M. Tech. Interior Design / The focus of this study was a small university library situated on the TUT Arts Campus in Pretoria. Since the library opened its doors nearly 20 years ago, little attention was paid to the interior and no alterations were implemented since then. Staff and students did not perceive the library as a positive asset due to the state of disrepair of its interior. As indicated by previous studies, redesigning a library interior has the potential to improve the learning environment it offers. It was hypothesised that the condition of the TUT Arts Campus library interior may have been a deterring factor causing students' reluctance to use it and that the redesign of the library's interior would have the potential to solve this real-life problem. This study involved itself with the process of redesigning the interior of the TUT Arts Campus library and the process of achieving the final design. The study dealt with answering the research question: How may one go about to redesign the interior of the TUT Arts Campus library, with the use of focus groups involving iterative cycles and user-based input, to increase student usage?

Most institutions of higher learning in South Africa have had to merge because of the directive from the Department of Education enacted in the Higher Education Act of 1997, which aimed at restructuring the higher education sector. Academic libraries as departments within these institutions also had to merge as their parent organisations merged. The Durban Institute of Technology (DIT) became the first merged institution of higher learning in the country. The purpose of this study is to diagnose whether the merged DIT libraries are viable. This is tested by using the Viable Systems Model (VSM), which is based on cybernetic principles. This research project is meant to give a holistic view of the viability of the DIT libraries. Members of the library staff were asked through an interview process what their views were about the library. The interviews were semi-structured and were conducted individually so as to elicit detailed information from library staff about the library, its processes, procedures, structure and management. Observation and document analysis were also used to gather further information relevant to the study. The study concluded that the library does not have enough resources and there is confusion amongst members of the library staff about what the library goals are. Although the library does not have a single image and culture it is very active and is well represented in the Library and Information Services structures and within the DIT. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2006.

Magister Bibliothecologiae - MBibl / The purpose of this project was to investigate job satisfaction at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology Library (CPUT). Academic libraries throughout the world and in South Africa have undergone massive change in the last few years. CPUT Library is the result of the merger of two technikon libraries in 2005. The study aimed to investigate the impact of the merger on staff job satisfaction. If libraries are to meet the challenges of change, they need satisfied and committed staff. This dissertation project is framed by two closely related models in human resources management, namely Herzberg‟s two factor theory of motivation and Hackman and Oldham‟s Job Characteristics Model (JCM). Questionnaires were used to gather data from 91 library staff in CPUT. A total of 44 responded. The survey identified areas of satisfaction and dissatisfaction among staff and the impact of the merger on staff who were employed before 2005. The study finds that 66% report overall job satisfaction with strong satisfaction with the work itself and the sense of accomplishment it brings. The majority of library staff is dissatisfied with promotion prospects and work distribution. Despite the years of restructuring, there are several comments on library structures. The need for more participative style of management and clear reporting structures are mentioned. The four questions on respondents‟ future plans reveal that affective commitment to the institution is not very high. Respondents like their work but 48% say they would accept a job outside the CPUT Library and only 50% claim to be proud to say they work at CPUT Library, with another 27% neutral. There are mixed findings on the impact of the merger, which might well be connected to the lack of institutional commitment. Only 50% of respondents who were at CPUT before the merger claim to be more satisfied now than before it. And the open-ended questions uncover the challenges in building or rebuilding a sense of belonging.

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 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)