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The purpose of this study is to determine the students’ perceptions of librarians as teachers of information literacy at the North-West University in South Africa.

The study used a survey research method in which online questionnaires were used to gather data from students who would have attended information literacy classes.

Students found librarians to be effective teachers of information literacy, and they found the subject to be very useful. However, some of the surveyed students felt that a lot of the subject was presented in a short period, which could easily result in exhaustion and information overload. The use of local or vernacular languages was also indicated as an area requiring the librarians’ attention for the teachers to be more effective.

The results of this study support the assessment of librarians as teachers by students to assist them (librarians) to refine their teaching methods and to make the conduct of information literacy worthwhile for the students.

The outcomes of this study may be used to advocate for more information literacy (IL) contact time with the students by librarians when negotiating with faculty. Further, these results may be used to showcase the value placed by students to IL.

This study is a welcome addition to the scant literature on the quality of teaching delivered by the librarians and the assessment mechanisms used to provide feedback on students’ learning of IL. This study is a first of its kind comparing the perceptions of librarians’ teaching abilities by postgraduate and undergraduate students.

The landscape of teaching, learning and research has changed requiring the need for diverse information resources. Given the current budgetary constraints and financial conditions prevailing in many universities, sharing of information resources has become a necessity. The Interlibrary Loan (ILL) services have thus become an important service to meet the immediate needs of library users. The aim of this paper is to analyse the ILL services of the North-West University in South Africa from 2006 to 2016. Using statistical data, the paper shows the emerging pattern in borrowing and lending between institutions as well as determines the existence of correlations between borrowing and lending libraries. The results of this study show that ILL amongst libraries has decreased in the past 11 years. A need exists for increased awareness of ILL and there is need for technological innovations that will ensure that library users are able to request for information resources seamlessly.

This is a quantitative study that uses ILL data from the North-West University. Data were downloaded from the SABINET ILL system using the three NWU JC codes. They were then collated and uploaded on excel spreadsheets. In the main, the excel spreadsheets were used to interpret the data. Further, the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software, in particular Spearman’s Correlation Analysis, was used to test correlations between data from libraries that requested information resources from NWU and data from libraries that supplied information resources to NWU during this period using Rumsey’s guidelines to interpret the correlations.

The findings of the study reveal that ILL among libraries in South Africa had generally declined owing mostly to the proliferation of online resources resulting to changes in user information-seeking behaviour. The decline is despite the challenges of low budgets received by most libraries for the acquisition of information resources. It can also be concluded that public university libraries still value ILL as demonstrated by the high number of items requested from other libraries. The findings also reveal that most ILL activities were conducted by public universities.

It was not possible to obtain the list of titles that have been requested and also to obtain the user’s details. This would have enabled the authors to determine the type of titles that are being requested, and the users that request them.

ILL should continue to be enhanced in view of the challenge of dwindling library budgets against the escalating prices of information resources. There is also a need for user education so that they become aware of the ILL service. From experience, library users normally give up once they realize that what they wanted is not available through the local catalogue and this calls for librarians to create an awareness to users that ILL could help solve their frustrations.

These results show that ILL can play a significant role to level the playing field between the well-resourced libraries in urbanized regions or provinces and the poorly resourced ones in rural regions or provinces. This social justice aspect of ILL is probably the reason why better resourced libraries in South Africa have decided to remain in the scheme unlike other countries where better resourced libraries opted out of reciprocal arrangements with small and medium-sized institutions.

The study adds to a very limited number of studies emanating from Africa. A study of this nature has never been conducted in Africa, as previous studies were nationwide studies. As far as the authors know, this is the first study that uses ILL data to research the impact of the global financial crisis on libraries in Africa.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the use of library spaces by postgraduate students at the North-West University in South Africa.

A survey research methodology was used in which both online and print questionnaires were used to gather data.

The major findings of the study were that postgraduate students frequently visited the libraries to make use of the quite study spaces, which include the research commons and the study carrels. The study further found out that postgraduate students rarely visited the libraries for the purpose of consulting librarians regarding their studies. Challenges expressed by the students include insufficient workstations, poor internet and Wi-Fi connectivity and limited seating capacity. The benefit of the study is that it will help librarians and the university administrators to better understand the postgraduate students space needs, as well as the challenges being encountered.

This biggest limitation of this study was a lack or low response rate by certain faculties, which mitigated against comparing the use of spaces by faculty.

The results of this study re-affirm the need for postgraduate spaces. University libraries that seek to build postgraduate spaces in the future need to ensure that an adequate number of computer workstations are supplied and Wi-Fi and bandwidth are improved. University libraries that already have postgraduate spaces should consider adding more workstations and improving bandwidth and Wi-Fi connectivity in those spaces. These results further point to a need for libraries in Africa and elsewhere to consider having more quiet study spaces for postgraduate students while reducing the number of group study spaces.

The results of this study point to a need for libraries and university authorities to periodically review library spaces as a way to ensure their continued optimal usage. They also point to a need for more funds to further enhance the library spaces for postgraduate students’ use.

South African libraries are faced with challenges including the addition of 15 per cent value added tax to print and online resources. In this environment, libraries are expected by university authorities to demonstrate return on investment. This study, therefore, is located within the realm of determining return on investment for the funds spent by universities to build dedicated postgraduate library spaces. This study will further benefit librarians and the university administrators by helping them to better understand the postgraduate students space needs, as well as the challenges being encountered.

The purpose of this paper is to highlight how North Western University (NWU) Library used Facebook and Twitter to inform, educate and communicate with library users during the students’ protests #FeesMustFall Campaign.

This paper follows a case study approach to examine how Facebook and Twitter were used to inform, educate and communicate with library users during the #FeesMustFall Campaign. Data was obtained from the NWU Library’s Facebook Insights, the Facebook page itself and Twitter account, after which content was analysed.

The paper provides insights that the teaching and learning (educational) aspect still lags behind on social media usage in libraries. Given the period in question, the expectation would have been a higher percentage of posts that could be categorized as educational.

The study is confined to one campus library of the NWU Libraries and the results cannot be generalised to the NWU.

Social media use policies should be developed and awareness created on their availability and meaning/implications to users.

This paper fulfils an identified need to study how social media can be used by academic libraries. The literature currently focuses on how Twitter has been used in library campaigns. This paper shows how Facebook can be used in a university setting during crises time.

The purpose of this paper is to establish and compare the provision of information literacy (IL) skills to university students both at undergraduate and graduate levels in South Africa (SA) and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This could in turn inform the development of appropriate/suitable IL programmes to support teaching and learning.

A review of available scholarly papers is performed for information collection.

The findings can identify variations in IL provision within and across disciplines, deficiencies in local current and ongoing research.

It must be noted that this is a review and conclusions from it are expected to reveal areas that require more in-depth study.

The study’s contribution to the field of IL lies in its revelation of what is understood by IL provision and how the ACRL standards are used to guide practice in the two different regions of the world.

The study is the first of its kind which compares IL practices at university libraries in SA and the UAE. It will assist policymakers and librarians in the development of appropriate IL programmes in support of teaching and learning.

School-going young people in South Africa engage in HIV risk behaviour despite high levels of HIV knowledge and a variety of interventions focusing on HIV prevention. The lack of empirical evidence on the effectiveness of current interventions leaves programme implementers with little consensus about how best to prevent HIV infection among young people. This research was done to explore factors underlying HIV risk of young people with the aim of developing HIV prevention in the third decade of the epidemic. Focus group discussions were conducted with young people, educators and parents in eight schools in four provinces of the country. A thematic analysis revealed risk factors especially on the interpersonal and community level. Peer pressure, gender norms and culture, poverty and financial gain and a culture of alcohol use were prominent themes. Negative family relationships, lack of role models and lack of sexual education from home contributed to risk behaviour. Community processes such as exposure to media, lack of recreational facilities, and an erosion of supportive culture and community structures created an environment which did not support healthy behaviour. Factors that prevented risk behaviour were identified as self-respect, open communication with parents, implementation of school programmes, positive peer pressure and a focus on young people's future. Prevention programmes should therefore not only focus on individual factors but should be multi-layered interventions involving various community structures aimed at changing the social ecology in communities to support an alternative lifestyle for young people.

The HIV epidemic in South Africa affects young people in their teenage years, the majority of whom are young women located in schools. Sexual violence and gender inequalities create vulnerabilities for young women increasing their risk of HIV. Promoting their sexual health as well as preventing the disease amongst young people remains a substantial educational and health priority. South African education has well-developed policies related to HIV and AIDS education in schools. Despite this the disproportionate burden that young women bear in relation to HIV remains acute. What remains missing is the development of an integrated HIV and AIDS education approach that takes children, gender and sexuality seriously. Given the urgency of the disease in the country, there is need for renewed efforts to integrate gender and sexuality within HIV and AIDS education. This is the central focus of this chapter.

This research sought to empirically identify context specific dimensions of service quality at Zimbabwean State Universities. The study also sought to measure the ‘university-wide’ overall service quality at National University of Science and Technology (NUST) and to explore differences in service quality perception based on selected students’ demographic characteristics.

A case study strategy was used. Focus group discussions were used to qualitatively identify service quality variables; which were then subjected to quantitative evaluation through the administration of questionnaires on a sample of 294 students. Exploratory Factor Analysis was used to reduce the service quality variables into service quality dimensions.

Five dimensions of service quality were identified, namely: General Attitude, Facilitating Elements, Access, Lecture Rooms and Health Services. Results also showed that most students (48.3 per cent) perceived overall service quality at NUST to be average while 28.6 per cent and 23.1 per cent had a negative and positive perception of overall service quality respectively. Perceived overall service quality at NUST was found to differ significantly based on ‘students’ year of study’ and ‘faculty group’. Differences based on gender were found to be insignificant.

Identification of the five dimensions was a progressive step in developing a relevant service quality measurement instrument for a Zimbabwean State University context; and in so doing, contributing to literature on relevant service quality dimensions and measurement instruments in Zimbabwe and Africa in general. This was the first such study in Zimbabwe to address the context specific literature-gap on relevant service quality dimensions.