Key library service dimensions for serving the needs of higher education students in Namibia

2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 263-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shameem Ali
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Living Conditions ◽  
Student Perspective ◽  
Library Services ◽  
Facilities Management ◽  
Clear Understanding ◽  
Content Type ◽  
High Level

Purpose – Students at higher education institutions in under-developed countries face many study and learning-related impediments and challenges. The purpose of this paper is to ascertain the library usage behaviour and experiences of students as well as to explore reliance on campus-based private study options due largely to the disadvantaged living conditions of many students. Design/methodology/approach – A survey of students was conducted to identify how the institutional library is used, what perception students have of the library services and what the service gaps are. Perceptions were measured across 20 indicators adapted from previous studies. The survey sought information on the rate of library usage, the main reason for the most recent library visit and reasons that had ever prevented them from visiting the library. Post survey, three focus group sessions were conducted to discuss issues relating to home study environments and preliminary findings from the survey stage. Findings – Based on the item groupings five service dimensions were identified. These were student services/facilities, management, collection, study spaces and access. Despite indicating a high level of dissatisfaction with some aspects of the library services, students preferred the library because home environments are not conducive to study and learning. The service dimensions identified by the study relate to the areas of greatest need from the student perspective. Practical implications – The implementation of many of the virtual characteristics of university libraries should be based on a clear understanding of the local information needs, searching behaviours as well as being cognizant of how and why libraries are accessed. In this regard consideration must be given to the lack of study facilities at home. Originality/value – In the context of developed countries the notion of virtual libraries is a reality. However, in the African context such a notion seems “remote” from the perspectives of many students, especially those from the lower socio-economic backgrounds. Many of these students come from poor living conditions and have no study and learning opportunities outside of campus. This paper raises these issues for consideration in library planning and budget allocations for universities in poor communities.

Professional competence and attitudes of library personnel towards digital services in selected university libraries in Nigeria

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abiodun Daniel Atanda ◽  
Kehinde Abayomi Owolabi ◽  
Chukwuemeka Peter Ugbala
Keyword(s):  
Digital Libraries ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Professional Competence ◽  
Geographical Area ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Library Services ◽  
University Libraries ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Digital Services ◽  
The University

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the professional competence and attitude of library personnel towards digital services in selected university libraries in Nigeria. Despite the evolution of digital technologies in university libraries, as well as massive investment and research on digital libraries particularly in developed countries, it has been observed that many university libraries in Nigeria are still relatively reliant on traditional library services which no longer serve and satisfy the twenty-first-century users’ needs. Design/methodology/approach The population of the study comprised all the 196 library personnel from the 5 purposively selected university libraries in Nigeria. The total enumeration sampling method was adopted; while the questionnaire was the main instrument for data collection. Findings The findings of the study revealed that internet service was the most available digital service in libraries. It further revealed that most of the library personnel have requisite proficiency skills in basic computer operations. However, inadequate power supply was the major problem affecting digital services in the university libraries. Research limitations/implications The study is limited to a specific geographical area and selected university libraries in Ogun State, Nigeria. Accordingly, further studies need to be carried out on the same or similar subject matter, in other states or regions in Nigeria. Practical implications The need for library personnel to acquire relevant information and communication technology skills and develop a positive attitude that will enable them to render effective digital library services in the university libraries. Apart from this, university libraries should also strive to train users on how to access digital services in the libraries. Originality/value This study is novel, in the sense that it is the first of its kind to examine the professional competence and attitude of library personnel towards digital services in university libraries in Nigeria. The paper reported the necessary skills that library staffs need to demonstrate to effectively use various digital resources in the libraries to meet the information needs of their users.

Board demographic diversity, firm performance and strategic change

2014 ◽  
Vol 37 (12) ◽  
pp. 1110-1136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Kipkirong Tarus ◽  
Federico Aime
Keyword(s):  
Firm Performance ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Strategic Change ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Outcome Variable ◽  
Demographic Diversity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Fixed Effects Regression ◽  
High Level

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of boards’ demographic diversity on firms’ strategic change and the interaction effect of firm performance. Design/methodology/approach – This paper used secondary data derived from publicly listed firms in Kenya during 2002-2010 and analyzed the data using fixed effects regression model to test the effect of board demographic and strategic change, while moderated regression analysis was used to test the moderating effect of firm performance. Findings – The results partially supported board demographic diversity–strategic change hypothesis. In particular, results indicate that age diversity produces less strategic change, while functional diversity is associated with greater levels of strategic change. The moderated regression results do not support our general logic that high firm performance enhances board demographic diversity–strategic change relationship. In effect, the results reveal that at high level of firm performance, board demographic diversity produces less strategic change. Originality/value – Despite few studies that have examined board demographic diversity and firm performance, this paper introduces strategic change as an outcome variable. This paper also explores the moderating role of firm performance in board demographic diversity–strategic change relationship, and finally, the study uses Kenyan dataset which in itself is unique because most governance and strategy research uses data from developed countries.

Characterizing response quantity on academic social Q&A sites: a multidiscipline comparison of linguistic characteristics of questions

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lei Li ◽  
Anrunze Li ◽  
Xue Song ◽  
Xinran Li ◽  
Kun Huang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Information Needs ◽  
Function Words ◽  
Second Person ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Five Disciplines ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Academic Communication ◽  
High Level ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

PurposeAs academic social Q&A networking websites become more popular, scholars are increasingly using them to meet their information needs by asking academic questions. However, compared with other types of social media, scholars are less active on these sites, resulting in a lower response quantity for some questions. This paper explores the factors that help explain how to ask questions that generate more responses and examines the impact of different disciplines on response quantity.Design/methodology/approachThe study examines 1,968 questions in five disciplines on the academic social Q&A platform ResearchGate Q&A and explores how the linguistic characteristics of these questions affect the number of responses. It uses a range of methods to statistically analyze the relationship between these linguistic characteristics and the number of responses, and conducts comparisons between disciplines.FindingsThe findings indicate that some linguistic characteristics, such as sadness, positive emotion and second-person pronouns, have a positive effect on response quantity; conversely, a high level of function words and first-person pronouns has a negative effect. However, the impacts of these linguistic characteristics vary across disciplines.Originality/valueThis study provides support for academic social Q&A platforms to assist scholars in asking richer questions that are likely to generate more answers across disciplines, thereby promoting improved academic communication among scholars.

Exploring the student perspectives on the barriers of online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative study using interpretative phenomenological analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shikha Rana
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Online Learning ◽  
Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis ◽  
Phenomenological Analysis ◽  
Student Perspective ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Student Teacher Relationship ◽  
Academic Courses ◽  
The Government

PurposeThe present study aims to gauge the perspectives of students on the difficulties they faced during online learning during the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) through the interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) technique.Design/methodology/approachThe current study employed IPA, and it was conducted among the students enrolled for professional courses in the government, private and deemed-to-be universities in Uttarakhand, India, using semi-structured interviews for the purpose of data collection.FindingsThe findings have been grouped under five parts referred to as “superordinate themes” or “barriers” which comprises learning in an online class environment, online learning in the home environment, student–teacher relationship in online learning, technical hindrances in online learning and health issues in online learning. These superordinate themes were further grouped under sub-themes.Research limitations/implicationsThe present study focused on the students of various private, public and deemed-to-be universities of the Uttarakhand region and represents the higher education sector only and did not tap the primary, secondary and vocational education. The students of academic courses or degree courses like arts, commerce, basic sciences and humanities, etc. were not included in the research study. Hence, the study lacks generalizability.Practical implicationsThe research findings of the present study have implications for higher education institutions (HEIs), teachers, students and policymakers.Originality/valueThe present study addresses the methodological gap by offering a new line of research where IPA has been used as the methodology to determine the barriers of online learning in the COVID-19 situation, and to the best of the authors’ knowledge, none of the studies have used it so far to ascertain the barriers to online learning from the student perspective.

Perceptions, reality and semantics: exploring perceptions of coaching and academic advising as distinct roles

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alicia Sepulveda ◽  
Matthew Birnbaum
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
United States ◽  
Academic Advising ◽  
Distinct Type ◽  
The United States ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Clear Understanding ◽  
Academic Coaching ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Practical Implications

PurposeCoaching in higher education has become increasingly common across the United States. Our qualitative study explores the perceptions of coaches and advisors, as they consider academic coaching as a role distinct from academic advising.Design/methodology/approachOur study adopts a qualitative research approach. Two focus groups were conducted with 14 coaching and academic advising professionals.FindingsOur findings identify at least three major themes when considering academic coaching as a role distinct from academic advising: (1) Potential role overlap, (2) Caseload disparities and (3) Philosophical differences. The indiscriminate use of the title of “coach” contributed to confusion, ambiguity and tension.Practical implicationsWithout a clear understanding of the coach role as a distinct type of support in higher education, confusion and ambiguity are likely to continue.Originality/valueNo studies have explored the perceptions of coaches and advisors, as they consider academic coaching as a role distinct in the United States.

scholarly journals Economic Models of Higher Education: An International Perspective

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre-Bruno Ruffini
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Cost Sharing ◽  
Economic Models ◽  
State Intervention ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
International Perspective ◽  
Tuition Fees ◽  
Market Mechanisms ◽  
High Level ◽  
The Cost

As other sectors, higher education can be characterized by the combination of market mechanisms and state intervention in its funding and organization. Although higher education systems of developed countries pursue similar goals (provide high-level manpower, meet individual and social demands, etc.) and face similar challenges (massive expansion, internationalization, MOOCs, etc.) their economic models differ significantly. In some countries, universities are public and charge no or very low tuition fees, whereas in other countries, the cost-sharing with parents and students is much more demanding. The paper will try to underscore and explain these differences by drawing on the lessons of economic analysis and on the historical and cultural background of countries.

Information Rich Systems and User's Goals and Information Needs

2006 ◽  
pp. 338-343
Author(s):  
Michael J. Albers
Keyword(s):  
Problem Solving ◽  
Task Analysis ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Complete Sequence ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Clear Understanding ◽  
Complex Problems ◽  
Linear Sequence ◽  
Sequence Of Events ◽  
High Level

Currently, most of the Web is designed from the viewpoint of helping people who know what they want but need help accomplishing it. User goals may range from buying a new computer to making vacation plans. Yet, these are simple tasks that can be accomplished with a linear sequence of events. With information-rich sites, the linear sequence breaks down, and a straightforward process to provide users with information in a useful format does not exist. Users come to information-rich sites with complex problems they want to solve. Reaching a solution requires meeting goals and subgoals by finding the proper information. Complex problems are often ill-structured; realistically, the complete sequence can’t even be defined because of users’ tendencies to jump around within the data and to abandon the sequence at varying points (Klein, 1999). To reach the answer, people need the information properly positioned within the situation context (Albers, 2003; Mirel, 2003a). System support for such problems requires users to be given properly integrated information that will assist in problem solving and decision making. Complex problems normally involve high-level reasoning and open-ended problem solving. Consequently, designer expectations of stable requirements and the ability to perform an exhaustive task analysis fall short of reality (Rouse & Valusek, 1993). While conventional task analysis works for well-defined domains, it fails for the ill-structured domains of information-rich sites (Albers, 2004). Instead of exhaustive task analysis, the designer must shift to an analysis focused on providing a clear understanding of the situation from the user’s point of view and the user’s goals and information needs.

Demonstrating the motivational scale for commitments toward teachers’ turnover intentions using self-determination theory: a case of higher education institutions in Pakistan

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sayeda Zeenat Maryam ◽  
Fouzia Ali ◽  
Mehvish Rizvi ◽  
Sadia Farooq
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Turnover Intentions ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Self Determination Theory ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Relationship

PurposeThis paper aims to demonstrate the turnover intentions (TIs) among the academic faculty of higher education institutions (HEIs) in Pakistan through their motivation and commitment toward the concerned institution. It inspects the relationship of dimensions of motivation including an absence of motivation (AM), extrinsic motivation (ExM) and intrinsic motivation (InM) with the dimensions of commitment including affective commitment (AC), continuous commitment (CC) and normative commitment (NC) and finally the academic's TIs.Design/methodology/approachThe paper used the self-determination theory (SDT), the theory of organizational commitment (OC) and the theory of planned behavior (TPB) for its proposed model. A sample of 500 academics, working under higher education commission recognized public and private universities in Punjab Pakistan. A structural equation modeling (SEM) conducted for analysis using an algorithm, bootstrapping and blindfolding techniques.FindingsThe outcomes of the research are attention-grabbing, as no direct relationship has been observed between the dimensions of motivation and TIs except InM. The dimensions of commitments are mediating the relationship between motivation and TIs with high significance value. The results reveal a significant adverse effect on TIs through two dimensions of commitment.Research limitations/implicationsAs it is the case of a developing country like Pakistan therefore the finding cannot generalize to developed countries.Practical implicationsThe findings of this research may lead the policymakers and practitioners of HEIs and controlling body to retain their competent teachers.Social implicationsThis research can help the private sector to develop strategies about the retention of their competent teachers within the institutions that not just value the institution but also will be much beneficial for the students and society.Originality/valueThis paper is identifying how motivation is related to TIs and the role of commitment in it at HEIs. Still, no research has been conducted considering this avenue of SDT, OC and TPB

scholarly journals The practices of quality management in Norwegian higher education

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 698-708
Author(s):  
Bjørn Stensaker ◽  
Elisabeth Hovdhaugen ◽  
Peter Maassen
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Quality Management ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Division Of Labour ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Study Programme ◽  
Using Data ◽  
High Level ◽  
And Control

Purpose In recent decades, higher education institutions have been encouraged to develop their own internal management systems as a response to perceived quality challenges in the sector. These quality management (QM) systems have often been found to mainly reflect external accountability requirements, with less focus on coherent study programme development. The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between QM practices and study programme delivery in Norwegian higher education institutions. Design/methodology/approach The study examined how coordination and control of quality work with respect to educational activities take place, using data from a survey to study programme leaders in a large sample of Norwegian higher education institutions. Findings The main findings show that a majority of institutions have established formal advisory bodies with a QM mandate, contributing to more coherent thinking, even though the division of labour between these bodies and formal decision-making structures often is unclear. The study also shows a high level of diversity in the collaboration practices among different actors involved in QM work, indicating that QM practices are adapted to local needs. Originality/value The paper provides new knowledge as to how QM is conducted in practice at the local level. It nuances earlier studies by showing the involvement of collegial bodies in QM although such bodies may have unclear mandates and, thus, an unclear role in the QM process.

Digital transparency and public accountability in Spanish universities in online media

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 701-732 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yolanda Ramírez ◽  
Ángel Tejada
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Public Universities ◽  
Relational Capital ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Spanish Universities ◽  
Spanish Public Universities

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent and quality of online intellectual capital (IC) disclosure released via websites and social media in relation to university stakeholders’ information needs in Spanish public universities. In addition, this paper examines whether there are differences in the online IC disclosure according to the type of university. Design/methodology/approach The study applies content analysis and a survey. The content analysis was used to analyse the websites and social media (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram) of all Spanish public universities in the year 2019, whereas the survey was submitted to all members of the Social Councils of Spanish public universities. Findings The findings indicate that university stakeholders attach great importance to online disclosure of specific information about IC. However, the findings emphasise that Spanish universities’ website and social media content are still in their infancy. Specifically, this study found that the quality of disclosed information on IC in public universities’ websites is of low level, particularly with regard to the disclosure of relational capital. The study found that the information provided by Spanish public universities via social media mainly concerns the structural and relational capital. Likewise, the results of this paper evidence that the larger and more internationally focused universities reveal more online information on IC. Practical implications The results of the research may be beneficial for managers of higher education institutions as a basis for developing adequate strategies addressing IC disclosure through the websites. In order to satisfy the information needs of university stakeholders, Spanish universities can be recommended to focus on reporting higher-quality information on financial relations, students’ satisfaction, quality standard, work-related knowledge/know-how and collaboration between universities and other organisations such as firms, local government and society as a whole. Originality/value This study explores two innovative tools to provide IC disclosure in the higher education institutions context, namely, websites and social media, whereas previous studies focused on traditional tools as annual report. Likewise, this study considers the quality of this information.

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