The evolution of e-readiness assessment models: From the digital divide to design-reality gap

Background and Objective:In recent decades, every day we are facing new achievements in the applications of information and communication technology in the field of education and research. These new achievements have changed the expectations of education and research audiences from the level of services provided. Today, students and professors want easy and fast access to new scientific and research resources, interaction with each other in absentia, use of technology for better teaching and understanding, and in general, access to information and communication technology and its use for effect. Most of it is teaching and learning. To meet these expectations, universities and higher education institutions must continuously evaluate and equip themselves to achieve the desired level of access to and use of information and communication technology. The purpose of this research was to study the evolutionary trend of e-readiness assessment models with the approach of e-learning. Methods: For this purpose, the studies were examined by both qualitative and quantitative approaches. In the qualitative approach, by studying the articles in this field, the observed trends in these articles are compared with each other. Findings: In the quantitative approach, the latest articles are investigated based on important parameters such as the scope of application, the type of model used, the methods of data collection and analysis, the type of transaction reviewed in the article, evaluation indicators, sources used to publish the article, geographical concentration, the outputs of the study, the types of data used. Based on the results of the qualitative approach, 4 evolutionary periods, from national and one size fits all model with top-down approach to bottom-up approach with special purpose models, are identified. In addition, results of quantitative approach indicate that infrastructure, people and service are the most important factors in electronic readiness; and national scope has been investigated more than other areas. Most studies have quantitative approach with public service orientation for citizen transactions. Also, assessment, maturity and adoption models have been the most used fundamental models in the studies. Conclusion: Comparison of the three main parameters studied in most studies, namely infrastructure, people and services, shows that the rate of infrastructure review has been decreasing and the rate of reviewing people has been increasing, and services have maintained an almost balanced rate during this period. In terms of the geographical focus of the study, the readiness assessment is in the first place in the country and then the readiness assessment is in the province or state. The basic model used for evaluation also has several approaches, the first category is related to the use of preparation models and the next category is related to maturity models. Studies have generated different outputs and have about 18 types of outputs, among which the evaluation model, evaluation framework, effective parameters, current situation, relationship of indicators, strategies and guidelines have the most frequency. In terms of the type of data collected, quantitative data had the highest multiplicity, followed by historical data and finally qualitative data. In terms of data collection methods, the questionnaire is in the first place and the interview and evaluation of the existing documents are in the next rows. In terms of data analysis, categorization, descriptive analysis and strategic analysis have the highest number   ===================================================================================== COPYRIGHTS  ©2019 The author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, as long as the original authors and source are cited. No permission is required from the authors or the publishers.  ====================================================================================

eReadiness of public university libraries in Malawi with special reference to the use of mobile phones in the provision of library and information services.

Doctor of Philosophy in Information Studies. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg 2016.It was observed that public university libraries in Malawi were failing to adequately serve their clients due to, among others, inadequate ICT infrastructure and and and limited opening hours. The use of mobile phones in the provision of library and information services was viewed as an alternative solution to this challenge. This study was, therefore, undertaken to investigate the eReadiness of public university libraries in Malawi to use mobile phones in the provision of library and information services. The study addressed the following questions: What is the level of preparedness of public university libraries in Malawi in terms of ICT infrastructure, policy framework and human capacity for the adoption and use of mobile phones in providing library and information services? What electronic information resources and services are currently available in public university libraries in Malawi that can potentially be adopted and used through mobile phones? What is the current status of providing and accessing library and information services through mobile phones in public university libraries in Malawi? What are the attitudes of library staff, academic staff and students towards the potential use of mobile phones in providing and accessing library and information services? What factors influence the adoption and use of mobile phones by library staff, students and academic staff in providing and accessing library and information services? The study was underpinned by two theories: Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), and Technology, Organization, and Environment (TOE) Framework. The study used the pragmatic paradigm, mixed methodology and case study design to understand the research phenomenon. The population of the study comprised students, academic staff, university/college librarians and ICT Directors. The samples of the population studied were 370 students, 255 academic staff, 5 university/college librarians and 5 ICT Directors. Qualitative data was collected through interviews from university/college librarians and ICT Directors while quantitative data was collected from students and academic staff using questionnaires. Qualitative data was analysed using Nvivo whilst quantitative data was analysed using IBM SPSS Software version 23. Findings of the study reveal that libraries surveyed had most of the ICT infrastructure necessary for offering library and information services through mobile phones. Students and academic staff possessed mobile phones which they could use to access information services offered by the libraries. Moreover, the mobile telecommunications network was pervasive in the country making the delivery and access to library services through mobile phones easier. However, ICT policies were not available whilst human resources and requisite skills were inadequate to provide effective library and information services through the use of mobile phones. The results further revealed that institutions surveyed had e-resources such as OPAC, e-books, e-journals, and repositories of local content that could be implemented through mobile phones. Findings also revealed that COM Library had fully implemented library and information services offered through mobile phones but MZUNI, KCN, The Polytechnic and LUANAR were all planning either to introduce or fully implement these services. The attitudes of library staff, academic staff and students towards the potential use of mobile phones in providing and accessing library and information services were largely positive. Network quality, service costs, and response times were factors that influenced the use of mobile phones in providing library and information services. The overall conclusion from this study was that public university libraries in Malawi were generally e-ready to offer library and information services through mobile phones notwithstanding certain infrastructure and skills issues that must be addressed. Consequently, the study recommended that public university libraries in Malawi that had not implemented the delivery of library services through mobile phones should speed up their implementation. The study further recommended that infrastructure and skills issues that were discovered should be addressed to ensure effective operations of library and information services provided through mobile phones. The researcher recommends that a much broader study covering all students in the four public universities in order to provide a holistic picture of the eReadiness of public university libraries in Malawi to offer library and information services through mobile phones