The best of both worlds: American and German libraries

  • In 2012, I received a GNARP (German North American Resources Partnership) scholarship to act as a librarian-in-residence at several Berlin-area libraries. Although my goal was to observe information literacy practices, I was struck by dramatic differences in policies between German and American libraries. We can learn from each other. My comments and suggestions are my own opinion and do not consider individual library policies or budgets. I visited five libraries and will give a brief introduction to each before outlining relative strengths and weaknesses of our different systems. I will identify four key areas relevant to establishing library policies, such as information literacy strategies, visibility of librarians, patron services, and catalogs/discovery systems. Beyond strong cultural differences, such as the German custom of not allowing any food in libraries, I will discuss how both public and academic libraries can integrate ideas from the other country. Finally, I will talk about my experience as a librarian-in-residence and discuss best practices for establishing library visits and meetings.

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Metadaten
Author:Lindsay Hansen
URN:urn:nbn:de:0290-opus4-24397
Document Type:Conference publication (Presentation slides)
Language:German
Year of Completion:2016
Contributing Corporation:California State University, Nothridge
Release Date:2016/02/15
Tag:Benutzerservice
Information literacy; academic libraries; patron services
Themes:Sonstiges
German Bibliothekartage / BiblioCon:105. Deutscher Bibliothekartag in Leipzig 2016 = 6. Bibliothekskongress / Themenkreis 4: Wissen organisieren und erhalten / Kooperationsmodelle: Projekte aus der Praxis (16.03.2016, 09:00-11:00, Seminarraum 14/15)
Licence (German):License LogoCreative Commons - Namensnennung-Keine kommerzielle Nutzung-Weitergabe unter gleichen Bedingungen
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