Research Article Review

There are approximately 36 million people in the US with a disability. A lot of them are less likely to find employment than able bodied people. The library offers the ability to level out the playing field by providing resources they may not find anywhere else. Libraries all around the world have, for decades now, made the accessibility of the library and resources a reality for people with disabilities. However, the question being studied is “how is library and information science (LIS), as a discipline, conceptualizing disability and accessibility” (Hill, 137). 

There are programs and resources available to disabled people “but an understanding of the discipline focus beyond these programs is largely absent” (Hill, 138). There is not much research available out there to gain a good grasp on disabilities and how they affect people. If we are to better serve these folks, we have to have a good idea of what their daily struggle is. We have to understand the problem, if we are going to be able to give them resources to function in society. 

Defining disability has been split into two parts. First definition is “disabilities are “long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which, in interaction with various attitudinal and environmental barriers, hinders full and effective participation in society” (Hill, 138). It can also be defined in non-medical terms, and that is socially constructed. The definition is “between personal characteristics of the individual and the specific design of the social and physical environment that the individual inhabits” (Hill, 138). These are interesting takes on disability and I think they both can be used properly for the definition. It can be defined medically but also can be defined by a person’s environment. This gives a good understanding of the complexity of disabilities. 

However, this isn’t necessarily the case with libraries. “While findings show library staffs are generally supportive of including people with disabilities, there are significant impediments and constraints” (Hill, 138). Partly the blame is education for librarians doesn’t give students the proper understanding and tools for providing these resources or services. Those who had experience with disabled people were more likely to better serve them. 

To see whether there was relevant and substantial amount of research on disabilities and libraries, the study was done by using databases, mainly LISA (Library and Information Science Abstract), to search for information. They used different describers for disabilities such as ‘people with disabilities’, ‘disabled people’, ‘serving people with disabilities’, ‘visually impaired’, ‘learning disabled’, etc.   There were about 198 articles found that were sufficient in the topic searched for. The table below shows the years some of these articles were released which shows a lot were written in 2007, but has decreased substantially since then. Also, of these 198, table 2 below shows the types of information each article had and the frequency that information was shown in the articles. We see accessibility was the common topic of these articles, following services and programs for people with disabilities. 

The next research topic was looking at the types of disabilities discussed in the articles and the type of research done in the articles. The results are in the table below. We see that visual disabilities are a very common topic discussed in these articles. Also accessibility comes up again as the most researched topic. We see that most articles talk about libraries and their accessibility level for those with visual impairments.

In conclusion, we see most library science literature “focuses on the physical rather than on the social or attitudinal aspects associated with disabilities” (Hill, 141). There is less literature  about what these people with disabilities may want to see from their library. In the libraries, we want to be centered on our patrons, and getting feedback from them is the best way to better serve them. We need to make sure we are gathering information and ideas from our patrons especially those that may depend on our resources. All in all, offering literature that helps library students understand the disabilities and the struggles they have, will help develop ways to better serve them in our libraries.

Citation:

Hill, H (2013). “Disability and accessibility in the library and information science literature: A content analysis”. Library & Information Science Research, Volume 35 (2),

137-142. doi.org/10.1016/j.lisr.2012.11.002.