15 2 100 9 99-123 Communicating Social Responsibility: A Content Analysis of Public Library Websites in the United States Ming-Hsin Phoebe Chiu Assistant Professor, Graduate Institute of Library & Information Studies, National Taiwan Normal University E-mail: phoebechiu@ntnu.edu.tw Yi-Ying Lin Graduate Student, Graduate Institute of Library & Information Studies, National Taiwan Normal University E-mail: yingergo@gmail.com 25 99 99 11 20 100 3 31
Abstract World Wide Web has become a focus for the popular press, mass communication, and news and media. Both profit and non-profit organizations are taking advantage of the information technology and innovation to promote their own agendas, causes, products, and services. One way the public defines an organization s stance in society is through the notion of social responsibility and social engagement. This study therefore investigats how public libraries as information services organizations present their goals, define their roles, and articulate their social welfare and the public interests of their stakeholders on their Web presence. Content analysis was performed on 25 public library websites to identify types of social responsibility, intended audience, area of presentation, digital genre and data type. It is hoped that the public libraries under investigation in this study can become the role model in promoting social responsibility and engagement. Keyword Public library; Social responsibility; Website content analysis 2002 mission statement 1997 cyberspace Noh, 1998 selfpresentation dialogue 100
1986 American Library Association ALA Round Table for Social Responsibility in Libraries Responsibility Round Table Rader, 2007 Kagan 2005 International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions IFLA Information Communication Technology ICT Genre 2009 6 2010 3 25 1950 Carroll, 1999 1960 Quality-of-Life 101
Management Movement Dunham & Pierce, 1989 CSR Corporate Social Responsibility Carroll 1996 2008 World Business Council for Sustainability and Development WBCSD 1 Kramer 1981 2001 Gurpreet 2000 Issues of privacy and confidentiality Accessibility to technology issues Property rights and ownership issues Freedom of speech issues Quality and reliability of information and related systems 1990 102
1999 Cisco GE Time Warner 2008 2006 ALA 1970 Librarianship as a profession can make in the effort to ameliorate or even solve the many critical problems of society 2007 2007 2006 nonverbal information disclosure Papacharissi, 2002 intertextuality 2005 103
2001 2009 2005 shareholders potential investors Charles & Robin, 2010 annual report advertisement brochures Zeghal & Ahmed, 1990 Esrock & Leichty, 1998; 2000 1999 ALA 1970 librarianship 2 mission and vision 104
Public Library Association PLA Public Library Data Service Statistical Report 3 PLA ALA 2008 Fact Sheet The Nation s Largest Libraries: A Listing By Volumes Held Library of Congress 4 25 1 Krippendorff, 1980; Weber, 1990 Adelaar, 2006 Krippendorff 1980 which data are analyzed 1 25 how are they defined 105
1 2008 1 Boston Public Library http://www.bpl.org/ 15,760,879 2 Public Library of Cincinnati & http://www.cincinnatilibrary.org/ 9,154,039 Hamilton County news/2009/callforaction.html 3 County of Los Angeles Public http://www.colapublib.org/ 7,838,277 Library 4 Detroit Public Library http://www.detroitpubliclibrary.org/ 7,459,353 5 Queens Borough Public Library http://www.queenslibrary.org/ 6,488,198 6 Free Library of Philadelphia http://www.freelibrary.org/ 6,410,841 7 Los Angeles Public Library http://www.lapl.org/index.html 6,285,760 8 Chicago Public Library http://www.chipublib.org/ 5,891,306 9 New York Public Library http://www.nypl.org/ 5,169,953 10 Brooklyn Public Library http://www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/ 5,120,690 11 Dallas Public Library http://www.dallaslibrary.org/ 4,609,883 12 Cleveland Public Library http://www.cpl.org/ 4,552,843 13 Houston Public Library http://www.houstonlibrary.com/ 3,834,967 14 King County Library System http://www.kcls.org/ 3,767,233 15 Hawaii State Public Library http://www.librarieshawaii.org/ 3,627,769 System 16 Mid-Continent Public Library http://www.mcpl.lib.mo.us/ 3,537,916 17 Miami-Dade Public Library http://www.mdpls.org/ 3,516,466 System 18 San Diego Public Library http://www.sandiego.gov/publiclibrary/ 3,428,594 19 Montgomery County Dept. of http://www.montgomerycountymd. 3,397,660 Public Libraries gov/content/libraries/index.asp 20 St. Louis Public Library http://www.slpl.org/index.asp 3,367,334 21 Buffalo & Erie County Public http://www.buffalolib.org/ 3,304,567 Library 22 Broward County Libraries http://www.broward.org/library/ 3,289,920 Division 23 Cuyahoga County Public http://www.cuyahogalibrary.org/ 3,182,260 Library index2.aspx 24 Allen County Public Library http://www.acpl.lib.in.us/aboutus/ 3,170,395 index.html 25 Jacksonville Public Library http://jpl.coj.net/ 3,065,817 106
what is the population from which they are drawn 25 what is the context relative to which the data are analyzed mission and vision history program and events press release 2009 6 2010 3 25 2 2 A B C D E 1 Name of the public library 2 Website of the public library 3 Quote/ Description of SR Issues SR Code/ Label Audience Genre Web Feature 107
1. SR Code / Label Social Responsibility Round Table 1991 2005 140 programs 81 resolution Kagan, 2005 Maignan & Ralston, 2002 32 2. audience stakeholders community stakeholders customer stakeholders employee stakeholders shareholder stakeholders suppliers Alou, Lattemann, Fetscherin, Li, & Schneider, 2010 9 baby 0-24 toddler 24-36 preschool 3-5 school age 6-12 teen 13-17 0-17 18 all age senior 55 3. genre layout web feature Eschenfelder 2004 Esrock Leichty 1998; 2000 500 14 4 7 108
content presentation Silva 2007 Esrock Leichy 2000 Esrock Leichty 1998; 2000 Capriotti Moreno 2007 Esrock Leichty 1998; 2000 Taylor, 2001 information location feedback loop digital genre 32 3 100% ㈠ 15.2% ㈡ 11.1% ㈢ 7.2% ㈣ 5.2% ㈤ 5.0% 109
3 1 (Craft Arts) 131 15.2% 2 (Games and Entertainment) 96 11.1% 3 (Informal Education) 62 7.2% 4 (Lifelong Learning) 45 5.2% 5 (Computer Training) 43 5% 6 (Civilization and Ethnicity) 42 4.9% 7 (Career Services) 38 4.4% 8 (History and National Figure) 37 4.3% 9 (Language Education) 33 3.8% 10 (Information Policy) 32 3.7% 11 (Financial Services) 32 3.7% 12 (Health Care) 31 3.6% 13 (Music) 26 3% 14 (Homework Help) 26 3% 15 (Sports and Fitness) 24 2.8% 16 (Business and Economy) 20 2.3% 17 (Performing Arts) 19 2.2% 18 (Parenting Skills) 16 1.9% 19 (Civic Participation) 15 1.7% 20 (Art) 15 1.7% 21 (Safety and Security) 14 1.6% 22 (Literature and Literacy) 14 1.6% 23 (Environment) 10 1.2% 24 (Charity) 10 1.2% 25 (Creativity) 6 0.7% 26 (Library access) 6 0.7% 27 (Legal Services) 5 0.6% 28 (Civil Right) 5 0.6% 29 (Social Issues) 3 0.3% 30 (Sex and Gender Issues) 2 0.2% 31 (Traditional Arts) 2 0.2% 32 (Religion) 2 0.2% (Total) 99.8% 110
2008 Wii XBOX Hawaii State Public Library System The mission of the Hawaii State Public Library System is to provide Hawaii s residents, in all walks of life, and at each stage of their lives,... and the habit of life-long learning. Office Broward County Libraries Montgomery County Dept. of Public Libraries St. Louis Public Library food bank 111
32 4 33.4% 33.4% 2007 Dimick, 1995; Wadley, Broady, & Hayward, 1997 5 All Ages Adults Teens School Age Senior Preschool Toddler Baby Children All Ages 33.4% 33.4% 16.8% 14.8% 1% 0.3% 0.1% 0.1% baby toddler preschool 112
4 (Music) (Craft Arts) (Traditional Arts) (Art) (Performing Arts) (Creativity) (Health Care) (Sports and Fitness) (Games and Entertainment) (Literature and Literacy) (History and National Figure) (Culture and Ethnicity) (Sex and Gender Issues) (Religion Participation) (Business and Economy) (Financial Services) (Legal Services) (Career Services) (Parenting Skills) (Safety and Security) (Language Education) (Computer Training) (Lifelong Learning) (Informal Education) (Homework Help) (Information Policy) (Environment) (Charity) (Civil Right) (Civic Participation) (Library access) (Social Issues) 113
5 (Audience) 1 (All Ages) 307 33.4% 2 (Adults) 307 33.4% 3 (Teens) 154 16.8% 4 (School Age) 136 14.8% 5 (Senior) 9 1% 6 ( Preschool) 3 0.3% 7 (Toddler) 1 0.1% 8 (Baby) 1 0.1% 9 ( Children All Ages) 0 0% 918 99.9% Digital Genre 6 ㈠ 65.8% ㈡ 13.2% ㈢ 6.3% 6.3% Announcement What When Where Who How 114
6 1 (Announcement) 698 65.8% 2 (Information for General Publics) 140 13.2 3 (Press Release) 67 6.3% 4 (Maps) 67 6.3% 5 (Brochure) 44 4.1% 6 (Other Information Type, Related 44 4.1% Information) 7 (Forms) 40 3.8% 8 (Report) 3 0.3% 9 (Rules, Law, Policy, Order) 0 0% 10 / (Fact Sheet/FAQ) 0 0% 11 (Research Articles) 0 0% 12 / (Testimony, Public Hearing/Meeting) 0 0% 13 (Letter, Memo) 0 0% 14 (Plans, Management Actions) 0 0% 15 (Questionnaire, Survey) 0 0% 1,061 103.9% Information for General Publics Press Release Maps 115
clarification Mission Statement San Diego Public Library Deliver timely, confidential and customer-oriented service to meet the informational, recreational and educational needs of the community. Services GED Tests of General Educational Development Program & Events Press Release Press Release Web1.0 Web2.0 116
7 1. 2. 3. Contact Information / Contact Form 1. Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County 2. Mid-Continent Public Library 3. Allen County Public Library 7 1 (Web page) 846 39.6% 2 (Search systems) 466 21.8% 3 (Contact information / Contact form) 376 17.6% 4 (Push technology) 212 9.9% 5 (Online application) 120 5.6% 6 (External link) 112 5.2% 7 (Electronic resources database) 3 0.1% 2,135 99.8% 117
Carnegie Libraries free to all ICT 2.0 food bank Web2.0 RSS Facebook 25 accessibility navigation interaction recency sustainability Esrock & Leichty, 1998; 2000 stakeholders Kent, Taylor, & White, 2003 118
mouse click Sones, 2007 25 25 2001 2003 1999 1 Corporate Social Responsibility is the commitment of business to contribute to sustainable economic development, working with employees, their families, the local community and society at large to improve their quality of life. 2 ALA 1970 social responsibilities can be defined as the relationships that libraries and librarians have to non-library problems that relate to the social welfare of our society. 3 Public Library Association 800 http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/pla/ plapublications/pldsstatreport/index.cfm 119
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