Convenience and accessibility of library services to students with disabilities at the University of Limpopo in South Africa

2016 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 180-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justice Phukubje ◽  
Mpho Ngoepe
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Information Access ◽  
Library Services ◽  
Disabled Students ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Service Unit ◽  
The Disabled ◽  
The University

Students with disabilities require special convenient access to library services as compared to the general student population. Despite the special needs requirements, there is consensus among researchers that access to library services by students with disabilities is not yet fully available, especially in countries in the global periphery. This study utilised quantitative data collected through questionnaires directed to 92 disabled students registered for the 2013 academic year, an interview with the librarian responsible for the disabled students unit and observation using the IFLA checklist for access to libraries for disabled people to evaluate the convenience and accessibility of library services for students with disabilities at the University of Limpopo in South Africa. Even though the study established that a purpose-built library service unit for students with disabilities that complies with international best practice was in place, students with disabilities were not adequately satisfied with the library services they received as very few library materials had been transcribed into accessible formats. The situation was compounded by the fact that only one librarian was assigned to manage and run the library services for the disabled. The study recommends that the university should hire more librarians to assist students with disabilities in the audio-braille library. It is hoped that the study will stimulate policy makers to include students with disabilities in information access and collection development policies. A further study on the needs and academic progress assessment of students with one group of disabilities is recommended.

University of Zululand Library and Inclusive Education: Responding to the Needs of Students with Disabilities

Mousaion ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorothy Eneya ◽  
Dennis N. Ocholla ◽  
Bertha Janneke Mostert
Keyword(s):  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Inclusive Education ◽  
Assistive Technologies ◽  
Equal Access ◽  
Disability Policy ◽  
Library Services ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Education Agenda ◽  
The University

This paper investigates the University of Zululand Library’s response to the university’s inclusive education agenda with respect to the accessibility of library services to students with disabilities. This was a qualitative study within the interpretive paradigm that used Michael Oliver’s social model of disability as an underpinning theory. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from students with disabilities and library staff. In addition, physical inspection of the library building was also conducted. Data analysis was done by thematic analysis. The study reveals that the University of Zululand Library services are not inclusive. Students with disabilities struggle to access library services. They faced such challenges as inaccessibility of library services, unavailability of resources in alternative formats and assistive technologies, and the lack of a disability policy. The study also found that the library faced the following challenges in providing services for students with disabilities: limited funding, a lack of staff awareness and training, the lack of a disability policy and a lack of collaboration. Formulating regulations to enforce the implementation of disability policy and legislation, developing institutional disability policies, and providing assistive technologies are critical in ensuring the accessibility of library services to students with disabilities at the University of Zululand. Unless students with disabilities have equal access to information, the university’s inclusive education agenda will remain a distant dream. Access to academic library services is critical to the full participation of students with disabilities in education. Likewise, inclusive university education can only be realised when students with disabilities have equal access to information. This aligns with the Sustainable Development Goals and the United Nations Convention on the Rights for Persons with Disabilities, which promote equal access to services and facilities to persons with disabilities. This paper raises awareness for both library staff and university management about the current status of library facilities and services with respect to accessibility for students with disabilities and how to address inclusiveness in library service provision.

scholarly journals Entrepreneurship Education and Disability: An Experience at a Spanish University

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosa Maria Muñoz ◽  
Yolanda Salinero ◽  
Isidro Peña ◽  
Jesus David Sanchez de Pablo
Keyword(s):  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Entrepreneurship Education ◽  
Demographic Variables ◽  
Disabled Students ◽  
La Mancha ◽  
Start Up ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Potential Impact ◽  
The University ◽  
First Time

The European Commission considers the following groups of entrepreneurs: females, family businesses, liberal professions, migrants, and seniors. Disabled people are not included, and this paper could, therefore, open up a new field of research and an important issue to be considered among the European Union’s social objectives. The University of Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM) in Spain provides an entrepreneurship education course, “Entrepreneurship and disability,” for disabled students. It is the first time that a course with these characteristics has been taught at a Spanish University, which signifies that there is no similar research of this nature. Keeping in mind its originality, this study makes an important contribution to the field. The main objective is to analyze whether the motivation to start up a business differs between students with disabilities and those without. We analyzed “before” and “after” data in order to test the potential impact of entrepreneurship education on the students’ entrepreneurial attitude. An analysis of variance with several demographic variables has allowed us to prove that the education that students received, their business experience, and their field of study have significant effects. This statistical test showed no significant differences between disabled and non-disabled students.

scholarly journals Engaging academic staff with reading lists

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 222
Author(s):  
Allie Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Best Practice ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Library Services ◽  
Online Reading ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Reading List ◽  
Library Use ◽  
The University ◽  
Teaching In Higher Education ◽  
The Impact

Following the implementation of online reading list software, Library Services at the University of Worcester (UW) encouraged academic staff to consider the reading list as a learning tool. Using an interactive teaching session timetabled as part of the Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, lecturers are asked to consider how they can maximise the impact of their reading lists and increase library use. The pedagogy of reading lists and student engagement with reading are examined. Participants also discuss the type of content reading lists typically contain and question whether this accurately reflects what the students should be reading. It draws on best practice from academic colleagues at UW, examining (among other things) the effect of list length, structure and lecturer voice and presence.

Delivering equitable distance library services to off-campus users at the University of the Free State in South Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lianda Coetzer ◽  
Patrick Mapulanga
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Academic Library ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Free State ◽  
Library Services ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Perceived Satisfaction ◽  
Online Library ◽  
The University

Purpose The purpose of this study is to assess the perceived satisfaction of Advanced Certificate in Teaching students and facilitators regarding online library services offered by the University of the Free State (UFS) in South Africa. Design/methodology/approach The study adopted a quantitative approach with open-ended questions that generated some qualitative data. Data has been presented using descriptive statistics in the form of tables, graphs and charts and thematic content analysis for some qualitative data. Findings All learners in this study were adults between 45 and 55 years of age. Of the respondents, 13% lacked online experience, while about 85% had never used online library services and 35% indicated that Google was their primary source of information. The majority of respondents indicated information literacy as a core function of the academic library. High data cost in South Africa came out as one of the major issues affecting distance learners as well as login and password frustrations. The study confirmed computer anxiety, physical discomfort, information overflow and prompt response as some of the perceived challenges and levels of satisfaction respectively of Advanced Certificate in Teaching students and facilitators regarding online library services offered by the University of the Free State (UFS) in South Africa. Practical implications The study revealed that a distance learning library policy is of the essence because it helps to put in place rules and regulations that guide the delivery of distance library services. Originality/value The offering of online and distance library services is a fairly new concept to the UFS library. This study bridges the gap between theory and practice regarding the perceived satisfaction of distance users on online library services and how to improve the current practice.

“PROTRACTED CONFLICT”

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 407-439
Author(s):  
Mircea Alexandru Platon
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Cold War ◽  
Policy Research ◽  
The United States ◽  
University Of Pennsylvania ◽  
United States Military ◽  
Open Society ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Protracted Conflict ◽  
The University

AbstractRobert Strausz-Hupé (1903-2002) and Stefan Possony (1913-1995) were two scholars and policy makers who reached the peak of their careers as the tutelary spirits of the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI), founded in 1955 at the University of Pennsylvania. Through the FPRI and its journal,Orbis, the influence of these two anti-”totalitarian” crusaders reached the high echelons of the United States military and U.S. policy makers. This article analyzes the way in which the intellectuals of the FPRI—“defense intellectuals”—tweaked concepts such as “human rights,” “freedom,” “democracy,” and “open society” in order to promote the interests of the United States’s military-industrial establishment, court racist lobbies, and accommodate problematic Cold War allies such as South Africa.

scholarly journals Academic library services for students with disabilities (Research project for the Daphne Clark Award 1991/2)

2013 ◽  
Vol 19 (62) ◽  
pp. 10-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hazel Clarke
Keyword(s):  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Academic Library ◽  
Academic Ability ◽  
Library Services ◽  
Learning Support ◽  
Research Project ◽  
The University ◽  
North London

The project began as a challenge. The University of North London has a goal to facilitate access to all potential students with the academic ability to complete their chosen course. The library plays a key role in providing learning support, yet had no policy on providing for students with disabilities. The research project was formulated, and submitted to LIRG for consideration for the Daphne Clark award 1991/92. The main objective was to gain information on which to base a policy and plan of action to provide services for students with disabilities. Students at North London provided a practical base for the project.

scholarly journals Modeling the Factors that Influence Employee Attitude and Service Delivery Behavior among Higher Education Professionals

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (5(J)) ◽  
pp. 146-158
Author(s):  
Omoruyi O. ◽  
Chinomona E
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Professional Development ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Service Delivery ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
University Policy ◽  
Education Professionals ◽  
Higher Education Professionals ◽  
Employee Attitude ◽  
The University

Good and well calculated service delivery is very essential for the smooth running of institutions and for life long learning of students. Looking at factors that lead to employee attitude and service delivery bevaviour helps the higher education professionals to build a strong positive relationships with peers, students, staff and university leaders. This paper will look at remuneration, professional development and Information Communication Technology (ICT) efficiency as factors that contribute to positive employee attitude and good service delivery behaviour. Efforts by higher education institutions to improve the quality and standards of education professionals have progressed through the use of various forms of student feedback and methods of evaluation in an attempt to understand what matters to students’ and educational professionals regarding their educational experience. Structured questionnaires were distributed to university professionals, which include all university staff like Deans of faculties, Heads of departments and lecturers at one University of Technology (UoT). A quantitative method using Smart PLS was employed to test the relationships among the four hypotheses. The positive relationship between the four proposed hypotheses validatesthat remuneration; professional Development and ICT efficiencyare instrumental strategy to stimulating employee attitude and service delivery behavior of employees.Practically, the study build on a new direction towards research based on consumer behaviour by opening up a discussion on the importance of marketing practices in the development and improvement of service delivery behaviours in one UoTs in South Africa. Based on the findings, recommendations will be made to both the university policy makers and the university professionals for efficacy reasons. The proposed study is expected to have practical and theoretical implications to policy makers for the university and university professionals. In addition, it will provide added insights and added new knowledge to the existing body of literature hitherto not studied extensively in South Africa and UoT in particular.

scholarly journals Provision of Assistive Technology for Students with Visual Impairment in University Libraries in India

2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 104-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anand M Dodamani ◽  
Sukanya M Dodamani
Keyword(s):  
Assistive Technology ◽  
Visual Impairment ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Library Services ◽  
University Libraries ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Systematic Exploration ◽  
The Status ◽  
Library Websites ◽  
The University

The use of advanced IT applications has enabled the university libraries to provide innovative library services to their patrons. While the general students are getting all required services from the libraries, the students with visual impairment have continued to face challenges in accessing the library collection. The technology to help overcome these challenges is available today in the form of assistive technology (AT). Unfortunately, a majority of the university libraries in the country do not have this technology in their libraries due to which a huge amount of information stored in the books and journals subscribed by them has become out of reach of the students with visual impairment. The present study was conducted to ascertain the status of AT to support students with visual impairment in university libraries. The study which has covered around 185 universities, provides the first systematic exploration of the status of AT in university libraries in India. The major findings of the study in context of university libraries in India are: 12.97 per cent having Braille Books in their collection; 22.70 per cent have made provision for AT for students with visual impairment; 22.70 per cent have accessible library websites; 21.08 per cent have designated staff members to serve the students with disabilities; 22.70 per cent have ‘written disability policy or ‘documented minutes’ related to the ‘library services for the students with disabilities’.

The functions of the National Archives of South Africa regarding universities’ records and archives

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nkholedzeni Sidney Netshakhuma
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
The South ◽  
Content Type ◽  
National Archives ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Teaching Learning ◽  
The University

Purpose This paper aims to assess the functions of the National Archives of South Africa regarding universities’ records and archives by comparing the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) and the University of Venda’s (Univen) implementation of the National Archives and Records Service of South Africa Act, No. 43 of 1996 (NARSSA) provisions 11 and 13, with the view of recommending best practice. Design/methodology/approach The quantitative research methodology was adopted. The data collection tool was a questionnaire completed by 34 heads of divisions, departments and units from the Wits and Univen, supplemented by a document review. Thus, the study population comprised universities’ heads of divisions, departments and units. Findings The National Archives of South Africa is not playing a role in providing advice to universities on how to manage their records and archives to fulfil their teaching, learning and research mandate, protect them from litigation and preserve their corporate memory such as records with national and international significance. Most of the respondents were not aware of the NARSSA provision 11 on the custody and preservation of records, and provision 13 on the management of public records. NARSSA lacks provision specifically for the management of university records. NARSSA appears vague about the management of university records, as it does not explain the legal definition of university records. Research limitations/implications This is a comparative case study limited to Wits and Univen. The shortcoming of this study is that the author did not provide relevant and detailed information for the article reader to fully understand the functions of the NARSSA provisions 11 and 13 regarding university records and archives at Wits and Univen, respectively. Practical implications The study recommends the South Africa legislature to review the NARSSA regarding records and archives’ role in the university. The researcher’s view is that reviewing existing NARSSA provisions 11 and 13 would provide universities with the responsibility of managing some of their national and international records. This might improve the management of records and this, in turn, would enhance the preservation of records. Originality/value This paper appears to be the first to review the functions of the National Archives of South Africa regarding the South African university’s records and archives.

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