Emerald Login
   

Welcome guest

Article Request:
The boat library of Bangprok community in Thailand: An evaluation of its performance and impact

Article Information:

Title:

The boat library of Bangprok community in Thailand: An evaluation of its performance and impact

Author(s):

S.M. Zabed Ahmed

Journal:

New Library World

Year:

2009

Volume:

110

Issue:

11/12

Page:

498 - 511


ISSN:

0307-4803


DOI:

10.1108/03074800911007523

Publisher:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited


Acknowledgements:

This research project was funded by the Asian Scholarship Foundation (ASF), Bangkok and by the Ford Foundation and was based at the Institute of East Asian Studies at Thammasat University (Rangsit) in Thailand. The author is grateful to the National Research Council of Thailand for the permission to carry out the research; Dr Suwanna Cowawintaweewat for her overall support; Phanee Roopsom for her assistance with the field trips; and Dr Lourdes G. Salvador for her valuable comments on an earlier draft of this paper.

Document Access:

Existing customers:

Please login above.

Purchase this document:
Price payable: GBP £13.00
plus handling charge of GBP £1.50 and VAT where applicable.
Purchase

Request this document:
Print or e-mail a document request to your librarian.
Request

Reprints & permissions:
Image: Rightslink Request

Abstract:

Purpose – The main purpose of this paper is to identify Bangprok community's information needs and to evaluate the performance and impact of its boat library.

Design/methodology/approach – The research methodology included a complementary two-stage process. First of all, a house-to-house survey was conducted to construct profile of Bangprok dwellers. At the same time, the key informant from each household was interviewed to find out the information needs and seeking patterns. The second part of the research involved a point of exit interview with Bangprok boat library users to undertake user profile and to gather their opinion on the library's performance and impact on community development.

Findings – The results showed that a small-scaled community library has the potential to make a positive impact on the community. The results also yielded several implications for the boat library, including how its collections and services could be improved to make an equal impact on the community.

Originality/value – This is the first time an effort has been made to assess a community-based library service in Thailand. This study may trigger more such research on evaluating rural community libraries in Thailand and beyond.

Keywords:

Communities, Information transfer, Public libraries, Rural regions, Thailand


Article Type:

Research paper


Article URL:

http://www.emeraldinsight.com/10.1108/03074800911007523

Top