ABSTRACT
The University of Ghana, like any other public university in Ghana, is prone to financial challenges. These have therefore affected the provision of infrastructure, resources and services to its libraries. The financial constraints of the university have influenced a shift in library service activities, making it difficult for some of the libraries in the University of Ghana Library system (UGLS), to provide some of the services that faculty members need for their teaching, research and publishing activities. This situation has however created a negative perception of the libraries for some faculty members. There are few or no scientific study to determine the level of use of library resources and services, and their impact on teaching, research, and productivity. The study therefore investigates the usage of library resources and services and, the impact such usage have on teaching, research and productivity of faculty members. The study will fill a gap in knowledge, and provide the basis for future investigations into service provision and quality issues in the University of Ghana Library System. A multistage sampling approach was used which involved the selection of 189 faculty members who represent respondents in the survey. They were administered with questionnaires, which were later on collected and analysed using the SPSS software. Results indicate that majority of lecturers were more aware of the university library journal collection, and the electronic databases (e- resources), than the other information sources in the UGLS. This result is buttressed by the fact that one does not need to enter the library to see these resources. This could mean that faculty members hardly visit the university‟s libraries. Some lecturers also do not use the library because materials available are not relevant to their work. However, they are satisfied with the standard of academic facilities that have been provided, and are of the view that materials and referrals were helpful to their courses and research work. University library facilities have been productive to lecturers when using the services for their research, public lectures and thesis works. It is therefore, recommended that the UGLS be supported to upgrade facilities in the departmental libraries, as these are closer to faculty members, and therefore easily accessible. The libraries should also organize periodic review of the relevance of their stock, and also solicit suggestions, from readers and faculty on the type of literature, resources or facilities needed to improve academic work.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
The University of Ghana, Legon, is the premier University of Ghana. It was founded by Ordinance on August 11, 1948. It is situated about thirteen kilometers north-east of Accra, the capital city. There is a student population of 41,964, and senior members group that engage in research and teaching, numbering 1,095 (University of Ghana, 2010). Being a public university, the university receives a major portion of its financial support from the government, and therefore prone to the financial challenges that confront most public universities in Ghana, and so this has affected the provision of infrastructure and other resources needed for teaching and research. As a result of this, Academic Facility User Fees (AFUF) and Residential Facility User Fees have been instituted to supplement the running cost of the University (Kpodoe, 2008). Other sources of support also come from the Ghana Educational Trust Fund (GETFUND), alumni, as well as local and foreign institutions (University of Ghana Special Reporter, 2004). In spite of these financial challenges facing the University of Ghana, the Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor C.N.B. Tagoe, in his 2005 annual Report indicated that the University continues to encourage and promote research efforts and advocacy for the development of the country. He also noted the various activities that faculty members engage themselves in, some of which include research activities, from which they produce scholarly and extension publications which are presented for publications and promotion. Many Senior Members of the University also serve on Boards and 1 Committees of public and private organisations, which benefit from their experiences, (University of Ghana, 2005). Faculty members also prepare lecture notes, and also locate materials for their students and publish scholarly articles in journals. By these activities, they use the libraries and various means and methods to gather, obtain or acquire data that they need for teaching, research and other social responsibilities. The financial scarcity mentioned earlier on, and expanding technologies have influenced a shift in library service activities in the past two decades therefore making it difficult for some academic libraries to provide some of the services that faculty members need. This situation has therefore necessitated the need for members to, not only depend on their institutional libraries alone, but on other libraries both in and outside their various countries as well as consulting organizations and institution within their environment and the usage of the Internet for their information needs. These competitive pressures from different information providers; widely available information resources; rising costs of books, serials, and electronic resources; and emerging new technologies and services providing information to potential library users raise questions about the role of academic libraries in present times. There has been some deliberations about the necessity to better understand and define the needs and expectations of library users to provide the appropriate kind and levels of service to provide satisfaction and service quality (Simmonds and Andaleeb, 2001). In the past, academic libraries may have enjoyed a monopoly in providing information resources, and services to students and faculty. However, the same cannot be said today as users have a variety of options available to meet their research needs. It is also a fact that, academic libraries, and librarians experience an increasingly complex higher education environment. For this reason, it is essential to market library resources and services effectively. One component of a library‟s marketing plan for distance learners can be an assessment of the needs of distance faculty. Teaching faculty are influential in affecting student perceptions and their use of the library. They are also using electronic technology to deliver courses to distance learners. Many higher education institution offer full degree programmes over the Internet and World Wide Web. Not infrequently, students and even faculty believe that the Web can effectively take the place of the academic library. With changing user expectations, academic libraries must move beyond the traditional model to remain viable (Adam, and Cassner, 2001). The continued success of a service organisation such as an academic library depends upon the organisation‟s ability to adjust its products and services to correspond to user needs. Academic librarians need to realize that student and faculty needs do change. The change may not be radical or monumental. However, even in the case of subtle or evolutionary change, it remains incumbent for librarians to be aware that needs are changing, and also understand the nature of the changes (Millson-Martula and Menon, 1995). Assessment of library service quality therefore, has been a questionable agenda as traditional measures of collection size, counts of use, number of staff and size of budget are no longer applicable, and societal concern for quality and accountability in information services of higher education has increased (Kennel, 1995 in Nitecki, 1996). Related to service quality is the concept of customer satisfaction. Practitioners and writers tend to use the term satisfaction and quality interchangeably, but researchers have attempted to be more precise about the meanings and measurements of the two concepts resulting in considerable debate. Although the two concepts have certain things in common, satisfaction is generally viewed as a broader concept, whereas service quality focuses specifically on dimensions of service (Zeithaml, Bitner, and Gremler, 2006). The University of Ghana Library System (UGLS) The University of Ghana Library System (UGLS), consist of the Balme Library, which is the main library, Accra City Campus library, the Business School library, the Law library, libraries of Institutes, Schools, Halls and other departmental libraries of the University of Ghana. The system has in all, about 500,000 volumes of print resources. Its products, are made up of text-books, reference materials, electronic journals, electronic books, and a number of electronic databases. Whilst the Balme Library stocks materials that cut across all the disciplines within the university, the other libraries restrict themselves to their respective disciplines. The UGLS also provides excellent facilities, that enable it render efficient services to the university community. Some of these are; Research Commons (RC), Knowledge Commons (KC), a Twenty–four (24) hour Reading Room, Conference Hall, Seminar Rooms, Discussion Rooms, a networked environment, printing and binding services, among others. Recent Development in the University of Ghana Library System University of Ghana Catalouge (UGCat) This is the Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC) of the University of Ghana. It provides a web interface to the University of Ghana libraries‟ catalog, and enables anybody with internet connectivity (including cell phones, to access the University of Ghana Library System‟s collections.
