Training Strategies for Library Staff and Remote Clients in Academic Libraries Operating in a Distance Education Environment during COVID-19

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Tinyiko Vivian Dube
Keyword(s):  
Distance Education ◽  
Academic Libraries ◽  
Education Environment ◽  
Library Staff ◽  
Training Strategies ◽  
Remote Clients

Library staff support with Fourth Industrial Revolution's application to provide information resources to remote clients during the COVID-19 library services

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tinyiko Vivian Dube
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Academic Libraries ◽  
Information Resources ◽  
Library Services ◽  
Gauteng Province ◽  
Staff Support ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Education Environment ◽  
Library Staff ◽  
Remote Clients

PurposeThe Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) have challenged the academic libraries system with a paradigm shift that has never been experienced before. This article highlights how the library staff offered support with the 4IR to the remote during the COVID-19 era; to ensure that the provision of information resources does not halt because of the imposed lockdown COVID-19 regulations. The purpose of this study was to examine the library staff support with 4IR's application to provide information resources to remote clients during the COVID-19 library services.Design/methodology/approachThe study was anchored by the positivism research paradigm and used a quantitative research approach. Microsoft Form was used to design an online questionnaire to collect data from the library staff working in a distance education environment in Gauteng Province of South Africa. The collected data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS).FindingsThe findings discovered that the library staff was keen on job innovation; however, the COVID-19 restrictions were a major cause for the library staff not to provide information resources to remote clients effectively.Research limitations/implicationsThe 4IR has both positive and negative effects on the library staff and the remote clients. To ensure that academic libraries fully embrace the 4IR; it is imperative to examine how the remote clients affected by digital divide can benefit from this revolution since they do not have access to adequate gadgets such as laptops/personal computers/tablets/smartphone/iPods and data for Internet connection.Practical implicationsThis study contributed to the Library and Information Science's (LIS) field by adding value to the knowledge base concerning how the library staff working in academic libraries operating in a distance education environment in Gauteng Province of South Africa offered support to the remote clients during the COVID-19 pandemic that impacted the drastic adoption of the 4IR.Social implicationsStakeholders, library management and policymakers gained insight to revisit the existing library staff support regarding mentoring, coaching training remote clients on how to access and download online information resources. This is inspired by the fact that COVID-19 significantly influenced library services' value for knowledge by facilitating policy changes and aligning with 4IR.Originality/valueThe study greatly influences policymakers and information practitioners to mobilize new methods of library staff support.

Management of e-resources in academic libraries in Ghana: Copyright implications

IFLA Journal ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 034003522110271
Author(s):  
Theresa L Adu ◽  
Thomas B van der Walt
Keyword(s):  
Distance Education ◽  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Distance Learning ◽  
Academic Libraries ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Digital Resources ◽  
Mixed Methods Approach ◽  
Sequential Mixed Methods ◽  
Library Staff

This study investigated the copyright issues surrounding the management of e-resources in academic libraries in Ghana. Forty-seven library staff and head librarians from four academic libraries were engaged using questionnaires and qualitative interviews in a sequential mixed-methods approach to generate data for this study. The findings indicate that in all four institutions copyright issues arose with the provision of distance learning, online courses and e-reserves services. All the respondents stated that they or their colleagues had had faculty ask questions on copyright issues. However, the professional librarians indicated that the library was not consulted and the instructors for online courses or distance education programmes did not cooperate with librarians; rather, the department posting the materials made the decisions on copyright regarding the usage of digital resources for distance learning, online courses or e-reserves. This does not augur well for the management of copyright of e-resources in academic libraries in Ghana.

Information Technology Skills and Competencies for Academic Library Staff

2021 ◽  
pp. 306-315
Author(s):  
Tinyiko Vivian Dube
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Academic Libraries ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Academic Library ◽  
Access Information ◽  
Library Staff ◽  
Remote Clients ◽  
Teaching Learning ◽  
It Skills ◽  
Shed Light

Academic libraries are now enduring a substantial shift, which is influenced by the advancement of information technology (IT) that has drastically changed the operating system of academic libraries. The changes have impacted significantly on the skills and competencies required of library staff. This chapter shed light on the background of modern academic libraries, the IT tools used by various academic libraries (for both remote clients and library staff) around the world to provide and access information resources and/or library and information services (LIS) to meet the information needs of remote clients. IT is becoming a tool in modern academic libraries designed to facilitate library operations to meet the information needs of academic library clients. In light of this, library staff is obliged to be equipped with IT skills and competencies to assist the institution to achieve its objectives by supporting teaching, learning, and research.

scholarly journals Assessing the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals in academic libraries

2021 ◽  
pp. 096100062110055
Author(s):  
Clare Thorpe ◽  
Lyndelle Gunton
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Academic Libraries ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Societal Implications ◽  
2030 Agenda ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Library Staff ◽  
Stretch Targets ◽  
The University ◽  
Mapping Exercise

The United Nation’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development identifies 17 goals as a shared blueprint for peace, prosperity, people and the planet. Australian academic libraries have started documenting and planning how academic libraries contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including the identification of assessment frameworks and key performance indicators. In 2019, the University of Southern Queensland (USQ) Library stepped through an exercise of understanding how our day-to-day work and annual planning targets mapped to the SDGs. The article is a case study. The authors outline how an academic library’s services, projects and action plans were mapped to the SDGs and how the mapping exercise was communicated to the community. The article will situate this activity among the broader approaches being taken by the Australian library community, including the 2030 stretch targets for Australian libraries. USQ Library staff found that existing services, collections and projects correlated to eight of the 17 SDGs. Activities were mapped to these eight goals and reported to senior executive of the University. The mapping exercise increased the awareness of library staff about the broader cultural and societal implications of their roles. The communication strategy led to conversations that increased university leaders’ awareness of the SDGs and the value and impact of USQ Library in improving access to information as well as the library’s role in transforming the lives of USQ students and community. By undertaking an exercise to map collections, services and projects to the SDGs, USQ Library has been able to demonstrate how their knowledge and information infrastructures which enable student achievement and research excellence. The SDGs can be used by university libraries as a benchmarking tool and as a challenge to set stretch targets aligned with the United Nation’s 2030 agenda.

Distance Education and ‘Discovery Learning’ in First-year Journalism: A Case in Subject Improvement

2016 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 214-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kate Ames
Keyword(s):  
Distance Education ◽  
Student Satisfaction ◽  
Social Engagement ◽  
Discovery Learning ◽  
First Year ◽  
Education Students ◽  
Education Environment ◽  
Education Model ◽  
Assessment Requirements ◽  
Social Constructivist Approach

This article examines the implications of adopting a discovery learning education model for distance education students in a first-year undergraduate journalism subject. It reviews subject enhancement strategies against learning theory and analyzes the ways students are engaged with subject content and assessment. Results of subject redesign included increased student satisfaction, greater retention and higher grades despite the increase in overall assessment requirements. It demonstrates that discovery learning based on group work and social engagement can be adopted in a distance education environment with positive outcomes. This article maps how a subject designed initially to align with a cognitivist/behaviourist model progressed to adopting a social constructivist approach. It concludes with a discussion of the issues associated with that transition.

Succession Planning and the Talent Management Toolbox

2014 ◽  
pp. 133-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Simpson ◽  
Patricia J. West
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Human Capital ◽  
Succession Planning ◽  
Academic Libraries ◽  
Talent Management ◽  
Decision Science ◽  
Education Environment ◽  
Effectiveness And Efficiency ◽  
Strategic Success ◽  
Science Framework

This chapter defines succession planning as a key component of talent management and explains its relevance for academic libraries. With a combination of unique human capital challenges and the current higher education environment, academic libraries are now facing risks that require special considerations as they plan for the future. In this chapter, the authors define talent management and succession planning and review the major models that are currently in use. They then discuss the “decision-science” framework, which they propose is best suited for addressing future talent needs in academic libraries. Such elements as resources and processes, organization and talent, and sustainable strategic success are highlighted as avenues to linking overall decisions around impact, effectiveness, and efficiency. The final aspect of the chapter includes techniques for developing the talent pipeline, identifying “pivotal” positions, and developing strategies and practices. Assessing progress against talent management goals, including identifying specific metrics, is also outlined.

Reversing the Tyranny of Distance Education

2017 ◽  
pp. 232-255
Author(s):  
Maria Northcote ◽  
Kevin P. Gosselin ◽  
Daniel Reynaud ◽  
Peter Kilgour ◽  
Malcolm Anderson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Professional Development ◽  
Distance Education ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Threshold Concepts ◽  
Development Programs ◽  
Self Confidence ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
Education Environment ◽  
Professional Development Programs

In today's higher education environment, online education has become a rich and nuanced medium characterized by a dynamic and progressive use of technology. These technological advancements require research-informed guidelines and practices to facilitate understanding of how they can be used to foster positive outcomes in distance education contexts. By employing a mixed-methods multiphase design case study at Avondale College of Higher Education, the authors examine the challenges, self-confidence and threshold concepts, or transformative, conceptual understandings that academic faculty staff experience while engaging in distance education course design. The authors examine how these threshold concepts, attitudes and skills can be used to inform the design of professional development programs for academic staff who teach in online contexts. The results and associated recommendations of the six-year investigation are presented to inform professional development programs that aim to improve the quality of online teaching, course design and learning experiences of students.

Looking for Indicators of Success for Distance Education

2011 ◽  
pp. 144-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wm. Benjamin Martz Jr. ◽  
Venkateshwar K. Reddy ◽  
Karen Sangermano
Keyword(s):  
Distance Education ◽  
Education Program ◽  
Market Forces ◽  
Distance Education Program ◽  
Education Environment ◽  
Market Driven ◽  
Education Satisfaction ◽  
Indicators Of Success

The purpose of this chapter is to identify key components of distance education satisfaction. The distance education environment is an expanding market driven by several market forces. A working list of potential variables for satisfaction can be developed from the previous research done to compare the traditional to the distance education environments. A questionnaire was developed using these variables and administered to 341 distance students in a successful, top 26, M.B.A., distance education program. The results of the questionnaire are factored into five constructs that ultimately correlate well with the satisfaction ratings of the subjects. Using these factors as guidance, some operational and administrative implications of those findings are discussed.

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