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There are now three Universities in Ghana with a total enrollment of about 10,000 students. The oldest and largest is the University of Ghana, Legon, which was established in 1948 as a University College preparing students for the degrees of the University of London. The University of Science and Technology at Kumasi was the second to be established in the country. It started as a College of Technology in 1951 and was raised to University status in 1961. The University of Cape Coast came into being in 1962, mainly to produce graduate teachers for expanding secondary schools and teacher‐training colleges. All the universities have libraries which provide services to faculty members, scholars and students. The number of books allowed to be borrowed, however, depends on the status of the user, with faculty members having more privileges than students at all the universities.

Successful implementation of an automation project depends not only on proper execution by the library or information centre involved, but also on the commitment and on‐going support from the vendor or agent of the automated library system. This factor is often overlooked whenever there are discussions on the low level of application of information technology in developing countries. It is often wrongly assumed that the services and products of the library system vendors are available to library and information centres in this region. To this end, a survey was undertaken of the current status of marketing activities in Nigeria, of library system vendors, their attitude and commitment to the Nigerian market, their prerequisites for marketing in Nigeria, and projections of their marketing activities for the future; so that decisions could be made on the likely directions of library automation investments and developments in Nigeria. The work was carried out in 1988 when the author was a United Nations University Fellow at Trinity College Dublin.

Reviews special libraries and documentation centres in Ethiopia in terms of their infrastructure, bookstock, financial resources, organization and use of facilities and impact on the research process. Results indicate the inadequacy of government libraries and documentation services in Ethiopia to meet research needs. Discusses some of the factors which have impeded the development of satisfactory government libraries.

The purpose of this paper is to look at the impact of the Government subvention to the University of Malawi (UNIMA) from 2004 to 2009 financial years on its libraries and assess levels of fund raising initiatives in the libraries.

The study adopted a case study approach. Interviews were conducted with five college librarians in the University of Malawi libraries. University budget estimates from 2004/2005 to 2009/2010 financial years were used to assess the amount of income generated by the libraries. Data are presented in the form of tables and analysed by calculating percentage increases and decreases.

UNIMA as a whole has done extremely well in generating income equivalent to subvention. On the other hand, UNIMA libraries are on the receiving end. From 2004/2005 to 2007/2008 financial years, no income was captured in the university budgets from the libraries. In the 2008/2009 and 2009/2010 financial years, UNIMA libraries realised 7.2 per cent and 5.4 per cent of the income. This means UNIMA libraries were heavily dependent on government subvention for their operations. Fundraising is not emphasised despite being an appropriate and alternative source of funding.

The study recommends that college librarians should consider diversifying income‐generating activities and consider fund raising activities as well. Heavy reliance on government subvention is not sustainable. Libraries should seriously consider fundraising.

There is an information gap on fund raising activities in UNIMA libraries. This information bridges the gap on sources of income for UNIMA libraries and provides an assessment of fund raising initiatives taken by UNIMA libraries.

The definition and nature of planning are discussed and related more specifically to the need for and problems of planning library and information services, especially in developing countries. The need for a dynamic as opposed to static planning process is stressed.

Gives an overview of information and library systems in a developing African nation, Kenya. Highlights the prevailing local conditions. Discusses the national library system with particular reference to public, academic, special and school libraries. Also briefly considers staffing needs of the national information services. States factors inhibiting the development of effective national information systems; it is, however, recognized that the country has a sound information infrastructure on which to develop information services.

The purpose of this paper is to look at adequacy or inadequacy of budgets for University of Malawi Libraries (UML) from financial years 2004 to 2009.

A case study design was used to collect quantitative data. University budget estimate from 2003/2004 to 2009/2010 financial years were used.

The results of the study show that of five constituent colleges of the University of Malawi, four (80 per cent) of their college libraries are inadequately funded below 6 per cent. The average funding as a percentage of the total college funding for the five UML in the six‐year financial period from 2004 to 2010 are as follows: Bunda College Library 2.7 per cent; Chancellor College Library 3.72 per cent; College of Medicine Library 3.52 per cent; Kamuzu College of Nursing Library 6.27 per cent; and the Polytechnic Library 3.43 per cent. Only Kamuzu College of Nursing Library received a minimum average of 6 per cent of the total college funding.

The study recommends that college librarians should lobby for increased budgets for UML. College librarians should also consider income‐generating activities as a means to supplement funding through government subvention.

There is very little researched information on inadequacy or adequacy of budgeting and funding on UML. This research adds some information on UML budgeting and financing.

This research aims to address the issues in providing information resources and services to the distance education students of Shiraz University.

Using a survey methodology, the investigator ran SPSS Software to analyze both descriptive and inferential statistics.

The findings highlighted the most important library services. Although the Virtual Institute of Shiraz University does not offer any of the library services noted, the majority of distance education students are making use of other information resources in their studies.

As the distance education system in Iran is in its infancy, findings of this study can be invaluable in highlighting the most significant library and information services for the distant learners.

This paper aims to identify the personality traits (agreeableness, openness to experience, extraversion, conscientiousness and neuroticism) of library and information science (LIS) students in Pakistan. The difference among the personality traits of LIS students toward their information needs and seeking behavior is also analyzed.

Two instruments, namely, BFI scale and a self-structured instrument were used to collect the data. Kruskal–Wallis test was applied to find out differences among the personality traits of LIS students toward their information needs and seeking behavior.

Findings of the study revealed that out of 320 respondents, 186 possessed openness to experience, while only 7 possessed extraversion personality trait. Moreover, the students having extraversion personality trait were, generally, more concerned toward information needs. On the other hand students having conscientious trait were increasingly more seekers of information. Overall, the conscientiousness was identified as the most suitable personality trait for LIS students. A significant difference was also observed among all the personality traits of LIS students.

The findings of this study will help in the identification of LIS individual’s personality. The library managers can use these personality traits for the selection of suitable library professionals for their libraries.

This study can be valuable for the induction of new library professionals and also help managers in assigning the duties based on these personality traits.

The aim of this paper is to determine the impact of the structural adjustment policies on library and information services in the University of Malawi Libraries.

A case study methodology was adopted, and data – budget documents and various reports and technical papers – were collected.

Findings show that libraries in this study were affected by the structural adjustment reforms. Budgets of the libraries increased but were affected by currency devaluations, unavailability of foreign exchange to pay for subscriptions and purchase books and this had negatively impacted on the provision of library and information services.

The study looks at implications of the structural adjustment policies in the five libraries in the University of Malawi, namely the Bunda College, Chancellor College, College of Medicine, Kamuzu College of Nursing and the Polytechnic only. However the results give a general picture of both academic and public libraries in Malawi.

Libraries are encouraged to consider adopting UNESCO coupons to solve foreign exchange shortages for software and journal subscriptions as well as engage international publishers with local shops to circumvent paying for library purchases in foreign currency. Libraries are also encouraged to use the Malawi Library and Information Consortium (MALICO) for bargaining prices against ever escalating journal and book prices.

The paper explores the impact of the structural adjustment polices in Malawi.