational culture are central aspects of our analysis. Both libraries have chosen similar strategies in order to create a learning environment in close co-operation with its users. Both have flat organisations, similar media acquisition policies, and ambitions to be a workplace for the students. However, the libraries have chosen different ways to cope with the situation of being loyal to its superiors, the university management, on the one hand, and meeting the needs of its users on the other. In Malmö, the university library has chosen a visionary and pro-active strategy in order to meet the expected needs of its users today and in the future. This may cause problems in getting support from the university management for the implementation of the vision. In Södertörn, the university library operates in a pragmatic and reactive way in order to meet the demands of the users today and at the same time adhere to the expectations and policies of the university management. It is possible that such a pragmatic library strategy will encounter difficulties in adapting to changing user requirements. An academic library that is encouraged to assume an educational identity, and is fully integrated in the educational organisation and operations of the university, will be more active and successful - in making students and faculty information literate. This would allow academic libraries to play an essential role in improving the general learning environment in the Swedish universities.}},
author = {{Schmidt, Henrik and Åkerberg, Anna}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Ny form för framtiden? Uppfattningar om identiteten hos de nya högskolebiblioteken i Malmö och på Södertörn}},
year = {{2000}},
}