Public Libraries Archives And Museums

Libraries, archives and museums have traditionally been a part of the public sphere's infrastructure. They have been so by providing public access to culture and knowledge, by being agents for enlightenment and by being public meeting places in their communities. Digitization and globalization poses new challenges in relation to upholding a sustainable public sphere. Can libraries, archives and museums contribute in meeting these challenges?

This is the first book to consider the development of all three cultural heritage institutions – libraries, archives, and museums – and their interactions with society and culture from ancient history to the present day in Western Europe, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The text explores the social and cultural role of these institutions in the societies that created them, as well as the political, economic and social influences on their mission, philosophy, and services and how those changed throughout time. The work provides a thorough background in the topic for graduate students and professionals in the fields of library and information science, archival studies, and museum resource management, preservation, and administration. Arranged chronologically, the story begins with the temple libraries of ancient Sumer, followed the growth and development of governmental and private libraries in ancient Greece and Rome, the influence of Asia and Islam on Western library development, the role of Christianity in the preservation of ancient literature as well as the skills of reading and writing during the Middle Ages, and the coming of the Renaissance and the rise of the university library. It continues by tracing the gradual division between archives and libraries and the growth of governmental and private libraries as independent institutions during and after the Renaissance and through the Enlightenment, and the development of public and private museums from the “cabinets of curiousities” of private collectors beginning in the 17th century. Individual chapters explore the further growth and development of libraries, archives, and museums in the 19th and 20th centuries, exploring the public library and public museum movements of those centuries, as well as the rise of the governmental and institutional archive. The final chapter discusses the growing collaboration between and even convergence of these institutions in the 21st century and the impact of modern information technology, and makes predictions about the future of all three institutions.

Economic Considerations for Libraries, Archives and Museums provides insight into the economics of collaboration across Libraries, Archives, and Museums (LAMs) and cultural heritage funding. Drawing together a series of global reflections on the past, present and future of cross-sector approaches to preserving and promoting cultural heritage, this volume examines the economic prospects of LAMs from a variety of facets. Divided into five sections, the book covers the five most important areas in the development and sustainability of collaborative LAM projects: the digital environment; collaborative models; education; funding issues; and alternate sources of funding. Responding directly to the issue of a lack of adequate funding for maintaining and providing access to cultural heritage resources globally, the book argues that cultural heritage institutions must seek creative methods for funding and collaboration at all levels to achieve shared goals. Economic Considerations for Libraries, Archives and Museums will be of interest to all those engaged in the study of library and information science, archival studies, museum studies and digital preservation. Administrators and practitioners will also find much to interest them within the pages of the book.

Tangible and intangible forms of indigenous knowledges and cultural expressions are often found in libraries, archives or museums. Often the "legal" copyright is not held by the indigenous people’s group from which the knowledge or cultural expression originates. Indigenous peoples regard unauthorized use of their cultural expressions as theft and believe that the true expression of that knowledge can only be sustained, transformed, and remain dynamic in its proper cultural context. Readers will begin to understand how to respect and preserve these ways of knowing while appreciating the cultural memory institutions’ attempts to transfer the knowledges to the next generation.

This highly practical handbook teaches you how to unlock the value of your existing metadata through cleaning, reconciliation, enrichment and linking and how to streamline the process of new metadata creation. Libraries, archives and museums are facing up to the challenge of providing access to fast growing collections whilst managing cuts to budgets. Key to this is the creation, linking and publishing of good quality metadata as Linked Data that will allow their collections to be discovered, accessed and disseminated in a sustainable manner. This highly practical handbook teaches you how to unlock the value of your existing metadata through cleaning, reconciliation, enrichment and linking and how to streamline the process of new metadata creation. Metadata experts Seth van Hooland and Ruben Verborgh introduce the key concepts of metadata standards and Linked Data and how they can be practically applied to existing metadata, giving readers the tools and understanding to achieve maximum results with limited resources. Readers will learn how to critically assess and use (semi-)automated methods of managing metadata through hands-on exercises within the book and on the accompanying website. Each chapter is built around a case study from institutions around the world, demonstrating how freely available tools are being successfully used in different metadata contexts. This handbook delivers the necessary conceptual and practical understanding to empower practitioners to make the right decisions when making their organisations resources accessible on the Web. Key topics include: - The value of metadata Metadata creation – architecture, data models and standards - Metadata cleaning - Metadata reconciliation - Metadata enrichment through Linked Data and named-entity recognition - Importing and exporting metadata - Ensuring a sustainable publishing model. Readership: This will be an invaluable guide for metadata practitioners and researchers within all cultural heritage contexts, from library cataloguers and archivists to museum curatorial staff. It will also be of interest to students and academics within information science and digital humanities fields. IT managers with responsibility for information systems, as well as strategy heads and budget holders, at cultural heritage organisations, will find this a valuable decision-making aid.

Hundreds of tribal libraries, archives, and other information centers offer the services patrons would expect from any library: circulation of materials, collection of singular items (such as oral histories), and public services (such as summer reading programs). What is unique in these settings is the commitment to tribal protocols and expressions of tribal lifeways—from their footprints on the land to their architecture and interior design, institutional names, signage, and special services, such as native language promotion. This book offers a collection of articles devoted to tribal libraries and archives and provides an opportunity for tribal librarians to share their stories, challenges, achievements, and aspirations with the larger professional community. Part one introduces the tribal community library, providing context and case studies for libraries in California, Alaska, Oklahoma, Hawai'i, and in other countries. The role of tribal libraries and archives in native language recovery and revitalization is also addressed in this section. Part two features service functions of tribal information centers, addressing the library facility, selection, organization, instruction, and programming/outreach. Part three includes a discussion of the types of records that tribes might collect, legal issues, and snapshot descriptions of noteworthy archival collections. The final part covers strategic planning, advice on working in the unique environments of tribal communities, advocacy and marketing, continuing education plans for library staff, and time management tips that are useful for anyone working in a small library setting.

In achieving civic engagement and social justice in smart cities, literacy programs are offered in the society by three essential information service providers: libraries, archives, and museums. Although the library and museum services are documented in literature, there is little evidence of community-led library or museum services that make a full circle in understanding community-library, community-archive, and community-museum relationships. The Handbook of Research on the Role of Libraries, Archives, and Museums in Achieving Civic Engagement and Social Justice in Smart Cities examines the application of tools and techniques in library and museum literacy in achieving civic engagement and social justice. It also introduces a new outlook in the services of libraries and museums. Covering topics such as countering fake news, human rights literacies, and outreach activities, this book is essential for community-based organizations, librarians, museum administrations, education leaders, information professionals, smart city design planners, digital tool developers, policymakers engaged in diversity, researchers, and academicians.

This new edition of Digital Preservation in Libraries, Archives, and Museums is the most current, complete guide to digital preservation available today. For administrators and practitioners alike, the information in this book is presented readably, focusing on management issues and best practices. Although this book addresses technology, it is not solely focused on technology. After all, technology changes and digital preservation is aimed for the long term. This is not a how-to book giving step-by-step processes for certain materials in a given kind of system. Instead, it addresses a broad group of resources that could be housed in any number of digital preservation systems. Finally, this book is about “things (not technology; not how-to; not theory) I wish I knew before I got started.” Digital preservation is concerned with the life cycle of the digital object in a robust and all-inclusive way. Many Europeans and some North Americans may refer to digital curation to mean the same thing, taking digital preservation to be the very limited steps and processes needed to insure access over the long term. The authors take digital preservation in the broadest sense of the term: looking at all aspects of curating and preserving digital content for long term access. The book is divided into four part: 1.Situating Digital Preservation, 2.Management Aspects, 3.Technology Aspects, and 4.Content-Related Aspects. Digital Preservation will answer questions that you might not have even known you had, leading to more successful digital preservation initiatives.