Monday, March 17, 2008

Multicultural Research

Post any citations you find here.

5 comments:

Barbara Ziemann said...

Fisher, K., Durrance, J. and Hinton, M. (June 2004.) Information grounds and the use of need-based services by immigrants in Queens, New York: A context-based, outcome evaluation approach. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 55(8), 754-766. Retrieved March 18, 2008 from Business Source Premier database.

Akyla said...

I think these might work. They're not perfect but they might work

Flythe, F. (2001). Identification of the information needs of the newly arrived Hispanic/Latino immigrants in Durham County, North Carolina, and how the public library may address these needs. Unpublished master's thesis, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.(Google Scholar)
http://66.102.1.104/scholar?hl=en&lr=&q=cache:U9bVXY_fD0cJ:neoref.ils.unc.edu/2666.pdf+%22public+library%22%2Bimmigrants%2Bresearch

Information behaviour of migrant Hispanic farm workers and their families in the Pacific Northwest
Karen E. Fisher, Elizabeth (Betty) Marcoux, Lupine S. Miller, Agueda Sánchez, and Eva Ramirez Cunningham
The Information School, University of Washington
Box 352840, Seattle, Washington, USA
Vol. 10 No. 1, October 2004
http://informationr.net/ir/10-1/paper199.html

Book:
Library Services to Latinos: An Anthology
By Salvador Güereña
http://books.google.ca/books?id=vSFAqIohS7MC&printsec=copyright&dq=%22public+library%22%2Bimmigrants%2Bresearch&lr=&source=gbs_toc_s&cad=1#PPP1,M1

Akyla said...

And a few more:

The Availability of Spanish Heritage
Language Materials in Public and School
Libraries
Dawn Lambson
1270 E. Campus Dr., Tempe, Arizona, USA
http://www.multilingual-matters.net/beb/005/0233/beb0050233.pdf

Recruitment and diversity: A research study of bilingualism and library services
Library & Information Science Research, Volume 28, Issue 3, Autumn 2006, Pages 390-406
Mark D. Winston and Kimberly Walstad retrieved 3/24/08 from sciencedirect

Nappo, C. M. Library Services for Indigenous Populations in the United States and Australia: A Cross-Cultural Comparison. Rural Libraries v. 27 no. 1 (2007) p. 31-48 Wilson Web
Not sure if its research enough

Project ¡Adelante! Needs Assessment Report of Hispanic Immigrants on the Eastern Shore of Maryland for the Eastern Shore Regional Library
July 2004 (google scholar)
http://66.102.1.104/
scholar?hl=en&lr=&q=cache:1BA9tFZgYDwJ:
beacon.salisbury.edu/newwebsite/bienvenidos/
ESRL%2520Needs%2520Assessment%
2520Report%2520-%2520July%252020041.doc+%
22public+library%22%2Bimmigrants%2Bresearch

JD Patriots said...

Here are a few studies that I found in books....i wrote up a small annotation for each one but I will spruce them up a bit and add more...this is what i have so far...



Jue, D. (2000). Library services to youth of Hispanic heritage. Immroth, B., & McCook, K. ( Eds.), Measuring in-library usage (pp.161-171). North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc.

This study collects in-library material usage as well as adult life long educational needs in majority-minority markets throughout the United States. The majority-minority markets consisted of African-Americans, American Indians, Asians, Hispanics, and low income populations. The study revealed trends and differences between Hispanic minorities and non-Hispanic minorities when using libraries resources and interacting at the reference desk.


Pucci, S. (1998). Literacy, access, and libraries among the language minority population. Constantino, R. ( Ed.), Supporting Spanish language literacy: Latino children and school and community libraries (pp. 17-43). Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow press INC.

The study gathers information on the availability of reading resources for Latino children in nine elementary schools in the Greater Los Angeles area. Data from multiple sources was collected including documents from the public and school libraries and interviews with library aides and children alike. Results from the study show that there are an inadequate number of Spanish books in both the school and public libraries. The study was limited in scope and may not represent other areas of the country.


Knox, K. ( 2001). Immigrant politics and the public library. Luevano-molina, S. (Ed.) Santa Ana public library staff perceptions of immigrant library usage ( pp.65-68). WestPort, Connecticut: Greenwood Press.

The study shows the results of a staff survey that was conducted at the Santa Ana Public Library. The key purpose of the survey was to find out if proposition 187( Save our State Initiative) had an effect on immigrant patrons using the library services. 79.5 percent of respondents said that immigrant patrons were more hesitant to ask for help after the passage of proposition 187 however 81.3 percent of staff reported that no change had occurred in the number of patrons requesting help.


Luevano-Molina, S.(2001).Immigrant politics and the public library. Luevano-molina, S. (Ed.) Mexican /Latino immigrants and the Santa Ana public library: An urban ethnography. (pp.43-60). WestPort, Connecticut: Greenwood Press.

The study reports the findings of ethnographic interviews conducted in Santa Ana, California with Spanish-speaking adult immigrants. The interviews were aimed at finding out perceptions and experiences with the public library. The results show that the immigrant population is well aware of the public library and have a high regard for library resources and services.

JD Patriots said...

Information from the first study is from all over the country and the other 3 studies are from California.

1.

Jue, D. (2000). Library services to youth of Hispanic heritage. Immroth, B., & McCook, K. ( Eds.), Measuring in-library usage (pp.161-171). North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc.

This study collects in-library material usage as well as adult life long educational needs in majority-minority markets throughout the United States. The majority-minority markets consisted of African-Americans, American Indians, Asians, Hispanics, and low income populations. The study revealed trends and differences between Hispanic minorities and non-Hispanic minorities when using libraries resources and interacting at the reference desk.

It is important to recognize your user population and be aware of their information needs; therefore, this study is a great example of identifying your patrons and recognizing how they use the library.

2.

Pucci, S. (1998). Literacy, access, and libraries among the language minority population. Constantino, R. ( Ed.), Supporting Spanish language literacy: Latino children and school and community libraries (pp. 17-43). Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow press INC.

The study gathers information on the availability of reading resources for Latino children in nine elementary schools in the Greater Los Angeles area. Data from multiple sources was collected including documents from the public and school libraries and interviews with library aides and children alike. Results from the study show that there are an inadequate number of Spanish books in both the school and public libraries. The study was limited in scope and may not represent other areas of the country.

This study should encourage each library to evaluate its collection and assure that there is an abundance of quality materials for all ethic groups that the library serves.

3.
Knox, K. ( 2001). Immigrant politics and the public library. Luevano-molina, S. (Ed.) Santa Ana public library staff perceptions of immigrant library usage ( pp.65-68). WestPort, Connecticut: Greenwood Press.

The research shows the results of a staff survey that was conducted at the Santa Ana Public Library. The key purpose of the survey was to find out if anti-immigration sentiment and legislature had an effect on immigrant patrons using the library services. 79.5 percent of respondents said that immigrant patrons were more hesitant to ask for help after the passage of Proposition 187 (Save Our State Initiative) however 81.3 percent of staff reported that no change had occurred in the number of patrons requesting help. The library staff can not be entirely sure who is or who isn’t an immigrant and therefore the study findings are not completely accurate.

In an increasing multicultural society, these research findings are extremely vital for library staff to recognize as all patrons of the community need to feel that they can approach the reference desk or any other library staff with confidence and know that they will be assisted just like any other patron.

4.
Luevano-Molina, S. ( 2001). Immigrant politics and the public library. Luevano-molina, S. (Ed.) Mexican /Latino immigrants and the Santa Ana public library: An urban ethnography. (pp.43-60). WestPort, Connecticut: Greenwood Press


The study reports the findings of ethnographic interviews conducted in Santa Ana, California with Spanish-speaking adult immigrants. The interviews were carefully designed by an experienced Santa Ana native along with cultural anthropologist Dr. ChorSwang Nign, and the University Research Office at California State University. The interviews aimed at finding out perceptions and experiences with the public library through open-ended interviews. The results show that the immigrant population is well aware of the public library and hold a high regard for library resources and services even though the community was undergoing widespread anti-immigrant sentiment and legislation.

These findings are important for all library staff to recognize because the public library in that particular multicultural community did an excellent job of making the patrons feel welcomed and assisted regardless of what was happening in the community at that time and the immigrant community recognized the effort.