The present historical moment may seem a particularly inopportune time to review Bowling Alone, Robert Putnam's latest exploration of civic decline in America. After all, the outpouring of volunteerism, solidarity, patriotism, and self-sacrifice displayed by Americans in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks appears to fly in the face of Putnam's central argument: that \"social capital\" -defined as \"social networks and the norms of reciprocity and trustworthiness that arise from them\" (p. 19)'has declined to dangerously low levels in America over the last three decades. However, Putnam is not fazed in the least by the recent effusion of solidarity. Quite the contrary, he sees in it the potential to \"reverse what has been a 30to 40-year steady decline in most measures of connectedness or community.\"' As an example of how the current \"war on terrorism\" could generate a durable civic renewal, Putnam points to the burst in civic practices that occurred during and after World War II, which he says \"permanently marked\" the generation that lived through it and had a \"terrific effect on American public life over the last half-century.\" 3 If Americans can follow this example and channel their current civic

Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of American community

The Sage Encyclopedia of Qualitative Research Methods

Digital Divide: Civic Engagement, Information Poverty, and the Internet Worldwide. Pippa Norris. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002. 303 pp. $60 hbk., $20 pbk. Forecasts that the Internet heralds a world of more democracy and less poverty seem as inflated as dot.com stocks. This rosy view has electronic voting, political chat rooms, and email access re-engaging apathetic publics in politics. Digital technologies redress economic disparities, and the benefits of the Internet percolate down to transform poor societies. Equally exaggerated is the gloom of naysayers. The Internet Age has done little to narrow the gap between rich and poor countries, the information haves and havenots, cyber-skeptics contend. Indeed, digital technologies could create new inequalities and reinforce the dominance of power elites. In her new book, Digital Divide, Pippa Norris, associate director of the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University, steps into this fusillade of cyber-hyperbole, lowers the decibel with a well-written and thoughtful examination of Internet use and access in 179 countries and dissects the claims and counter-claims. Her research and findings place her on middle ground, somewhere between current reality and optimism. The Internet era seems to be changing "politics as usual" in a number of countries, expanding and loosening information about governments and politics, allowing the entrance of new political players, and fostering international movements on the environment, women's rights, and other issues across borders. The disappointment is that digital technologies are activating the already politically active and passing up the disengaged and uninterested. A major challenge to digital democracy is the gulf between the United States, Scandinavia, and other early Internet adopters and the rest of the world. That gap is now so wide that at the turn of the century, more than three-quarters of the online community lived in the developed world. Internet use tracks the path of economic and technological development. But that situation could begin to change, Norris says. The Internet is in its technological adolescence. Costs of access are falling. And governments can make a difference if policymakers take the initiative. We have the historical patterns of other communication technologies to study. Norris examines theories of technological diffusion and points out that the American response to the Internet is more akin to the rapid spread of televisions and VCRs than the slower adoption of telephones and radios. American dominance could recede as Internet access grows worldwide. Contrary to what officials of the Bush Administration contend, Norris finds that the digital divide between rich and poor within the United States remains substantial. Europe mirrors that trend. In the long run, the Internet could become more accessible to the excluded: lower income families, minorities, and women. …

Digital Divide: Civic Engagement, Information Poverty, and the Internet Worldwide

The article reviews the book "The Innovator's Dilemma: The Revolutionary Book That Will Change the Way You Do Business" by Clayton M. Christensen.

The Innovator's Dilemma: The Revolutionary Book That Will Change the Way You Do Business.

Dismantling the Public Sphere: Situating and Sustaining Librarianship in the Age of the New Public Philosophy

Libraries are looking for a better way to encode and share their data. Christensen's disruptive technologies theory provides a framework for evaluating linked data and thinking about future uses of library technology. Because of its lack of use and technical weaknesses, linked data is not yet poised to emerge as a disruptive innovation. It has the potential, however, to become disruptive and should be explored first in spin-offs that supplement library data or provide access to other electronic content. Library systems under development should focus on remaining nimble and open to unforeseen future technologies and uses.

The Disruptive Qualities of Linked Data in the Library Environment: Analysis and Recommendations

Purpose – This paper aims to, through an analysis of the current literature, explore the current state of the library e-publishing community and its approach to preservation. Libraries are increasingly proposing publishing services as part of their work with their communities, and recently, there has been a pronounced interest in providing electronic publishing (e-publishing) services. The library e-publishing community, however, has not systematically studied the need for the long-term preservation of the digital content they help create. Design/methodology/approach – Through a reflective analysis of the literature, this paper explores the context and the evolution of e-publishing as a trend that aligns with public library missions; in doing so, it also explores implications for digital preservation in the context of these new services and identifies gaps in the literature. Findings – Digital preservation is an important and worthwhile activity for library e-publishers; preservation of community-based au...

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E-publishing in libraries: the [Digital] preservation imperative

Information professionals housed in academic libraries are increasingly taking a role in supporting scholarly communication activities. This article investigates the extent to which a formal role has grown in ARL libraries, the skills and competencies necessary for supporting work with data in this capacity, and how those skills and competencies relate to the research lifecycle. We find that scholarly communication has formalized in ARL libraries since 2012. We also find that the requisite skills and competencies for scholarly communication work have coalesced since 2009 in support of a core group that, when the research lifecycle is considered, also support the work of scholars.

/pdf/innovating-support-for-research-the-coalescence-of-scholarly-50sqrhesoc.pdf

Innovating Support for Research: The Coalescence of Scholarly Communication?

In 2013, the Missouri State Library was restructured due to the election of a new Secretary of State. This article evaluates the library's restructuring using interviews and an analysis of internal and external public records. Presented as a case study, changes to the library are examined in terms of change management and bureaucratic organization. Findings emphasize the value of communication and the impact of placing libraries within politically oriented organizational structures. It is recommended that administrators allow for more autonomy when making decisions that depend on professional knowledge.

Strike While the Iron Is Hot: Change Management in the Context of a New Political Administration

This article discusses lobbying and political advocacy within librarianship and present findings from an exploratory study of state library associations. Each state has a library association that works to advance the profession, the interests of its members, and library services. Articles about lobbying and political advocacy comprise only a small part of the literature on librarianship, but advocacy is crucial for maintaining and advancing library services. To fill this gap in the literature, we provide an introduction to library advocacy, describe the associated policy landscape, and evaluate literature discussing libraries and lobbying. Next, we report findings from our study. We conclude by discussing these findings and focus on how political issues might affect libraries, lobbying and advocacy in Library and Information Science education, and other issues mentioned by our study participants.

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A.J. Million

Papers

The Disruptive Qualities of Linked Data in the Library Environment: Analysis and Recommendations

E-publishing in libraries: the [Digital] preservation imperative

Innovating Support for Research: The Coalescence of Scholarly Communication?

Strike While the Iron Is Hot: Change Management in the Context of a New Political Administration

Lobbying and Political Advocacy: A Review of the Literature and Exploratory Survey of State Library Associations