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Anna Walczak Library space in the opinion of librarians, architects and users (with the examples of Polish research libraries 1989 -2009).Dissertation. Dissertation Supervisor prof. dr hab. Maria Kocójowa (Jagiellonian University). Katowice: University of Silesia, Faculty of Philology 2011. Field of study: Library Science

Abstract

Creating library space of the highest ąuality, taking into consideration all the conditionings, depends on two factors: the awareness of what the users need and the information exchange between librarians and architects. Consequently, it is extremely important to get to know the opinions of the representatives of both professions. On the other side, making the library science and architecture students conscious of the role of the library space appears to be eąually significant. The author has carried out research in order to collect and analyze the opinions expressed in the home and foreign expert literaturę concerning the organizational and architectural (functional and aesthetic) Solutions applied in the contemporary research libraries in the period of the last twenty years (after 1989). The outcome of this analisis has been compared with the author’s own research carried out in the years 2003 and 2007. Additionally, the author has compared the opinions of librarians, architects and other users. A conclusion has been reached that the cooperation between librarians and architects is a must. In the analysis of the opinions the author has applied the library space ąuality criteria proposed by Andrew McDonald, published in 2006 and introduced to Polish literaturę two years later by the author. To make the basis of the research in Poland morę realistic a catalogue containing 51 library buildings (1989-2009) has been included. The bibliography of the ąuoted articles as well as the list of architects and librarians has been attached to the catalogue. The main method applied in the thesis has been a functional method. The following research techniąues has been used in respective parts of the thesis: analysis and review of the literaturę, comparative analysis, the Best Practice, accident study, sociological and statistical method and finally bibliographic techniąue.

The research carried out has allowed to systematize the knowledge of designing the high ąuality library space helpful for architects, librarians and other professionals acting in the education field. As for the evaluation of library space, the thesis has highlighted the similarities and differences among librarians, architects and other library users. The author has underlined the benefits of Andrew McDonald’s high ąuality features treated both as a new criterion of estimating the ąuality of library services and a sign of agreement between architects and librarians (in relation to H. Faulkner-Brown’s rules). Finally, the author has enhanced the significance of the librarians, especially as the creators of operational programs, in the process of creating a modem library space.

Key words: Contemporary library science - Information and library science education and architecture education - Library buildings program - Library construction, functionality - Library space - Library space evaluation by librarians, architecture and users - McDonald Andrew’s ąuality of library space - Theory and methodology.

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