Mapping trends for the third-place public library concept through systematic review and co-occurrence analysis
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3145/infonomy.26.021Keywords:
Next library, Bibliometrics, Public library, Third space, Public sphere, Third place, Change of library paradigm, Semantic areas of library thinking, Trends, FutureAbstract
This research investigates contemporary trends in the discourse surrounding public libraries and the third place concept. Employing a systematic review coupled with co-occurrence analysis, it aims to identify the most relevant documents on this topic, categorize them by relevance, and extract thematic areas from their titles and abstracts. The goal is to understand the evolving nature of the public library concept in today's context. Two primary research questions guide this study:
1) What new terms are emerging to describe public libraries today? and
2) To which thematic areas do these terms belong? The first section outlines the process of document identification and classification based on relevance. This classification utilizes a controlled vocabulary developed during searches using terms found in the titles and abstracts of the documents. The second section presents a proposed co-occurrence data analysis. This method enables the detection of trends in the literature on the studied concept and offers a qualitative interpretation of the data, revealing emerging thematic lines that may diverge from the traditional understanding of the public library.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Néstor Mir-Planells, Nicolás Robinson-García, Marie D. Martel
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