Digitising library resources and building digital repositories in the University of Malawi Libraries

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to look at the prospects and challenges of digitising library resources and building digital repositories in the University of Malawi Libraries.

Design/methodology/approach

Data collected through online questions sent to college librarians, ICT director and systems administrator (Chancellor College and Bunda College) and assistant librarians or repository co-ordinators in the constituent colleges of the University of Malawi (UNIMA) coupled with technical reports on digital and institutional repository projects in the UNIMA Libraries.

Findings

The results of the study have indicated that the UNIMA Libraries are digitising library resources and building digital repositories though the pace is very slow. Bandwidth has increased though accessibility of the resources is hampered by its inadequacy. The databases are frequently attacked by viruses and are locally available through intranet. Policy statements were not drawn for the projects, instead an insertion was done in the research and publications rules and regulations on copyright for theses and dissertations. The majority of the projects lack technical skills, especially running the systems in secure operating Linux-based system environments. Three of the five colleges adopted Greenstone, two adopted DSpace and one adopted Procite depending on the training received and the source of funding. The initial projects relied on external funding for their roll out.

Practical implications

The study recommends that college librarians should lobby for training in ICT skills in order to sustain the projects. Funding for digital repositories should be included in the annual budget estimates of the college libraries. Librarians should draw policies specifically for digitisation of library resources, copyright and building of digital repositories in the UNIMA Libraries. ICT department should assist in migrating the repositories to Linux-based environments.

Originality/value

There is little researched information on digitisation of library resources and building digital repositories in Malawi, yet there is quite a variety of rare information about the country. This research will add some information on the progress made in digitising Malawiana collection which has cultural heritage, educational and research value.

Citation

Mapulanga, P. (2013), "Digitising library resources and building digital repositories in the University of Malawi Libraries", The Electronic Library, Vol. 31 No. 5, pp. 635-647. https://doi.org/10.1108/EL-02-2012-0019