Library succession planning process in Vietnam

Purpose This paper aims to design a model of succession planning process for public and academic libraries in Vietnam. Design/methodology/approach The model of library succession planning process was develop based on the findings of a two-phase research underpinned by transformational leadership theory. Data were collected from 172 responses of the online survey and 23 in-depth interviews in 13 public and 4 academic libraries in the Mekong region, Vietnam. Findings A library succession planning process with six steps was established. Research limitations/implications As the research takes place in both public and academic libraries, the overarching benefit of the present study is to provide library leaders in these sectors with practical understanding and knowledge about how succession planning process can be done, as well as to enhance management practices in Vietnam libraries and other organisations. Leaders from other types of library systems in Vietnam and globally can reference this model so as to know what to do and how to conduct this process confidently. Originality/value This study helps to fill the gap that succession planning in Vietnamese libraries has been done without a specific path. Library leaders in each organisation conducted it differently between public and academic libraries because the government has only issued general guides for all industries of the nation.

Trends and issues in Jamaican academic libraries 2010-2016

Purpose Observing trends and issues plays a key role in the success of any industry. Since 2010, the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL) has been publishing papers on top trends and issues in academic libraries in the USA, allowing for reflection, tracking, lesson drawing, adaptation, planning and direction. Such a publication is absent in the Jamaican library industry. This paper aims to examine the extent to which these trends and issues, as reported by ACRL, are evident in Jamaican academic librarianship. Design/methodology/approach Through document and thematic analysis of publications written on Jamaican academic librarianship 2010-2016, this paper highlights trends and issues in Jamaican academic librarianship. Findings There are similarities in the trends and issues in Jamaican academic librarianship and American academic librarianship; the similarities sometimes vary, however, in focus. Additionally, there are trends and issues in Jamaican academic librarianship not mentioned in the literature reviewed on American academic librarianship and vice versa. Research limitations/implications A survey of the chief librarians’ perceptions regarding the trends and issues would be a useful follow-up. Practical implications This paper allows for reflection, comparison, benchmarking, lesson-drawing, planning and direction for academic libraries and other types of libraries in Jamaica and the rest of the developing world. Social implications The gaps highlighted, particularly those with the most potential, can be discussed with the objective of exploring how these can be translated into new or revised services for the community of users. Originality/value This paper is of value, as there is no publication with an explicit focus on trends and issues in Jamaican academic libraries; this paper will be the first publication on trends and issues in Jamaican academic librarianship. In this regard, this paper makes an important contribution to the literature on academic librarianship generally, and to the literature on Caribbean and Jamaican academic librarianship, specifically.

The persistence of open access electronic journals

Purpose Open access (OA) electronic journals have been identified as potentially at risk of loss without more coordinated preservation efforts. The purpose of this paper is to test the current availability of OA electronic journals indexed in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). Design/methodology/approach Using publicly available journal metadata downloaded from DOAJ, individual journal URLs were tested for validity and accessibility using a Microsoft Excel Visual Basic for Applications macro. Findings Initial results showed 69.51 per cent of the URLs tested returned a successful HTTP status code. The remainder of the URLs returned codes that indicated redirection or errors. Originality/value Unlike past studies of link decay, this is not limited to cited references or a specific discipline. This study uses the full DOAJ metadata to analyze the persistence of OA electronic journals.

Digital literacy skills possessed by students of UNN, implications for effective learning and performance

Purpose The purpose of this study is to identify the digital literacy skills possessed by the students of University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), and the extent to which they use these digital literacy skills in their academic works. Design/methodology/approach Descriptive survey was adopted for the study, and the population consists of registered students that use the mobile telephone network (MTN) digital library, out of which 10 per cent of the population (281) was sampled for the study. A structured questionnaire was the instrument for data collection. The questionnaire was randomly administered on the respondents who come to use the MTN digital library with particular attention to the different levels of the students. The questionnaire distribution lasted for a week; 281 copies of questionnaire were distributed, out which 184 (65 per cent) responded. Findings The study showed that some of the students possess digital literacy skills; they use these digital literacy skills daily. Majority of the respondents indicated that digital literacy has affected their academic performance to a high extent. The major challenges of acquiring digital literacy skills include electricity failure, low internet bandwidth, ICT facilities, lack of development of digital literacy programme and standard. Practical implications Implication of this study is that the establishment by MTN has enhanced the development of digital literacy in UNN as many students utilize these facilities. Originality/value Librarians and library staff should be adequately equipped with digital literacy skills and competencies to empower them to train and educate users, as information and communication technology (ICT) is a major tool for teaching, learning and research. To achieve this goal, there is a need to engage in public private partnership collaboration to sponsor the provision of these ICT facilities in our institutions of higher learning to enhance literacy learning for national development.

Digital collection development and sharing on a national scale

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to study the resource construction mode of the Digital Library Promotion Project, so as to summarize the general characteristics of successful collaborative collection building for digital libraries. Digital Library Promotion Project (DLPP) is a digital culture boosting project launched by the Ministry of Culture of the People’s Republic of China with National Library of China as its implementing unit. The project aims to build a nation-wide library network that could support and guarantee resource development and sharing among public libraries all over China so as to achieve equalization in public culture service among people from different parts of the country. This paper is a case study of the digital library development in China. The present situation of Chinese public libraries is accounted in this paper, and the developing mode and mechanism in cooperation between libraries of different administrative ranking are discussed along with the future development of the project. This paper may provide references to countries and libraries in their efforts to pursue sustainable development. Design/methodology/approach This paper is a case study of digital collection development and sharing in a developing country where regional differences are large. The paper starts with the environmental scan of the resource situation of public libraries in China, which is the background and significance of the DLPP. The main part of the paper is the introduction and analysis of the collection developing method of the DLPP, including: union catalogue, co-construction of featured resources and joint procurement of databases. Through analyzing the mechanism in collection development and sharing, this paper discusses the measures that guarantees the success of the project. Findings Through analyzing the mechanism in collection development and sharing, this paper discusses the measures that guarantee the success of the project, these are: sustained financial support from the government, scientific mechanism for cooperation, flexible handling of copyright issues unified standards in resource development and targeted training programs. Originality/value This paper is a case study of the digital library development in China. The present situation of Chinese public libraries is accounted in this paper, and the developing mode and mechanism in cooperation between libraries of different administrative ranking are discussed, as well as the future development of the project. This paper may provide references to countries and libraries in their efforts to pursue sustainable development.

Libraries, massive open online courses and the importance of place

Purpose Web-based courses are a practical way to engage in meaningful discussions with learners from a diverse set of communities. By gathering online to learn about a topic, learners can form communities that transcend geographic and political boundaries. This paper aims to investigate a partnership between the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison) and Wisconsin Library Services, which brought open access online learning to thousands of lifelong learners around the state of Wisconsin. “Changing Weather and Climate in the Great Lakes Region”, a massive open online course the UW-Madison launched in 2015, paired a regional focus with face-to-face discussions at 21 public libraries to deepen learners’ personal connections to the subject matter. Through strategic partnership, targeted course development and marketing of events, intimate local discussion sessions and statewide events provided fora in which Wisconsin residents would explore changing weather and climate with university faculty, staff and students. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses a case study approach and firsthand interview feedback from librarians, library staff and university faculty and staff who were leading the effort. Findings This paper explores the lessons learned and practical implications from the project and offers insight into libraries and universities looking to engage specific communities in non-credit online learning projects into the future. Originality/value This effort was a first of its kind partnership for the University and the State of Wisconsin.

Libraries and OER

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the use of Open Electronic Resources (OER) as a supplement or replacement for textbooks or entire courses in higher education teaching and learning. Design/methodology/approach This paper is a literature review and commentary on this topic that has been addressed by professionals, researchers and practitioners. Findings Librarians are in a unique position to offer support for faculty seeking to incorporate OER into their courses. In an overall effort to serve as an important option to the mounting costs of education, librarians can offer up their knowledge, skill and training in the development and evaluation of OER. Originality/value The value in exploring this topic is to examine the library’s use of OER and their benefits and challenges in a higher education classroom environment.

Ascertaining the factors that influence the acceptance and purposeful use of cloud computing in medical libraries in India

Purpose This paper aims to identify the factors that influence the acceptance and purposeful use of cloud computing technologies in Indian medical libraries. Design/methodology/approach To meet the stated objectives, a three-round Delphi study was carried out; a panel of 32 participants, with expertise and experience of cloud computing in the context of Indian medical libraries, was constituted. Findings During the study, the participants identified about 60 different factors, and a consensus was reached on 42 of these, which were considered to have a direct impact on the levels of acceptance and purposeful use of cloud computing technologies in Indian medical libraries. The study points out significant factors that should be addressed to accelerate the acceptance and purposeful use of cloud computing technologies in Indian medical libraries. Originality/value The study is the first attempt to study the factors responsible for the adoption of cloud computing in Indian medical libraries through the Delphi technique.

Distinctive services in academic librarianship

Purpose Collection content is no longer the primary distinctive signifier of excellence in the present libraries. In an information market where technology has increased access to content, thereby providing resources at one’s fingertips, the provision of services is increasingly becoming a distinctive signifier of excellence and quality. In such an open/service-oriented marketplace, what are the services that are signifiers of excellence and consequently distinguish a library? This paper aims to review select literature within the USA to identify the services that are signifiers of excellence and that will consequently distinguish a library in the current era and investigate the extent to which said services identified in the review of the literature are provided by the University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona library, but focus specifically on only those that meet the additional criteria of placing the UWI Mona library as either the first to introduce the service in Jamaica or as the only library in Jamaica with the particular service offering. These two additional criteria provide the added signature or uniqueness essential to being distinguished. Design/methodology/approach Through the use of a mixed methods research, this paper highlights library service offerings considered as distinctive signifiers of excellence within the American literature and also within the UWI Mona Library – that will distinguish a library. Findings This paper reveals services incorporating technology, the library as a place/space, teaching and research and personal attention to users as distinctive signifiers of excellence. In this regard, within the UWI Mona Library, services offered such as the Virtual Reference Service, Extended Opening Service, Halls of Residence Librarian Service, Information Commons Service, Information Literacy Service and the West Indies and Special Collection Research Service were found to incorporate the aforementioned service themes and placed the UWI Mona library as either the first to introduce the service in Jamaica or as the only library in Jamaica with the particular service offering, consequently distinguishing the UWI Mona Library from other academic libraries in Jamaica. Originality/value This paper is of value, as it provides the library and information community with an outline of services that distinguish a library; it offers library managers in Jamaica and the rest of the world the opportunity to compare services in their libraries with that of other libraries as outlined within the literature review as well as within the UWI Mona library; it highlights how the UWI Mona library, an academic library in the Caribbean, compares on the international library scene, with particular reference to the USA; it informs current and potential library users of how the UWI Mona library is trending in service culture and a focus on distinctive services can promote a community of academic library service best practice.

User acceptance of the e-information service as information resource

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to extend significantly the technology acceptance model (TAM) of Davis to design an extended TAM model to be used in the evaluation and assessment of e-information services for information research such as e-library services. The present TAM extension is based on two variables of behavioral intention: the perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness of a system. Furthermore, the user satisfaction, free access, information architecture, content richness, policies and rules, publishers’ quality, system self-efficacy and task technology fit were incorporated into the TAM to extend it with other factors theoretically motivated and would be of interest more generally. Design/methodology/approach The researcher adopted an experimental approach-based comparison between an experimental group (107 researchers) using an electronic information service (the e-library service of the university) and a control group (107 researchers) not registered in this e-information service of the university. Findings The researcher used the effect size values based t-test independent samples at the 0.05 level to adapt the structural model equation to the experimental sample. Principal results show that the behavioral intention was influenced significantly by user satisfaction. The perceived usefulness of the e-library services was influenced significantly by the perceived ease of use, information architecture, content richness, free access, publishers’ quality, task-technology fit and e-library service self-efficacy. Originality/value This paper is useful in advancing a framework for the evaluation and assessment of the electronic information service used for information research and exploring users’ attitudes toward using that service.