• Journal of the Korean Society for information Management
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.61-82
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• 2004

The purpose of this study is to examine how the commonly known profile of public library users was described, by reviewing the literature published in the United States before the 1990s, when information environment of the public has been drastically changed. The profile of users as the socio-economically advantaged, active participants, and communication elites, has little changed since Berelson's study in the 1940s. Continuing research on users, however, are still needed to better understand their needs and behavior, facing the change since the 1990s.