In this thesis the Vereinigung Österreichischer Bibliothekarinnen und Bibliothekare (VÖB) 1 has been assessed against other European library / infonnation associations in order to detennine models of best practice that could be applied in Austria.  The thesis starts by examining what are the roles of a professional association and what differentiates a professional association from a professional union. Some countries prefer to  use a professional union rather than a professional association. This then influences the work undertaken by the different organisations. Where a union will be vocal in its efforts on salary and working conditions agreements, a professional association will undertake this work by promoting the profession in a concerted public relations campaign.

The countries and associations selected  were respectively: Austria ( Vereinigung Österreichischer Bibliothekarinnen und Bibliothekare -VÖB, Büchereiverband Österreichs - BVÖ, Österreichische Gesellschaft für Dokumentation und Information - ÖGDI); England ( Chartered Institute of Library Information Professionals - CILIP); Denmark ( The Danish Library Association 3 -DB), The Danish union of librarians4 - BF); Sweden -the librarians union -DIK, Librarians association of Sweden -BF; and Germany -Deutscher Bibliotheksverband -DBV. The associations are very different in terms of structures, goals, methods, strategies and membershi ps. The thesis continues by examining what the different roles of a professional association could be and how professional associations are evaluated, as detennined by existing literature.  Only then do we examine literature from the different associations to detennine  goals structures etc. lt is hoped that through this examination and comparison  we  can  glean  some insight into how various elements inside the VÖB could be improved.  My personal aim

Bestand: http://permalink.obvsg.at/AC08482190