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This study aims to demonstrate how librarians in Zimbabwe are promoting library and information services in a digital environment.

An online questionnaire administered using SurveyMonkey was used to gather data from the participants who comprised 14 academic, one public, three school and three special librarians.

The study confirms that there is competition for the attention of the citizens who have social media, television, social life, work, family life, education, and so on before them. Despite the challenges being faced, librarians in the country are prepared to promote their services and are therefore using a number of strategies to promote the use of library and information services.

Promoting library and information services is important considering the waning reading culture in Zimbabwe. The paper recommends possible ways of promoting reading culture in the digital age through the use of library and information services.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the various innovative support strategies rendered by academic libraries in support of e-learning in Zimbabwean universities. This was necessitated by the change in nature of learning and services provision in universities as a result of COVID-19. Despite the crisis caused by the pandemic, users of libraries still expect services to answer their information needs.

A quantitative study was done to unpack the role of digital library services in supporting e-learning in universities in Zimbabwe. An online questionnaire was developed using survey monkey and distributed to 50 professional librarians in both private and state universities in Zimbabwe. A total of 34 librarians responded to the questionnaire and the data was analysed and presented thematically. Data were presented using descriptive statistics in the form of figures.

The findings revealed that academic libraries play an important role in supporting e-learning in higher education institutions by providing electronic information resources, which are key in research, learning and teaching. The libraries provide a one-stop shop for accessing electronic resources through the digital library. Patrons have benefitted by accessing and using digital library services during the COVID-19 lockdown period. It was also discovered that libraries should ensure that they are prepared to always offer their services despite the closure of physical buildings because of the pandemic.

The study used an online questionnaire only as the data collection instrument, as it was the most suitable one to get data from librarians working from home and also because of the COVID-19 health guidance such as maintaining social distance. The other methods were not used because of financial constraints.

This research showed the importance of digital services in e-learning environments, especially in developing countries. The work revealed how university librarians in Zimbabwe are coming up with practical solutions in supporting e-learning in times of crisis. The research therefore becomes handy for higher education institutions and authorities in crafting e-learning frameworks and positioning academic libraries at the centre of teaching, learning and research activities.

This paper provides useful insights into how libraries can support learning especially during a pandemic. The paper details how libraries support communities by offering correct and reliable information from scholarly information sources. It also chronicles how libraries play an important part in the support of researchers in higher institutions in the fight against COVID-19.

To the best of authors’ knowledge, this research is one of the first done in Zimbabwe on strategies that libraries are using in the COVID-19 era to support e-learning. The findings presented in this study are helpful for higher and tertiary education authorities and other policymakers in improving e-learning and digital libraries.

A study was done to document the standards that should be adhered to by library and information professionals in Zimbabwe to assure quality in service provision in order to meet the sustainable development goals. A literature review and web content analysis were done to unpack the various standards that all types of libraries should consider from library buildings, service provision, qualifications and accreditation of library and information science schools and professionals, and assessing the impact of libraries in the communities that they are serving. The findings review that there are international and national standards from various governing bodies that should be considered in library and information service provision. The author recommends the implementation of these standards in all the libraries to assure quality in library and information service provision.

The fourth industrial revolution (4IR) is radically transforming the roles and responsibilities of librarians in different types of libraries. This calls for a fundamental rethink in order to retool the competencies and skills of librarians to ensure that they deliver efficient services to patrons who have diverse and dynamic information needs. The digital era provides librarians with an opportunity to reprofile their competencies and reinvent themselves in order to remain relevant. This chapter documents continuous professional development by librarians in the industry 4.0 era. A literature review was done to unpack how libraries are dealing with the impact of the 4IR. The findings revealed that the libraries are affected by the seismic technological changes that are arise from the 4th industrial revolution and librarians should develop their skills to be able to remain relevant in the industry 4.0 era.

The call for value addition to library products and services has tremendously increased over the years worldwide. In Zimbabwe, that call has also been echoed in various forums and in support of that, the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (ZimAsset) pointed out the importance of value addition. The education sector has not been spared as it is responsible for producing graduates who feed into the labor market. This chapter seeks to explore how the libraries in institutions of higher learning have added value to education in support of the research, teaching, learning and community activities that are undertaken in higher education. A case study of Bindura University of Science Education (BUSE) Library was done. A qualitative study using interviews was carried out and content analysis was used to analyze the data. It was discovered that BUSE Library plays a pivotal role in adding value to the learning, teaching, research and community activities that take place in institutions of higher learning. The author recommends that libraries should move along with technological changes that are taking place so as to remain relevant in adding value to institutions of higher learning. It is also important to continue building the capacity of librarians in higher education institutions to ensure that they continue to add value in academic institutions.

Application of Industry 4.0 in the library is still exploratory and despite an increase research on the rising trend, many challenges remain in designing a more packaged and accessible information using industry 4.0 components, especially for the special need library users such as the visually impaired, auditory impaired, wheel chair bound among others. Existing research, tends to focus on how special need library users can utilize information services using the third industrial revolution components. However there is very slim evidence that researchers have approached the issue of how industry 4.0 can be impactful on special need library users. This chapter tries to provide an overview of how special need library users can be supported to access and utilize library services effortlessly using industry 4.0 components like IOT services, cyber-physical systems, and cloud computing.

The chapter discusses the importance of capacity building and need for continuous professional development for library and information science professionals in university libraries. The changing dynamics in higher education, information and communication technologies and the shift in the learning landscape has led to more demands for skills and competencies of library and information professionals. The need for training is more urgent than before. If University Libraries are to remain relevant in the 21st Century, they need to constantly adapt and have professional staff who are able to cope with such rapidly changing environments enabling them to deliver resources and services efficiently and effectively. The chapter, therefore, document the importance of capacitating staff in university libraries.

Information users of all categories find it difficult to search information especially in this electronic age. To access information, the user has to know the necessary commands to use when searching for any information electronically. The study discussed the concept of digital literacy, Classification of Understanding the information user in electronic Age, Studies dealing with Information need and challenges of the information user in the electronic age. Suggestions on how to reach out efficiently and effectively to users were made.