Purpose

Drawing on the survey of Spanish-speaking immigrant and migrant readers in Canada and the US, this study pursues three goals: (1) examine the image of the library held by these readers and trace the change of this image after the international migration; (2) use the study findings to revise and update the currently existing typologies of the image of the library; and (3) understand ethical and effective research practices in the studies of immigrant/migrant communities whereby researchers are external to communities in question.

Design/methodology/approach

The data about immigrant/migrant readers were collected through a self-administered survey questionnaire that was available both in print and electronically, both in Spanish and English. The data analysis was guided by hermeneutic phenomenology, as explicated in the article. Theoretical examination of the image of the library relied on the earlier typology developed by V. Stelmakh.

Findings

The study elucidates perceptions of libraries and librarians in both North America and countries of origin held by Spanish-speaking immigrant/migrant readers, and highlights changes that occur in the image of the library as readers move across geographic borders. Building on the empirical data, the article develops a new typology of the image of the library. It also offers insight into ethical and effective ways of engaging with immigrant communities that should be upheld by researchers from outside the communities in question.

Originality/value

It is the first known study that systematically traces the changes in the image of the library which occur alongside geographic and sociocultural migrations. It is also the first known study that focuses specifically on readers rather than library users in general. The new typology consists of four different elements – the cultural image; the functional image; the humanistic image; and the ideological image of the library – and is accompanied by detailed definitions of each.

中文翻译：

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移民和移民读者眼中的图书馆形象

目的

本研究借鉴对加拿大和美国讲西班牙语的移民和移民读者的调查，追求三个目标：（1）审视这些读者所持有的图书馆形象，并追踪国际移民后这种形象的变化；(2) 利用研究结果对现有图书馆形象类型进行修正和更新；(3) 了解移民/移民社区研究中的伦理和有效研究实践，其中研究人员在相关社区之外。

设计/方法/方法

关于移民/移民读者的数据是通过自我管理的调查问卷收集的，该问卷有印刷版和电子版，有西班牙语和英语两种版本。正如文章中所解释的，数据分析以解释学现象学为指导。图书馆形象的理论研究依赖于 V. Stelmakh 开发的早期类型学。

发现

该研究阐明了说西班牙语的移民/移民读者对北美和原籍国图书馆和图书馆员的看法，并强调了读者跨越地理边界时图书馆形象发生的变化。在实证数据的基础上，本文开发了一种新的图书馆形象类型学。它还提供了有关与移民社区接触的道德和有效方式的见解，这些方式应由相关社区以外的研究人员支持。

原创性/价值

这是已知的第一个系统地追踪伴随地理和社会文化迁移而发生的图书馆形象变化的研究。这也是第一项专门针对读者而非一般图书馆用户的已知研究。新的类型由四个不同的元素组成——文化形象；功能形象；人文形象；以及图书馆的意识形态形象——并附有对每个形象的详细定义。