The use of electronic information resources in the university of Fort Hare Library Services

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

L'espace documentaire en restructuration (l'évolution des services des bibliothèques universitaires.)

Le catalogue occupe une place privilégiée dans l offre de service des bibliothèques universitaires, pivot de l intermédiation. Depuis 10 ans, il traverse une crise grave, voyant les usagers le délaisser à la faveur des moteurs de recherche généralistes. Le web, plus qu un sérieux concurrent, devance aujourd hui les systèmes d information documentaires, et devient le point d entrée principal pour la recherche d information. Les bibliothèques tentent de structurer un espace documentaire qui soit habité par les usagers, au sein duquel se développe l offre de service, mais celle-ci se présente encore comme une série de silos inertes, sans grande possibilité de navigation, malgré de considérables efforts d ingénierie et des pistes d évolution vers les outils de découverte. La profession, consciente de cette crise profonde, après avoir accusé les remous occasionnés par la dimension disruptive du numérique, cherche des moyens pour adapter et diversifier son offre, fluidifier la diffusion de l information, et se réinvente un rôle d intermédiation en cherchant à tirer profit des nouvelles pratiques des usagers, de leurs nouvelles attentes, et de nouvelles perspectives. Les bibliothèques placent leur espoir dans de nouveaux modèles de données, tentent d y ajouter un niveau d abstraction favorisant les liaisons avec l univers de la connaissance. L évolution vers le web sémantique semble une opportunité à saisir pour valoriser les collections et les rendre exploitables dans un autre contexte, au prix d importants efforts que cette analyse tente de mesurer. Une approche constructiviste fondée sur l observation participante et le recueil de données offre une vision issue de l intérieur de la communauté des bibliothèques sur l évolution des catalogues et des outils d intermédiation, et ouvre des perspectives sur leurs enjeux.The catalog takes up a special position in the supply of services of academic libraries, as a pivot for the intermediary between users and information professionals who carry the responsibility for building up collections. For 10 years, through a serious crisis, they ve been seeing their patrons preferring the general or commercial search engines. The Web is more than a serious competitor today, ahead of the document information systems, and became the main access point for information retrieval. Libraries are trying to structure an information space that is temporarily or permanently inhabited by users, in which the service offering is developed, but it is still presented as a series of silos, with few opportunities of navigation between them despite considerable engineering efforts and a perspective of evolution towards discovery tools. The profession, having become aware of this deep crisis after accusing eddies caused by the breakdown of the digital switch, looking for ways to adapt and diversify its offering, streamlines the dissemination of information, and reinvents its roles, trying to take advantage of new practices of users, new expectations and new prospects. Libraries put their hope in new data models, trying to add a level of abstraction promoting links with the world of knowledge. The evolution towards the Semantic Web seems to be a valuable opportunity to enhance the collections and make them usable in another context, at the expense of significant efforts sized up by this analysis. A constructivist approach based on participant observation and data collection offers a vision of the outcome within the library community on the development of catalogs and intermediation tools, and an outlook on their issues.PARIS-CNAM (751032301) / SudocSudocFranceF

Museum pieces? The role and value of national museum libraries in the digital age

This thesis examines how national museum libraries are planning to respond over the next decade to the strategic challenges and opportunities they are facing as a result of socio-technological changes that are occurring during the digital age. The study adopts a pragmatic philosophical approach and uses an explanatory sequential mixed-methods research design. The research consists of a two round Delphi survey, which was distributed to two hundred national museum libraries across forty countries, and seven case studies, which were undertaken across five countries. The case studies are comprised of semi-structured interviews with library managers and users, and document analysis of library strategies and policies. The results are presented as thematic conclusions and possible future scenarios. The research shows that many library managers have a clearly defined sense of their libraries' roles, values, and future strategic priorities. However, there is a lack of consensus concerning strategic positioning, with some seeking to augment internal museum support and others aiming to increase public engagement. Collection development is set to remain predominantly print focused, with acquisition of electronic resources likely to develop gradually. This position contrasts with libraries in other sectors, notably academic libraries, where the print to digital change process is typically occurring more rapidly. Similarly, utilisation of digital technologies that support service provision and content delivery will take place in a highly selective and planned manner. Most library users have a positive outlook about their national museum libraries. They particularly value the specialist nature of the collections, the subject knowledge of library staff, and opportunities for scholarly collaboration. However, there are concerns about collection discoverability and library communication. The research findings point towards three possible future scenarios for national museum libraries - internally focused consolidation, externally focused commercialisation, and mixed economy contradistinction. Each offers plausible options for strategic planning over the next decade

La información en los parques científicos y tecnológicos y el papel de las bibliotecas universitarias

Los parques científicos y tecnológicos (PCyT), así como los viveros de empresas que pueden o no formar parte de ellos, son agentes que desempeñan un papel relevante en el proceso de innovación y que fomentan el acercamiento entre la universidad y la empresa. Potencian, a través de sus programas de incubación, la creación de empresas de base tecnológica (EBTs) y les ofrecen un conjunto de servicios de valor añadido, entre los que en ocasiones se encuentran los de información. Las EBTs se conciben como proyectos empresariales donde el negocio es la I+D+i y cuyo activo principal es el conocimiento. En este entorno, donde la innovación cobra especial relevancia y se extiende a todos los procesos, las universidades desempeñan un nuevo rol, su denominada ‘tercera misión’ que integra la trasferencia de conocimientos hacia el entorno social, entre sus objetivos. Pero, para lograr prestar su contribución a la sociedad no basta con una declaración de intenciones, sino que se requiere que todos sus recursos disponibles estén en constante interacción. El vínculo con la universidad y la posibilidad de acceder a sus recursos, en especial a las bibliotecas y laboratorios es una de las razones que motivan a los emprendedores a insertarse en un parque, de ahí que constituya una de las facilidades que estas instituciones intentan ofrecer a sus empresas incubadas. Sin embargo, la realidad señala que estas relaciones no siempre tienen lugar. Por esta razón el propósito de la investigación desarrollada ha sido conocer cómo se lleva a cabo la gestión de la información en las empresas incubadas en los PCyT y en qué medida participan las bibliotecas universitarias en la misma. El análisis realizado ha permitido definir algunas propuestas que fomenten la colaboración de las empresas incubadas, teniendo en cuenta las principales tendencias nacionales e internacionales. En su realización se estudiaron tres segmentos de parques científicos y tecnológicos: los españoles, los brasileños y los miembros de la Asociación Internacional de Parques Científicos y Áreas de Innovación (IASP). En el caso de los dos primeros el estudio consideró tanto a empresas incubadas como a los responsables de los parques objeto de estudio y a los de las bibliotecas relacionadas con ellos a fin de obtener una visión integral del proceso, desde quien proporciona los servicios hasta quien los recibe. En el caso de España se incluyó además a los responsables del área de vigilancia tecnológica. Por su parte, en el caso de los parques IASP solo se tuvieron en cuenta los responsables de los parques y de las bibliotecas de las universidades relacionadas, dado que las políticas de estas instituciones no siempre permiten divulgar la información de las empresas incubadas. El reducido tamaño de las muestras de los tres segmentos objeto de estudio no permite generalizar los resultados obtenidos en la investigación, ya que se constituyen como estudios de casos. No obstante, su valor radica en ser una primera aproximación al análisis de la labor de las bibliotecas universitaria en la gestión de la información que llevan a cabo las EBTs. Sin lugar a dudas, queda mucho por hacer para que en las EBTs se genere una verdadera cultura organizacional que promueva la gestión de la información y la creación de conocimientos que apoyen de forma efectiva los procesos de innovación de sus empresas incubadas y que contribuyan a que estas logren ventajas competitivas. Pero en este proceso puede resultar de gran utilidad, el que las bibliotecas universitarias transformen su forma de ver a los empresarios incubados y los asuman como parte de sus propios usuarios, al tiempo que estrechen lazos de colaboración con los PCyT.Science and technology parks and the business incubators they may include have a role to play in the process of innovation, bringing the university closer to businesses. Their incubation programs promote the creation of technology-based companies, offering value adding services which may include information management. These companies see their business as research, development and implementation, and their activity as fundamentally knowledge-based work. In this environment, where innovation is especially important in all processes, universities can play a new role, their so-called “third objective”: to transfer knowledge to the society around them. But a declaration of intent is insufficient to achieve this goal: it requires that their available resources are actively used. The connection to universities, and the ability to use their resources, in particular libraries and laboratories, is one motive for entrepreneurs to base themselves in a park, hence one of the facilities that parks try to offer their incubated firms. However reality shows that these relationships do not always come to fruition. Hence the research proposal, to learn how information management is done in incubated firms within Science and Technology Park, and to what extent university libraries participate. This analysis has led to some proposals to foment collaboration between university libraries and Spanish Science and Technology Parks to support the activity of incubated firms, taking into account important national and international trends. Three groups of Science and Technology Parks were studied: those in Spain, those in Brazil, and members of the IASP (International Association of Science Parks and Areas of Innovation). In the first two groups, the incubated firms, as well as the Parks' management and associated libraries were considered, to give a complete perspective, from those who provide as well as those who receive services. In the Spanish case those responsible for technology watch were also studied. For IASP parks only the parks' management and their associated libraries are studied, as information on companies they incubate is sometimes confidential. The small sample sizes militate against over-generalizing the results, instead offering case studies. Nonetheless they are valuable as a first analytical approach to the role of university libraries in information management for technology-based companies. There remains much to do before technology-based companies' organizational culture promotes information management and knowledge creation which effectively support innovation within incubated firms, contributing to the development of competitive advantages. Within this process, it can be very useful for university libraries to rethink their view of incubated firms, to treat them as first-class library users, while tightening their collaborative links with Science and Technology Parks.Programa Oficial de Doctorado en Documentación: Archivos y Bibliotecas en el Entorno DigitalPresidente: José Antonio Moreiro González.- Secretario: Helena María Tarchi Crivellari.- Vocal: Juan Carlos Fernández Molin