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1 – 10 of over 28000Libraries are the real centres of learning. The realisation of the objectives of education will be possible only with an adequately conceived system of libraries. The objectives…
Patience Emefa Dzandza and Harry Akussah
There has been a significant change in the provision of library services due to the application of technology to every aspect of library services. This has posed a major challenge…
Abstract
Purpose
There has been a significant change in the provision of library services due to the application of technology to every aspect of library services. This has posed a major challenge to library staff as they need to be abreast with current technologies and their application to library services. One means by which a librarian can overcome this challenge is through professional development (PD) programs. The purpose of this paper is to determine PD opportunities in private university libraries in Ghana.
Design/methodology/approach
A cross-sectional survey of 61 staff and interviews with 20 heads of libraries was conducted to collect data from 25 private universities in Ghana.
Findings
The study revealed that not all library staff in the private universities were allowed to attend PD programs. None of the private universities studied had a policy on PD and only three institutions made budgetary allocation to PD programs. Majority of the private universities did not have in-house PD programs and there were no means of knowledge sharing in most of the libraries studied.
Originality/value
In this paper, the researchers identified the major challenges encountered by library staff in private universities in Ghana and propose that librarians should see PD as a part of their own responsibility while, libraries should have a PD policy and make budgetary allocation toward PD.
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Examines the question of whether private library funds — often acquired by libraries through fundraising efforts — threaten the allocation of local public funds. Reports…
Abstract
Examines the question of whether private library funds — often acquired by libraries through fundraising efforts — threaten the allocation of local public funds. Reports interviews with US librarians and government officials selected by convenient sampling. It is clear that concerns exist despite earlier statistical studies giving no basis for concern. Discusses protection of funds by means of funding partnerships, certain safeguards in setting up library foundations, and appropriate library advocacy. Lesgislators indicate they are listening to libraries' needs. Suggests that librarians take the initiative in protecting funds.
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To trace patterns of collection development expenditures between 1994 and 2004 among Association of Research Libraries' (ARL) largest and smallest public and private academic…
Abstract
Purpose
To trace patterns of collection development expenditures between 1994 and 2004 among Association of Research Libraries' (ARL) largest and smallest public and private academic libraries, to identify the impact of serial inflation, the emergence of electronic resources and changes in the monographic market upon the buying patterns of the largest and smallest academic libraries, public and private, in the USA and Canada.
Design/methodology/approach
Analysis of the annual ARL statistics for collection development expenditures between 1994 and 2004, focusing upon the ten largest public, ten largest private, ten smallest public and ten smallest private academic ARL libraries.
Findings
Libraries have largely responded to the revolutionary changes of the last decade very conservatively, retaining their commitment to monographic acquisitions and to their paper collections even as they have built new, electronic libraries.
Research limitations/implications
ARL statistics present a complex picture, and libraries are not consistent in the manner in which they report their activities. The methodology does not seek a statistically precise model but seeks only to lay out a useful snapshot of library collecting patterns over the last ten years.
Practical implications
Academic libraries have not yet fully confronted the issues raised by changes in scholarly communication over the last decade and still have many difficult decisions ahead of the, as patterns of the last ten years may be difficult or inappropriate to sustain.
Originality/value
Provides a picture of collection development patterns of the largest and smallest ARL academic libaries that complements ARL's own analysis, which is based on median values.
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Syombua Kasalu and Joseph Bernard Ojiambo
The purpose of this study was to find out ways in which collection development practices in private university libraries in Kenya could be enhanced by the use of information and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to find out ways in which collection development practices in private university libraries in Kenya could be enhanced by the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs).
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is based on research that was carried out on the application of ICTs in collection development in selected private universities in Kenya. The study was done using a survey method. Three universities and a total of 72 respondents were purposively selected for the study. The respondents included librarians, faculty deans and postgraduate students from the three universities.
Findings
The findings indicated that ICTs were available in all the three selected universities but their application in collection development was not adequate in ensuring efficiency and in making sure that the library collections are effective in meeting the needs of the users.
Originality/value
With the changing information environment and users' information needs, libraries are being compelled to adopt ICTs in order to remain relevant and increase their value and meet the changing needs of the users. The paper recommends different ways of applying ICTs in all the processes of collection development to make the process more efficient and effective in meeting the needs of the users.
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Robert C. Ward and Michael Carpenter
An international management movement known as New Public Management (NPM) emerged during the 1970s and 1980s. It relies on the normative use of economic market models, transaction…
Abstract
An international management movement known as New Public Management (NPM) emerged during the 1970s and 1980s. It relies on the normative use of economic market models, transaction cost theory, and public choice theories to deliver public services. While the manifestations of this new approach have taken many different avenues across the world, in the United States the primary manifestations have been found in the “Reinventing Government” movement (Gore, 1993), and the “Competitive Sourcing” plan of the Bush Administration (Office Management and Budget, 2002, 2003). A central component of NPM practices in the United States is the use of “outsourcing” of government service delivery to private or non-profit organizations.
Roland Izuagbe and Sunday Olanrewaju Popoola
The study examined the applicability of TAM2 theoretical constructs of social influence and cognitive instrumental factors vis-à-vis the facilitation of perceived usefulness of…
Abstract
Purpose
The study examined the applicability of TAM2 theoretical constructs of social influence and cognitive instrumental factors vis-à-vis the facilitation of perceived usefulness of electronic resources among library personnel in private universities in South-west Nigeria.
Design/Methodology/Approach
Descriptive research design of correlational type alongside the single-stage random sampling technique were used to select 212 respondents from a population size of 259 library personnel across the 21 private universities in South-west Nigeria. The instrument used to elicit data was the questionnaire. Of the 212 copies of the questionnaire administered, 181 (85.4 per cent) were found valid for analysis.
Findings
Social influence and cognitive instrumental factors significantly had relationship with and facilitated perceived usefulness of electronic resources. Similarly, the study revealed that cognitive instrumental factors are stronger facilitators of perceived usefulness of electronic resources than social influence factors among library personnel in private universities in South-west, Nigeria.
Practical implications
Implementation of electronic resources without ascertaining library personnel usefulness perception leads to resource underutilisation and wastage. Management of private university libraries should, therefore, take into cognisance the usefulness perception of library personnel before the implementation of electronic resources for optimum utilisation.
Originality/value
There is no known research endeavour within the Nigerian context that examined perceived usefulness of electronic resources among library personnel in the private university domain, using the additional theoretical constructs of TAM2 as our research model suggests. This study is, therefore, a pioneering effort towards ascertaining library personnel’s perceived usefulness of electronic resources prior acceptance and use in private university libraries.
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Few issues in recent times have so provoked debate and dissention within the library field as has the concept of fees for user services. The issue has aroused the passions of our…
Abstract
Few issues in recent times have so provoked debate and dissention within the library field as has the concept of fees for user services. The issue has aroused the passions of our profession precisely because its roots and implications extend far beyond the confines of just one service discipline. Its reflection is mirrored in national debates about the proper spheres of the public and private sectors—in matters of information generation and distribution, certainly, but in a host of other social ramifications as well, amounting virtually to a debate about the most basic values which we have long assumed to constitute the very framework of our democratic and humanistic society.
Does public financial support of libraries in the form of tax dollars suffer when private fund‐raising efforts are successful—or does the opposite occur? Does private money mean…
Abstract
Does public financial support of libraries in the form of tax dollars suffer when private fund‐raising efforts are successful—or does the opposite occur? Does private money mean that tax dollars will erode? Does private support provide an escape route for public authorities when a municipality must decide on the library's budget? Heresy, perhaps, to raise these questions, but what is the real impact of libraries' private sector fund raising? Is it worth the effort?
Libraries need library leaders who are able to follow the changes and developments and keep pace with them, manage and shape the changes, bring theories and practices together, be…
Abstract
Purpose
Libraries need library leaders who are able to follow the changes and developments and keep pace with them, manage and shape the changes, bring theories and practices together, be solution-oriented, people-oriented, environment-oriented, well-appointed, successful, and creative, because of the rapid developments and continuous changes. In this context, it has become more important for library managers to improve their leadership skills. In the scope of this study, a questionnaire study has been conducted with staff working in 168 different university central libraries. Information form, consisting of 16 questions about librarians’ demographic characteristics and manager satisfaction and Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire is used for data accumulation. The purpose of this paper is to determine library managers’ leadership approaches in private and public university libraries of Turkey and to survey library staff's satisfaction with their managers.
Design/methodology/approach
This research is a methodological and descriptive research. Original sample of this research consists of 168 university central library in total (103 public-65 private) and approximately 500 library employee 183 library employees from 20 public university central libraries (108 employees) and 13 private university central libraries responded. Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire, so sample of this research consists of 33 libraries and 183 questionnaire answers. 20.62 percent of the library employees of the target group had responded the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire.
Findings
In total, 183 employees (108 public and 75 private university central libraries) from 33 university central libraries are responded to Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire. Multiple responses were gained from 183 library employees of whom 57.4 percent (105) were female and 42.6 percent (78) were male. When the age distribution is concerned it has determined that 25.1 percent (46) of the participants were centered on 26-34 age group. Other age distributions are defined as in the following: ages 20-25, 19.7 percent (36); ages 31-35, 18.6 percent (34); ages 36-40, 13.7 percent (25); ages 41-45, 15.8 percent (29); and age 46 and over, 7.1 percent.
Originality/value
As with all organizations, library managers with leadership qualities are needed in the field of library science. Organizational structures of libraries are constantly changing. Libraries need library leaders who are able to follow the changes and developments and keep pace with them, manage and shape the changes, bring theories and practices together, be solution-oriented, people-oriented, environment-oriented, well-appointed, successful, and creative, because of the rapid developments and continuous changes.
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