@article{ART003339645},
author={Hwa Yeon Jang and GIYEONG KIM},
title={Enacting Expertise through Contexts and Relationships: An Interpretative Phenomenological Study of Public Librarians},
journal={Journal of the Korean Society for Library and Information Science},
issn={1225-598X},
year={2026},
volume={60},
number={2},
pages={453-476}
TY - JOUR
AU - Hwa Yeon Jang
AU - GIYEONG KIM
TI - Enacting Expertise through Contexts and Relationships: An Interpretative Phenomenological Study of Public Librarians
JO - Journal of the Korean Society for Library and Information Science
PY - 2026
VL - 60
IS - 2
PB - 한국문헌정보학회
SP - 453
EP - 476
SN - 1225-598X
AB - This study aims to reconceptualize librarian expertise as a relational process in which individual competencies are enacted within specific contextual conditions. While existing research has been dominated by competency-based approaches that may reduce expertise to individual knowledge, skills, and attitudes, the contextual conditions in which expertise is enacted remain underexplored. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 18 public librarians in South Korea, and Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was applied to foreground the lived experiences of practicing librarians. The findings reveal that librarian expertise is enacted through a relationship with six contextual factors: individual competency, the characteristics and goals of problem situations, manuals and systems, collective norms, interconnections with other problems, and transactive memory. These six factors are categorized into four contextual dimensions: individual, organizational, normative, and relational. By empirically identifying the limitations of competency-based approaches, this study proposes a more comprehensive perspective for understanding librarian expertise. The findings also offer practical implications for staff training and library organizational management.
KW - Librarianship;Expertise;Public Library;Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis(IPA);Relational Expertise
DO -
UR -
ER -
Hwa Yeon Jang and GIYEONG KIM. (2026). Enacting Expertise through Contexts and Relationships: An Interpretative Phenomenological Study of Public Librarians. Journal of the Korean Society for Library and Information Science, 60(2), 453-476.
Hwa Yeon Jang and GIYEONG KIM. 2026, "Enacting Expertise through Contexts and Relationships: An Interpretative Phenomenological Study of Public Librarians", Journal of the Korean Society for Library and Information Science, vol.60, no.2 pp.453-476.
Hwa Yeon Jang, GIYEONG KIM "Enacting Expertise through Contexts and Relationships: An Interpretative Phenomenological Study of Public Librarians" Journal of the Korean Society for Library and Information Science 60.2 pp.453-476 (2026) : 453.
Hwa Yeon Jang, GIYEONG KIM. Enacting Expertise through Contexts and Relationships: An Interpretative Phenomenological Study of Public Librarians. 2026; 60(2), 453-476.
Hwa Yeon Jang and GIYEONG KIM. "Enacting Expertise through Contexts and Relationships: An Interpretative Phenomenological Study of Public Librarians" Journal of the Korean Society for Library and Information Science 60, no.2 (2026) : 453-476.
Hwa Yeon Jang; GIYEONG KIM. Enacting Expertise through Contexts and Relationships: An Interpretative Phenomenological Study of Public Librarians. Journal of the Korean Society for Library and Information Science, 60(2), 453-476.
Hwa Yeon Jang; GIYEONG KIM. Enacting Expertise through Contexts and Relationships: An Interpretative Phenomenological Study of Public Librarians. Journal of the Korean Society for Library and Information Science. 2026; 60(2) 453-476.
Hwa Yeon Jang, GIYEONG KIM. Enacting Expertise through Contexts and Relationships: An Interpretative Phenomenological Study of Public Librarians. 2026; 60(2), 453-476.
Hwa Yeon Jang and GIYEONG KIM. "Enacting Expertise through Contexts and Relationships: An Interpretative Phenomenological Study of Public Librarians" Journal of the Korean Society for Library and Information Science 60, no.2 (2026) : 453-476.
