Thesis (M.A. (Information Studies)) -- University of Limpopo, 2020 / International, national and local public and private sectors are shifting into Cloud
Computing (CC). This paradigm shift is fuelled by technological and transformational
changes of CC in every sector, including libraries. Presently in South Africa, some
libraries still operate on the traditional ICT based desktop applications, whereas some
hardly notice that CC is part of their daily activities such as carrying out transactions
in the cloud services like emailing on Gmail. There is a major gap in terms of adopting
and understanding CC technology in public libraries.
Hence the study proposed to describe and explore the application and understanding
of CC in Polokwane Municipal libraries. The study identified CC tools used by
librarians and determined the level of librarians’ knowledge and understanding of CC.
The study further measured perceptions of librarians towards CC and established
factors influencing the use of CC in libraries.
The researcher used a mixed-methods research approach and case study research
design, located within postpositivism and interpretivism paradigm. The study was a
census in nature because of the small population. Data was collected using
questionnaire and interviews from 30 respondents who were librarians and
participants who were library managers. Collected data were analysed through
descriptive statistics and thematic data analysis.
Findings from the study reveal that librarians are not fully using CC but use some of
the CC applications such as google scholar, without having detailed knowledge and
understanding. The study further found out that Polokwane Municipal libraries fail to
adopt CC as a result of limited budget and poor internet connection. The study
recommends intensive study on factors influencing adoption of CC, workshops and
training for librarians, and initiatives on fundraising within these libraries.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ul/oai:ulspace.ul.ac.za:10386/3584 |
| Date | January 2020 |
| Creators | Molaudzi, Amogelang Isaac |
| Contributors | Tsebe, J. K., Mahlatji, M. R. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | xii, 100 leaves |
| Relation |
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