Libraly Journal

Libraly Journal ›› 2022, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (1): 17-28.

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Study on the Public Perceptions of the Value of Public Library as “Place” in the Era of Technology: Text Analysis of the Libraries’ Online Reviews Based on the Public Platform

Jin Wugang, Zhong Jinghan (Faculty of Economics and Management, East China Normal University)   

  • Online:2022-01-15 Published:2022-01-18
  • About author:Jin Wugang, Zhong Jinghan (Faculty of Economics and Management, East China Normal University)

Abstract: In the era of technology, the “place” value of library as a physical space is a crucial research
topic related to the future development of library. Exploring the value of library as place from the perspective
of public perceptions can help identify important influencing factors of the development of librarianship.
After systematic analysis, the online reviews on the public platform of the three representative public
libraries—Shanghai Library, Pudong Library and Binhai New District Library—were selected. Python,
Jieba word segmentation, SnowNLP and other data collection and analysis tools were applied to conduct
text mining and analysis on the public perceptions from three dimensions—distribution of high-frequency
words, sentiment analysis and time series. The results showed that public library is still an important “place”
for public reading; the “place” services of public library are very popular, and social evaluation is extremely
positive; promoting the development of culture and tourism integration is a public perception feature of the
value of public library “place”. In the era of technology, public libraries should attach great importance to
the new changes in public perceptions of the value of “place”, and view culture and tourism integration as a
crucial content for the future development to promote the high-quality development of librarianship.