Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to clarify the ways in which students seek help in libraries, and their feelings about using library enquiry services. In this way, it should bring practical benefits to academic libraries seeking to design and introduce new forms of reference service. The paper also aims to touch on the issue of whether anonymity offered by digital reference services is likely to make more students ask for help. A major aim of this study is to find ways to encourage those students who need help, to seek it. Design/methodology/approach – This paper uses the results taken from 12 qualitative interviews with undergraduate students to examine these students' help-seeking methods and their use of academic library reference services. Findings – The study finds that the reasons for not using enquiry services were various and complex and included a lack of awareness of services, embarrassment or shyness, anxiety caused by mechanical barriers and affective barriers. The interviews revealed that shyness is more widespread than libraries might imagine and seemingly confident students can find asking for help embarrassing in some circumstances. Originality/value – This paper focuses on students' thoughts and opinions, and it is this student-centred approach which gives particular insight into the reasons students do not seek help. This adds to the body of qualitative research examining undergraduates' help seeking methods and provides practical advice for encouraging students to ask for help.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine issues associated with user engagement on social media with local history in the North East of Scotland and to focus on a case study of the Buckie and District Fishing Heritage Society, a small but very successful and professionally-run community-based local heritage organisation. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative approach using photo elicitation on social media was deployed in conjunction with analysis of the user interactions and the reach insights provided by Facebook to the page manager. Additionally, a focus group was used. Findings: The research, although focussed on an individual case study, offers significant lessons which are more widely applicable in the local history and cultural heritage social media domain. Key aspects include user engagement and how digital storytelling can assist in the documentation of local communities ultimately contributing to local history research and the broader cultural memory. The significance of the image and the photo elicitation methodology is also explored. Social implications: The research demonstrates new opportunities for engaging users and displaying historical content that can be successfully exploited by community heritage organisations. These are themes which will be developed within the paper. The research also demonstrates the value of photo elicitation in both historical and wider information science fields as a means of obtaining in-depth quality engagement and interaction with users and communities. Originality/value: The research explored the underutilised method of photo elicitation in a local history context with a community possessed of a strong sense of local identity. In addition to exploring the benefits of this method, it presents transferable lessons for how small, community-based history and heritage organisation can engage effectively with their audience.

The authors examine strategic priorities for local studies libraries in the context of the interactive Web. They examine the implications for access, investigations and the needs of different users. The philosophy that has previously guided local studies is articulated as a number of maxims, taking into account also social inclusion and lifelong learning. These maxims are then re-assessed and added to in the light of issues such as the acquisition of digital media objects, mass amateurisation, profiling remote users and balancing their needs with those of local taxpayers, digital service provision and creating and maintaining an effective online presence.

The aim of this research is to observe and analyse cross-cultural examples of public libraries with strong teen services, to identify key elements of practice and approach that enable these libraries’ successful and impactful interactions with teenagers. A particular focus is placed on factors that are a matter of mind-set rather than of specific facilities, to offer these as transferable lessons that can be applied widely, including by smaller libraries and those with fewer resources. A comparative case study was conducted at two locations selected as examples of strong teen services in their respective regions: Lava and TioTretton in Sweden and Tompkins County Public Library in the United States. Data were collected via interviews, observation and document analysis. Key factors identified as contributing to successful, teen-centred services include providing a space, no matter how small, that is solely for teens, where they can experience a sense of ownership and belonging; according teens the same respect as any other library visitor; creating a space that is comfortable and actively signals that everyone is welcome; letting teens take the lead, with staff following their interests and serving as facilitators for their projects; creating flexibility in spaces and programming; employing staff who have varied expertise and genuinely enjoy working with young people; mingling and interacting with visitors; and continually re-evaluating and improving practices.

Purpose: The research examined Scottish public libraries and the libraries' response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic of 2020–2021. The research focussed particularly around the way that the libraries helped to support community resilience and cohesion during periods of lockdown. The study considered issues around the closure of services in March 2020, digital services, the loss of physical library spaces and governance models. The research presents the voice of service managers rather than being a user study. The research was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), part of UKRI (United Kingdom Research and Innovation), as a part of the council's scheme to provide response to the pandemic of 2020.Design/methodology/approach: This was an exploratory study examining how Scottish public library services responded to the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. Three methods were deployed in the investigation. First, the gathering social media and other web-based content from library services over the months March–September 2020 (amounting to over four thousands snips of content) were analysed thematically. Second, 19 semi-structured interviews with service managers across Scotland were conducted. These were recorded, transcribed and analysed. These elements formed the cornerstone of the research but were supported by a short survey distributed to all public library services in Scotland focussed on e-lending during lockdown.Findings: Findings are presented in respect of the lessons to be learnt from the closure of physical services and the migration to digital only provision, the contribution made to supporting communities, health and well-being, the importance of the balance of physical and digital library services around governance models for library services, as well as around the process of reopening services. This research explores how staff responded to this unparalleled situation, how the staff maintained close relationship with the communities the staff serve, what services themselves learnt through lockdown, and how the staff's management practices adapted. The findings present voices from Scottish libraries during 2020.Research limitations/implications: The research presents a snapshot of activities during a period of fast-moving change. The research, therefore, presents a snapshot of March–December 2020, which is, however, an extremely important snapshot. The first lockdown was perhaps most interesting to study from a research perspective because the authors witnessed, real-time, how the staff responded and reacted (with lessons learnt and applied in subsequent regional or national lockdowns later in 2020 and in the 2021). The second lockdown and subsequent periods were outside the scope of this research.Practical implications: Recommendations are offered around the need for a national conversation about digital content provision in public libraries and the exploration of possibilities of a national approach, the role libraries have as digital enablers (in supporting effort to overcome the digital divide in society), the crucial nature of continued strong advocacy for public libraries, the importance of the library as a physical space, and on how to maintain the flexibility, agility and autonomy which emerged during lockdown.Social implications: The research presents strong testimony about the social value of public libraries as free, safe and public spaces within communities. It also highlights the continued digital divide which exists in many places and the important role that public libraries have in being digital enablers for many members of the public. The closeness of library service staff to users is strongly evidenced in the testimony from managers as is the need for parent organisation (local authorities or in culture or leisure trusts) to recognise more fully the breadth of services the public library provides and how these are “essential” for many users.Originality/value: The value and distinctiveness of this research lies in the fact that the research captured the voices, thoughts and perceptions of Scotland’s public libraries during the period of lockdown in 2020. The evidence gathered suggests important conversations are required around equity of e-lending provision, the role of libraries as digital enablers, the balance between physical and digital provision and around the ways libraries are managed (directly by local authorities or in culture trusts). The research affords lessons for public library provision beyond Scotland with many issues being transferable to other contexts.