In the face of challenges posed by a shifting digital media landscape, an array of international bodies continue to endorse public service media (PSM) as an essential component of democratisation. Yet how can PSM achieve viability in settings where models of media independence and credibility are unfamiliar or rejected by political leaders?

The answer lies in a holistic approach that is neither media-centric nor defeatist about PSM’s place in a landscape marked by younger generations’ widespread preference for social media platforms. There are more ways of working towards PSM than are often recognized. Wide-ranging research from media NGOs and academics demonstrates the potential of diverse, incremental approaches to embedding the values and mechanisms of PSM. These are as likely to involve regulatory and licensing institutions, unions of media practitioners, audiences, advocacy groups or social media platforms as content producers themselves.

This Policy Brief considers the issues, research and policy options around achieving viability for PSM. It concludes with six recommendations that are relevant to policymakers, practitioners and media studies specialists.

Assessment is increasingly integral to building, managing, and justifying library collections. Unfortunately, assessment can also be a daunting undertaking. And though every institution is unique, as this manual demonstrates, there’s no need to reinvent the wheel. Spanning both concept and practice, Kelly offers a holistic assessment framework suitable to a variety of collections and contexts. With a structure that makes it applicable as both a training tool for practicing librarians and a useful course text for library students, this manual

• introduces foundational assessment methodologies then provides concrete guidance on how to contextualize those methodologies within a holistic collections assessment program;
• covers topics such as assessment goals, assessment stakeholders, selecting data and methodologies, working through project constraints, and project planning;
• includes sample assessment program structures and other useful templates;
• provides step-by-step instructions for more than a dozen specific methodologies, describing which aspect of the collection is being measured, what goals the methodology can address, technological requirements, recommended visualizations, and other helpful pointers; and
• shares best practices for communicating effectively with internal and external stakeholders about assessment projects, with sample communication plans that can be easily adapted.