T HE ADOPTION OF AN OPEN SOURCE INTEGRATED LIBRARY SYSTEM : THE CASE OF K OHA AT THE K YAMBOGO U NIVERSITY L IBRARY S ERVICE R. S S. Buwul Buwule and S S. R R. Ponelis lis 2015 IFLA Satellite Conference Stellenbosch University, South Africa 13-14 August 2015
O UTLINE Background • Purpose • Methodology • Results • Discussion • Conclusion •
B ACKGROUND Automating libraries in the industrialized world dates as far back as the 1930s Sub-Saharan Africa started about 25 years ago (Mutula, 2012) Laggard status of sub Saharan African academic libraries was attributed to: high cost of ICT facilities, inadequate ICT skills, electricity failures, lack of infrastructure, and lack of ICT strategies/policies.
B ACKGROUND Open source (OS) Integrated Library Systems (ILS) has greatly stimulated the technology adoption in many sub-Saharan African (SSA) libraries through:- Lower direct costs than proprietary systems Enhanced the possibility of greater participation in larger-scale shared development of regional consortia. Although OS ILSs are free, they do have indirect costs
BACKGROUND Kyambogo University: Uganda’s third public university established in • 2003. Established through a merger of the former • UPK, ITEK and UNISE. Library automation efforts at Kyambogo • University Library Service (KyULS) initiated in 2009 mainly using stand-alone applications. Consortium of Uganda University Libraries • (CUUL) training on Koha in 2012 led to the library’s decision to adopting an ILS.
BACKGROUND Koha: Developed in New Zealand in 1999 by Katipo • Communications whose source codes were written by ChrisCormack (Koha Community, 2013) Web-based interface with offline capabilities • Suits both small and large academic libraries • (Kumar, Singh, & Lal, 2012:61) A community of users offer user support services • (Breeding, 2014:24)
P URPOSE To explore the adoption of Koha, an OS ILS, at the Kyambogo University Library Service (KyULS)
M ETHODOLOGY Exploratory sequential mixed methods design supplemented by document review 26 participants were purposefully sampled for • interviews (28.6%) Census of target population (91) for survey (83 • questionnaires / 91% response rate)
P OPULATION , SAMPLING AND RESPONSE RATES KyU Section/Unit Total Interviewed Surveyed population (n) (%) (n) (%) KyU top management 8 1 3.8 6 7.2 KyULS Management 9 3 11.5 9 10.8 team ICT Unit 6 5 19.2 5 6.3 General 32 12 46.3 31 37.3 Library Staff KyU Library Committee 13 2 7.7 12 14.4 members KyU ICT Unit (e- 5 1 3.8 4 4.8 Kampus) The Students Guild 18 2 7.7 16 19.2 Total 91 26 100 83 100
W AYS IN WHICH K OHA IMPROVES LIBRARY OPERATIONS AT K Y ULS No. How automation improves library operations Count Percentage 1 Increases efficiency 11 28% 2 Saves time 10 26% 3 Eases work 8 21% 4 Increases productivity of staff members 4 10% 5 Improves reliability 2 5% 6 Stream lines accountability through 2 5% harmonized tracking of user records 7 Allows multiple and remote access 2 5% Total 39 100%
A DVANTAGES OFFERED BY K OHA No. Functions liked about Koha Count Percentage 1 Integration of the five modules of library 24.2% operations [Acquisition, Cataloging, Circulation, OPAC and Serials 23 Management] 23.2% 2 User friendly 22 23.2% 3 Being open source software 22 17.9% 4 Remote access function 17 11.5% 5 Customisability 11 Total 95 100%
IMPLEMENTATION KyULS didn’t follow a systematic plan when implementing Koha “…there was no plan followed when implementing nor was there any pilot or feasibility study. The ILS implementation was merely based on the experience of sister university libraries which had adopted Koha successfully.” – Senior library official
C OLLABORATION AND NETWORKING With Koha being an OS ILS there is no assured user support. Instead administrators seek assistance from alternative sources of support No. Sources of External assistance on Koha Count Percentage 1. Assistance from sister university libraries 11 69% like UCU, MUK, MUBS 2. From the facilitators of the Koha training 3 19% 3. Attending webinars 2 12% Total 16 100%
R ATING OF K Y ULS ICT S KILLS S/No. Possession of required skills Count Percentage (%) by library ICT staff members for managing Koha 1 Excellent 0 0% 2 Good 4 15% 3 Fair 16 62% 4 Basic 3 12% 5 Poor 1 4% 6 I don’t know 2 7% Total 26 100%
C RITICAL LEADERSHIP COMPETENCIES NEEDED FOR ILS ADOPTION AT K Y ULS S/No. Theme Count Percentage 1 IT skills 68 13.7% 2 Project management skills 67 13.5% 3 Training skills 64 12.9% 4 Coordination skills 58 11.7% 5 Planning skills 58 11.7% 6 Flexibility and pro-activeness 54 10.9% 7 Communication skills 53 10.7% 8 44 8.9% Interpersonal skills 9 Community engaging skills 30 6% Total 496 100%
PREDICTED U TILISATION OF K OHA IN K Y ULS 20 18 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 5 4 2 2 1 0 0 Very good Good Fair Poor Very poor
C ONCLUSION Library automation greatly improves library operations Adoption of an ILS in KyU is still an ongoing process and continuously faces hardships such as: lack of a systematic implementation plan • requisite in-house ICT skills is not entirely in place • for customization and full exploitation through customization lack of formal technical support • There is need for a collaborated effort of all stakeholders for KyULS to full exploit the full potential of adopting Koha
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