This paper presents an analysis of how library professionals in Sweden and Denmark perceive the democratic role of the library profession in the polarised political landscape of today. Relating to research on the democratic role of libraries, professional ethics and cultural policies, empirical data was gathered through seven group interviews with library professionals from eleven local libraries in south Sweden and Jutland in Denmark. Results indicate a commonly perceived discrepancy between general formulations of values found in professional codes of ethics, and practical librarianship. Dealing with threats and challenges against liberal democratic values in the public library requires professional ethical considerations that in individual cases may question the need for value-neutrality among library professionals if the basic democratic mission of the library is to be upheld.

This article reports conclusions from a three-year research project on Swedish public libraries. The focus of the project is on librarians experience of libraries mission to promote democracy when democratic norms and values are challenged politically by radical right populism. Results of a longitudinal survey point to stability and lack of political interest over time, but increased societal polarization causes several ethical dilemmas for librarians. Examples of illegitimate political influence and librarians adapting to changes in the political climate call for renewed discussions on the professional role and understandings of democracy in library practice.

Folkbiblioteken framträder i allt högre grad som en arena för politisk konflikt och turbulens. Denna utveckling ger i sin tur upphov till ett flertal dilemman. I detta kapitel vill biblioteks- och informationsvetarna Hanna Carlsson, Fredrik Hanell och Joacim Hansson i dialog med Maria Ehrenberg, som arbetat som regionbibliotekarie i Region Halland, diskutera de utmaningar och möjligheter som folkbiblioteksinstitutionens demokratibärande uppdrag står inför i samtidens politiska landskap.

Purpose

In this Festchrift article for Michael Buckland, the author discusses works from the French Documentation Movement in the 1940s and 1950s with regard to how it formulates bibliographic classification systems as documents. Significant writings by Suzanne Briet, Éric de Grolier and Robert Pagès are analyzed in the light of current document-theoretical concepts and discussions.

Design/methodology/approach

Conceptual analysis.

Findings

The French Documentation Movement provided a rich intellectual environment in the late 1940s and early 1950s, resulting in original works on documents and the ways these may be represented bibliographically. These works display a variety of approaches from object-oriented description to notational concept-synthesis, and definitions of classification systems as isomorph documents at the center of politically informed critique of modern society.

Originality/value

The article brings together historical and conceptual elements in the analysis which have not previously been combined in Library and Information Science literature. In the analysis, the article discusses significant contributions to classification and document theory that hitherto have eluded attention from the wider international Library and Information Science research community. Through this, the article contributes to the currently ongoing conceptual discussion on documents and documentality.

This paper reports from a study produced within the currently ongoing project Public libraries in a changed political landscape – a democratic mission for a new era? The paper compares experiences of librarians and library assistants in Sweden and Denmark concerning how they perceive the democratic role of the library profession in the political landscape of today. Relating to research on the democratic role of libraries, library ethics and issues on neutrality, empirical data was gathered through seven group interviews with library professionals from eleven local libraries in south Sweden and Jutland in Denmark. Results indicate a commonly perceived discrepancy between general formulations of values formulated in professional codes of ethics, and practical librarianship. Dealing with threats and challenges against liberal democratic values in the public library requires an ethical toolbox that in individual cases may question the need for value-neutrality among librarians and library assistants if the basic mission of the library is to be upheld.

Kungliga biblioteken beslöt 2008 att börja ämnesklassificera den svenska nationalbibliografin med det amerikanska Dewey-systemet istället för det svenska SAB-systemet. Dewey-systemet var då, och är idag, världens mest spridda klassifikationssystem för bibliotek, använt i över 140 länder. De svenska bibliotekens relation till Dewey-systemet går dock betydligt längre tillbaka än så och har präglats av en pendling mellan entusiasm och motstånd. Så vad är Dewey-systemet för en typ av klassifikationssystem och hur är det präglat av dess upphovsman Melvil Dewey och dennes samtid i 1870-talets USA?  Varför har de svenska biblioteken tvekat att arbeta med Dewey-systemet när andra länders bibliotek använt det? Vilka särskilda utmaningar har setts som viktiga för folk- och skolbiblioteken vid den svenska övergången till Dewey-systemet? Frågor som dessa diskuteras i denna bok på ett sätt som bidrar till att skapa förståelse för det komplexa i bibliotekens sätt att dela in sina böcker och andra medier efter ämne, allt i ljuset av bibliotekens samhälleliga och teknologiska utveckling.

This article reports from a project on the role of public libraries in language assimilation policies directed against the Meänkieli-speaking Tornedalian minority in the far north of Sweden during the first half of the 20th century. As libraries in the Torne Valley area, bordering on Finland, were maintained under state control, they became tools in the near eradication of Meänkieli in a complex set of policies that were in effect until 1957, promoting a uniform Swedish language and culture. Building on sociological conflict theory and the analysis of unpublished local documentation, the article brings to light conditions previously unknown about the Swedish public libraries in the northernmost part of the country. The article concludes by reflecting on the role of Swedish libraries today as important tools for the revitalization of Meänkieli, aimed at strengthening the identity and visibility of the Tornedalian minority.

This article analyzes bibliographic classification systems for Jewish libraries and Judaica from a cultural perspective, partly detached from their function as document retrieval tools. Theoretically and methodologically, the study refers to the significance of warrants as formulated in Library and Information Science. With specific interest in the relation between Jewish and non-Jewish classification and bibliography, examples are given of systems from Europe and the USA, primarily from the twentieth century. Results indicate that bibliographic classification systems not only represent documents but reproduce cultural and ideological preferences of both designers and historical situations. In their effort to document religion in a bibliographic context, the example systems help to formulate various aspects of Judaism through both hierarchical structuring and subject definition.

I bibliotek av alla slag används klassifikationssystem för att ordna böcker och andra medier så att de blir enklare att finna. Klassifikationssystemens ämnesindelningar speglar också normer, värderingar och maktförhållanden i de samhällen och miljöer som biblioteken förekommer i. Judiska bibliotek har en lång tradition av att skapa egna klassifikationssystem också i diasporan. Det finns skillnader mellan olika judiska system, men gemensamt är att de alla speglar just en judisk identitet och historiesyn. Det är dessa klassifikationssystem som står i centrum för den här boken. I essäns form skriver Joacim Hansson fram en fascinerande historia om hur judar klassificerat skriven text och hur det speglar judiskt tänkande – från Torah och de andra skrifterna till modern tid via antiken, tidigmodern tid och judisk emancipation i Europa. Han berättar också om hur Förintelsen skapat ett särskilt problem i efterkrigstidens judiska bibliotek: hur ska denna erfarenhet inlemmas i ett system som också är ett uttryck för judisk historia? Vi får även veta mer om två svenska judiska samlingar och deras olika klassifikationssystem: Jacobowskysamlingen vid Uppsala universitetsbibliotek och Judiska biblioteket i Stockholm.

Public libraries are one of several institutions that uphold Swedish democracy. The representative liberal democratic model, expressed in the Library Act, is increasingly being questioned and challenged. Political actors, mainly from the radical right, advocate ademocracy focused on the will of the people at the expense of the rights of individuals. With the notion of plural agonistics, public libraries can be seen as important arenas for debates and meetings between people, offering ways to handle conflicts within democratic institutions. Methodologically, this study employs the perspective of institutional ethnography, and the aim of this paper is to develop knowledge about public libraries’ experiences of political pressure and how this is enacted in a time of political turbulence. This paper reports findings from the first stage of a survey study directed at public library managers in 77 municipalities from the six southernmost regions of Sweden. Based on replies in these surveys, interviews were conducted withseven of the participating library managers. Findings show that the interplay between libraries and the local political level, and between national and local political levels, generally functions without notable opposition. Illegitimate political pressureis uncommon, but when it occurs, it is primarily triggered by issues connected to cultural diversity. Results further indicate that local public libraries tend to respond to illegitimate political pressure by development and use of professional policy documents, but also, in some cases, by avoiding certain activities.