Magister Library and Information Studies - MLIS / The advent of the 21st century and its dynamic information environment have changed higher
education considerably including the library spaces. Library patrons, namely undergraduates,
postgraduates, and academics are placing heavy demands on academic libraries requiring support
in research, teaching and learning. As a result, academic librarians globally have undertaken major
re-evaluations of what they do and how they do it, to ensure relevance amongst their diverse user
communities. The new information landscape is fraught with controversies that prompt opposing
perspectives towards change acceptance amongst librarians. In Zimbabwe, academic libraries
seemed to be lagging behind regarding changes presented by this information landscape. Given
this context, the study sought to understand how librarians are adjusting to the 21st century
environment against the expectations of the students and academics. The Diffusion of Innovation
Theory crafted by Rogers (2003) and the McKinsey 7S model propounded by Waterman, Peters
and Phillips (1982) were used as theoretical and conceptual frameworks. The research further
applied a conceptual framework from the literature to determine the expectations of students and
academics of the academic library in the 21st century. For data collection, the study adopted a case
study design and a mixed methods approach using Web-based questionnaires, follow-up
interviews and website content analysis. Data was collected from students, academics and
librarians at three selected Zimbabwean universities. All data collecting tools were pre-tested
amongst librarians, academics, postgraduate and undergraduate students prior to collecting data.
Data collected using questionnaires was analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences
(SPSS) and Microsoft Excel while interview data was analysed using thematic text analysis.
Findings of this study revealed that the Midlands State University Library had to a larger extent
embraced new trends which are in-line with the 21st century environment compared to the National
University of Science and Technology and Lupane State University libraries. The Library and
Information Science qualification remains important in service delivery among academic
librarians. Inadequate funding, limited time due to multitasking, slow uptake of new concepts and
limited knowledge and skills were barriers to keeping up with new trends amongst librarians.
Academic librarians collaborated with academics in collection development, Information Literacy
Skills (ILS) teaching and uploading theses and research papers into the Institution Repository (IR). / 2018-12-14
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uwc/oai:etd.uwc.ac.za:11394/6466 |
| Date | January 2018 |
| Creators | Mabweazara, Rangarirai Moira |
| Contributors | Zinn, Sandy |
| Publisher | The University of the Western Cape |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | The University of the Western Cape |
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