Philosophiae Doctor - PhD (Library and Information Studies)

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Re-constituting Ghanaian public university libraries to conform to universal design principles to accommodate students with disabilities
(University of the Western Cape, 2023) Alu, Augustine Aduko; King, Lizette
Ten Ghanaian public university libraries were investigated to determine if they conform to universal design principles to accommodate students with disabilities. The study employed a multiple case study design and was underpinned by the Social Model of Disability and the International Federation of Libraries Associations and Institutions checklist for access to libraries for persons with disabilities. A mixed methods approach was adopted employing online questionnaires, and in-depth interviews to gather data from university librarians, heads of the physical development office, heads of disability units, and students with visual, mobile and hearing impairments. Data were further verified by observation and document analysis. Data were analysed thematically.
The use of information and communication technologies for accessing HIV and AIDS information by healthcare professionals in Zimbabwe
(University of Western Cape, 2021) Gandiwa, Tapiwa; King, Lizette
This study sought to investigate the information needs of selected HIV and AIDS health organisations in Zimbabwe with a view to proposing a framework for developing an information access platform. ICTs can play a pivotal role in improving access to HIV and AIDS information and in coordinating HIV and AIDS activities in Zimbabwe. However, the development of ICTs in Zimbabwe’s health sector has been haphazard and idiosyncratic to a plethora of HIV and AIDS organisations operating in Zimbabwe. This study proposes a framework for the development of ICTs for accessing HIV and AIDS information in Zimbabwe. The needs-based framework was proposed after evaluating the information needs of healthcare workers and current health information technologies. An integrated theoretical framework incorporating the General System Theory, the Social Construction of Technology theory and the HOT-fit model was used to frame the study.
Investigating the relevance of quality measurement indicators for South African higher education libraries
(University of the Western Cape, 2021) Ntshuntshe-Matshaya, Pateka Patricia; Davis, Gavin
This study investigates the relevance of quality measurement indicators at higher education libraries for faculty academics, librarians, and students. The study followed a mixed-method design with a mixture of quantitative and qualitative data collection. Faculty academics, librarians and students ranked the existing quality measurement indicators for South African higher education libraries. The findings revealed that for library quality measures to meet the needs of faculty academics, librarians, and students, the resources must be accessible both physically and virtually, and staff should be accountable and willing to offer services responsive to the users' needs and expectations of a safe, secure, and comfortable library space, be it physical or virtual. The qualitative data highlighted the importance of adequate resources and the adoption of new developments as measures for quality. Quality measurement indicators must include elements such as adequate funding; relevant resources aligned with teaching and learning programmes; programmes that are integrated into teaching plans; effective supplier collaboration with respect to the process of acquiring relevant learning materials; effective student training; communication of the value of library services and alignment with the student learning outcomes; research support in a digital environment with e-tools and website navigability; research data management; and open access, which is a prominent role of the library. Based on the data, there was a quality measure (process) that was commendable even though it did not form part of the existing quality measures nor a service whose relevance was assessed. The separation of undergraduate and postgraduate learning spaces was amongst those services that ranked quite high from the students' responses (qualitative data). Even though there were differences emphasized on each indicator by either faculty academics or students, there were also discrepancies in the interpretation of what each quality indicator means to each study population group. As the study of this nature has recommendations and gaps identified in terms of research findings, it is quite important to record that there was a series of gaps that were identified in terms of library expectations and perceptions. These gaps were suggested as part of further research that must be conducted to fill the void in terms of library users’ voices in the development of higher education library measurement indicators.
A model to foster the use of records for evidence-based decision-making by senior managers in western cape governmental bodies, South Africa.
(University of the Western Cape, 2021) Momoti, Nikiwe Gloria; King, Lizette
South Africa has placed emphasis on evidence-based decision-making for justifying service delivery improvement decisions. Evidence-based decision-making entails decisions made by referring to verifiable facts and figures available from a variety of sources of evidence such as organizational records. Records are created or received during the conduct of business and contain evidence of organizational activities. Their use as sources of evidence is continuous. Most records management scholars hypothesize that the use of records as sources of evidence for decision-making contributes to improved service delivery. In the same breath, some scholars lament their minimal use as sources of evidence for decision-making in the South African public sector due to poor records management. This descriptive, positivist quantitative study used a cross-sectional survey to determine the extent to which records as sources of evidence were used for evidence-based decision-making by senior managers in Western Cape governmental bodies,
South African gender-based violence researchers’ awareness and usage of bibliometrics and altmetrics in the context of open access scholarly publishing
(University of the Western Cape, 2020) Langdown, N.; Zinn, S.
The traditional model of scholarly communication uses journals, databases, and conferences. With the onset of the digital age, there has been a change in the system of scholarly communication, creating new publishing models, such as open access and institutional repositories, which have emerged as important, scholarly communication models. The research questions addressed in this study investigated the value of using altmetrics, as opposed to traditional metrics for measuring the impact of publications by researchers into gender-based violence (GBV) within South Africa.
The role of school libraries in supporting an inquiry based approach for teaching and learning science subjects in senior secondary schools in Ekiti State, Nigeria
(University of Western Cape, 2019) Olajide, Olabode; Zinn, Sandy
The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of school libraries in supporting an inquiry based approach for teaching and learning science subjects in senior secondary schools in Ekiti State, Nigeria. The significance of this study revolves round the prominence given to science education being a mechanism for realising national advancement in Nigeria. This was emphasised in the Nigeria National Policy on Education (2013) as the Federal Government of Nigeria adopted science education as an instrument for effecting national development. This study addressed the following research questions: What is the status of secondary school libraries in Ekiti State, Nigeria? To what extent does the quality of library resources influence science curriculum implementation? To what extent do science teachers advocate using information resources beyond textbooks?
Research data management in public universities in Malawi
(University of the Western Cape, 2019) Chawinga, Winner Dominic; Zinn, Sandy
The emergence and subsequent uptake of Information and Communication Technologies has transformed the research processes in universities and research institutions across the globe. One indelible impact of Information and Communication Technologies on the research process is the increased generation of research data in digital format. This study investigated how research data has been generated, organised, shared, stored, preserved, accessed and re-used in Malawian public universities with a view to proposing a framework for research data management in universities in Malawi. The objectives of the study were: to determine research data creation, sharing and re-use practices in public universities in Malawi; to investigate research data preservation practices in public universities in Malawi; to investigate the competencies that librarians and researchers need to effectively manage research data; and to find out the challenges that affect the management of research data in public universities in Malawi. Apart from being guided by the Community Capability Model Framework (Lyon, Ball, Duke & Day, 2011) and Data Curation Centre Lifecycle Model (Higgins, 2008), the study was inspired by the pragmatic school of thought which is the basis for a mixed methods research enabling the collection of quantitative and qualitative data from two purposively selected universities. A census was used to identify researchers and librarians while purposive sampling was used to identify directors of research. Questionnaires were used to collect mostly quantitative and some qualitative data from 36 librarians and 187 researchers while interviews were conducted with directors of research. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences was used to analyse the quantitative data by producing percentages, means, independent samples ttest and one-way analysis of variance. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the qualitative data.
Use and management of information systems in academic libraries in Ghana
(University of the Western Cape, 2019) Dzandza, Patience Emefa; King, Lizette
The use of Information Systems (ISs) has been widely accepted and proven to increase the service quality in many organizations. Academic libraries have embraced the use of ISs and have implemented them to perform different activities. The efficient utilization and management of ISs in libraries will help libraries to derive maximum benefit from adopted ISs. The research used the DeLone and McLean (2003) IS success theory to determine the impact of IS management on the quality of the IS, the use of the IS and the benefits gained. The researcher used nine (30%) of the thirty university libraries which are members of the consortium of academic and research libraries in Ghana (CARLIGH) - an association of libraries that help with the IS and electronic resource use of member libraries. A mixed method approach with questionnaires, interviews combined with content analysis of the university websites was used to gather data. Findings indicated that academic libraries in Ghana are making use of some ISs including; ILS, DAM, social media, websites, among others, amidst a number of challenges. The research also revealed that the management of ISs affects the quality thereof. Quality of ISs affects use, and use affects the benefits gained from use. The researcher proposed an IS management standard guideline which Ghanaian academic libraries could adopt for using and managing ISs to enhance efficiency and better service delivery.
The role of the public library towards a knowledge economy of Namibia
(University of the Western Cape, 2019) Iilonga, Selma; Davis, Gavin
Access to knowledge and information is found to be the cornerstone in the road to knowledge economy transformation whereby the utilization of knowledge is the key engine of economic growth, where knowledge is acquired, created, disseminated and used effectively to enhance economic and social development. This means that the more people acquire knowledge, the more they will begin producing new products or improving systems and existing products, thus adding value to local products and improving the GDP of the country, as well as improving their social livelihood. Therefore, the primary role public libraries have is being the knowledge hubs, to make provision of higher quality knowledge and to make information accessible to the public to equally contribute to all NDPs towards achieving the Namibia Vision 2030 for a knowledge economy. This research study discusses “The contribution of the Public Library services towards a knowledge economy transformation readiness which is envisaged by the Namibia Vision 2030. In achieving that, the study has investigated the state of the Namibia legislative and policy framework reflections of access to knowledge and information as provided by libraries. The study further examines the availability and accessibility of knowledge and information resources, including ICT infrastructure at public libraries in remote rural areas. Moreover, it discusses the types of education and training programmes conducted by public libraries in ensuring that users have the necessary information and retrieval searching competencies and skills for accessing and navigating available information infrastructural resources. Finally, it explores innovation systems, technologically and non-technologically initiated by librarians for library services enhancement, and how library users have tapped into the growing stock of knowledge and information, and adapted them to local needs for economic and social development. The study has employed the four pillars of the World Bank Knowledge Economy Framework, namely an economic and institutional regime; information, knowledge and ICT infrastructure; education and training, and an innovation system as the lenses through which to investigate the research questions understudied.
Scholarly communication guidance as a core service of an academic library to doctoral students: A case study of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology
(University of the Western Cape, 2019) White, Esther; King, Lizette
This study investigated scholarly communication guidance as a core service by the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana, academic library to doctoral students, research and scholarly communication needs and skills of doctoral students and effective dissemination of research findings by doctoral students for national development. The study also explored the adoption of a research portal as part of the academic library website for scholarly communication guidance to doctoral students. A case study research design with KNUST as research site, with a mixed method approach was used. Semi-structured interviews, questionnaires, documentary analysis and a bibliometric survey of an institutional repository were employed as data gathering tools. A scholarly communication guidance model based on Costa’s proposed adaption of Garvey and Griffin’s models of scholarly communication, Wilson’s information behaviour model and Bjôrk’s scholarly communication lifecycle model was developed to frame the study.
The 21st century academic library: the case of three state universities in Zimbabwe
(The University of the Western Cape, 2018) Mabweazara, Rangarirai Moira; Zinn, Sandy
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).
Establishing a library portal for integrated e-resources at Modibbo Adama University of Technology, Yola, Adamawa State, Nigeria
(University of the Western Cape, 2018) Dauda, Joshua; King, Lizette
The study examined the availability of e-resources in the Ibrahim Babangida Library at Modibbo Adama University of Technology, Yola (MAUTECH) focusing to integrate e-resources in a dedicated portal for easy access. The study was motivated by the Nigerian vision 20:2020 and the trend in 21st century academic libraries to offer electronic resources and services to meet users? demands and use of technology. Mixed methods were sequential, concurrent, conversion and integrated approaches used. A descriptive case study approach was employed. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Diffusion of Innovation (DoI) theories framed the study. Based on these, a conceptual framework was constructed. To achieve triangulation, questionnaires, interviews and scanning of library portals were used to gather both quantitative and qualitative data. Academics, students, academic librarians, and information and communication technology experts acted as participants. Findings reflected low use of the Ibrahim Babangida Library, dissatisfaction with the quality and quantity of the library collection, insufficient and unreliable Internet access on campus, limited information literacy education, familiarity and utilization of e-resources due to flexibility and easy access to academic information, need for digitisation of library resources and the need for a dedicated library portal. The study recommends, amongst others, information literacy education for students and academics, subscription to full-text databases, provision of sufficient and free Internet access, e-resource and e-services policies, and establishing a consortium with other Nigerian academic libraries. The outcome of the study was a designed, established and functioning library portal based on the input of all the stakeholders of the MAUTECH community.
Information behaviour of African immigrants living in Cape Town, South Africa
(The University of the Western Cape, 2018) Muhambe, Baganda Herman; Davis, Gavin R.
The study investigated the information seeking behaviour of African immigrants who live in the City of Cape Town, South Africa. The key objectives of the study were to identify information needs and information seeking patterns of African immigrants in the City of Cape Town; to identify barriers between information and these immigrants; and to form strategies or suggestions for overcoming these barriers so that the organisations that serve immigrant communities may better address these information needs. The study applied a mixed methods approach, which included both quantitative and qualitative methods. The two methods were used as a combination in this research so as to take advantage of the strengths of the two approaches. The data collection tools were an administered questionnaire for quantitative data and semi-structured interviews for qualitative data. Pre-testing of research tools, evaluation of research methods, and consideration of ethical issues were discussed to ensure validity and reliability of research findings. The quantitative data were analysed using SPSS and Microsoft Excel, while the qualitative data were analysed using thematic content analysis. The overall response rate was 95% (228 out of 240 sample size). The study was informed by Gary Burnett and Paul T. Jaeger’s (2011) Theory of Information Worlds. The study revealed that, upon African immigrants’ arrival in South Africa, they search for basic information to survive, such as information about jobs, accommodation and a means of self-improvement, including training and learning English. These needs continuously persist as human beings always seek for improvement in life. Over time the need for other types of information, such as information about driving and recreation, including gymnasium training, and services, including health services, also becomes prominent. Therefore, time is one of the factors that influences African immigrants’ information needs. As they become established over time, some of their information needs change.The majority of participants who lived in the City of Cape Town for a long period of time indicated that overall, they found information they needed from different formal sources, including government offices, Non - Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and the internet, while those who were relatively new in the Cape Town area mainly consulted friends and relatives for information. The findings of the study highlighted certain issues that African immigrants experience when searching for information. These issues hampered them to not fully access information in order to satisfy their needs. It included the inability to speak English, lack of connections, policies and procedures, discrimination, racism and xenophobia, and a sense of social exclusion, to name a few. The study further revealed that interpersonal information seeking behaviour played a critical role in the lives of African immigrants, not only because of the language barrier, which does not enable them to connect with the outside world, but also because of credibility and trustworthy networking. It was discovered that most African immigrants do not come to South Africa with the whole family straight away without knowing someone already living here in South Africa. Men first come alone, as it is easier for men to survive all kinds of surprises of the journey, to live anywhere with friends while trying to save money, and to make sure they become comfortable with the new surroundings before bringing the family. In this regard, they build information connections with other fellow African immigrants at work, at church and in the area where they live. These new friends become their primary sources of information. Having friends who look like them, share similar backgrounds or speak the same language builds trustworthiness and credibility in African immigrants’ information seeking behaviour. This network kept on growing as African immigrants meet new people throughout their lives in Cape Town. Based on the findings of the study, it is recommended that government; public libraries in the City of Cape Town and NGOs that serve African immigrants take the English language barrier into consideration and create as many facilities as possible where African immigrants can easily learn English at minimum cost. It is also recommended that government institutions, banks and other institutions that might interact with African immigrants create an environment that will be free of all kinds of discrimination when providing information in order for African immigrants to feel welcome and socially included.
Information behaviour of Nigerian undergraduates in the world of Web 2.0: The case of Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Delta State, Nigeria, a specialized university
(University of the Western Cape, 2015) Krubu, Dorcas
The study investigated the information behaviour of Nigerian undergraduates with a focus on online media, especially Web 2.0. Nigeria has a laudable vision tagged Nigeria Vision 20:2020 (NV 20:2020), which is to be one of the top 20 knowledge economies by the year 2020. To achieve this grand feat, the nation requires a skilled population with 21st century graduate attributes who are information literate. That is, graduates who possess the competencies and high capabilities to effectively use and disseminate information for optimum service delivery in this epoch of information proliferation and technologies that are yet evolving. To ascertain the preparedness of Nigeria for the laudable Vision 20:2020, the research work investigated the information behaviour of Nigerian undergraduates using a specialized university, the Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun, as the case study site. The university was established in 2007 to meet the demands of the petroleum industry which is the largest in Nigerian in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Information literacy of incoming undergraduate Arts students at the University of the Western Cape: assessment of competencies and proficiencies
(University of the Western Cape, 2007) King, Lizette; Fredericks, G.H.; Dept. of Library and information Science; Faculty of Arts
The majority of incoming undergraduate Arts students at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) come from South African historically disadvantaged black schools. Because of enormous varying secondary school experiences and competencies as well as a lack of exposure to school and public libraries, students are deprived of the basic information skills. Without these crucial skills, students will find it difficult to cope successfully with their academic courses and measure up to the demands of employers. The study aimed to answer the following research questions: what are incoming Arts students' previous experiences with libraries and information technology? What are incoming undersgraduate Arts students information skills, competencies and proficiency? Is the Library Science 121 (Arts information Literacy) course sufficient for teaching information literacy and to address deficiencies? A pen and paper questionnaire based on the Information Literacy Standard by the American Library Association to assess the information literacy level of incoming Arts students was designed by the Department of Library and Information Science, the University Library and the Digital Academic Learning Division. This was utilized to assess the exposure to information literacy training at school level, computer and public library skills as well as their level of information literacy of incoming undergraduate Arts students. As a post-test, the questionnaire was completed by students after completing the information literacy course, Library Science 121. To determine the impact of formal training compared to initiatives within disciplines, the results of the post- and control tests were compared. Data was gathered over a period of three years. Of the 483 incoming Arts students 22.2% owned their own computers. Of the rest 39.5% had other means to get assess to computers. In total 16.5% of students used the World Wide Web to find information. Only 23.2% attended secondary schools with school libraries and 10.4% of these students received information literacy education. Of all the students, 20.7% were members of a public library of which 41.0% visited the library every few months mainly for photocopying. Of the thirty three questions asked to test information literacy, in only 7 the percentage of students in the pre- and control groups who have chosen the correct answer was higher than the incorrect options – indicating an unacceptable low level of information literacy. Students performed significantly better in the post-test. It is an indication that formal information literacy education is essential for incoming Arts students at the UWC. Results were used to identity deficiencies in information literacy levels, to produce benchmarks for assessing information literacy at the university and to produce a theoretical framework for structured cumulative information literacy initiatives within new envisaged foundation programs. Curricular changes to keep pace with current trends and needs were made. Data gathered will be used to communicate to the Arts Faculty the need for formal information literacy training for all incoming Arts students at the UWC and to incorporate information literacy in student learning outcomes as well as in the assessment policy.
The management of academic libraries: a comparative study of the University of the Western Cape Library and Dhaka University Library
(University of the Western Cape, 2006) Chowdhury, Salma; Fredericks, G.H; Dept. of Library and information Science; Faculty of Arts
This research project is a comparative study of management of two university libraries (University of the Western Cape and Dhaka University) from two different countries (South Africa and Bangladesh). This research was to identify and document how the functions of management are applied in both libraries. A sample of the two university libraries’ users, librarians, and library staff were taken. The questionnaire, interview, observation and documentary sources of information were major methods of data collection. In order to provide a brief presentation on how the management functions were applied at other university libraries, a description of how some university libraries in the U.K, U.S.A, Eastern countries and Africa are given. The findings of the study revealed that the problem of inadequate financial support is true for both University libraries, and is the major cause amongst other weaknesses. Both libraries still use a large percentage of non-professional staff and the library service is in desperate need of personnel. However, the observed difference between DUL and UWCL in this comparative study was significant. Services offered in both libraries differ in some cases such as: Consortia, Inter library loans, OPAC, CD-search, e-journals and multimedia. These areas still need to be developed at DUL. UWC have the most of these facilities. Although it needs to improve on aspects such as e-journals, access to data-bases and open access on the Internet.
Successful information literacy through librarian-lecturer collaboration
(University of the Western Cape, 2011) Mitchell-Kamalie, Lilian; Frederick, George H.
This study supports the need for information literacy training for first year or new incoming Community and Health Science (CHS) students at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) and describes the use of a collaborative framework for integrating information literacy into the undergraduate students' curriculum and for assessing the results. The Collaborative Information Literacy Model (CILM) provided the guidelines for a more structured and fuller collaboration between the librarian and the lecturer responsible for the first year Physiotherapy students. The collaborative partnership employed strategies to teach information literacy competencies which were significantly more satisfactory with the students' abilities to successfully complete a research term paper. The process of integration began with developing learning outcomes, an information literacy program, exercises and an assessment instrument for evaluating student performance. Also emphasized is the on-going exchange of expertise between the librarian and the lecturer to enhance library-related components in the design of the program.
Information retrieval interaction and the undergraduate student at historically disadvantaged higher education institutions in the Western Cape, South Africa: a cognitive approach
(University of the Western Cape, 2005) Davis, Gavin Rapheal; Fredericks, G.H.; Underwood, P.G.; Dept. of Library and information Science; Faculty of Arts
Summary: Although South Africa has been a democracy since 1994, one of the key issues still facing the country is the development of skills in its people. There are still underlying problems that are quite prevalent in terms of the development of important skills, particularly information literacy skills of especially black South African students at tertiary institutions. It is not easy to understand the significance of information literacy if one does not take into account the student’s awareness level and his/her understanding of the concept of information. Unfortunately academics and librarians alike at times base many of their judgements on assumptions that need to be addressed. One of these assumptions is the computer literacy level of students, often viewed synonymously with information literacy. Although computer literacy is an important skill for searching electronic information sources, including online databases and the Internet, the researcher’s argument is that this is not enough to overcome conceptual and cognitive problems relating to information – seeking. Computer literacy is a component of information literacy. Students need to know when information is needed; identify the information needed to address a problem; evaluate the needed information; organize the information meaningfully and use the information to address the problem identified. Almost all of the students in this study encountered the library and computers for the first time when they came to the University of the Western Cape and the former Peninsula Technikon. Their search behaviour bears testimony to their lack of information searching skills. The study was conducted within the framework of Belkin’s anomalous state of knowledge (ASK) theory. Belkin’s premise is that searchers for information approach Information retrieval systems with some anomaly. According to Belkin this anomaly and user’s perception of the problem changes with each interaction between user and information retrieval mechanism. For this reason, he argues, information retrieval (IR) systems need to be designed to be iterative and interactive. The significance of this interaction is later identified as an integrated, dynamic whole aimed at retrieving information for helping the user manage a problem. It was found in this study that students experienced various states or manifested certain behavioural patterns. Searches were also found to be more cyclical than linear. So, although Belkin’s theory had some significance in this study, student search patterns were more complex. The researcher puts forward certain recommendations to address the problem. The end of apartheid brought about new challenges especially for institutions of higher learning. Both the University of the Western Cape (UWC) and former Peninsula Technikon (PENTECH) as institutions catering for especially the historically disadvantaged student need to adapt but at the same time maintain high standards in terms of student development. The merger between the former PENTECH and the Cape Technikon (CAPETECH) to form the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) puts further challenges on the academics and librarians at CPUT. This also calls for a stronger sense of commitment from librarians, academics and information communication technology (ICT) specialists before appropriate information technology systems can be designed or subscribed to.

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