• Journal of the Korean Society for information Management
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.83-112
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• 2021

This study aims to examine how the specialty of librarians links between users' library experience and their resulting perception of the library in public libraries. After reviewing theoretical background studies, a questionnaire survey was conducted at six public libraries in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province. The analysis of the survey results showed that the perception of librarians' specialty had a mediation effect on the relationship between cultural, educational activity and library perception. However, information activity was not linked by the perception of librarians' specialty and only directly influenced on the library perception. Accordingly, the result raised a question of a discrepancy between the areas where the users gain the value of the library and where the librarians' specialty is perceived and some implications were suggested. This research is meaningful in integrating the users' library experience, librarians' specialty, and the library performance by external point of view on the specialty, traditionally regarded as an internal characteristic of the librarianship.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Library and Information Science
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• v.52 no.2
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• pp.5-25
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• 2018

This study is a broad examination researchon LIS students' perception about public library's subject special services and subject special librarian. Students majoring in Library and Information Science as respondents, it examined the recognition level of subject special services and subject special librarian, cognition level of necessity, competencies of subject special librarians and students and opinions on special status system of subject psecial librarians. Main factors shown in the results include the the level of students' understanding and necessity of subject special services and subject special librarian, students' willingness to work as a subject special librarian, the willingness to put additional effort into equip themselves with competencies as subject special librarians. There were respondents who have equipped competencies as subject special librarians through courses provided by the department of Library and Information Science and school curriculum but have not done anything further. Respondents responded that there is a need to systematize special status system of subject special librarian and that subject specialty is important in implementing subject special services but that there is a lack of subject specialty. Based on the research results, this study suggests that there is a need to put more emphasis on developing curriculum that can help overcoming difficulties faced by students majoring in Information Sciecne and help them become competent subject special librarians.