تحقیقات اطلاعرسانی و کتابخانههای عمومی (Mar 2024)
The Information Needs and Expectations of the Azeri Community Living in East Azerbaijan, West Azerbaijan, Ardabil and Zanjan Provinces from Public Libraries
Abstract
Purpose: One of the factors positively affecting the service provided by public libraries is their attempt to satisfy the information needs of their domestic-cultural communities. The current study aimed to investigate the information needs and expectations of the Azeri community living in East Azerbaijan, West Azerbaijan, Ardabil and Zanjan provinces from public libraries. Method: This research was conducted with a quantitative approach and a survey method using a researcher-made questionnaire. The research population included librarians, users and non-users of public libraries in East Azerbaijan, West Azerbaijan, Ardabil and Zanjan provinces, who were selected by simple and cluster random sampling. The content and formal validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by experts in information science and social sciences. To check the reliability of the questionnaire, the test-retest method was used. The time span of the research was 2020-2021. To analyze the data and answer the research questions, statistics such as frequency, mean, and Kruskal-Wallis test were used. Findings: The results showed that social networks were the most important source of information among the users as wells as non-users of the public libraries in the studied provinces. The subjects of interest that participants expected public libraries to provide were psychology, life skills, and language education, respectively. The participants preferred non-curricular information and entertainment sources to be in both Farsi and Turkish-Azeri languages. From the perspective of the studied population, the most important point regarding the quantity and quality of information resources in public libraries was the lack of sufficient attention to resources on the culture and language of the Azeri community with an average of 4.04. Accordingly, they expected public libraries to pay more attention to the information sources on the culture and language of the Azeri community, as the group of librarians, with an average of 4.46, emphasized this issue more than other participant groups. Regarding educational needs, the findings of the research showed that teaching general life skills was the most important educational need identified by the studied society. From the users' point of view, storytelling in the national language, from the point of view of non-users, providing employment information, and from the point of view of librarians, holding cultural-artistic programs were the most important cultural-social needs of public libraries located in the studied provinces. Originality/value: The studied community had a wide range of informational, educational, socio-cultural and service needs. They emphasized the need to pay more attention to resources on the Azari language and culture. Public libraries should design and provide services and resources that fit the specific needs and expectations of the Azeri-speaking community. In this way, they will help to preserve the heritage and culture of the ethnicities and will pave the way for more visit and use of public libraries in the studied provinces.
