In today’s rapidly changing world of technology and
information, libraries find themselves trying to understand more about their
users. The results of a qualitative survey of 184 women library patrons give insight
into why and how they use library and information technology and how they
learned to use that technology. Women discuss what services they particularly
value, including traditional services like printed books and reference, but
also their appreciation and use of the Internet, including the library’s Web
site and databases. Trends showed that women are still the ones who bring
children to the library and encourage their use of books. They also value the
library as a place of solitude where they can find books or just be by
themselves. Women use a variety of resources outside of the library to locate
information as they make choices about how to find information in everyday
life. It will be important for public libraries to discover ways to increase their
role in educating women about library use, particularly electronic resources,
and how to effectively locate and evaluate information from the Web and other
resources so libraries can remain a vital part of lifelong learning.
Fidishun, D. (2007). Women and
the public library: Using technology, using the library. Library Trends, 56(2), 328-343. http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/lib.2008.0010
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