74051 - Libraries Management

Learning outcomes

The course introduces the foundations of library management: principles, activities, services, basic roles and tasks, tools and models for monitoring, quality assessment and improvement of the library as an organized system. At the end of the course, the student knows the methods and problems of managerial practices in libraries, and knows how to apply the models and tools, and to plan the characterizing activities and services.

Course contents

The course will introduce and show the strategic application of the tools used in the library field for the construction, management, development, enhancement and promotion of collections and services, for the optimal use of human and financial resources, for fundraising, for the evaluation of the satisfaction of the needs of users, and for the measurement of the quality of services.

1) The first general part will be dedicated to:

- management and development of collections and services,

- interlibrary cooperation,

- organization of physical space

- benchmarking, fundraising, quality measurement and evaluation, customer satisfaction, marketing.

2) The second specialist part will focus on the management of 'special collection':

- Special collections: definitions and context, evaluation criteria for special collections, specific professional skills

- Rebuilding the book funds

- The local fund: definitions and indications of management

- Documents and archival complexes in libraries

- Libraries within the framework of the Faro Convention: Public History activities, Public engagement, Third University Mission

- Personal and copyright funds: an introduction and some definitions; comment on the AIB Guidelines

Students will thus be able to critically evaluate the relationship between documentary collections, services and users, both from the point of view of the manager and that of the user, and therefore to actively participate in the cultural and social process of organization and management of documents as well as in that of their procurement and their organization for the purpose of personal use.

https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students

Readings/Bibliography

1) Introductory Part:

Giorgio Montecchi - Fabio Venuda. Nuovo Manuale di biblioteconomia. Milano, Bibliografica, 2022.

Biblioteche e biblioteconomia: principi e questioni, a cura di Giovanni Solimine e Paul Gabriele Weston. Roma, Carocci editore, 2015, p.137-151, 175-204, 467-497. 

2) Specialized Part:

Lucia Sardo-Fiammetta Sabba, I fondi personali e le biblioteche accademiche, 2022.

Books and Manuscripts Section, Association of College and Research Libraries. Guidelines on the Selection and Transfer of Materials from General Collections to Special Collections.(http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/selctransfer).

Francesca Nepori-Fiammetta Sabba, Documenti e complessi di natura archivistica nelle biblioteche statali: una mésalliance secolare, in Gli archivi delle biblioteche: esperienze e questioni, a cura di Concetta Damiani, Loretta De Franceschi, Pierluigi Feliciati, Macerata, EUM, 2023, p.53-78.

Fiammetta Sabba, La valorizzazione del patrimonio bibliotecario tra ‘public engagement’ e ‘Public History’, <<Aib Studi>> 60 (2020), 1, p.9-18, DOI: 10.2426/aibstudi-12025

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For those not attending the course, it is recommanded to choose a book of the following:

Anna Bilotta, La biblioteca pubblica contemporanea e il suo futuro. Modelli e buone pratiche tra comparazione e valutazione, Milano, Editrice Bibliografica, 2021.

Maria Cassella, Biblioteche accademiche e Terza Missione, Milano, Editrice Bibliografica, 2020. 

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The use of the following glossary is also recommended:

Ferruccio Diozzi, Nuovo Glossario di biblioteconomia e scienza dell'informazione, Milano, Editrice Bibliografica, 2021.

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Students who for reasons of disability or specific learning disabilities (DSA) need compensatory tools will be able to communicate to the professor their needs so as to be directed to the referents and agree on the adoption of the most appropriate measures.

https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students

Teaching methods

Classroom lectures, with insights through the meetings of the cycle of seminars (in person and online) "Of cards, of books and surroundings".

In the 'Virtual' space, in-depth and summary material of the topics covered in the course will be provided. Virtuale is accessed with a password provided in class by the teacher (non-attendants can request it from the teacher by email). In Virtuale will also be provided video recordings of some useful lessons to guide non-attendants in the study independently.

Assessment methods

The exam consists of an oral interview starting from the presentation of a topic of the student's choice. The following will be evaluated: the knowledge and mastery of the topics discussed during the lessons and the reference bibliography indicated, the ability to know how to express themselves adequately and with language appropriate to the subject matter, the ability to synthesize and analyze the themes and concepts, and finally the critical and methodological skills acquired by the student. It is warned, therefore, that training gaps, inappropriate language, lack of orientation within the bibliographic materials offered during the course will be evaluated negatively.

For attending students, the teacher provides for the assignment of an intermediate written test to be held in the classroom during the course; students who accept the grade will be exempted from part of the program during the final oral exam.

Teaching tools

Projection of illustrative slides and analysis of practical models of questions dealt with through information technology support, visits to libraries and documentation centers, lecture notes provided by the teacher.

In the 'Virtual teaching resources' section - which can be accessed with a password that the teacher will communicate at the beginning of the lessons - the basic teaching material will be available from the start of the course (exemplary and in-depth Power Points, links to videos and handouts provided by the teacher). Furthermore, the recordings (or the link to the recordings) of the first two actual lessons of the course (which will be held in the classroom) will be available on Virtuale, so that everyone (attending, non-attending, workers, etc.) will be able to retrieve the orientation information for the course.

Please note that initiatives (educational visits, seminars, conferences, book presentations...) indicated and/or organized by the teacher are to be considered supplementary to the teaching and will be recognized during the exam.

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All student who are affected by learning disability (DSA) and in need of special strategies to compensate it, are kindly requested to contact Prof. Sabba, in order to be referred to the colleagues in charge and get proper advice and instructions.

https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students

 

Office hours

See the website of Fiammetta Sabba