Is the library dead? The answer is complicated

You may think that in this age of selfies, instant information and e-books, Millennials would have no use for a library. Why go to a library when you can access practically any book in the world with the touch of a button, albeit you have to pay for it. But still, the convenience of instant literary gratification may be too big of a luxury for most young people today to pass up.

Well, if you would go so far as to say that Millennials probably don't even know what a library is today, you'd be wrong. New research from the Pew Research Internet Project shows younger Americans' reading and library habits. The report brings together several years of research into how public libraries fit into the lives of young people aged 16 to 29 years old, the age group we sometimes not-so-lovingly refer to as Millennials. This research is especially interesting now that access to information is increasingly becoming easier and digital-only.

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New mobile app for Hong Kong public library users

New mobile app for Hong Kong public library users

Hong Kong residents can now use library services on the go with a new mobile app called My Library.

The app allows users to access personal library accounts and sign up for personalised alert services. The notifications include reminders to pick up reserved items once they are available and alerts when borrowed items are due..

The app is developed and managed by the Hong Kong Public Libraries of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department.

The alert messages can be sent to a mobile phone or device even when the app is closed, so users do not need to worry about forgetting the due dates of borrowed items. 

People can also search, reserve and renew library materials on the app, while the global positioning system function on the mobile device enables users to locate the nearest libraries and get addresses and contact information. 

The app is available on both iOS and Android platforms. It has enhanced security and privacy protection features for users accessing the app through the mobile network. 

The release of the app follows the revamp of the Hong Kong Public Libraries website early this year to give it a fresh new look.

New Pew Report Search on Young Americans' Library Habits

A new report from the Pew Research Center Internet Project offers mixed news for public libraries. While the findings indicate that young adults are more likely than their elders to have read a book in the past 12 months, and that Millennials are still using libraries—and using library websites even more—the report also found that most younger Americans remain unaware of all the services libraries offer.

The latest report, released today, is drawn from the core findings from three major national surveys of Americans ages 16 and older, pulling together "several years of research into the role of libraries in the lives of Americans and their communities with a special focus on Millennials, a key stakeholder group affecting the future of communities, libraries, book publishers and media makers of all kinds, as well as the tone of the broader culture."

Among the survey’s notable findings:

• 36% of Millennials say they know little or nothing about the local library’s services, compared with 29% of those 30 and older.
• 98% of those under 30 use the Internet, and 90% of those Internet users say they using social networking sites.
• Over three-quarters (77%) of younger Americans have a smartphone, and many also have a tablet (38%) or e-reader (24%).
• Despite their embrace of technology, 62% of Americans under age 30 agree there is “a lot of useful, important information that is not available on the Internet,” compared with 53% of older Americans who believe that.
• Overall, 88% of Americans under 30 read a book in the past year, compared with 79% of those ages 30 and older. And young adults have caught up to their elders in e-reading, with 37% of adults ages 18-29 reporting that they have read an e-book in the past year.
• Among those ages 16-29, public library visits dropped. The number of those saying they visited a library went from 58% in November 2012, to 50% in September 2013, with the largest drop occurring among 18-24 year-olds.
• Meanwhile, 36% of younger Americans used a library website in the previous year, up from 28% in 2012, with the largest growth occurring among 16-17 year-olds (from 23% to 35%).

 full report can be found here.

Types of Bibliometrics

Bibliometrics offers a powerful set of methods and measures for studying the structure and process of scholarly communication. Citation analysis, the best known of bibliometric approaches, has become more sophisticated, and the advent of networked information technologies has led to quantitative and qualitative advances in other bibliometric methods. Bibliometrics is the application of mathematical and statistical methods to publications (from biblos: book and metron: measurement). Bibliometrics is often used to assess scientific research through quantitative studies on research publications. Bibliometric assessments are based on the assumption that most scientific discoveries and research results eventually are published in international scientific journals where they can be read and cited by other researchers. The number of citations to a journal article can be considered to reflect the article’s impact on the scientific community. Applied bibliometrics, as it is used today, analyzes the number of scientific articles published by a selected number of authors, citations to these articles and connections between articles.

National e-library in the offing

New Delhi: Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani on Friday said the central government would soon launch an online library to make study material available to all.

"Use of ICT (information and communication technology) in education has great potential in the education sector," Irani said while speaking at a function to give national awards to teachers.

"We shall soon launch a national e-library, which will make material available to every one," she said.

The National Electronic Library (NEL) is a digitised library, which will be device independent. It will be accessible by every citizen of the country.

IANS 

 

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