Simon Wakeling - Libraries Research Group at Charles Sturt University

Introducing the project at the Public Libraries South Australia (PLSA) Conference

We were delighted to be invited to introduce our project (The Role of Public Library Services for a Changing Rural Australia) at the Public Libraries South Australia (PLSA) 2025 Conference. The conference was held on 8 and 9 May 2025 at the Adelaide Convention Centre, and Simon Wakeling represented the project in a joint session on the Friday with Professor Helen Partridge, Co-Investigator on another public library related ARC Discovery project that started this year.

It was great to be able to talk about the project to such a large and enthusiastic audience.… Continue reading “Introducing the project at the Public Libraries South Australia (PLSA) Conference”

Ethnography and LIS Research

Simon Wakeling, Philip Hider and Jane Garner

Most readers of this blog will likely be at least somewhat familiar with ethnography as a research method. The approach has a long history, originating in the social and cultural anthropological disciplines of the early 1900s, but has since been adopted by many other fields. Ethnography is a holistic method, often incorporating different forms of data collection, including document analysis, interview etc. At ethnography’s heart, though, is observation. An ethnographic study seeks to reveal something of the social phenomenon it investigates through participative fieldwork, with the researcher often spending a considerable amount of time embedded in the community they are seeking to understand.… Continue reading “Ethnography and LIS Research”

SICS Radio: Bringing libraries and archives to the airwaves

In September 2020, four members of the LRG – Mary Carroll, Jane Garner, Kasey Garrison and Simon Wakeling – produced the first episode of SICS Radio. We had been inspired by a talk given by Lisa McLean, Station Manager of 2mce, CSU’s community radio station which broadcasts across Wiradjuri Country to Bathurst, Orange and the Central West of NSW. Lisa had described the opportunity the station presented for staff and students to create programmes sharing their work and ideas.

We thought this was too good a chance to pass up, and after much discussion (and a few false starts) came up with the idea of a series of programmes focussing on contemporary issues in Australian libraries and archives.… Continue reading “SICS Radio: Bringing libraries and archives to the airwaves”

Partnering in knowledge production: Roles for librarians in the digital humanities

By Emilia Bell and Dr. Mary Anne Kennan

A recent publication by Emilia Bell and Dr. Mary Anne Kennan in the Journal of the Australian Library and Information Association reviewed literature on roles for academic librarians in the digital humanities. It drew on literature from the digital humanities, academic librarianship, and critical librarianship. The literature revealed shared values between librarianship and the humanities which are also related to the critical and theoretical foundations of the digital humanities. Critical librarianship provides a framework for roles that can contribute to knowledge production, not just to service provision.… Continue reading “Partnering in knowledge production: Roles for librarians in the digital humanities”

It’s the ‘vibe’ of it: The complexity of open access policies in Australia

Guest post by Dr Danny Kingsley, Visiting Fellow, Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science

By now, most people in the academic space have heard of the term ‘open access’, even if understanding of what the term means and levels of engagement or enthusiasm vary. We are a group that is undertaking what we thought would be a straightforward study – an analysis of open access policies in universities in Australia.

As far as we can tell, this has not been done to date, so this work would be a ‘line in the sand’, not unlike a 2009 study looking at the ‘state of the nation’ of Australian institutional repositories, undertaken by two of the current research team.… Continue reading “It’s the ‘vibe’ of it: The complexity of open access policies in Australia”

Are Australia’s new public libraries here for the long term?

When I joined the School of Information studies at Charles Sturt University back in May 2019 I was intrigued to learn about the Study Visits that were run for students. These are week-long visits to an Australian city or region, with an itinerary packed with visits to interesting libraries and archives. As well as providing incredibly valuable learning opportunities for students, these visits also represent opportunities for lecturers to re-engage with practice, and see first-hand the work that information professionals are doing.… Continue reading “Are Australia’s new public libraries here for the long term?”

About the Libraries Research Group

Our research focuses on key issues affecting the sector, examining the ways in which library and information services can be improved, and library collections enhanced, as well the role of libraries and librarianship in contemporary society.

Building on CSU’s position as the leading and largest provider of library education in Australia, we are ideally placed to be the group librarians turn to when they need an evidence base for their decisions, or new solutions to real-world problems.