Author Archives: Peter Lor

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About Peter Lor

Peter Johan Lor is a Netherlands-born South African librarian and academic. In retirement he continues to pursue scholarly interests as a research fellow in the Department of Information Science at the University of Pretoria, South Africa.

From participation to mobilization:  new roles in French public libraries

Posted on 2020-02-19 by Peter Lor

In 2016 Raphaëlle Bats contributed an article to an issue of Library trends (vol. 65, no. 2) discussing the responses of French librarians to the terrorist attacks on Charlie hebdo and a Kosher supermarket on 15 January 2015. The LT … Continue reading →

Posted in International Librarianship, LIS | Leave a comment

IFLA oral history project

Posted on 2020-02-14 by Peter Lor

In 2027 IFLA will have a big anniversary. It was founded in Edinburgh in 1927, as the International Library and Bibliographical Committee, and only adopted the name, International Federation of Library Associations, two years later, at an international congress in … Continue reading →

Posted in International Librarianship, LIS | 1 Comment

Announcement: IFLA satellite conference on “International Research in LIS: Challenges and Opportunities”

Posted on 2020-01-27 by Peter Lor

I’m happy to announce that an IFLA satellite conference on international research in LIS  will be held in Dublin, Ireland, on 13 and 14 August 2020. The event will be a workshop-style meeting with a practical focus, aiming to improve … Continue reading →

Posted in Comparative Librarianship, International Librarianship, LIS, Research | Leave a comment

Riccardo Ridi on intellectual neutrality: a perspective from Italy

Posted on 2020-01-03 by Peter Lor

(Version corrected on 2019-01-05, in light of comments from Riccardo Ridi, which I gratefully acknowledge.)  Italian perspectives In the English-speaking world, we are not sufficiently aware of the huge amount of professional literature published in other languages. My eyes were opened … Continue reading →

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Library ABC for 2019

Posted on 2019-12-30 by Peter Lor

The latest instalment of my Library ABC, which I started in 2008, has been distributed. It is for the letters D, E and F and features pictures taken in three libraries. D:  DOK, Delft, the Netherlands; E: Elsie van Rensburg … Continue reading →

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Gratifying review

Posted on 2019-12-27 by Peter Lor

I’m happy to report that a favourable review of my book, International and comparative librarianship: concepts and methods for global studies,  recently appeared in Focus on international library and information work. The review, written by Lesley Pitman, appeared in volume … Continue reading →

Posted in The Book, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Global gleanings #2: Maps again, web archiving, fauna and flora, Patience and Fortitude

Posted on 2019-11-30 by Peter Lor

 This is a slightly expanded version of my column of news, views and snippets from the international literature of books, libraries, and information, which appears in LIASA-in-Touch, the newsletter of the Library and Information Association of South Africa Maps and … Continue reading →

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Help save the Web!

Posted on 2019-11-25 by Peter Lor

We tend to take the World Wide Web for granted. We use it to look up professional, scholarly, educational and day-to-day information, communicate with friends and colleagues, do shopping, book travel, plan vacations, download videos and music, play games, and … Continue reading →

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New National Librarian for South Africa

Posted on 2019-11-19 by Peter Lor

I can now report on the outcome of the disputed recruitment process that was discussed in a previous post, entitled, “Who should be the national librarian?” On 18 November the Board of the National Library of South Africa announced that … Continue reading →

Posted in LIS | 1 Comment

My book: brief promotional video

Posted on 2019-10-28 by Peter Lor

A brief video interview about my book, International and comparative librarianship: concepts and methods for global studies, done during the August 2019 IFLA World Library and Information Conference in Athens, has been released by IFLA.  In the interview, I give … Continue reading →

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