The 10-Minute International Librarian #67: Think of a way in which user expectations have changed

While libraries are not in the business of selling products to consumers, they nonetheless have a duty to ensure that the services and support they are offering respond to need. This is essential; it is by meeting these needs that libraries have an impact, and so justify their existence and ongoing support. Users of course […]

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The 10-Minute International Librarian #40: understand your users’ expectations

Librarianship is all about providing service. Our institutions are there to help people find the information they need to make decisions, and to take part in economic, social, cultural and civic life. As a result, we have a strong focus on working to identify and respond to user needs, both in terms of building collections […]

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Libraries on the political compass: advocating to politicians from different perspectives

This blog starts from the fact that libraries find themselves having to make the case for funding and support to decision-makers with a wide variety of positions, and looks at what sort of arguments could work in each case. It is with thanks to Antoine Torrens-Montebello, who sparked the idea for it. 

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The Marrakesh Treaty Turns Ten: Lessons Learned in the United States

Kelsey Corlett-Rivera, the International Language Librarian at the U.S.’s National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (NLS) at the Library of Congress (LC), has been participating in the practical implementation of the Marrakesh Treaty in the United States since she joined NLS in July 2020. Here she shares some lessons learned as NLS […]

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Looking Ahead on Copyright in 2022

Even as it has added new complexity to law-making, the COVID-19 pandemic has shone a new light on the way that copyright regimes work, and how well able they are to flex to match an uncertain and changing world. That they need to accommodate digital is clear, but there is still resistance to reproducing the […]

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