An assessment of academics` information needs and the effectiveness of African university library services: a case study of the University of Dar es Salaam library with comparative notes on selected libraries in East and Southern African universities.

Butz, Cornelie

An assessment of academics` information needs and the effectiveness of African university library services: a case study of the University of Dar es Salaam library with comparative notes on selected libraries in East and Southern African universities.

Date

1999

Authors

Butz, Cornelie

Publisher

University of Dar es Salaam

Abstract

African universities have had to operate in an economically harsh climate over the Last decade. Government funds have dwindled due to decreasing expenditure on social services, especial in the education sector. University Libraries which try to cope with the ever increasing amount and diversity of information have been hit hard by these financial constraints, unable to replace outdated textbooks and to purchase current journals and important research materials. This study examined services of the UDSM Library for the university community, on the one hand, and academics' information needs for their teaching, research and consultancy activities, on the other hand. UDSM Library is presently undergoing an extensive transformation process - as is the University itself - to adjusting to the new economic realities and developing new services for its customers. The study could only briefly describe this on-going-development. Interviewees included UDSM academics from the Humanities and Science Faculties, postgraduates and academic librarians, as well as University administrators. For comparative reasons four other university libraries in the region were visited. Methods used for data collection were documentary review, questionnaires, interviews and observation. The research revealed that UDSM Library was still the major source of information for academics and postgraduates. However, library usage among academics was generally low. Their frequently pursued information seeking strategies were not mainly book-oriented, but more of an oral nature and their personal book collections grew only at a very modest rate. The prime interests of UDSM academies were research information needs, followed by current awareness and consultancy information needs. Academics and postgraduates used mainly two sectors of the UDSM Library collection, Periodicals and East Africana. The CD-ROM sector enjoyed a modest popularity among academics. Both the Periodicals and the CD-ROM sector rely heavily on donor money for funding. Apart from the Main Library, academic regularly used departmental libraries which they believed to be more specialised and more relevant. A majority of academics profited from link arrangements with foreign universities regarding their information needs. However, the major reason -for limited academic support for the Library as related to poor Library funding. Dissatisfaction with library services culminated in complaints about the lack of new and current books, inadequate funds and space constrains within the Library building. Regarding its mission, the Library defined its role as similar to that of an academic department, claiming to also have a threefold mission of teaching, research and consultancies. Therefore, one of a University Library's most important tasks-to provide relevant services to users-has became only one library objective among others. This study placed UDSM Library fourth place out of five in a ranking involving other regional University Libraries. The differences, however, between the Zambian (99 points), the Tanzanian (101 points), the Kenyan (102 points) and the Ungandan (105 points) Libraries were very small. Botswana with 126 points was the exception, showing that economic differences were the most critical factor in determining library performance. The study indicated that the UDSM Library services do not meet the information needs of academics and postgraduates.

Description

Available in print form

Keywords

Library use studies, University and Colleges, African

Citation

Butz, C.(1999). An assessment of academics` information needs and the effectiveness of African university library services: a case study of the University of Dar es Salaam library with comparative notes on selected libraries in East and Southern African universities. Master dissertation, University of Dar es Salaam. Available at (http://41.86.178.3/internetserver3.1.2/search.aspx?formtype=advanced)