Religious Librarianship in Iran: Identifying themes and components

Document Type : Research َ Article

Authors

1 Assistant professor, Department of Information Management and Knowledge Organization,National Library and Archives of Iran, Tehran. Iran

2 Assistant Professor ; Department of Information Management and Knowledge Organization; National Library and Archives of Iran,, Tehran;Iran

10.30484/nastinfo.2024.3641.2294

Abstract

Purpose: To Identify components and provide suggestions for the issue of religious librarianship in the country.
Method: The research was applied with a qualitative approach. Data collection has been done through open and semi-structured interviews with 12 librarians who were purposefully selected due to their experience and knowledge in the field. The interviews was content analyzed by thematic analysis method. In this process, coding was carried out using the approach of creating a theme network in three stages: extracting basic themes, categorizing basic themes, creating organizing themes, and finally creating an overarching theme. Validity and reliability of the data were confirmed in three stages validation by analyzing the results of the interviews and verifiability by recording and documenting the stages of collecting and analyzing the interviews to refer back if needed. The interviews continued until the saturation of information and repetition of the discussed topics.
Findings: Themes are categorized into four groups, specialized activities in libraries for the development and research of religious sciences and promoting religion in society, the conditions affecting the creation of religious specialization in librarianship, the role of libraries and religious institutions in the development and promotion of religious specialization in librarianship, and the results and benefits of specialized religious librarianship activities. They were categorized as strengthening religious studies and promoting religiosity in society. The specialized measures focus on ten basic themes, which include identifying resources, organizing, recognizing the needs of the audience and providing information, producing specialized tools, training librarians, and it is necessary to explain the goals and duties of religious librarianship. The eleven basic themes of influential conditions emphasize issues such as the influence of religion in the cultural and political context and obstacles such as the lack of religious knowledge of librarians and the religious challenges of young people. The fifteen basic themes are the role of libraries and religious institutions in the category of governmental institutions, large libraries, religious institutions, national and international library organizations, and scientific and research institutions. The three basic themes of attracting library audiences, promoting Islamic professional ethics of librarianship, and helping to develop religious studies are among the results of dealing with religious librarianship in the country.
Conclusion: The religious context and culture, regardless of the type of religion or denomination, in societies have made it necessary to create and strengthen a religious approach as a branch of professional librarianship activities, and this issue has long been a concern in the librarianship profession and needs to be strengthened. The role of institutions and organizations in changing, evolving, and strengthening new approaches in the librarianship profession through the development of scientific and intellectual foundations, strengthening knowledge in this field, and increasing scientific interactions and communications has been very prominent and influential and they have also shown a distinct and prominent impact in the field of religion; therefore, paying attention to the establishment of professional religious librarianship organizations and linking these organizations with other civil institutions and religious librarianship organizations at the international level will help strengthen these communities. Establishing a religious librarianship organization in Iran with representatives from libraries and religious institutions from all official religious orientations and denominations in the country for policy-making, coordination, and planning of professional religious librarianship activities in the country can be beneficial and effective for the information science and epistemology profession in the country. Perhaps through this, new and broad horizons will be opened for librarians and other stakeholders. Such an association should be placed under the umbrella of professional, spiritual, and material support of a larger institution. This institution could be the National Archives and Library Organization of Iran. The recommendations of this study include creating a religious librarianship orientation and developing appropriate courses and syllabi for training librarians in this field in universities, developing research priorities, and conducting theoretical and applied research on religious librarianship in scientific institutions and specialized research centers related to information science and epistemology.

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  • Receive Date: 27 August 2024
  • Revise Date: 07 October 2024
  • Accept Date: 02 November 2024

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