Emerging knowledge commons in the public libraries in South Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Williams Ezinwa Nwagwu ◽  
Margaret Molaodi Matobako
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Institutional Analysis ◽  
Sample Survey ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Development Framework ◽  
Knowledge Commons ◽  
The Commons ◽  
Institutional Analysis And Development

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.

Leadership of change in South Africa public sector turnarounds

2018 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mampe Kumalo ◽  
Caren Brenda Scheepers
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Current Literature ◽  
Organisational Change ◽  
Director General ◽  
Change Processes ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Financial Consequences

PurposeOrganisational decline has far-reaching, negative emotional and financial consequences for staff and customers, generating academic and practitioner interest in turnaround change processes. Despite numerous studies to identify the stages during turnarounds, the findings have been inconclusive. The purpose of this paper is to address the gap by defining these stages, or episodes. The characteristics of leaders affect the outcome of organisational change towards turnarounds. This paper focusses, therefore, on the leadership requirements during specific episodes, from the initial crisis to the full recovery phases.Design/methodology/approachA total of 11 semi-structured interviews were conducted with executives from the public sector in South Africa who went through or were going through turnaround change processes and 3 with experts consulting to these organisations.FindingsContrary to current literature in organisational change, this study found that, in these turnaround situations, leadership in the form of either an individual CEO or director general was preferable to shared leadership or leadership distributed throughout the organisation. This study found four critical episodes that occurred during all the public service turnarounds explored, and established that key leadership requirements differ across these episodes. The study shows how these requirements relate to the current literature on transactional, transformational and authentic leadership.Practical implicationsThe findings on the leadership requirements ultimately inform the selection and development of leaders tasked with high-risk turnaround change processes.Originality/valueFour episodes with corresponding leadership requirements were established in the particular context of public sector turnaround change processes.

Strategic planning and management for the public libraries

2009 ◽  
Vol 30 (4/5) ◽  
pp. 253-265 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petros A. Kostagiolas ◽  
Christina Banou ◽  
Evangelia‐Maria Laskari
Keyword(s):  
Strategic Planning ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Strategic Development ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Reading Policy ◽  
The Public ◽  
Planning And Management ◽  
Social And Economic Development ◽  
Cultural Cohesion

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is twofold: to provide an overview of the present situation at the Greek central public libraries and to identify strategic development areas in regard to education and training, social and economic development, e‐government, reading policy, cultural cohesion and identity.Design/methodology/approachA survey was conducted in January and February 2008 through extensive semi‐structured interviews with all the 29 Greek central public libraries.FindingsThe paper finds that a formal strategic plan is becoming necessary for the Greek central public libraries in order to understand themselves, redefine their policies and priorities, and further consider the needs and expectations of their users and of the society as a whole.Practical implicationsThis paper contributes to the discussion on the development of strategic planning aimed at the central public libraries in Greece and may assist in providing evidence for strategic planning in a national and/or in an institutional level.Originality/valueIt is one of the very few studies in Greece providing empirical evidence for the strategic planning and management of the central public libraries.

Immaterial labour, public librarians, and third-generation public libraries

2016 ◽  
Vol 117 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 186-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siobhan A Stevenson
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Public Library ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Future ◽  
Public Librarians ◽  
Policy Arena ◽  
Blind Spots

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to draw attention to one specific upper-level government policy document in which a discourse of perpetual innovation and customer service is promoted, and the kinds of questions such discursive interventions raise for the future of work in public libraries; and second, to demonstrate the explanatory potential of the concept of immaterial labour for questions relating to emerging labour processes in libraries. The concepts of “prosumer” and Web 2.0 are included as discursive resources of relevance to any discussion of immaterial labour. Design/methodology/approach – This paper presents a critical discourse analysis of a public policy visioning document for public libraries in Ontario, Canada, with reflections on related literatures. Findings – The concept of immaterial labour provides an additional analytic tool suitable for questions of relevance to public librarians and library scholars. Within the government text under review which deals specifically with the future of the public library to 2020, the identity of the public librarian is alarmingly absent. Conversely, the library patron as a producer and consumer is privileged. Research limitations/implications – Failure to attend to the broader policy arena within which the public library resides creates dangerous blind spots for public library professionals, educators and researchers. Practical implications – This paper demonstrates the value of a discourse analysis for uncovering the ideological dimensions of policy documents, while simultaneously modelling the method using the kind of policy text commonly produced in governments around the world. Social implications – This paper shows how failure to attend to the broader policy arena within which the public library resides creates dangerous blind spots for the public library community. Originality/value – This paper contextualizes the immaterial and volunteer labour of the public library user as producer/consumer in the context of the future of the frontline professional and waged librarian.

Democracy, digitisation and public libraries

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bo Skøtt
Keyword(s):  
Digital Media ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Public Library ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
National Library ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Media Types

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate what democratic challenges the digitisation of the public libraries in Denmark has entailed. Using the concepts from a national library professional strategy from 2012, an analysis of 9 librarians’ experiences with digital dissemination in practice is conducted. Design/methodology/approach The paper is a part of a larger research project called “If digitisation is the answer, then what was the question?”. This sub study builds on the semi-structured interviews with library staff members, case-descriptions of two central providers of digital public library materials, as well as literature studies of missions, vision and strategies from different public library policy institutions. To frame the study, a literature review has been conducted. Findings The author detects the presence of several incompatible conditions in digital dissemination. These conditions are predominantly of an organisational nature, potentially containing major consequences for citizens’ free and equal access to information, knowledge and culture. Among other things, the Danish public libraries risk substantiating an already existing and problematic polarisation between technologically capable and incapacitated groups of people. Originality/value The digital transformation of society has only just begun. Therefore, it is important to examine the consequences of the transition to digital media types for central cultural institution such as the public libraries. The present study is an early and minor contribution to the illumination of a process requiring many more and large-scale studies.

Public sector entrepreneurship in South Africa

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 500-512
Author(s):  
Boris Urban ◽  
Mmapoulo Lindah Nkhumishe
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
South African ◽  
Middle Level ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Provision Of Services ◽  
Efficiency And Effectiveness ◽  
Organisational Factors

Purpose Many unanswered questions remain regarding the authors’ understanding of how entrepreneurship can be fostered in the public sector. To fill this knowledge gap, the purpose of this paper is to conduct an empirical investigation to determine the relationship between different organisational factors and entrepreneurial orientation (EO) in the South African public sector. Design/methodology/approach Primary data are sourced from middle-level managers at municipalities in the three largest provinces across South Africa. Hypotheses are statistically tested using regression analyses. Findings Results reveal that the organisational antecedents of structure and culture explain a significant amount of variation in the EO dimensions of innovativeness, risk taking and proactiveness. Additionally, the findings on organisational rewards converge with an emerging stream of research which highlights that while rewards works well to motivate individuals in the private sector, they are negatively correlated with entrepreneurship in the public sector. Research limitations/implications The study implications relate to the efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery of municipalities in South Africa. Due to increases in community protest actions, it is necessary not only to maximise efficiency in the provision of services, but also to innovate and be proactive in order to achieve more with less resources. Originality/value By investigating previously unrelated factors in the public sector, the authors create closer conceptual and empirical links between the role of organisational factors and each of the EO dimensions. Furthermore, the study takes place in a relatively under-researched entrepreneurship and public sector context.

Public libraries and public primary school literacy: a Kenyan case study

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (8/9) ◽  
pp. 689-701
Author(s):  
Peter Mose
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Public Library ◽  
School Type ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Library Staff ◽  
Teachers And Parents

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explain how public libraries have been instrumental in early child school literacy teaching and learning. Most African public schools do not usually afford enough core textbooks and supplementary readers.Design/methodology/approachThis was a qualitative case study in Western Kenya amongst public library staff members, public primary school teachers and parents of library children clients. The following questions were addressed: What is the book situation in public primary schools in the study site? What school-type literacy-related services are offered by the sampled public library? and What are library staff members’, teachers’ and parents’ feelings about the public library services offered? Observations, interviews and document studies were used to collect data. Data were analysed thematically.FindingsPublic schools do not have enough core textbooks and the situation is worse for supplementary readers; the public library branch studied offers critical school-type literacies to school children both at the library building as well as at public schools registered with it; and library staff members, teachers, and parents express positive feelings about the services offered.Research limitations/implicationsThis was a case study whose findings might not apply to the larger situation and the study did not confirm actual literacy benefits of the library services amongst school children by, for instance, conducting literacy tests. The findings are, however, an index to the possible situation in the macro context.Practical implicationsThe relevant stakeholders should find ways of co-opting public libraries as associates of public schools in literacy teaching. This relationship is not straight forward in Kenya.Originality/valueThe findings reported are from original research.

A study of the evaluation of a library’s economic value based on the users’ and librarians’ perceptions

2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 561-596
Author(s):  
Younghee Noh
Keyword(s):  
Local Community ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Economic Value ◽  
Job Creation ◽  
Public Library ◽  
Evaluation Index ◽  
Human Resources Development ◽  
Preliminary Evaluation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public

Purpose This study aims to develop an evaluation index to evaluate the economic value among the values of the library and also attempts to measure the economic value of the library by performing a survey of the librarians and users at public libraries. The results of this research would likely encourage the librarians to feel increasingly confident about the library, while students and users, in general, would also likely be able to realize the economic value and presence of the library in more perceptive ways, thereby contributing to the activation of the library. Design/methodology/approach This study pertains to the development of an evaluation index for assessing the economic value of the library and, to evaluate the economic value of the library, has derived a preliminary evaluation index by collectively gathering and analyzing the domestic and foreign papers on the value of the library in its first phase. The preliminary evaluation index derived was verified by conducting three phases of Delphi survey by selecting ten experts. The survey questionnaire was developed to measure the economic value based on the final evaluation index derived from this study, and the economic value was measured against the perceptions of librarians and users of the public library. Findings The economic value of the library was divided into the four categories of the local economy’s value enhancement, namely, connection with the local community, human resources development, job creation and investment value enhancement for the librarians and users surveyed for assessment purposes. Consequently, the area of connection with the local community turned out to be the highest at 4.15, followed by 4.02 of the investment value improvement, 3.58 for the local economy’s value improvement and 3.50 for the human resources development and job creation, respectively. Furthermore, the respondents demonstrated the highest level of consensus on average on how the resource sharing by libraries has helped to reduce the economic burden for the residents as a matter of social value for the public library while believing that the libraries deliver a high level of return on social investments. Originality/value There are not that many studies conducted on the economic influence or the value of public libraries in Korea, and they are merely referenced in part if and when referenced to the overall value of the library. Given that, the research that focuses only on the economic value of the library must be carried out. In this respect, this research has been quite meaningful. The evaluation index developed in this research is likely to become a basic tool that can be applied to public libraries, as well as other types of libraries. Furthermore, the evaluation index developed through this research could be applied to nonprofit organizations, such as libraries, and would likely have a social ripple effect as a research that evaluates and presents the economic value of libraries. Accordingly, in this research, we have analyzed the list presented by the American Library Association and domestic research results, and have also structured the core details and derived the preliminary economic value index. Finally, 4 evaluation areas, 7 evaluation items and 22 evaluation indicators have been developed through the Delphi survey through three phases.

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