The entire world needs and seeks information to survive and thrive in the 21st century as a result of information acquisition, with doctors, lawyers, teachers, students and even the elderly all desiring information for their everyday activities. Researchers of different disciplines working at the various federal institutes in Nigeria are no exceptions to the craving for requisite information that will enable them successfully carry out their numerous research projects undertaken towards achieving sustainable national development. The aim of the study was to investigate the information needs and information-seeking behaviour of researchers at the Federal Institute of Industrial Research Oshodi, Nigeria. This study applied both quantitative and qualitative research approaches for the purpose of triangulation. The quantitative approach had a strong dominance over the qualitative approach in this study. This study adopted the positivist paradigm. The questionnaire, interview and observation data collection tools were the chosen tools used to collect data from researchers from the six departments of the Federal Institute of Industrial Research Oshodi and five professional librarians of the institute’s library. Out of 165 questionnaires that were administered to researchers, a total of 121 were returned (resulting in a response rate of 73%). Inaccuracies were identified in seven copies of the questionnaires which were discarded and not analysed. Therefore, usable returns totalled 114 (67%). Wilson’s 1999 model of information behaviour was used as the theoretical framework. This study revealed that both formal and informal sources were consulted by the researchers. It was important to note that the internet was the information source most commonly used by the researchers to obtain information. The institute’s library was poorly used because it contained outdated library materials and was not equipped with an internet facility. The researchers opted for the use of mobile phone/iPad, personally owned or sourced internet access and business centres (supplying internet services outside the institute) to access information sources for information. The study ascertained that there was undoubtedly an instituted library officially established within the institute to provide information to researchers. But due to socio-economic and political problems faced by the country Nigeria, predominantly with respect to the outlook of poor funding of sustainable library development concerns and the government’s lack of interest in research, outdated library collections and poor information provision services have become the given at the institute’s library. This ultimately brought about pessimistic reactions from the researchers. Among its recommendations, the study suggested that funding the institute’s library in order to update and replace outdated library collections is a priority. An information audit should be carried out to ascertain the current state of ICTs within the institute and the institute’s library should be equipped with an internet facility promptly. Adopting these recommendations would enable researchers to have limitless access to items of information they need for research as they seek for information. / Information Science / D. Phil. (Information Science)

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of academic libraries in providing services to culturally diverse student populations. In this study the information needs and information-seeking behaviour of the culturally diverse students of the Technikon Witwatersrand were analysed. The study also tried to establish whether there are differences in information needs and information-seeking behaviour of various cultural groups. The empirical investigation was conducted by means of focus group interviews and a questionnaire survey on a sample of undergraduate students of the Technikon Witwatersrand. There were assumptions that African students have limited experience in using the academic library, have no computer and information handling skills and might have language difficulties. Therefore, the expectation was that African students might have problems in the use of the academic library. However, the results of the empirical study show that English and Afrikaans speaking students are experiencing more problems than African students. / Information Science / M.Inf.

This study examines the efficacy of collection development and management practices, policies, guidelines and standards in universities of technology to meet the information needs of academics and researchers at such institutions. In South Africa, as in Australasia, technikons or polytechnics have been upgraded first into degree granting institutions and then, at the beginning of the 21st century, into universities of technology. The researcher was concerned that library collections in South African universities of technology have not grown to meet the research and teaching needs of academics at the level of universities offering instruction up to a doctoral level. As research funding, government grants and the general prestige of the institutions depend on the research output of the institutions, it is essential that academics and researchers find the information resources they require in their institutional libraries. Case studies of universities of technology in New Zealand and South Africa reveal that, while Auckland University of Technology has been successful in extending its collection to meet the increasing demands placed on it, the collection development policies, standards and guidelines in a South African university of technology need to be upgraded in order to meet the information needs and information behaviour of their researchers and academics. Current levels of funding for the acquisition of information resources in South Africa lag behind those found at the New Zealand university of technology. The university of technology that was the object of the South African case study needs to bring its collection in line with that of similar institutions worldwide. This entails adapting goals and objectives stating how the collection is to develop, evaluating the collection and the needs of users, changing the Collection Development Policy to reflect the direction collection development will take and ensuring that the institution and the government back this project financially. To this end, a model Collection Development Policy has been drawn up that can be adapted to the local requirements of South African universities of technology to assist with the process of developing and managing library collections that will be worthy of such an institution. / Information Science / D. Litt. et Phil. (Information Science)

This study investigated access and use of information in the health-care of home-based elderly people (EPs) in Nakuru District, Kenya. The literature review revealed a gap with respect to information behaviour in health-care of EPs in a development context. The researcher used qualitative methods; with exploratory and descriptive research design because the focus of the study was on the littleknown and socially disadvantaged community of EPs in Nakuru District. Respondents were sampled by using the snowball technique. At the end of an interview session, each respondent was encouraged to nominate someone who either shared the same or had different experiences, views, socio-economic levels and gender. The researcher collected data through face-to-face interviews with EPs, informal care providers (ICPs) and formal health-care providers (FHCPs), in order to gain insight of information behaviour in health-care of EPs, by focusing on aspects of information needs; sources; use of information and factors that influence the respective groups of respondents to access and use health-care information health-care of EPs. The findings showed that the respective groups of respondents had similar as well as diversified needs for information for health-care. The groups used both formal and informal sources of information and channels of communication to access information for health-care, with FHCPs using authoritative sources more than the EPs and ICPs. Factors such as being a professional or a lay person, cost, ease of accessibility, availability of sources and channels of communication, time and trustworthiness of a source or channel of communication determined preference for use of information. The major contribution of the study is to the theory about information behaviour: some EPs and ICPs used CAM services without informing FHCPs, thereby revealing a form of concealed information use behaviour (CIUB). / Information Science / D. Litt. et Phil. (Information Science)

Text in Afrikaans / Dit is belangrik vir 'n inligtingsdiens wat inligting aan die gemeenskap beskikbaar wil stel, om sekere faktore in ag te neem. 'n Belangrike aspek is of die instansie in staat is om 'n bepaalde diens te lewer wat betref voorraad, fasiliteite en personeel. 'n Vraag wat gevra moet word, is of hierdie diens teen betaling gelewer, of as 'n gratis diens aangebied moet word. 'n Belangrike aspek is die bemarking van dienste wat vroeer nie as deel van 'n ondememing sander winsoogmerke gesien is nie, maar deesdae deel van die bestuursproses uitmaak. Daar behoort ook 'n goeie verstandhouding en 'n vennootskap tussen die inligtingsdiens en die gebruiker in die gemeenskap te bestaan en samewerking tussen die partye behoort op hierdie wyse bewerkstellig te word. Om 'n pro-aktiewe inligtingsdiens aan te hied, is dit belangrik dat kennis geneem word van die inligtingsbehoeftes van die bestuurder in die handel en nywerheid. / Certain factors should be taken into consideration when an information service wishes to provide information to the community. An important matter is whether the institution is able to provide certain services as far as the collection, facilities and personnel are concerned. A question that should also be asked, is whether this should be a fee-based service, or a free service. Another important matter is the marketing of services, which in earlier times did not form part of a non-profit organization, but is nowadays regarded as part of normal management practice. There should also exist a good understanding and a partnership between the information service and the user in the community, and in this way co­ operation between both parties should be established. In order to provide a pro-active information service, it is important to have knowledge of the information needs of the manager in industry and commerce. / Information Science / M.Bibl. (Inligtingkunde)

This dissertation analysed the information needs and information-seeking behaviour of visual artists. An empirical survey was conducted on a sample of the more informationliterate visual artists in South Africa. A model of the information environment of South African visual artists was developed. This model provides a basis for another model which represents the optimal service that should be rendered to meet the needs of this user group. It was found that the general information needs of South African artists are fairly adequately met, but that there are several shortfalls, especially in serving their more complex information needs. The most important problems are the lack of training in the use of information sources and services, inadequate marketing of services and inadequate coverage of South African art. It was also found that greater coordination between service providers is urgently required, especially in the provision of information about South African art. / M. (Information Science)

L'objectif de cette étude est de développer un modèle d'information pour représenter les besoins des personnes dans les organismes de bienfaisance de l'Arabie Saoudite. La population cible sont les organismes de bienfaisance qui s'intéressent à la collecte et à la distribution des dons à leurs électeurs.Le but de cette étude est atteint par trois objectifs ; Le premier objectif est d'identifier l'état actuel de l'utilisation des systèmes d'information dans le secteur des organismes de bienfaisance. Le deuxième objectif est d'identifier les besoins d'information de ces organismes de charité à l'égard de leurs bénéficiaires.. En utilisant la théorie des sens et son ensemble de méthodes, nous avons pu comprendre les besoins informatiques du point de vue des utilisateurs eux-mêmes. Le troisième objectif est de faire correspondre les besoins résultant des besoins d'information des organismes de charité avec les dimensions des besoins de développement humain par Narayan et al., (2000) qui a été étudié pour informer le rapport sur le Développement Mondial de la Pauvreté et du Développement. Cette étude est significative parce qu'elle n'a pas été menée dans cette échelle ou cette portée avant, et elle fournit une image claire de l'état actuel de l'utilisation des systèmes d'information dans le secteur, elle fournit également un modèle de recherche éclairé qui aidera à mieux répondre aux besoins des personnes pauvres inscrites dans ces organismes de bienfaisance. Le modèle de besoins d'information résultant de cette étude fournit un élément précieux pour un système d'information futur, basé sur des données de recherche visant à améliorer l'efficacité, la fiabilité et la responsabilité dans la gestion des dons pour le bien-être du constituant.Les données de cette recherche ont été recueillies au moyen de deux études, la première étude a porté sur l'ensemble de la population d'organismes de bienfaisance par le biais d'un sondage électronique et le nombre de cas au final était de 83 organismes de bienfaisance. Cette étude visait à étudier l'état actuel de l'utilisation des systèmes d'information dans les organismes de bienfaisance, les interrogés ont répondu à 18 questions divisées en quatre sections. La première section portait sur le profil de l'organisation. La deuxième concerne les systèmes d'information pour les bénéficiaires. et les dons. La troisième concerne les bénéficiaires. Le quatrième, était une information supplémentaire sur l'adaptation des SI futurs. La deuxième étude a été une entrevue avec 15 organismes de bienfaisance de la région de Riyad. Ils comprenaient des organismes de bienfaisance masculins et féminins, et des organismes de bienfaisance de différentes localités comme le village et la petite ville. Cette étude a utilisé la théorie des sens de Brenda Dervin pour étudier les besoins d'information duPage 2 sur 2point de vue de l'utilisateur à l'organisme de bienfaisance en ce qui concerne les bénéficiaires. et les dons. Les entrevues ont été menées face à face avec chaque cas dans la deuxième étude.Les résultats de cette recherche montrent que l'utilisation des systèmes d'information dans les organismes de bienfaisance est répandue, avec 89,2% des organismes de bienfaisance utilisant un SI dans certains ou tous les processus de travail. Il a également révélé la diversité des processus dans lesquels les organismes de bienfaisance employés SI, comprenant 4 thèmes majeurs et 22 processus de travail distincts. Il a également révélé que les besoins d'information des organismes de charité ont sept ensembles distincts, et chaque ensemble comprend entre 2 et 19 lacunes en matière d'information. Les résultats montrent également que les besoins d'information des organismes de bienfaisance ont une grande couverture des dimensions de bien-être du rapport sur le développement mondial de 2000/2001, couvrant une couverture de 50% à 100%. / The aim of this study is to develop an information model for representing people’s needs in charity organizations of Saudi Arabia. The target population are the charity organizations that are concerned with donations gathering and distribution to their constituents.The aim of this study is achieved through three objectives; the first objective is to identify the current state of information systems use in the sector of charity organizations. The second objective is to identify the information needs of those charity organizations with regard to their constituents. By using the sense-making theory and its set of methods, we were able to understand the informational needs from the perspective of the users themselves. The third objective is to match the resulting sets of informational needs of charity organizations with the dimensions of human development needs by Narayan et al., (2000) which was researched to inform the World Development report on Poverty and Development. This study is significant because it was not conducted in that scale or scope before, and it provides a clear picture of the current state of information systems use in the sector, it also provides a research informed model, which will help better fulfill the needs of the poor people registered at those charities. The information needs model resulting from this study provides a valuable building block for a future information system, which is based on research data to improve efficiency, reliability and accountability in donations management for the wellbeing of the constituent.The data for this research was collected through two studies, the first study was targeted at the whole population of charity organizations through an electronic survey, and the final case number was 83 charities. This study aimed at investigating the current state of information systems use at charity organizations, respondents answered 18 questions divided in four sections. The first section was about the organization’s profile. The second was about information systems for constituents and donations. The third was about the constituents. The fourth, was additional information about adaptation of future IS. The second study was an interview with 15 charity organizations from Riyadh region. They included masculine and feminine charities, and charities of different localities such as village and small-city. This study used the sense-making theory byPage 2 of 2Brenda Dervin to investigate the information needs from the user’s perspective at the charity with regard to constituents and donations. The interviews were conducted face-to-face with each single case in the second study.The results of this research show that the use of information systems at charities is widespread, with 89.2% of charities using an IS in some or all work processes. It also revealed the diversity of processes in which charities employee IS, comprising 4 major themes and 22 distinct work processes. It also revealed that the information needs of charity organizations has seven distinct sets, and each set included between 2 and 19 information gaps. The results also show that the information needs of charities has a great coverage of the wellbeing dimensions of the World Development report of 2000/2001, spanning from 50% to 100% coverage. It also revealed that the number of all information sources, which could bridge the information gaps, are 18 sources spread across five sectors in the country.The information needs model for representing people’s needs was a result of the combination and analysis of all research findings to develop that model. It has nine dimensions of information and its corresponding data inputs, leading to the desired knowledge about the constituent. The model covers all aspects of the life of the constituent and can be modified by individual charities to satisfy their own objectives and to lead to new and relevant knowledge.

Submitted by Priscilla Araujo (priscilla@ibict.br) on 2018-08-14T17:57:21Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Silvana Vetter_Doutorado_2018.pdf: 4357878 bytes, checksum: ff4932ae7b98468cacfeb5a30c9987c7 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-14T17:57:23Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Silvana Vetter_Doutorado_2018.pdf: 4357878 bytes, checksum: ff4932ae7b98468cacfeb5a30c9987c7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-04-27 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Este estudo trata sobre informação no protagonismo social, na defesa dos direitos e na satisfação de necessidades de informação dos idosos, no contexto de Centros de Convivência para idosos, instituições definidas em legislação específica voltadas para esse segmento social. A problemática que gerou o estudo contempla as seguintes questões: em que medida as ações desenvolvidas em Centros de Convivência contribuem para o acesso à informação sobre os direitos, cumprimento desses direitos, assim como atendimento às necessidades e promoção do protagonismo social dos idosos que os frequentam? O quanto esses sujeitos estão conscientes dos seus direitos e agem na busca de informações para a satisfação de suas necessidades e solução de seus problemas? Na busca de respostas para tais indagações, em revisão de literatura, considerou-se abordagens sobre a velhice no cenário atual, especificamente a estigmatização da velhice, o envelhecimento ativo e a feminização da velhice. Abordou-se também literatura que focaliza a relevância da informação no protagonismo social de idosos, enfatizando a sua importância nos dias atuais. Argumentos que consideram aspectos das necessidades de informação, competência em informação e direitos de informação que se mostram relevantes para esse grupo social foram também considerados nesta pesquisa. Como se caracterizam os Centros de Convivência no país, sua origem em legislação e o seu papel social junto à população dos idosos foi o primeiro passo do estudo empírico. A seguir, foram selecionados quatro Centros de Convivência de Idosos do Rio de Janeiro e de São Luís, aqui definidos como o campo de estudo. Nestes foram realizadas observação participante e entrevistas semiestruturadas com usuários dos Centros e com seus coordenadores. Os resultados indicam que os Centros de Convivência realizam várias ações que contribuem para o protagonismo social dos idosos, como informá-los sobre seus direitos e satisfazer outras necessidades de informação. Não foram identificadas, porém, ações de estímulo à atuação dos idosos na definição das atividades do centro e na sua conscientização enquanto grupo social apto a lutar pelos seus direitos. As entrevistas com os idosos mostraram os tipos de necessidades de informação que expressam, além das atividades que valorizam. No seu uso dos Centros destacam-se as atividades de prevenção da doença e de lazer. O desafio aos Centros de Convivência de Idosos é articular o conhecimento adquirido pelos usuários com a solução das necessidades de informação, visando a promoção do envelhecimento ativo e protagonista. / This study deals with the role of information in the social protagonism, in the defense of rights and in the satisfaction of information needs of elders, in the context of Centros de Convivência de Idosos (Centers for the coexistence of the elderly), institutions created by specific Brazilian legislation. The theoretical problematic discussed led to following research questions: the actions promoted by the Centros de Convivência contribute to the access to information about rights of their users, as well as the fulfilment of their information needs and to the promotion of their social protagonism? How much are these elders conscious of their rights, are active in seeking the satisfaction of their needs, and in the solution of their problems? Seeking to answer these questions a literature review was made considering the following themes: old age in contemporary society, especially old age stimatization, active old age, and old age feminization. The literature that approaches the relevance of information in old age protagonism is also considered, as well as arguments about the importance of information needs, information literacy and information rights to this social segment. The first step of the empirical study was the description of the Centros de Convivência in the country, its origin in the legislation and its role in promoting well being of the elderly. Next, four Centros de Convivência in the cities of Rio de Janeiro and São Luís were selected as the study field. In the study of these centers the methods of observation and semi-structured interviews were applied to describe visits to the centers and to obtain information and opinions of coordinators and users. Data results indicate that these centers in fact contribute to the social protagonism of the elderly, as it is the case of providing information about their rights, and information that subsidise them in satisfying their necessities. However, actions to stimulate users in defining the activities of the centers and to promote the consciousness of the users as a social group apt to fight for their rights were not identified. The interviews applied helped to point out several types of information the users need and the activities they value the most. Interview data also show that leisure and disease prevention is what characterizes the use of these centers. The challenge of the Centros de Convivência is to articulate the knowledge acquired by their users with the solution of their information needs, aiming at the promotion of and active and protagonist old age.

This thesis focuses on analysis, definition and description of mobile personal assistants as a phenomenon emerging in past few years. Mobile personal assistants are first mentioned in the context of computational linguistics and information needs, which is one of the motivations to use them. Main interest of this thesis is an introduction of the core technologies for the natural language communication between the assistant and its user, followed by an introduction of host environments and possible usage. The thesis also presents the limitations and risks resulting from using them, which are in some ways affecting their usability. Beside the analysis the main focus is on the design and implementation of the natural language understanding (NLU) system, which can be used in particular personal assistant application. This system is implemented as a web service and consists of an annotation scheme with a set of components. The results show that the system architecture and tools used are suitable solution for the construction of a basic NLU system, which has been created and which is in the compliance with the requested parameters. It is still difficult task to achieve high precision, which depends on many factors including the amount of training data, which was very small in this case. However, the resulting application is a solid starting point for its further development and extensions.

PhDRDV / Institute for Rural Development / Providing access to knowledge and connecting it to the needs of individuals as well as grassroots community have always been at the centre of the mission and purpose of public libraries. Numerous studies conducted in various parts of the world have shown that public libraries are the anchor of the lives of communities where they are established. These studies have revealed that information needs may not be the same for different age groups and for different genders. For that reason many countries have been investing in the establishment of community libraries. In South Africa, a community libraries conditional grant was introduced in 2007 to build capacity for public libraries through building additional libraries and renovating existing ones so that they provide information that will satisfy information needs of all community members. However, there are still concerns about the functionality of public libraries and need to strengthening their capacity so that they adequately address community information. This study was conducted on rural community libraries in Mutale located in the Vhembe District of Limpopo Province, South Africa. The main objective was to develop a model for enhanced functionality of public libraries for rural community development. The study was conceptualized around the ecological framework (Asselin and Doiron, 2014). The specific objectives were: to identify challenges faced by the library in providing services to adults, youth and children: to establish if information needs of adults, youth and children varied due to age, and to assess the level of satisfaction of adults, youth and children with the services of the local public library. The study used an exploratory sequential mixed method design with the qualitative phase preceding the quantitative phase. The qualitative phase had two phases. In the first, phase fourteen key informants were purposefully selected and engaged in face-to-face interviews as well as one focus group. Qualitative data from this phase were analysed using atlas.ti version 8. Results distilled showed that the library was hampered by centralized library services which were run from the district level, insufficient funding, inadequate library operating hours and lack of ICT support. In the second phase, a total of 150 adults, youth and children were purposefully selected and engaged in face-to-face interviews as well as focus group discussions. An interview guide complimented by camera, and voice recorder were used to collect data from the respondents. Atlas ti version 8 was used to analyse the data. The results showed that information needs of the community were not fully met by provisions in the library. A variety of information resources expected to satisfy the needs of adults, youth and children respectively include increased number of computers with internet connection, extended library opening hours including Saturdays , stakeholder engagement to be recognized, the extensive marketing of the library for it to be used by the community and the need to improve the amenities and library infrastructure. Results obtained in the qualitative phase of the study informed the second quantitative phase . During this phase, an evaluative survey was conducted with adults, youth and children. Convenience and snowballing techniques were used to sample 176 respondents. A questionnaire with a Likert-type ranking scale was used to collect data. The International Business Machines, Statistical Product and Service Solutions (IBM SPSS) version 24 was used to analyse the data. Chi Square and Crammer’s V tests were performed on the data. It was established that more female (59%) than male (41%) respondents used the library. Of the respondents engaged 26% o were children; 30% were youth and 55% were adults. In terms of travelling to access the library services 32% of the respondents travels less than two kilometers while 68% travel more than two kilometers. This indicates that the majority of the users have a challenge of accessing the library due to distance. The majority of the respondents (70%) did not use the library frequently, with only 30% being active library users. Significant differences in accessing library services were observed according to age in terms of “Current books on all subjects”, “Major reference works such as Encyclopaedias and dictionaries”, “Books on arts and crafts”, “Audio-visual materials” and “Electronic databases”. No significant differences according to gender were observed on all aspects on availability of materials except for “Children’s materials”. Only the perception on availability of “Current books on all subjects” showed a moderate relationship across age (based on the Cramer’s V value >.3). However, on all the aspects where the results showed an association by age and gender the relationship was deemed weak as demonstrated by Cramer’ V values (<.3). Generally, all the respondents (adults, youth and children) were not satisfied with the ICTs, availability of information and available services and amenities. Chi-square tests showed no significant associations between age and perceptions on ICT resources of an ideal library, available services, available amenities, marketing of library services, availability of materials in the library and type of information needed to make informed decisions. These results imply that for the library to provide unhindered services, there must be an enabling environment for the smooth running of the library. There is a need for government to review the policy of running the libraries from districts, as this negatively impacts on opening hours, acquisitions of materials and ICTs support. The library needs to do a periodic survey of the information needs of the community so that it responds by providing relevant and current resources. The study proposed a conceptual model that will enhance the functionality of libraries and to enhance their capacity to offer better services to their users. The proposed model is anchored on nine broad areas which are strengthening human resources, funding, access and accessibility, partnerships, infrastructure, ICTs, management, stakeholder consultation and periodic users’ surveys. Thus, if these interventions are heeded to, there is a higher possibility that the library will be more functional and better positioned to close the information gap. The study contributes to the body of knowledge through provision of a conceptual model which highlights factors that hamper smooth provision of library services, and offers pillars (components of the model) that can enhance the functionality of public libraries in rural areas. It further contributes by highlighting those services regard by users to be important for maximal usage of libraries. This study was unique in that as at the time of completion according to the investigator’s knowledge no other study on rural public libraries has looked into the functionality of libraries funded by the conditional grant using a variety of methods, different perspectives through engaging key informants, factoring in the different age groups and bringing in the gender perspective in a single study. Use of different computer assisted software packages (Atlas version 8 and SPSS version 24) over and above the thematic content analysis to analyse the data was also unique as most other known studies only used thematic content analysis for their qualitative data. Based on the findings it was concluded that decentralized services to local municipal level could reduce many of the challenges that hinder libraries from providing smooth and quality services to their communities. Improved materials collections to satisfy individual and communal information needs, user friendly opening hours as well as engaging the community in library decisions could go a long way in ensuring the library is recognized as a community development hub that fulfills its mission of keeping the community informed. It was therefore recommended that the policy on the running of public libraries should be reviewed with the view to decentralize the running of public libraries to local municipalities,. More still, policy on library funding should be reviewed, library opening hours should be extended, better trained ICT technicians should be placed in local libraries, librarians should be appointed on a permanent basis, and a comparative study of all libraries in Vhembe should be conducted to gauge if the community is deriving any benefits from the provision of computers and access to the internet through “Mzansi Online” project. / Staff Capacity Development