Page 257 - Journal of Library Science in China, Vol.47, 2021

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256 Journal of Library Science in China, Vol.13, 2021

services, management and industrial cooperation. It is the basic content of professional service and
management operation that make full use of existing facilities and resources, and maximize service
efficiency by subdividing public services and management. The main ideas and themes of the
development of public libraries in the new era can be summarized as systemization as the external
and specialization as the internal.

The construction of collective memory for public health emergencies in
GLAM contexts: evidence on information practices from Fudan University
Medical Library

〇a*
YING Jun, ZHAO Yuxiang , WU Dawei & DONG Hongzhe
The concept of collective memory has received widespread attention since its introduction by
Halbwachs (1992) . Collective memory construction for public health emergencies can help promote
cultural identity and enhance emergency management capacities. In the field of public cultural
services, cultural memory institutions such as galleries, libraries, archives, and museums (GLAMs)
play important roles in memory construction. However, there are few empirical explorations of
collective memory construction from the information practices of GLAMs. This paper takes the
information practice of the anti-epidemic exhibition conducted by the medical library of Fudan
University as a case and combines in-depth interviews, participatory observations, and document
analysis to comprehensively analyze the role of medical libraries in the construction of collective
memory of anti-epidemic under public health emergencies. Based on a long term follow up
investigation of the collective memory construction in Fudan University library, this paper focuses
on three aspects.
First, this paper explores the core attributes of exhibits related to collective memory construction
in the anti-epidemic and historical materials exhibition initiated by the medical library:1)
Intermediary. The construction of collective memory involves three parties, namely, curators,
donors, and visitors. The anti-epidemic exhibits establish the memory and emotional connection
between the three parties, playing an important intermediary role. 2) Sociomateriality: the exhibits
not only reflect the materiality of the objects, which brings visitors’ presence feeling but also
embody their socio-cultural metaphorical dimension with a strong semiotic meaning. 3) Spatio-
temporality, as public health emergencies develop in a particular spatial-temporal order and
pattern, the spatial temporal characteristics of anti-epidemic exhibits can bring visitors a strong
sense of presence and immersion.
Second, this paper sorts out the core subjects’ main information behaviors, including curators,
donors, and visitors in the construction of collective memory of anti-epidemic in medical libraries.
The three core subjects, curators, donors, and visitors, adopted different information behaviors
*Correspondence should be addressed to ZHAO Yuxiang, Email:yxzhao@vip.163.com, ORCID:0000-0001-9281-3030.