EFFECTS OF PUBLIC LIBRARY BUSINESS INFORMATION SERVICE AS A MECHANISM FOR SUPPORTING BUSINESS

本研究的目的是探讨日本公共图书馆提供商业信息服务的有效途径，并考察其对当地公民和企业活动的影响。本研究透过两个研究任务来探讨服务的效果：1。对公共图书馆、咨询机构等公共信息提供机制的服务效果进行理论思考;将这些理念应用于公共图书馆的商业信息服务，通过对服务的观察和对馆员和用户的访谈对其进行实证检验，最后根据理论和实证调查的结果对商业信息服务的效果进行提炼。本研究首先考察了影响因素，同时对23家提供商业信息服务的公共图书馆进行了一系列的实地考察。然后对四所公共图书馆的服务使用者和馆员进行了半结构式访谈。用户访谈的结果表明，两种效果：1。对刚刚提供的服务满意度; 2.通过积累的使用经验形成的有用性认知，公共图书馆的总体形象和服务，以及替代信息服务的可用性。通过与负责这项服务的图书管理员的访谈，说明了成功管理这项服务的条件。

The purpose of this study was to investigate effective ways of providing business information service in Japanese public libraries based upon the examination of its effects on local civic and corporate activities in business. The effects of service were explicated by carrying out two research tasks: 1. to get theoretical ideas about the effects which such public mechanisms for providing information as public libraries and advice agencies can have through their services, and 2. to apply ideas to business information service in public libraries, to examine them empirically by the observation of the service and through interviews with librarians and users, and finally to refine ideas about the effects of business information service based upon results of theoretical as well as empirical investigations. First ideas about the effects were examined, while a series of field trips were conducted to 23 public libraries which were providing business information service. Then semi-structured interviews were had to users of the service and librarians in charge in four public libraries. The results of the user interviews indicated two kinds of effects: 1. satisfaction with the service just provided, and 2. perception of usefulness formed by the accumulated use experiences, images of the public libraries in general and the service in particular, and availability of alternative information services. Conditions for success in the management of the service were indicated through the interviews with librarians in charge of the service.