Emerging knowledge commons in the public libraries in South Africa

Abstract

PurposeThis study was aimed to examine emerging knowledge commons in the public libraries in the Thabo Mofutsanyane District in Free State, South Africa.Design/methodology/approachA triangulated sample survey was adopted to collect data from the users of the commons using a questionnaire, and data of community member and the library officers were collected using an interview schedule. The study was guided by Hess and Ostrom's Institutional Analysis and Development framework.FindingsThe librarians and the commons users recognise the changing nature, roles and services of the libraries without necessarily attributing the changes to the emergence of knowledge commons. Users viewed the commons by the learning opportunities offered by information and communication technologies. They were, however, willing to contribute their resources to boost and enrich the commons; their contributions presently take the forms of volunteering of their knowledge and skill through offering of training sessions to users of the commons. A critical aspect of the commons, namely, participation in the governance and management of the commons resources appears not to be occurring.Practical implicationsTo adequately build knowledge commons in the libraries will require formally introducing knowledge commons in the libraries, doing a systems analysis, deciding on the content and their sources, drawing up a programme for nurturing the system including training of relevant staff and then providing basic infrastructures.Originality/valueThis study used quantitative approach to deploy the institutional analysis development Institutional Analysis and Development framework in the study of public library institution. Studies on knowledge commons in public libraries have not been found.

Editorial: 40th anniversary: contemporary library research

“…They showed that the library caf e is essential for students' learning and life. Further, Nwagwu and Matobako (2022) examined the knowledge commons in South African public libraries. Earlier this year, we had a special section on library wayfinding (Chiu and Ho, 2022).…”

User and service provider assessment of technology readiness of library commons in selected universities in Ghana

“…Information technology-induced commons in the library could also lead to some skepticism regarding the promises of improving human information experiences. Some recent studies on library commons deployed institutional analysis and development framework (Nwagwu and Matobako, 2021) have examined the commons from the perspective of community libraries in South Africa. Apart from the studies addressing the library commons that have not been conducted to address the library commons in Ghanaian libraries, these studies, including Daniels et al (2010) did not examine the phenomenon from the perspective of technology readiness.…”

Editorial: Advances in information and knowledge management

“…Moreover, the pandemic has accelerated service transformation (Chan and Chiu, 2022; Cheng et al ., 2022; Chin and Chiu, 2023; Hsu and Lin, 2021; Khan and Ayesha, 2022; Kelner et al ., 2022; Li et al ., 2023a, b, c; Lin et al ., 2022; Lo et al ., 2020; Noh, 2022; Nwagwu and Matobako, 2022; Okunlaya et al ., 2022; Tsang and Chiu, 2022; Tse et al ., 2022; Yao et al ., 2023; Wong and Chiu, 2023a; Wu et al ., 2022a, b, 2023; Xue et al ., 2023), leading to various recent advancements in information and knowledge management. In this issue, we present 12 papers that research various contemporary issues related to information and knowledge management.…”