Evaluation of the development and use of the institutional repository by staff and students at the University of Fort Hare in Eastern Cape, South Africa
- Authors: Kagoro, Kisemiire Christine
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Institutional repositories Information storage and retrieval systems
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MLIS
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/6292 , vital:29556
- Description: This study sought to evaluate the development and use of Institutional Repository by staff and students at the University of Fort Hare (UFH) in Eastern Cape, South Africa. In this study, staff comprised of academic staff (lecturers) and library staff. The aim of this study was to investigate the development and use of Institutional Repository at UFH. To achieve the objectives, both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies were employed. Data was collected through questionnaires and face-to-face interviews. Purposive sampling technique was used to select the participants of the study. Qualitative data was analysed thematically while, quantitative data was analysed statically by help of SPSS software. The results showed that: library staff and management are aware and provide support for the development and use of the Institutional Repository at the UFH; awareness level of IR among lecturers and students is still low; the infrastructure available for the use of IR is not well developed; and lastly, library users which consist of students and academic staff face various barriers in the use and support of IR development. The study recommended for dynamic training, and marketing of IR through seminars and workshops should be started by expert affiliations and universities administration to advance the idea of IR among the University community. Low levels of awareness of the university repository, funding and shortage of library staff remains an issue and could be addressed by further investigating the effectiveness of different communication channels. It is pertinent that the findings of this study would be useful in various tertiary’s institutions of higher learning across the globe in order to embark on IR.
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- Date Issued: 2018
The use of electronic information resources in the university of Fort Hare Library Services
- Authors: Maya, Zukiswa
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Acquisition of electronic information resources Electronic information resources Collection management (Libraries)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MLIS
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/6303 , vital:29557
- Description: The study seeks to explore the use of electronic information resource in the University of Fort Hare (UFH) Library. The objectives of the study are to determine factors that influence acquisitions of electronic information resources at UFH library, to find out the user’s responses to electronic information resources in the library and identify the challenges faced by UFH library regarding the usage of electronic information resources. The literature review was conducted through an acquisition of electronic information resources in academic libraries, collection development policies of academic libraries in South Africa and application of electronic information resources within South Africa and globally. The study is based on Diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory. The study adopted qualitative and quantitative approaches, and the non-probability sampling-Quota sampling was used for students and purposive sampling technique for librarians and academics. The data was collected with self-administered questionnaires and document analysis. The study found that academics were not fully involved in the acquisition of the library electronic information resources; therefore, there is a lack of communication about the acquisition of electronic resources. The study further reveals that there is usage of electronic information resources; however, there are library users who prefers to use search engines such as google, yahoo etc. It was also identified that there are two important barriers that hinder the use of electronic information resources, i.e. physical and personal barriers. The study recommends that University of Fort Hare library should consider including e resources in the collection development policy. It is also recommended that the library online training/tutorials must be installed on the library website to increase the usage of e-resources. In order to stay relevant and visible, librarians should embrace new opportunities and go beyond the comfort zone of traditional librarian principles.
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- Date Issued: 2018