Text in Afrikaans / Summaries in Afrikaans and English / Dit is vir enige openbare biblioteek wat sy doelstellings suksesvol wil bereik absoluut noodsaaklik om die mens as die belangrikste hulpbron in die ondememing doeltreffend te bestuur en optimaal te benut. Openbare biblioteke in Suid-Afrika ondervind egter sedert die veranderende politieke bestel in 1994, groat druk om 'n leidende rol in die gemeenskap te speel ten opsigte van opleiding en ontwikkeling aan die jeug, volwasse onderwys te ondersteun en aktief by gemeenskapsontwikkelingsprojekte betrokke te raak. Die openbare biblioteek het verder die verantwoordelikheid om inligting aan die gemeenskap te verskaf met die oog op besluitneming en suksesvolle gemeenskapsontwikkeling. Hierdie klemverskuiwing in die openbare biblioteek se doelstellings moet verder bestuur, en ten uitvoer gebring word te midde van 'n moeilike finansiele klimaat, 'n uitgebreide gebruikerskorps met veranderende gebruikersbehoeftes en tegnologiese uitdagings. Ten einde hierdie uitdagings aan die openbare biblioteek te bestuur, is dit noodsaaklik dat die menslike hulpbron so goed moontlik benut sal word volgens sy kundigheid en vermoens. Die werknemer bevind homself in drie omgewings in sy werkplek naamlik die taakinhoudomgewing, die taakverbandomgewi ng en die eksteme omgewing. I hierdie omgewings waarbinne die werknemer sy taak moet verrig is daar ' verskeidenheid faktore aanwesig wat sy prestasie en dus sy benutting kan bei'nvloed. Die teorie onderliggend aan menslikehulpbronbenutti ng is bestudeer en 'n ge·inte-greerde model vir menslikehulpbronbenutting is ontwikkel, waarop 'n empiriese studie gevolg het om die faktore te identifiseer wat menslikehulpbronbenutting in openbare biblioteke in Suid-Afrika kan be'invloed. Uit die empiriese ondersoek is vier faktore ge'identifiseer wat menslikehulpbron­ benutting in die openbare biblioteek kan be'invloed naamlik: • die algemene houding van die werknemer teenoor sy taak en die openbare biblioteekberoep • opleiding en ontwikkeling van werknemers • inligtingtegnologie • loopbaanbestuur Slegs die eerste faktor in die ondersoek het positief na vore getree, terwyl die ander drie negatief gepresteer het. Ten einde openbare biblioteekbestuur in staat te stel om hierdie leemtes, wat deur middel van hierdie faktore ge'identifiseer word reg te stel word 'n geintegreerde menslikehulpbronbenuttingsmodel voorgestel. Hierdie model bestaan uit verskillende komponente wat volgens behoefte van die biblioteek ge'implementeer kan word. / It is absolutely essential, for any public library that wishes to attain its objectives successfully, to manage human beings as its most important resource efficiently and to utilise them optimally.Since the change in the political dispensation in 1994, however, public libraries in South Africa experience mounting pressure to play a leading role in respect of education and the development of youth, to support adult education and engage positively in community development projects. A further responsibility of the public library is to supply information to the community to assist decision making and successful community development. To complicate matters, this shift in emphasis in the public library's objectives has to be managed and brought to fruition under the following conditions: a difficult financial climate, an extended corps of users with changing requirements, and technological challenges. To manage these challenges to the public library, it is essential that human resources be utilised as well as possible in accordance with their expertise and abilities. Employees find themselves in three environments, namely the job content environment, the job context environment and the external environment. A variety of factors which can influence the performance, and therefore the utilisation of employees are present in these environments in which they have to fulfiltheir task.The theory underlying the utilisation of human resources has been studied and an integrated model for human resource utilisation has been developed. This was followed by an empirical study to identify the factors which influence the utilisation of human resources in public libraries in South Africa. From the empirical investigation four factors were identified which can influence the utilisation of human resources in public libraries, namely: • the general attitude of the employee to the task and the profession of public librarianship • training and development of employees • information technology • career management Only the first factor emerged positively from the study, while the other three performed negatively. To enable public library management to remedy the deficiencies identified with the help of these factors, an integrated human resources utilisation model is proposed. This model consists of various components which can be implemented according to the needs of the specific library. / Informations Sciences / D.Litt. et Phil. (Inligtingkunde)

Text in Afrikaans / Summaries in Afrikaans and English / Dit is vir enige openbare biblioteek wat sy doelstellings suksesvol wil bereik absoluut noodsaaklik om die mens as die belangrikste hulpbron in die ondememing doeltreffend te bestuur en optimaal te benut. Openbare biblioteke in Suid-Afrika ondervind egter sedert die veranderende politieke bestel in 1994, groat druk om 'n leidende rol in die gemeenskap te speel ten opsigte van opleiding en ontwikkeling aan die jeug, volwasse onderwys te ondersteun en aktief by gemeenskapsontwikkelingsprojekte betrokke te raak. Die openbare biblioteek het verder die verantwoordelikheid om inligting aan die gemeenskap te verskaf met die oog op besluitneming en suksesvolle gemeenskapsontwikkeling. Hierdie klemverskuiwing in die openbare biblioteek se doelstellings moet verder bestuur, en ten uitvoer gebring word te midde van 'n moeilike finansiele klimaat, 'n uitgebreide gebruikerskorps met veranderende gebruikersbehoeftes en tegnologiese uitdagings. Ten einde hierdie uitdagings aan die openbare biblioteek te bestuur, is dit noodsaaklik dat die menslike hulpbron so goed moontlik benut sal word volgens sy kundigheid en vermoens. Die werknemer bevind homself in drie omgewings in sy werkplek naamlik die taakinhoudomgewing, die taakverbandomgewi ng en die eksteme omgewing. I hierdie omgewings waarbinne die werknemer sy taak moet verrig is daar ' verskeidenheid faktore aanwesig wat sy prestasie en dus sy benutting kan bei'nvloed. Die teorie onderliggend aan menslikehulpbronbenutti ng is bestudeer en 'n ge·inte-greerde model vir menslikehulpbronbenutting is ontwikkel, waarop 'n empiriese studie gevolg het om die faktore te identifiseer wat menslikehulpbronbenutting in openbare biblioteke in Suid-Afrika kan be'invloed. Uit die empiriese ondersoek is vier faktore ge'identifiseer wat menslikehulpbron­ benutting in die openbare biblioteek kan be'invloed naamlik: • die algemene houding van die werknemer teenoor sy taak en die openbare biblioteekberoep • opleiding en ontwikkeling van werknemers • inligtingtegnologie • loopbaanbestuur Slegs die eerste faktor in die ondersoek het positief na vore getree, terwyl die ander drie negatief gepresteer het. Ten einde openbare biblioteekbestuur in staat te stel om hierdie leemtes, wat deur middel van hierdie faktore ge'identifiseer word reg te stel word 'n geintegreerde menslikehulpbronbenuttingsmodel voorgestel. Hierdie model bestaan uit verskillende komponente wat volgens behoefte van die biblioteek ge'implementeer kan word. / It is absolutely essential, for any public library that wishes to attain its objectives successfully, to manage human beings as its most important resource efficiently and to utilise them optimally.Since the change in the political dispensation in 1994, however, public libraries in South Africa experience mounting pressure to play a leading role in respect of education and the development of youth, to support adult education and engage positively in community development projects. A further responsibility of the public library is to supply information to the community to assist decision making and successful community development. To complicate matters, this shift in emphasis in the public library's objectives has to be managed and brought to fruition under the following conditions: a difficult financial climate, an extended corps of users with changing requirements, and technological challenges. To manage these challenges to the public library, it is essential that human resources be utilised as well as possible in accordance with their expertise and abilities. Employees find themselves in three environments, namely the job content environment, the job context environment and the external environment. A variety of factors which can influence the performance, and therefore the utilisation of employees are present in these environments in which they have to fulfiltheir task.The theory underlying the utilisation of human resources has been studied and an integrated model for human resource utilisation has been developed. This was followed by an empirical study to identify the factors which influence the utilisation of human resources in public libraries in South Africa. From the empirical investigation four factors were identified which can influence the utilisation of human resources in public libraries, namely: • the general attitude of the employee to the task and the profession of public librarianship • training and development of employees • information technology • career management Only the first factor emerged positively from the study, while the other three performed negatively. To enable public library management to remedy the deficiencies identified with the help of these factors, an integrated human resources utilisation model is proposed. This model consists of various components which can be implemented according to the needs of the specific library. / Informations Sciences / D.Litt. et Phil. (Inligtingkunde)

This thesis aims to study how librarians perceive the identity of the public library. This is done by focusing on how librarians perceive the library’s roles, values, and the role of the librarian. One of the analytical tools used to illustrate this complexity is theories on underlying values and identity perceptions in organizations. The method is semi structured qualitative interviews with public librarians. An initial method to structure the empirical data consists of a phenomenographic approach. The findings show that the overall purpose of the library is to promote a democratic society where all citizens are equally valued. In order to do this the library needs to fulfill three main roles and some values. The main roles of the public library are to promote the availability of information, literature, and to be an open room for meetings. The values are to promote participation, critical thinking, and empathy among library users as well as to confirm users socially. The library’s resourses and services are valued for providng quality, variety, non-comersial intrests, and new perspectives. Furthermore, two basic values are to enrich people, eliminate inequalities, and by doing so promote human equality. The role of the librarian is to make sure that the resources and services of the library meet the criteria of all these roles and values. The librarian thus acts as an intermediary between these roles and values and the needs of the users and is therefore an important part of the library’s identity. The roles, values and the role of the librarian that make up this identity are presented in a model. The study shows that any activity, meeting or recourse that goes against any of the roles or values might be seen as a threat against the library. Another finding is that perceptions of a limitless role of the librarian could also be considered a threat against the library’s identity. This is a two year master’s thesis in Library and Information Sciense.

Library storytime programs provide opportunities for preschool children to develop readiness skills in early literacy that are linked in research to later success in learning to read and write. Children with disabilities that do not demonstrate school readiness skills upon entry to kindergarten are often placed in self-contained special education settings where opportunities to learn to read and write are diminished. English Language Learners (ELL) who have disabilities face additional challenges in benefiting from the models of language that are optimal for learning literacy when placed in self-contained settings. Despite the critical role that storytime programs play in equalizing the opportunities for children to learn early literacy skills, librarians report having few children with disabilities in their programs, and those that do attend experience difficulty participating due to sensory, behavioral, motor and communication challenges. Librarians in public libraries report minimal training in how to support children with disabilities and their families in meaningful participation in preschool storytime sessions. This study explored the impact of professional development, utilizing the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to increase the accessibility of early literacy content associated with foundational skills in reading and writing during preschool storytime. This mixed methods study incorporated elements of both descriptive and quasi-experimental design, and is one of the first conducted in a public library to measure pre and post data on how librarians plan and implement storytime before and after professional development. Parents' experiences attending preschool storytime were also collected and analyzed in order to inform future policies and practices in the public library.

Changes in society are reflected in librarians' daily work which means they have to continue to develop their competencies after their education in library and information science. Continuing professional development (CPD) via digital resources is a contemporary form of CPD that comes with both opportunities and limitations. The aim of the study is to deepen the knowledge about public librarians' experience with CPD with focus on CPD via digital resources. The study has a focus on Digiteket, which is a digital learning platform that is relatively unexplored. The theoretical framework of the study consists of the concepts of CPD and professional learning experience from which the theoretical tools have been drawn. The theoretical tools consist of a table of CPD methods and activities and also personas, which are used in the analysis. The empirical material of the study consists of semi structured interviews with five public librarians. The result shows that Digiteket is used in a variety of ways and to varying extent and that there are limitations with the plattform. Other digital resources are common for CPD and time and resources are two adversities for CPD opportunities. Self-directed and informal methods and activities were the most common, and the curious ad hoc learner persona corresponded the most with the respondents, which was shown in the analysis and conclusions. Another conclusion was that Digiteket was not the most used resource for CPD among the respondents.

Staff training, education and development has come to the forefront in most organizations. Managers and employers have realized the benefits of training and developing their staff and various government initiatives have been introduced that highlight this. Library and Information Services took some time to realize the importance of training and developing their staff, more specifically continuing professional development. The study investigates staff training, education and development at the Durban Metropolitan Library (DML) and establishes the perceptions of staff about current training and development offered. The need for, and appreciation of the training and development offered, was evident. No structured program for staff training and development exist in DML. It is recommended that DML implement the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, previously known as the Library Association, Framework for Continuing Professional Development if it intends to survive in the competitive, changing environment. This will ensure that the organization functions according to the promulgated government regulations and has skilled, competent staff. / Information Science / (M.A. (Information Science))

Staff training, education and development has come to the forefront in most organizations. Managers and employers have realized the benefits of training and developing their staff and various government initiatives have been introduced that highlight this. Library and Information Services took some time to realize the importance of training and developing their staff, more specifically continuing professional development. The study investigates staff training, education and development at the Durban Metropolitan Library (DML) and establishes the perceptions of staff about current training and development offered. The need for, and appreciation of the training and development offered, was evident. No structured program for staff training and development exist in DML. It is recommended that DML implement the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, previously known as the Library Association, Framework for Continuing Professional Development if it intends to survive in the competitive, changing environment. This will ensure that the organization functions according to the promulgated government regulations and has skilled, competent staff. / Information Science / (M.A. (Information Science))

A comparative evaluation framework of instructional interventions for implementation of online training for public library staff would enable a better understanding of how to improve the effectiveness, efficiency and efficacy of training in certain training environments. This dissertation describes a quasi-experimental study of a two-week, asynchronous online training course that was provided at four levels of instructional intervention to public library staff in the United States. The course content addressed the complex issues of difficult patron policy development and situational coping techniques. The objective of the study was to develop and demonstrate a theoretically grounded, evidence-based impact evaluation framework. The framework was used to assess the relative impact of an online course for public librarians at four levels of instructional intervention. The researcher investigated the relationships between the type of e-Training instructional interventions and the short- and long-term impacts on participants' knowledge, self-efficacy, and workplace performance. The study used a longitudinal, quasi-experimental design that included a pretest, posttest and three-month delayed posttest with follow-up survey. 194 participants completed all three phases of the study. The evaluation tools measured course content related knowledge and self-efficacy at all three phases (pretest, posttest, and delayed posttest) and assessed workplace application of training at 3-month follow-up. The results of this study contributed to evaluation theory and learning theory literature applied to the online learning environment and informed public library staff online training practices and evaluation methodologies.

Organisations are confronted with the challenges of managing, controlling and putting in place retention strategies to mitigate against high turnover intention. This is also the case with public libraries. The purpose of this study was to investigate the determinants of the turnover intention of public librarians at the City of Johannesburg Libraries (COJLIS) in the Gauteng province of South Africa, with a view to developing a retention strategy. Turnover intention can bring devastation to the organisation and can also lead to negative consequences such as decreased morale and productivity, shortage of skilled and qualified librarians, direct and indirect costs to library organisation and loss of knowledge. This quantitative research study utilised the conceptual framework to investigate demographic, personal and organisational factors influencing turnover intentions of librarians. The conceptual framework for the present study incorporated aspects of a theory or theories, concepts from the literature, personal experiences, knowledge of the context and models The aspects of theory or theories and concepts from the literature on employee turnover “content” and “process” models such as Mobley (1977), Jerome (2017), Nair, Mee & Cheik (2016), Perez (2008), Spector (2005), Spector (1997), Price and Mueller (2000) and Price (2001)were modified to suit this study for public librarians at COJLIS. Mobley’s (1977) turnover process model was germane to this study, as it theorises a linear sequence consisting of the following: “dissatisfaction, thoughts of quitting, evaluation of subjective expected utility of job search and costs of quitting, search intentions, evaluation of alternatives, comparison of alternatives and present job, intentions to quit and quitting”. The constituents of the conceptual framework are demographics factors (age, tenure and job designation level), personal factors (job satisfaction and organisational commitment) and organisational factors (payment and fringe benefits, location of workplace, working environment: flexi working hours, perceived alternative employment opportunity, promotion and recognition, personal interaction, supervision and leadership, training and opportunity to utilise skills) as well as turnover intention. This study employed the census method and adopted the cross-sectional survey design method to collect data from 174 librarians working in 89 public libraries and three support sections at COJLIS. Data collection involved the use of a closed-ended questionnaire, as well as analysis documents such as strategic plans and human resource policies. Quantitative data were analysed using the Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) according to the objectives of the study. The researcher conducted a linear regression test to find the instance of correlation between personal and organisational variables, and librarians’ intention to leave their workplace. The findings revealed that demographic determinants (age, tenure and job designation level) are significantly related to turnover intention. Tenure was a highly significant predictor of turnover intention. The major findings to this study were a negative and significant relationship between payment and fringe benefits, working environment: flexi working hours (work-life balance) promotion and recognition towards turnover intention. The study concludes that COLIS may be able to reduce turnover intention through the improvement of factors such as payment and fringe benefit, working environment: flexi working hours (work-life balance) promotion and recognition which would lead to increased job satisfaction and organisational commitment. It is recommended that in order to mitigate turnover intention and increase retention, the talent retention policy, strategy and initiatives should be developed which could incorporate the variables (e.g. payment and fringe benefits, promotion and recognition and training to develop and utilise new skills) of the suggested conceptual talent retention model for COJLIS. A further study to validate a newly developed retention model in COJLIS is recommended. / Information Science / M. Inf.

Managers of public libraries have been presented with a new set of challenges in the day-to-day operations of public libraries. These include their ability to serve as change agents as they manage the use of continuing online distance learning (CODL) for staff. This online tool may provide staff opportunities for on-the-job learning, yet for managers and managerial staff little is known about how the tool impacts their role in light of the changes. This research investigates the perceptions of 103 Northeast Texas Library System managers and managerial staff about their role as a change agent in the use of CODL using an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to determine the outcome. Administrators from urban, suburban, and rural public libraries were surveyed using a General Training Climate Scale to explore three constructs: extent of the manager role, manager role, and use of CODL. Data analysis was performed using exploratory and confirmatory analysis to support the theoretical model. An altered model was tested and confirmed through model fit indices.