Nordic Journal of Library and Information Studies

UPSCALE

Henrik Jochumsen — 2023-09-29

UPSCALE is an international collaboration of universities, research institutes, public libraries, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that explore the preconditions for and possible upscaling of collaborative consumption using public libraries. UPSCALE runs until autumn 2024, and results will be published continuously in journals dealing with library and information studies, climate research, and sustainability. In this research note, we introduce ongoing research from the UPSCALE research group by presenting several case studies that show how public libraries act as change agents in different ways regarding sustainable development. This might be by facilitating, promoting the lending, and sharing alternative collections in the library or by building collaborations, partnerships, and networks with local community actors, NGOs, and other local and national partners.

Forging a friction

Maciej Liguzinski — 2023-04-19

The article explores the development of e-lending models for digital books (e-books and digital audiobooks) in public libraries from a comparative perspective, analysing cases in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Special attention is placed on the actors involved in developing e-lending models and the variations across Scandinavia. First, the legal prerequisites of digital books, licensing culture and policy context are linked. Next, the phenomenon of e-lending and e-lending models are introduced and discussed as a form of artificial friction. Then, based on a review of international and Scandinavian grey literature, the paper provides three chronological overviews of e-lending model development, seen as an interplay between publishers and public libraries. The comparison highlights the similarities between the three countries but also differences in preference for a particular e-lending model in involvement of policy actors, and in pace and character of the analysed processes. Differences are primarily attributed to variances in established collaboration practices between the identified actors of cultural policy, to already existing regulatory frameworks, and to the maturity of the digital book market.

LCSH and Environmental Science

Frances Purcell — 2023-09-26

The environmental sciences are characterized by their boundless interdisciplinarity and cannot be discussed independently from other scientific fields such as ecology, engineering, and climatology. The complex nature of the discipline leads to challenges in placing it within a controlled vocabulary such as the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH). However, the placement of a term within a thesaurus hierarchy has potential repercussions for the discoverability of materials assigned that subject heading. As the environmental sciences are rapidly expanding due to global climate change, accurate representation of this discipline within a widely used vocabulary is crucial. In this paper we employ a visual mind mapping technique to examine how the environmental sciences are represented by codified language within the LCSH, then complete a domain analysis of the field to determine how environmental science represents itself. In comparing these two analyses we determine that the LCSH subject headings do not capture the interdisciplinary nature of the field in two primary ways; the term Environmental sciences is not sufficiently connected to the terms representing other major scientific subjects essential for a foundational understanding of environmental science, and key forward-looking topics of concern to environmental scientists such as Climatology are not in direct relationships with Environmental sciences. Correcting these issues is an important task, as ensuring that researchers are able to access a full range of environmental science materials will aid in finding sustainable climate solutions for our planet.

Simple questions for complex matters?

Björn Ekström — 2023-09-26

Renewable energy sources have emerged as a current subject matter in Sweden amidst discussions regarding energy costs, climate change and development of energy production. This study explores how Google Search is used for seeking information about wind power and how utilised search queries contribute to the understanding of this energy source. Adopting a practice theoretical perspective, the study explores search queries as doings and sayings, and understands search engines as an established part of everyday routinised information seeking-activities. Data collection was carried out in a trace ethnographic vein through the automatic retrieval of search queries enacted between November 2021 and October 2022. Through a digital methods approach, the search queries were analysed and visualised according to their prevalence and character string composition. A qualitative, multiple coding approach was moreover used for the identification and interpretation of themes and subthemes. The results show that geographical locations, wind power functions and small wind turbines comprise the most prominent subthemes of the search queries. This is replicated also in the search term frequencies, providing further insights to queries related to wind turbine’s efficiency as well as subthemes of advantages and disadvantages. Moreover, the study shows the tendency to phrase search queries as simple questions for complex matters, with nuances being lost in the pursuit of austere, uncomplicated answers. Altogether, the results contribute to a wider understanding of how environmental information seeking is conducted today.

The art of storytelling: against the instrumentalisation of stories as information sources in climate communication

Carin Graminius — 2023-09-27

Storytelling is an important tool of public engagement for researchers, not least for climate scholars. However, a problem arises when stories are treated instrumentally as means of delivering specific messages and as information sources. In particular, controlled experiments measuring the impact of stories on readers may misrepresent how stories work in practice. In this article, we shift perspective and re-emphasise the complexity of storytelling by analyzing the role of stories in three “climate fiction” novels: Sands of Sarasvati by Risto Isomäki, Green Earth by Kim Stanley Robinson and Tentacle by Rita Indiana. We highlight four underrepresented perspectives on storytelling: (1) stories may be used as time-resistant sources of scientific evidence; (2) stories may provide moral guidance; (3) stories have the ability to make connections, organizing events and agencies; and (4) stories afford storytellers agency to act on climate change. We thus conclude that efforts to evaluate the impact of stories require an understanding of how stories function in specific works of art.

Editorial

Carin Graminius — 2023-09-26

En svensk utblick på nordisk bibliotekshistoria

Jenny Lindberg — 2023-09-27

Content Moderation and Fact-Checking

Hanna Carlsson — 2023-09-27

Everyday energy information literacy

Sara Ahlryd — 2023-09-27

The perspectives, roles, and knowledge transfer among stakeholders of research data sharing

Kalpana Shankar — 2023-09-27

Academic librarianship in flux

Sheila Corrall — 2023-09-27