Community and health science Libguides: A case study on the use of Libguides to enhance library electronic resources and services at the University of the Western Cape Library

Magister Artium - MAAcademic libraries worldwide are using the digital content management and information sharing LibGuides as a platform to provide and promote subject or course orientated information resources, to share knowledge, to provide information literacy education, utilize the Web 2.0 features to communicate with users to support teaching, learning and research. This study explored the use of LibGuides by four departments in the Community and Health Science (CHS) Faculty at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) among students, academics and the faculty librarian. A descriptive case study research design with a sequential explanatory mixed methods approach was adopted. As data gathering tools web based questionnaires, face to face interviews and system generated LibGuides page views were employed. Findings revealed that although the CHS librarian spent quality time to create LibGuides and to expose faculty members to them, only a few students and teaching staff actually used the LibGuides and that there was confusion between LibGuides and study or course guides. Those who used LibGuides, found the information resources they contained useful – especially course specific resources. Students and teaching staff being made aware of LibGuides demonstrated willingness to use them, thus librarians should deploy strategies to market, promote and educate users of LibGuides by amongst others, seeking collaboration. The impact of the study was revealed by a teaching staff embedding CHS LibGuides in e-learning courses, teaching staff introducing LibGuides during lectures and students approaching the CHS librarian for training. It is recommended that the CHS librarian incorporate suggested information resources into LibGuides, that LibGuides awareness should be raised, more training be done and that further research to explore the use and benefits of LibGuides at UWC be undertaken. It is recommended that library managers deploy strategies to reach out to faculties to enhance the use of library resources using LibGuides

The Deployment and Impact of LibGuides at Public Universities in South Africa

Original ArticleWebometrics techniques were used to establish the extent of deployment and impact of LibGuides at public universities in South Africa using their content, usage, and views. There are 1,166 LibGuides hosted by 16 universities, and published by 299 owners in South Africa giving the country a 0.22% of the world's share of LibGuides, and a 0.22% share of the world's LibGuides owners. Each LibGuide owner in the country owns almost four LibGuides. Close to 70% of public universities in South Africa own LibGuides. The University of the Witwatersrand has more LibGuides than any other university followed by the Universities of Cape Town, South Africa, Johannesburg, Stellenbosch, and others. 68.4% of LibGuides in South Africa are faculty and department LibGuides followed by “how to” guides (8.94%). Another finding was that the Ranking Web of Universities correlates moderately with the university rankings by number of LibGuides in the country meaning that LibGuides may play some role in enhancing or at least proving the extent of a university's Web presence and visibility. The views data shows mixed results as North-West University (NWU) views have increased by close to 571% between 2014 and 2015 while those of the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) were inconsistent. The combined CPUT and NWU LibGuides cost R0.56 per view, all other factors such as the time and effort it takes to create LibGuides excluded. The results of this study can be used by libraries to demonstrate the value of LibGuides to academic libraries. Therefore, the continued subscription to LibGuides by academic libraries is supported

Collaboration on LibGuides in public universities in South Africa

Research PaperThis paper uses co-ownership as a proxy for determining the extent of collaboration on LibGuides in public universities in South Africa. Design/methodology/approach This is a quantitative study that uses webometrics techniques to establish collaboration on LibGuides among librarians in public universities in South Africa. The LibGuide pages of all public universities in the country are visited. Co-ownership of those LibGuides is established by going through the list of co-owners usually situated on the right-hand side menu bar. The data are divided into 16 Excel spreadsheets, each representing a South African public university with LibGuides. Findings The results show that only 8.1 per cent or 95 of 1,166 LibGuides are co-owned, whereas in 9.4 per cent (109 of 1,166) of LibGuides, the ownership reverts to the host library, as there are no authors indicated. Only 34 of 95 or 35.8 per cent of co-owned LibGuides are cross-campus or inter-campus collaborations suggesting that there is very little cross-pollination of ideas between different campuses of the same universities in South Africa. Research limitations/implications This study will lead to a better understanding of the extent of collaboration between librarians in Africa, generally, but specifically in South Africa. In addition, it poses a challenge to library managers to develop strategies that promote and nurture a culture of collaboration between and among librarians to avoid unnecessary duplication. The recommendations of this study can be used to improve collaboration between and among librarians. The biggest limitation of this study is that it did not look into the attitudes, constraints and impediments of collaboration between and among librarians. This area, however, is recommended for further research. Practical implications The implication of these results is that there is a duplication of LibGuides, effort and time across different campuses of the same universities, as some universities have a number of LibGuides on the same subject areas across the institutions. There is very little cross-pollination of ideas between various universities as reflected by a lack of inter-university LibGuides in the country. Social implications Duplication of LibGuides does not assist the users as it only adds to the information overload rather than assisting them by streamlining the information. Originality/value This study may well be the first study of its nature in the world. It is the view of the authors that this study will not only close the gap in the literature on LibGuides but also explain the use of Web 2.0 tools in libraries in developing countries as collaboration tools. It will add another perspective to the discourse about the collaboration in library and information science generally. This paper may lead to further research on the collaboration efforts of practising librarians