engleski

Cooperation between journals and library in the promotion of of social work

Abstract. Since scientific journals and the institutional library are key factors in the process of collaborative learning and research, this paper presents the progress of e- publishing activities of the Croatian Journal of Social Policy and Annual of Social Work, and the development of the Department's library in the virtual environment. In 1994. was published a new journal in the area of social work– Annual of the Social Work Study Centre. In 2007 its name changed to Annual of Social Work. The same year saw the start of publication of another scientific journal in the area of social activities: Journal of Social Policy. The Journal of Social Policy covers a wide range of social policy issues. The Journal publishes texts on retirement, health, family, housing, educational and labour policies. It also addresses labour issues, unemployment, poverty, the welfare system and other social problems and current social processes. Considering that until then social policy in Croatia did not have a scientific tradition, the launch of this scientific journal also set the foundations for the scientific approach to social policy in Croatia. The Annual of Social Work problematises current trends in social work theory, methods and education. The journal also publishes articles from all fields where social work is applied and from related disciplines important for a better understanding of social interventions and their more effective application. Besides original papers, the journal publishes translations of selected texts especially important for the understanding of modern social work, notices as well as reviews of conferences, books and journals related to social work activities and other social sciences and humanities important for social work. The digital environment has changed the traditional role of university libraries, including the Social Work Study Centre library. It contributes significantly to the acquisition of new learning and research methods. In order to familiarize users (primarily students) with virtual content, as well as new methods and possibilities of e- learning, the Information Literacy trainings have been organized from academic year 2003- 2004 to the present day. These are aimed at all user categories and their content and presentation methods are adapted to various levels of knowledge and practical requirements the users may have.The SWSC library is the only library in Croatia specialized in the area of social work, and its users are social workers and workers from other helping professions. They often have specific information requirements related to everyday practice or professional training. The main problem of this user category is lack of time and/or skills of efficient information gathering in the e- environment. Having recognized this problem, the library has started a new service, LIBRARY IN PRACTICE: e-information on request. In the future, the library plans to be more actively included in every-day publishing, teaching and scientific work in the e-environment of its institution. One of the first activities is the organisation of trainings for practising social workers on the basis of existing experience of such work with students. These trainings should be developed by taking into consideration the specific needs of this user category and should propose an acceptable model of organised trainings aimed at improving knowledge and skills in information literacy. In cooperation with instructors, such trainings for students should be incorporated into the SWSC curriculum, and offered as an optional course entitled "Information Literacy" within one of the e-learning modules. The library's cooperation in the area of e- publishing is additionally encouraged by the compilation of a thesaurus for the area of social work, which should additionally improve the quality of the journal Annual of Social Work. The plan is to set up the thesaurus as a dynamic website within the e-environment.

e-publication; library; e-presence

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