Search results

This article suggests strategies for the usage of open access institutional repositories (OAIR) at university libraries in Ghana.

Pragmatism paradigm, mixed methods research approach and convergent parallel mixed method design was adopted. Simple random sampling, stratified random sampling, purposive sampling techniques and the sample size converter were the sampling procedures and methods employed. The questionnaire and interview guide were used as research instruments to gather relevant data for the study. Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were used as statistical tools to analyze quantitative and thematic analysis was used to analyze qualitative data.

Factors such as software, staffing, advocacy, marketing and policies are crucial in the development of OAIR strategy at the University of Ghana.

Information from the National Accreditations Board (NAB) of Ghana (2018) indicates that Ghana has 92 Higher Educational Institutions (HEI). These are categorized into nine national public universities, eight technical universities, ten professional institutions and 65 private universities and university colleges. This article focuses only on five university libraries with the understanding that they were the only universities on the Directory of Open Access Repositories, authoritative international registries of repositories that provide data on the number of registered Institutional Repositories throughout the world.

It is envisaged that the findings will benefit policymakers, academic staff, university library management and librarians. Academic staff will recognize the need to use OAIR. OAIR managers and administrators will be able to determine the factors affecting the usage of OAIR in university libraries and will be able to design strategies on how OAIR can be sustained and managed.

The article suggests strategies for the usage of OAIR that are instrumental for university libraries in Ghana. The strategies consist of an Institutional Guideline that requires adequate marketing, policies, software and staffing. The research also provided an understanding of OAIR through the lenses of technology acceptance model (TAM) an extension of the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) to explain the usage of OAIR in university libraries in Ghana.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the challenges and opportunities for Zimbabwe’s academic libraries in their endeavour to provide quality services. It will examine how library consortia, namely, the Zimbabwe University Library Consortium (ZULC) and the College and Research Libraries Consortium (CARLC), have been able to provide for the information needs of their users at a time when budgets are inadequate and subscription costs to journals remain unaffordable. It will examine how academic libraries, through resource sharing platforms, have been able to exploit ubiquitous technologies and build on from the traditional interlibrary loan (ILL). The paper will recommend a strategy based on a model to strengthen access to scholarship through resource sharing.

The researcher opted for a qualitative research design. A purposive sample of 32 participants drawn from ten academic librarians located in Zimbabwe was used to collect the information. The participants were chosen because of their involvement in resource-sharing activities. The participants were drawn from the two library consortia, namely, CARLC and ZULC. Data for the study was collected using structured interviews.

The findings revealed that resource sharing was critical for the survival of academic libraries in Zimbabwe. The study found out that resource sharing was the only option to overcome the challenges of the paywall. It highlighted the need for a concerted effort of all academic institutions in adapting a model that provides for the diverse needs of members with regard to widening access to scholarship. However, in spite of the success of library consortia in enhancing resource sharing in Zimbabwe, there are challenges that require the concerted effort of all academic institutions in coming up with a model that best provides for the diverse needs of members with regard to resource sharing.

The results of the study will be useful in providing a long-term strategy for enhancing resource sharing among academic libraries in Zimbabwe in their endeavor to support teaching, learning and research.

There is a scarcity of scholarly studies on resource sharing initiatives among academic libraries in Zimbabwe. This study is unique because it tackles the experiences of the academic libraries in overcoming the challenges of the paywall.

This paper aims to explore poverty issues in South Africa, to investigate some of the key contributions that knowledge management can make in the eradication of poverty and to suggest a strategy of knowledge management for poverty eradication in South Africa.

This is a conceptual paper. Secondary data sources, in the form of journal articles, policy documents, newspaper articles and the internet, were consulted.

This paper contributes to the debates on moving towards an integrated poverty strategy that goes beyond reducing poverty by simply raising national income. The paper advocates for a contextualised knowledge management strategy tailored to specific poverty intervention projects and communities. It also suggests that a knowledge management strategy will result in permanent investment in knowledge and the human development of people.

Given that this is a conceptual paper, the paper recommends empirical future studies that will implement this strategy within specific poverty-stricken communities in the country.

The paper raises awareness among policy and decision-makers of the importance of knowledge management as a tool for poverty eradication. In the knowledge economy, knowledge assets – other than the tangible assets of financial capital and local infrastructure – are the prime creator of wealth. It adds to the body of knowledge on knowledge management for poverty eradication by the World Bank and other international organisations.

A knowledge management strategy will create an environment in which human development is attained and the minds of the poor are transformed. It will enhance policy formulation and implementation, empower the poor and create a learning organisation.

The paper presents a proposed strategy for knowledge management for poverty eradication in South Africa.

This paper aims to establish the level of use of the electronic resources at the University of Venda, which is one of the previously disadvantaged universities in South Africa. It identifies the different electronic resources used at the university, determines the level of awareness and training in the use of these resources and suggests ways in which electronic resources may be enhanced. The rapid changes in the information and communication technology (ICTs) have influenced service delivery in academic libraries in terms of how information is gathered, accessed, retrieved and used. Hence, electronic resources are invaluable research tools in academic libraries in the twenty-first century.

A qualitative research methodology was adopted, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with each participant to get in-depth information. The target population was all third-year students registered with the School of Human and Social Sciences at the University of Venda. The third year undergraduate students from this particular school where chosen because statistics revealed that these students where ranked among the top in the use of computers.

The findings revealed that the level of usage of these resources by undergraduate students is elementary and limited to SABINET and EBSCO host. Undergraduate student’s level of awareness of the different electronic resources is low. They confused electronic resources to Web-based internet sources. It also revealed that the level of awareness and training in the use of these resources is still generic, as training is mostly a once off orientation at the first year.

This paper focuses on third year undergraduate students who were using computers because the researchers were interested in finding out whether students using computers were also using electronic resources. It excluded other profiles such as age, gender and computer usage behaviour of electronic resources.

Adequate use and knowledge of electronic resources at universities is instrumental towards realisation of the country’s ICT Strategy and the outcome-based education (OBE) model of teaching movement. Suggestions are made to the university, the university library, university librarians and the Library Association of South Africa on how to enhance the use of electronic resources.

It establishes the level of use of electronic resources in one of South African historically disadvantaged universities, a point of contact to other previously South African disadvantaged universities and make suggestions on how electronic resources may be enhanced. It adds to the body of knowledge on the use of electronic resources in academic libraries in South African universities.