Intended to be an accessible guide to transformational information work, the book collects approximately thirty brief case studies of information related organizations, initiatives, and/or projects that focus on social justice related activities. Each case is a short narrative account of its particular subject's history, objectives, accomplishments, and challenges faced. It also describes the material realities involved in the subjects' day-to-day operation. Furthermore, cases include pertinent excerpts from interviews conducted with individuals directly involved with the information organization and will conclude with three-to-five bulleted takeaway points for information workers to consider when developing their own praxis - Present useful guidance on transformative library and information science - Gathers real-world case studies of library and information practice relating to social justice - Gives takeaway points for readers to quickly apply in their own situation - Provides inspiration for the development of progressive library and information practice - Considers radical library and information science at a high level, offering recommendations for the future

Black, Indigenous, and Peoples of Color--reimagine library and information science through the lens of critical race theory. In Knowledge Justice, Black, Indigenous, and Peoples of Color scholars use critical race theory (CRT) to challenge the foundational principles, values, and assumptions of Library and Information Science and Studies (LIS) in the United States. They propel CRT to center stage in LIS, to push the profession to understand and reckon with how white supremacy affects practices, services, curriculum, spaces, and policies.

Based on a tested model for community analysis, this book offers a guide to the management of client-centered transformative information services that can be applied in any type of library or information agency. Knowing a community enables library and information professionals to prioritize the community's information needs and design appropriate services for them. Assessing Information Needs: Managing Transformative Library Services was written to provide the rationale for community analysis, a model for gathering community data, and a process for analyzing data and applying it to the management of an information agency. The book explains why information professionals should customize services, as well as the "how to" of collecting data. A model for gathering community information is described, applied, and demonstrated through a case study. The book then shows how such information is interpreted and used to plan information services that are transformative for individuals and groups in the case-study community, providing lessons that readers can use with their own institutions. Rooted in a philosophy of customer service, the method presented here is perfect for public, school, academic, and special libraries or other types of information agencies.

Although they may not have always been explicitly stated, library work has always had normative goals. Until recently, such goals have largely been abstract; they are things like knowledge creation, education, forwarding science, preserving history, supporting democracy, and safeguarding civilization. The modern spirit of social and cultural critique, however, has focused our attention on the concrete, material relationships that determine human potentiality and opportunity, and library workers are increasingly seeing the institution of the library, as well as library work, as embedded in a web of relations that extends beyond the library's traditional sphere of influence. In light of this critical consciousness, more and more library and information science professionals are coming to see themselves as change agents and front-line advocates of social justice issues. This book will serve as a guide for those library workers and related information professionals that disregard traditional ideas of "library neutrality" and static, idealized conceptions of Western culture. The book will work as an entry point for those just forming a consciousness oriented towards social justice work and will be also be of value to more experienced "transformative library workers" as an up-to-date supplement to their praxis. - Justifies the use of a variety of theoretical and practical resources for effecting positive change - Explores the role of the librarian as change agents

Academic librarians working in instruction are at the crux of professional, higher educational, and societal change. While they work with disciplinary faculty to ensure learners are critical information consumers and producers in 21st century ways, how do academic librarians develop a sense of their own identities as post-secondary instructors? Using both broad and in-depth data from practicing instruction librarians, this book identifies the catalysts and influences in academic librarians’ perspective development process. From these factors, then, instruction librarians and librarians-to-be can hone their own instructional identities and transform their teaching practices. This focus on understanding this perspective transformation process around instructional identities offers both working academic librarians and LIS graduate students an innovative way to think about their roles as educators. While many books explore the practical or how-to aspects of teaching in libraries, Transforming Academic Librarianship: How to Hone Your Instructional Identity and Adopt Best Teaching Practice takes a step up and examines how academic librarians think about or approach instruction as a part of their work. Through explicating this metacognitive process, this book helps both academic librarians and librarians-to-be to more intentionally consider their teaching practices and professional identities.

With the adoption of modern technology and more importantly in this 21st century, the traditional method of service provision is astronomically becoming obsolete. Libraries are service oriented institutions charged with the responsibility of providing the right information to the right user in the right format and at the right time. In the modern information society, libraries and information centres have a new role to play. This is due to increasing use of web-based information sources and electronic services. Libraries are also being managed in a more democratic way due to flexible communication system and efficient work organisation. The transformation from the industrial revolution to information revolution by most parts of the world is a testimony that information is an essential asset for human, economic, political, social and technological developments. For effective teaching and learning, an information service centre like a library is essential that students be exposed to relevant information resources for effective understanding and exposing knowledge.This book entitled Library and Information Work therefore focuses on the challenges of modern trends in Library and Information Science. The book discusses the nature and constraints of information service provisions traditionally. This valuable work, designed specifically for library and information science professionals, covers real-world cases that combine theories of ethics and librarianship with practical, real-life scenarios. This book will assist to researchers and practitioners alike, including coverage of subjects as diverse and vital as the history of librarianship, its development as a profession, the ethics of information science, cataloging, and reference.

This work provides a comprehensive examination of the life and professional career of E.J Josey within the broader historical and political landscape of the civil rights movement. In the era of Jim Crow, Josey rose to prominence in the library profession by challenging the American Library Association (ALA) to live up to its creed of equality for all. This was not easy during the 1950s and 1960s, during segregation. Using interviews with Josey and his contemporaries, as well as several archival sources, library educator Renate Chancellor analyzes Josey’s leadership, particularly within modern day racial currents. During his professional career, spanning over fifty years (1952-2002), Josey worked as a librarian (1953-1966), an administrator of library services (1966-1986), and as a professor of library science (1986-1995). He also served as President of the American Library Association and perhaps his most notable achievement, he successfully drafted a resolution that prevented state library associations from discriminating against African American librarians. This essentially ended segregation in the ALA. Josey’s transformative leadership provides a model to tackle today’s civil rights challenges both in and outside the library profession. This authoritative work copublished by the Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE) documents for the historical record a significant period of history that is underexplored in the scholarly literature. The target audience for this book are researchers, historians, LIS educators and students interested in understanding the complex struggle for civil and human rights in professional organizations.

"Provides a snapshot of the current state of critical information literacy as it is enacted and understood by academic librarians"--

Transforming Research Libraries for the Global Knowledge Society explores critical aspects of research library transformation needed for successful transition into the 21st century multicultural environment. The book is written by leaders in the field who have real world experience with transformational change and thought-provoking ideas for the future of research libraries, academic librarianship, research collections, and the changing nature of global scholarship within a higher education context. - Authors are leaders in the research libraries field from a variety of countries - Thought provoking chapters will help guide research library transformation globally - Contains a diversity of thinking on research librarianship in the 21st century

Safely guide your library into the new millennium! Like so much else in the information professions, leadership styles are being forced to change to meet the demands of technological innovation. Leadership in the Library and Information Science Professions is among the first books to focus on this increasingly important job qualification. It offers practical advice for developing strong, flexible, and creative leadership skills in yourself and your staff. This fascinating volume stresses the leadership needed to manage change. The essential skills taught here will help you update library services at a reasonable pace while preserving valuable low-tech alternatives. As one chapter recommends, “Every librarian at every level should have ready an answer-multiple answers-to the ubiquitous questions: Why do we still need libraries when everything is on the Web? How can you justify an expanding budget in the Internet Age?” Leadership in the Library and Information Science Professions offers fresh ideas for developing and using leadership skills, including: recruiting tips for identifying potential leaders staff training and development restructuring the organization to encourage full staff participation budget strategies for successful leaders issues of gender and ethnic diversity evaluating and assessing leadership Leadership in the Library and Information Science Professions is an essential resource for library administrators and staff. By developing your leadership skills and those of your staff, you can confidently face the hectic pace of change in the information sciences.