Information Culture in Thai Public Libraries

Abstract

The Public library service reflects the learning culture in every community. Information
culture at the national level is mostly influenced by value systems, while organizational cultures
appear to be primarily based on shared practices. Information culture is as varied as the
organizational culture, which is the perception of information work and information practices by
its members within an organization. If information culture is part of the organizational culture
which may reflect the organizational effectiveness, the goal of information culture will also impact
on the delivery of products and services to users. This paper aims to study the organizational
and information culture in Thai public libraries. The qualitative research method was applied by
interviewing head librarians of major public libraries in Thailand. The tool used in data collection
was an in-depth interview. Descriptive analysis was used for data analysis.
This paper identifies the organizational and information culture in Thai public libraries, the
success factors of the public libraries in Thailand by comparing with Finland. The success factors
of public libraries in Thailand are administrator policy, qualify staff, teamwork, cooperation and
network within departments while the success factors of public libraries in Finland are teamwork
with leaders who always listen to customers to support the education system with the key
strategy of customer-oriented service development.