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By examining types of literacies taught by public libraries and the modes through which these programs were offered, this study aims to explore how public libraries might integrate data literacy training for the general public into existing library educational programs.

This study examined programs offered in 30 US public libraries during 2019 and 2020 to better understand types of literacy education announced to the public through library website listings and Facebook Events pages.

While public libraries offered educational programs in literacy areas ranging from basic reading and writing to technology, vocational skills, health literacy and more, data literacy training was not widely offered. However, this study identified many already-existing programs highly compatible for integrating with data literacy training.

This study offered new insights into both the literacies taught in public library programs as well as ways for public libraries to integrate data literacy training into existing educational programming, in order to better provide data literacy education for the general public.

The purpose of this paper is to improve understanding of the societal problem of the deepening digital divide by establishing and testing an integrated conceptual framework for digital divide research.

The authors established the integrated conceptual framework after synthesizing the literature, and then tested the framework by conducting a secondary analysis of a 2014-2015 data set comprised of 398 survey responses and nine interviews with Chinese migrant workers.

The results showed that Chinese migrant workers were partially e-included in the digital society. However, they encountered material, cognitive, motivational, and social access limitations due to the lack of financial, material, educational, psychological, interpersonal, and cognitive resources, which caused them to experience a digital divide. Findings support the use of the integrative model as a potential analytical framework to understand and address digital inequalities.

This study first proposed an integrative framework to understand the measurements and causes of the digital divide and then empirically tested its feasibility.

As adults and young adults have become increasingly active on social media, public libraries have incorporated social media alongside their more traditional services. However, libraries are faced with the challenging task of determining how to successfully engage with their users through social media. This chapter examines research literature from both social media and information studies to explore evidence-based results on providing popular information services and resources for adult and young adult users in social spaces. Key elements of social media use by libraries identified in this review include promotion of information resources and services, participation and engagement, social care, pastoral care, outreach, cocreation and motivation of users, advocacy and crowdsourcing, and measurement and assessment. Based on results from current research, best practices and assessment methods for social media are discussed which offer practical considerations for selecting social media platforms appropriate to a library’s mission, goals, and objectives, with examples relevant to a variety of social media platforms. The chapter also offers a review of social media platforms, practices, and assessment designed to inform librarians and library managers in decision-making about library social media efforts.

This study aims to examine librarianship and education in virtual world settings, focusing particularly on how librarians and educators establish professional identity and trust while teaching and providing information services as avatars within Second Life.

Data was gathered through semi‐structured in‐depth interviews with 12 librarians and educators within the virtual world of Second Life, and in visits to 50 virtual world workplaces.

Librarians and educators faced challenges of establishing professional identity and credibility for two different audiences – i.e. “newbies” and “residents” – within the “game‐like” virtual world environment. Visual elements such as a conservative, humanoid avatar appearance, and imagery drawn from traditional workplaces were used by librarians and educators to establish their professional role with “newbies”, while for “residents” an upgraded avatar appearance was necessary to convey credibility.

For librarians and educators working within highly visual, graphical online settings such as virtual worlds, this study describes issues in providing avatar‐mediated online distance education and online library services.

This research provides in‐depth interviews and observations with librarians and educators from a variety of libraries and educational settings. The study also explores avatar‐mediated communication, which is little‐examined as yet in LIS research.

TO all our readers we can wish a happy and prosperous New Year with greater confidence than usual that the coming months will translate the familiar hope into reality. The reason for that optimism is National Productivity Year. There is growing evidence that the public understands and appreciates its central theme. Naturally the official Guildhall opening attracted wide publicity. Since then it has been reinforced through the addresses given by prominent personalities at meetings up and down the country; meetings which will continue and build up a favourable climate in industry.

The purpose of this monograph is to present the first English translation of a unique French colonial report on women living under colonial rule in West Africa.

The issue begins with a discussion of the contribution this report makes to the history of social development policy in Africa, and how it serves the on‐going critique of colonisation. This is followed by the English translation of the original report held in the National Archives of Senegal. The translation is accompanied by explanatory notes, translator’s comments, a glossary of African and technical terms, and a bibliography.

The discussion highlights contemporary social development policies and practices which featured in identical or similar forms in French colonial social policy.

As the report demonstrates, access to basic education and improving maternal/infant health care have dominated the social development agenda for women in sub‐Saharan Africa for over a century, and will continue to do so in the foreseeable future in the Millennium Development Goals which define the international community’s agenda for social development to 2015. The parallels between colonial and post‐colonial social policies in Africa raise questions about the philosophical and cultural foundations of contemporary social development policy in Africa and the direction policy is following in the 21st century.

Though the discussion adopts a consciously postcolonial perspective, the report that follows presents a consciously colonial view of the “Other”. Given the parallels identified here between contemporary and colonial policy‐making, this can only add to the value of the document in exploring the values that underpin contemporary social development practice.

IN a recent address Mr. S. J. Noel‐Brown, a work study consultant who is frequently called in by local authorities, said that 209 such bodies, out of a total of 1,800, had shown a lively interest in the subject. Of these many used outside consultants or had joined in group schemes. Some authorities, however, were still living in the quill pen era, scarcely having heard of typewriters. They were struggling along with laborious, out‐of‐date equipment.