2008, Vol.39, No.3

Journal of Korean Library and Information Science Society 2023 KCI Impact Factor : 1.02

pISSN : 2466-2542
https://journal.kci.go.kr/liss

In most countries the public library run as a public institution and a symbolic icon for a democratic society. Therefore public library's publicity is absolutely essential value and profit should not be made on their maintenance. More recently, as the government's budget spending increase, however, many local governments contract out to manage an entire library or new library system. Three main reasons could be identified. Firstly, alternative solutions for maintenance were supposed to save money. Secondly, contracting out provides an opportunity to improve the quality of service delivery. Thirdly, central government and some local authorities had very strong ideological reasons for contracting out of the public libraries. However, nothing proved that alternative maintenance had caused lower cost and better services in Korea. In this paper, the reasoning of a move from the traditional form of public library governance is discussed, as well as the advantages and disadvantages contracting out of the public libraries, and suggested various practical solutions in Korea.

This paper tries to interpret the processes of small libraries changing sociological role and its direction of movement in Masan City. The roles of small libraries are changing according to the aspects of the communities. Thus the roles of the small libraries in Masan have also changed with the various changes in Korean society. The periods are divided into three : 1980's : the appearances of civil libraries, 1990's : maeul libraries that the citizens have established and participated, 2000's : small libraries that have established from cooperation of government and private. By the three periods this paper interprets the processes of small libraries changing sociological role and its direction of movement in Masan City.

This study attempts to analyse factors that influence the level of career decision for prospective librarians. To this end, an empirical study was conducted on the students from the department of Library & Information Science at universities located in Seoul, Gyeong Gi and Chung Cheong Areas. Exogenous variables included curriculum, career-related departmental activities, and librarian-related institutional factors. The result of analysis using the Structural Equation Model reveals that career-related departmental activities are preceding factors which affect the level of career decision and that personality types function as a modulator. This suggests that, in order to raise the career decision level, prospective librarians need to participate in career-related departmental activities, which make it easier to share information regarding career and thus enhance the level of career. Such career-related departmental activities include participating in job-oriented circles and career-consulting programs, communicating with seniors, and operating and joining career programs. Further organizational and institutional development is required : better curriculum, improved practical ability and qualifications as librarians. This study also discusses its limits and areas for future research.