Knjižnice Kot Dejavnik Oblikovanja Javnosti: Pogled Sodobnih Teorij
Year: 2002
Type: article
Abstract: Due to the nature of their services and pursuit of public interest, libraries have always been an important segment of public life. They have performed such a role in the past quite remarkably, but the question is to what extent are they able to contribute to the formation of attention which one should like to observe in the contemporary public? Or from another angle, the question is – what is the role that contemporary theories of the public attribute to libraries; how do they model the contribution that libraries may have in the formation and activity of the public. In this respect, the paper sets up a broader theoretical perspective in which it addresses issues about what or where is the public, what is the public as a social category, and to what extent can libraries themselves be seen as parts of their own public(s). One of the main aims of this paper is to show that any practical dilemma will remain unsolved if it is not regarded within a wider perspective “ajared” by the theories of the public. On could summarize this aim with the following question: what role does the library play in the formation and operation of the public? Although it may seem that in the present context it is primarily the libraries who are in search of their public, it is far more important to recognize, however, that the contemporary public is even more dependent on libraries as dynamic information centers. There exists a complex and mutual relation of interdependence between libraries and the public. Similarly as libraries need a public that is active, investigative and vocal, also the public requires a library that is as systematic, accessible, organized and instructive as possible.
Author: Andrej Pinter
Institution: University of Ljubljana
Language: Slovenian
Subfield: Library and Information Sciences
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W2145284527