Library User Metaphors and Services : : How Librarians look at their Users / / Carl Gustav Johannsen.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter DG Plus DeG Package 2015 Part 1
• VerfasserIn: Johannsen, Carl Gustav,
• Place / Publishing House: Berlin ;, Boston : : De Gruyter Saur, , [2015]; ©2015
• Year of Publication: 2015
• Language: English
• Series: Current Topics in Library and Information Practice ,
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (174 p.)

How do library professionals talk about and refer to library users, and how is this significant? In recent decades, the library profession has conceived of users in at least five different ways, viewing them alternatively as citizens, clients, customers, guests, or partners. This book argues that these user metaphors crucially inform librarians' interactions with the public, and, by extension, determine the quality and content of the services received. The ultimate aim of this book is to provide library professionals with insights and tools for avoiding common pitfalls associated with false or professionally inadequate conceptions of library users.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Acknowledgements -- Contents -- 1. Introduction -- 2. User segmentation in libraries – from library usage patterns to lifestyle segments -- 3. Theoretical considerations concerning metaphors, images, and similar concepts and idea transfer in organizations -- 4. Five library user metaphors -- 5. Library services and user metaphors -- 6. Library user metaphors and the experience society -- 7. Conclusions -- References