Virtual Reference Service in Academic Libraries in West Africa

Sekyere, Kwabena

doi:10.1080/1533290x.2011.548233

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…In the context of Malawi, no studies on the use of mobile phone to provide library and information services are available. From the broader African perspective, a few university libraries have adopted the use of mobile phones in libraries, which use them mainly for SMS text messaging (Anbu and Mavuso, 2012;Sekyere, 2011). A study conducted by Sekyere (2011) involving 79 academic libraries in ten West African countries found that none of the libraries surveyed used mobile phones in service delivery.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…From the broader African perspective, a few university libraries have adopted the use of mobile phones in libraries, which use them mainly for SMS text messaging (Anbu and Mavuso, 2012;Sekyere, 2011). A study conducted by Sekyere (2011) involving 79 academic libraries in ten West African countries found that none of the libraries surveyed used mobile phones in service delivery. However, a recent study conducted by Baro et al (2014) covering 36 Nigerian University libraries found that less than half of the libraries used mobile phone SMS for reference services.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Chaputula

Mutula

2018

LHT

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present findings of a study conducted to determine eReadiness status of public university libraries in Malawi to use mobile phones in the provision of library and information services. Design/methodology/approach The researcher carried out in-depth semi-structured interviews with university/college librarians and information and communications technology (ICT) directors using interview guides. Students were also administered with a survey questionnaire that contained closed- and some open-ended questions. Proceedings of the interviews were recorded using a tape recorder whilst backup notes were recorded in a notebook. Qualitative data were transcribed and analysed using NVivo software whilst quantitative data were analysed using SPPS. Findings The study findings revealed that institutions studied had the ICT infrastructure necessary for offering library and information services on the mobile phone platform. Moreover, students had mobile phones which were connected to internet to facilitate their access to services offered. However, the institutions covered by this study did not have operational ICT policies to govern the operations of library and information services offered through mobile phones although draft ICT policies were available. The study further concluded that though the human resources required to manage the provision of library and information services through mobile phones in the institutions studied were available, they did not have the necessary skills and numbers to provide quality services. Other findings revealed that attitudes of library staff and students to the offering and access to services through mobile phones were positive. The study also revealed that there are some factors that could impact the offering of library services through mobile phones. Research limitations/implications Although Malawi has four public universities, this study only focused on three of them. Moreover, academic staff is another important user group of academic libraries. In this case, findings reported in this paper only focus on students. This implies that library’s readiness to offer services through mobile phones to this group remains unknown hence may have to be covered by future studies. Much as the study incorporated a quantitative strand in addition to the qualitative one, it neither involved theory testing nor confirmation as is the case with other related studies. This implies that the two theories used in this study (the uniﬁed theory of acceptance and use of technology and the technology-organisation-environment) were not used in the strict sense, which is empirical at the core, but rather to put the problem studied in the context of other related studies. Practical implications The findings have practical implications in that they can be used for planning the implementation of library and information services through mobile phones in public university libraries in Malawi. Other related institutions can also use the findings as a reference point in planning the implementation of similar services. Originality/value Studies relating to the use of mobile phones in the delivery of library and information services have not been conducted in public universities in Malawi. Findings of this study will, therefore, inform researchers intending to conduct similar or related studies not only in public universities in Malawi but other related institutions as well.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Chaputula

Mutula

2018

LHT

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“…This means that the trend is now shifting from adoption of asynchronous channels to synchronous channels among Pakistani librarians to provide VRS. Moreover, the use of modern forms of reference services among Pakistani university libraries is quite better as compared to other developing countries, see for example Sajjad [33]; Ramos and Abrigo [24]; Maharana and Panda [34]; and Sekyere [35]. In fact, the scenario in developed countries is completely changed.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Virtual Reference Services through Web Search Engines: Study of Academic Libraries in Pakistan

Khan

Malik

et al. 2017

Publications

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Web search engines (WSE) are powerful and popular tools in the field of information service management. This study is an attempt to examine the impact and usefulness of web search engines in providing virtual reference services (VRS) within academic libraries in Pakistan. The study also attempts to investigate the relevant expertise and skills of library professionals in providing digital reference services (DRS) efficiently using web search engines. Methodology used in this study is quantitative in nature. The data was collected from fifty public and private sector universities in Pakistan using a structured questionnaire. Microsoft Excel and SPSS were used for data analysis. The study concludes that web search engines are commonly used by librarians to help users (especially research scholars) by providing digital reference services. The study also finds a positive correlation between use of web search engines and quality of digital reference services provided to library users. It is concluded that although search engines have increased the expectations of users and are really big competitors to a library's reference desk, they are however not an alternative to reference service. Findings reveal that search engines pose numerous challenges for librarians and the study also attempts to bring together possible remedial measures. This study is useful for library professionals to understand the importance of search engines in providing VRS. The study also provides an intellectual comparison among different search engines, their capabilities, limitations, challenges and opportunities to provide VRS effectively in libraries.

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“…Some studies related to mobile phone use in libraries have also been done in Africa. One of such studies undertaken by Sekyere (2011) investigated virtual reference services offered by 79 academic libraries in ten West African countries. This study found that none of the libraries surveyed made use of mobile phones in service delivery.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Provision of library and information services through mobile phones in public university libraries in Malawi

Chaputula

Mutula

2018

Global Knowledge, Memory and Communication

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Purpose The aim of this paper is present findings of a study conducted to find out the current state of providing and accessing library and information services in public university libraries in Malawi through mobile phones. Design/methodology/approach The researcher carried out in-depth semi-structured interviews with university/college librarians using interview guides. University/college librarians were purposefully selected for the interviews because they are overall managers of their libraries, hence in a better position to provide information that addressed the study objectives. Proceedings of the interviews were recorded using a tape recorder, whilst backup notes were recorded in a notebook. Data were transcribed and analysed using Nvivo software. Findings Findings revealed that only one library in this study had fully implemented the offering of library and information services through mobile phones, whilst the rest were moving towards the same. Both user and reference service offering through mobile phones included e-journals, Facebook, WhatsApp, Online Public Access Catalogue and SMS. The institutions in this study had institutional repositories, e-journals and e-books, among others, which they could offer through mobile phones. High cost of accessing services through mobile phone, vandalism of Information and Communications Technologies infrastructure, shortage of skills and network congestion are some of the factors that may affect the offering of library and information services through mobile phones. Research limitations/implications Malawi has four public universities. However, this article reports findings of a case study of three of the four constituent colleges of the University of Malawi (College of Medicine, Kamuzu College of Nursing and Polytechnic), Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources and Mzuzu University. By virtue of being a case study, it means that the findings made are only applicable to the five institutions covered. Practical implications The study findings have practical implications in that they can be used as a model for planning the implementation of library and information services through mobile phones not only in public university libraries in Malawi but also other related institutions locally and internationally. Originality/value Use of mobile phones in the delivery of library and information services is receiving a lot of attention from researchers the world over. However, this is not the case in Malawi, as studies of this nature have not been conducted in the public university sector or in other related sectors. Findings of this study will, therefore, inform researchers intending to conduct similar or related studies not only in public universities in Malawi but other related institutions as well.

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Virtual Reference Service in Academic Libraries in West Africa

Cited by 5 publications

References 3 publications

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

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

Virtual Reference Services through Web Search Engines: Study of Academic Libraries in Pakistan

Provision of library and information services through mobile phones in public university libraries in Malawi

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