Tag: Library

  • Public Libraries open near me in Society with their Role

    Public Libraries open near me in Society with their Role

    Public Libraries open near me in Society, for education, study, dream story, comedy, etc. What is public libraries role in our daily life; A public library is a non-profit library, which maintain for public use and funded by the government or public sources. Unlike other libraries, public library satisfies general public information needs by providing all kinds of knowledge; and information available to all segments of the community regardless of race, nationality, age, gender, religion, language, disability, economic, and employment status.

    Here is the article to explain, Public Libraries open near me in Society with What is the Role of theirs?

    It may also provide other services to their communities such as storytelling for children, after-school programs, language learning, seminars, workshops, and other community services. Public libraries stood initiated back in ancient times. They existed known and used by Greeks, Romans, North Africa, and the Middle East. However, they did not arise in Europe and America until the 18th and 19th centuries.

    In USA and Europe, public libraries started with a donation from many private philanthropists like Andrew Carnegie and Benjamin Franklin. Like other philanthropists, both Benjamin Franklin and Andrew Carnegie realized that books, and the knowledge they provide, should not be for just richness; but for serving the public and for anyone who wanted to learn. Because of this belief, they made books and money available to the general public through their philanthropy.

    Throughout history, library collections have been changed and developed. Nowadays, besides printed books and traditional materials, public libraries offer a wide range of other media and modern technologies like videos, audiobooks, e-books, DVDs, and others. Similarly, the roles and missions of the public libraries have been shifted from recreational reading to acting as active educational, economic, and social agents.

    This article seeks to offer a literature review on the role of public libraries in society. Take the style of the literature review and the words from the article (children literacy); A survey reveals that show, found, assume, According to Lyman (1977), Weibel (1992) looked at the role of the library in promoting literacy, Spink (1989) notes; Other studies have concentrated on, states, points out, belief.

    Role of public libraries;

    Public library plays an important role in people’s lives as a source of accessing information; and a place for knowledge creation. It has shown that public libraries are important informational, educational, cultural, and social institutions.

    Public library and Education;

    One of the public libraries’ significant and fundamental roles in education. Public libraries provide books and other materials for people to read and use, also open near me in Society or Public Places. These materials are educational and lead to self-improvement and develop basic literacy skills.

    Public Libraries have always been seen as educational resources for all people. The educative role of public libraries has expanded to include supporting both formal and informal education.

    Public library and literacy;

    Literacy is the ability to read and write. In libraries culture, this concept expands to include the knowledge or education in one or several fields required to develop individual and communities skills.

    Learning today is not a luxury limited only to selected groups, but it is essential for survival. Expansion of literacy needs reading and writing material.

    The public library is the local center for providing a wealth of information through learning facilities; and, materials to support literacy to the general public. Literacy stands also achieved by providing literacy programs and activities for different groups and ages.

    Public libraries continue to play a major role in fostering literacy in communities and societies, particularly among; those groups of the populations that need special assistance in developing literacy skills, such as preschool and elementary school children.

    Children’s literacy is one of the educative roles of public libraries. Public libraries are concerned with providing children and exposing them to high-quality reading materials; and rich language experiences during the crucial preschool and elementary school years.

    Pennsylvania public libraries are among the libraries; which keen on enhancing the children’s literacy skills by proving their high-quality materials; and involving them in summer reading programs, story hours, arts and crafts activities.

    A study existed done in Pennsylvania public libraries using qualitative and quantitative methods to examine how library preschool and summer reading programs contribute to children’s reading skills.

    Surveys existed sent to every third library outlet listed in the directory of Pennsylvania libraries.

    The study reveals that children who participate in summer reading programs gain more literacy skills. They also found that preschool and summer reading programs encourage children to spend more time with books. Moreover, Observations and interviews show that library programs encourage parents to play greater roles in their children’s literacy development.

    Public library and Non-formal Education;

    Non-formal education is an unsystematic form of learning and educational activity that occurs outside of traditional organizations or institutions. Unlike formal education, non-formal education is a non-structured educational system. Examples of non-formal education include after-school programs, community-based organizations, museums, libraries, or at home. The aims of both formal and non-formal education are similar but they are different in approach. (Abraham, 2010). Both learning focus on gaining knowledge and skills however, the way of gaining learning is different.

    Non-formal educational practices reinforce due to the challenges of the modern information society.

    Abraham (2010) states that rural people suffer from a lack of proper education. He points out that formal education is time-bound, rigid, and difficult for such people; therefore, non-formal education is much suitable for rural people to satisfy their needs and fit their environmental conditions.

    He describes the public library as a “welfare center, which provides useful services to the community by fostering education, promoting culture, recreation, and dissemination of information to all sections of the society”. Abraham (2010) looked at the public libraries as the most appropriate centers through which non-formal education can achieve. He found that some public libraries in rural areas in India (Kerala) play an important role in supporting non-formal education by organizing night schools, constructive discussions, seminars, and symposia to fight illiteracy and proliferation of reading habits.

    A study was conducted in one of the Kerala districts (Abraham, 2010) to gather an overview of the role of public libraries in promoting non-formal education. Questioners existed distributed among 20 women laborers. It lived found that 30% of them could continue their education and are attempting to achieve minimum qualifications through utilizing rural libraries in their home areas. 60% could read and write and 10% stopped their education due to various personnel reasons.

    Public library and Life long learning;

    Lifelong learning is the process of continuous and ongoing learning throughout a person’s life to enhance continuous development and improvement of the individual’s knowledge and skills. Life-long learning cannot achieve without literacy because reading and writing are essential for learning.

    Due to the complex and rapid change environment, people need to acquire a variety of skills and knowledge irrespective of their age, social, political, or economic status.

    Wijetunge (2000) states that public libraries contribute to lifelong learning by supporting the learners to identify and locate the reading materials relevant to the needs of the community.

    Karunawathie (1998) gave an example of how the Negombo Public Library has contributed to the community in which it exists. The public library has assisted the fishing community in Negombo in changing the process of their fishing technology by providing the community with good and rich materials related to the finishing industry.

    Public Libraries open near me in Society with their Role Image
    Public Libraries open near me in Society with their Role; Image by Daniel Messer from Pixabay.

    References; The Role of Public Libraries in Society. Retrieved from https://www.ukessays.com/essays/education/role-of-public-libraries-in-society-education-essay.php?vref=1

  • Library and Internet Research

    Understanding and Using the Library and Internet Research

    What is Library? A library is a collection of sources of information and similar resources, made accessible to a defined community for reference or borrowing. It provides physical or digital access to material and may be a physical building or room, or a virtual space, or both. A library’s collection can include books, periodicals, newspapers, manuscripts, films, maps, prints, documents, micro-form, CDs, cassettes, videotapes, DVDs, Blu-ray Discs, e-books, audio-books, databases, and other formats. Libraries range in size from a few shelves of books to several million items.

    What is Internet Research? Internet research has had a profound impact on the way ideas are formed and knowledge is created. Common applications of Internet research include personal research on a particular subject (something mentioned on the news, a health problem, etc.), students doing research for academic projects and papers, and journalists and other writers researching stories.

    Research is a broad term. Here, it is used to mean “looking something up (on the Web)”. It includes any activity where a topic is identified, and an effort is made to actively gather information for the purpose of furthering understanding. It may include some post-collection analysis like a concern for quality or synthesis.

    A third approach to generate new business ideas is to conduct library and Internet research. A natural tendency is to think that an idea should be chosen, and the process of researching the idea should then begin. This approach is too linear. Often, the best ideas emerge when the general notion of an idea, like creating casual electronic games for adults, is merged with extensive library and Internet research, which might provide insights into the best type of casual games to create.

    Libraries are often an underutilized source of information for generating business ideas. The best approach to utilizing a library is to discuss your general area of interest with a reference librarian, who can point out useful resources, such as industry-specific magazines, trade journals, and industry reports. Simply browsing through several issues of a trade journal on a topic can spark new ideas. Very powerful search engines and databases are also available through university and large public libraries, which would cost hundreds or thousands of dollars to access on your own. An example is IBIS World (www.ibisworld.com), a company that publishes market research on all major industries and subcategories within industries. IBIS World published a 30-page report on the solar power industry, for example, in March 2011, which includes key statistics (about industry growth and profitability), a complete industry analysis, and an outlook for the future. Spending time reading this report could spark new ideas for solar powered devices or help affirm an existing idea.

    Internet research is also important. If you are starting from scratch, simply typing “new business ideas” into Google or Yahoo! will produce links to newspaper and magazine articles about the “hottest” and “latest” new business ideas. Although these types of articles are general in nature, they represent a starting point if you’re trying to generate new business ideas from scratch. If you have a specific idea in mind, a useful technique is to set up a Google or Yahoo! “e-mail alert” using keywords that pertain to your topic of interest. Google and Yahoo! alerts are e-mail updates of the latest Google or Yahoo! results including press releases, news articles, and blog posts based on your topic. This technique, which is available for free, will feed you a daily stream of news articles and Blog postings about specific topics. Another approach is to follow business leaders and experts in the industries you’re interested in on Twitter. The best way to locate people on Twitter you might be interested in following is by typing into the search bar labeled “Who to Follow” relevant keywords preceded by the “#” sign. For example, if you’re interested in solar power, type “#solar power” into the search bar. All the results will be people or companies who tweet about solar power topics.

    Once an entrepreneur has an idea, it often needs to be shaped and fine-tuned. One way to do this, in conjunction with the suggestions made previously, is to enlist a mentor to help. An explanation of how to use a mentor in this regard, and where mentors can be found, is described in the “Partnering for Success” feature.

    Library VS Internet Research

    Many people are confused about what constitutes library research versus what constitutes Internet research. Some people argue that effective research is never conducted on the Internet, that one needs access to the resources of a library to conduct thorough investigations. People in this camp argue that institutional libraries pay significant sums to provide access to proprietary databases to their customers that is, databases that offer abstracts, bibliographical information, and, oftentimes, full texts of articles published in scholarly journals. Also, research purists may argue that documents published on the Internet lack the authority of research that is peer-reviewed and published by major publishers. Something important to consider is the difference between an Internet resource and an academic resource accessed via the Internet. For example, if I simply Google “research method,” one of my first search results is from about.com – a good resource, but not necessarily an academic resource. Although I can glean about.com for useful information about the generics of a topic like “research methods,” for the purposes of an academic research assignment, it may be wise to use the Internet to access my library’s databases (like Academic Search Premier, JSTOR, etc.) for online access to a plethora of information pertaining to my search term. The Internet hosts a variety of resources, some of which are useful for casual, everyday references (like about.com) and others which are more appropriate for an academic research assignment (like my library’s databases: Academic Search Premier, JSTOR, etc.)

    Because of a misunderstanding about the way in which the Internet serves both purposes (casual, everyday research and formal, academic research) some students report they never use their library’s resources. Studies of the research processes of students have found that many students limit their investigations to search engines such as Google, paying especially close attention to the first eight or so hits on any search. Unfortunately, students who conduct research in this way often end up with sources that they later realize aren’t useful in crafting informed, thorough, formal academic research and/or arguments.

    To conduct effective research, you may need to use both the library and the Internet. Limiting yourself to the library cuts off some very innovative work that may not yet be accessible for your library’s periodical indexes and abstracts. In turn, relying solely on the Internet is like trying to dig a hole with your tongue rather than a shovel: extremely counterproductive and a waste of time.

    Information junkies know arguments for using either the library or the Internet are out of touch with reality. As research libraries increase the number of electronic resources they subscribe to, many traditional resources are now accessible via the Internet although passwords may be required. In other words, distinctions between the library and the Web are blurring.