Library stories: a systematic review of narrative aspects within and around libraries

Background. Libraries are increasingly trying to communicate the library’s contributions and telling the library stories. Stories can be a component of impact assessment and thus add nuance to an assessment. Evaluations of libraries can include collecting and presenting stories of change, which can serve as evidence in impact assessments. The narrative field allows for many different approaches to a narrative perspective in the study of libraries, but the existing literature provides little overview of these studies. Aim. The purpose of this study is to introduce the narrative field and present a systematic review of the existing studies of libraries that use narrative approaches. Method. The methods in this study comprise of a systematic review of publications reporting narrative approaches to studying libraries. To retrieve the relevant studies Library and Information Science Abstracts, Scopus, Web of Science and Proquest Dissertation were searched. Furthermore, we examined reference lists and performed citation searches. Study selection was performed by two reviewers independently. Using designed templates, data from the included studies was extracted by one author and confirmed by another. Results. The database searches retrieved 2,096 records across the four databases which were screened in two steps resulting in 35 included studies. We identify studies that introduce to narrative inquiries in library studies as well as studies using narrative approaches to the study of libraries. Originality/value. Exploring narratives and stories for understanding and evaluating the library’s worth is a promising field. More work is needed, though, to develop theoretical and methodological frameworks. Several of the included studies can serve as examples of the potential of a narrative perspective in the study of libraries.**背景**：图书馆正愈发注重传递自身的价值贡献并讲述馆内故事。故事可作为影响评估（impact assessment）的组成部分，为评估增添细微维度。图书馆评估工作可涵盖收集与呈现变革故事，此类故事可作为影响评估的佐证材料。在图书馆研究领域，叙事视角存在多种研究路径，但现有文献对这类研究的整体梳理较为匮乏。 **研究目的**：本研究旨在梳理叙事研究领域，并对已发表的采用叙事研究方法的图书馆相关研究进行系统综述（systematic review）。 **研究方法**：本研究采用系统综述方法，检索报告了图书馆叙事研究方法的相关文献。检索数据库包括图书馆与信息科学文摘（Library and Information Science Abstracts）、Scopus、Web of Science以及Proquest Dissertation数据库。此外，本研究还对参考文献列表进行了筛查，并开展了引文检索。研究筛选环节由两名评审员独立完成。采用预设模板提取纳入研究的数据，由一名研究者完成提取，另一名研究者进行复核。 **研究结果**：四大数据库共检索到2096条记录，经过两轮筛查后最终纳入35项研究。本研究识别出两类研究：一类是将叙事研究引入图书馆研究领域的相关成果，另一类是采用叙事方法开展图书馆研究的实践成果。 **创新性与价值**：借助叙事与故事来理解并评估图书馆的价值，是一个极具前景的研究方向。不过，目前仍需进一步完善相关理论与方法论框架。本次纳入的多项研究均可作为叙事视角在图书馆研究中应用潜力的典型范例。