Paraprofessional Library Staff Research Articles

LIBRARY SKILLS REQUIRED BY THE PARAPROFESSIONAL STAFF IN USER SERVICES DEPARTMENT

This paper provides a review on the library skills that are required by the paraprofessional staff in user services department, explore the specific types of paraprofessional staff for user service department, and their roles. The study put together comparatively the user service information resource and service delivery responsibilities and the information utilitarian service support roles of the paraprofessional library staff and examines that, the more befitting type of paraprofessional library staff for user services are the “page”, “library aides”, and “library Services Assistant”. The types of responsibilities of user services paraprofessional staff was examined to be the middle level complementary roles in a way that relates to ‘user assistance’, and ‘library support’ in user management, information retrieval and access, shelve management, circulation desks services, reading area management and close access information services, among others. It also examined the library skills required by the user service paraprofessional library staff, who are expected to have the soft library – skills, hard library – skills, and the library information technologies use – skills, among others. The study concludes by stressing the existence of differing practices in the labelling paraprofessional library staff as “library support staff”, “library nonprofessional”, “not-certified” or “non-licenced librarians”, “post-secondary school” or “diploma certificate holders” in consistently, as well as confusion in their schedule of responsibilities. The study suggests the need for library regulatory agencies/parastatals and the libraries themselves to review the existing library staffing pattern/nomenclature and responsibilities to suit the current changing library environment, development in knowledge acquisition and certificates, changing users’ information needs and seeking behaviour and the changing trends in information services, among others.

TETFund intervention in the provision of library resources in academic libraries in Nigeria

This study investigated the intervention of TETFund in the provision of library resources in academic libraries in Imo State, Nigeria. It was guided by four research questions and three null hypotheses. The study adopted a survey research design with a questionnaire as the research instrument. The population of the study was 105 professional and para-professional library staff at two universities in Imo State. The findings show that TETFund intervenes to a high extent in the provision of information resources at the two universities studied. The study recommends that concerned government ministries should monitor the activities of TETFund to ensure that universities benefit equally, and that TETFund should be mandated to make the processes simpler. The researchers also recommend that TETFund organize conferences to educate institutions on the need and processes to access funding and benefit from TETFund.

Marketing intangibles: the case of library services in higher education institutions

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate the adoption of marketing techniques in academic libraries in Ghana, and how they are applied in the promotion of their services to patrons.Design/methodology/approachAdopting the qualitative research approach, a total of 21 professional and para-professional library staff from three private universities participated in the study. The main data collection instrument was the use of semi-structured interviews. Data gathered was analysed, discussed and presented thematically.FindingsThe findings revealed that the study's participants are fully aware of the benefits of inculcating marketing activities into their daily routines and were making efforts at making their users aware of their products and services with the use of various strategies including the deployment of social media tools. Some of the challenges that were discovered to hinder the success of marketing in the libraries were lack of funds, lack of knowledge of marketing techniques by staff and a lack of marketing policy to guide marketing in the libraries.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings of this study imply that, even though carried on a few academic libraries, the same can apply to most academic libraries as the characteristics are generally the same.Practical implicationsTo boost marketing initiatives in the selected university libraries, the following recommendations informed by the findings of the study are made: creation of marketing policies, increase use of social networking sites for marketing, organization of seminars and workshops on marketing, diversifying sources of funding for libraries and conducting user surveys.Social implicationsThe implementation of the recommendations has the potential to increase the level of interactions between academic libraries and their patrons as well as impact positively on the information-seeking behaviour of library patrons.Originality/valueApart from the application of works of other scholars, which have been duly cited and acknowledged, the entirety of this study or research output is the result of the handiworks of the researchers. Again, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this work has not been a production of existing research nor is earlier published in any journal.

Library staff utilization of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for service delivery in special libraries in north central Nigeria

The study investigated ICT utilization for service delivery in special libraries in North Central, Nigeria. The study was guided by three objectives and relevant literature related to the study was reviewed. Survey research design was used for the study. The population comprised of one hundred and twenty-six (126) professional and para professional library staff in fifteen (15) research libraries in North Central Nigeria. But the sampled population for the study comprised of eighty three (83) library staff from eight (8) research libraries in the North Central Nigeria. Questionnaire was used for collection of data. Out of eighty three (83) copies of questionnaires administered, seventy six (76) copies were duly completed and the data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistics of frequency counts, percentages and mean score. The study revealed ICT facilities were available for minimal use for service delivery. Major problems hindering utilizations of ICT for service delivery in research libraries of the North Central Nigeria were those of ICT policy and in adequate funds. The study proffered recommendations. Keywords: Special libraries, service delivery, North Central, ICT, Utilizatiion

Facilitating Public Access to Information: the Role of Niger State Library Board Minna

This study investigated the role of Public libraries in facilitating public access to information. The purposive sampling technique was adopted for the study. Questionnaire and observation checklist were used to collect data from seven (7) Professional librarians and forty-one (41) Para-professional library staff given a total of forty-eight (48) respondents. The sample size for the study was thirty seven (37). The data collected were analysed mean scores. Textbooks, reference sources and newspapers were the only information resources available in the library. Only four (4) out of twelve (12) mechanisms were adopted by the library in providing and enhancing access to information. Lack of fund, lack of current textbooks and lack of conducive learning environment were the major constraints in the library. All the remedies were accepted by the respondents. Based on the findings, the study concluded that public libraries in Niger State lack adequate information resources in providing access to information. This study recommended that public libraries should be adequately funded by the State government.Keywords: Access; Information; Library Board; Public libraries; Role; Minna,

Training needs of paraprofessional library staff in university libraries in South-East Nigeria

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the training needs of paraprofessional library staff in university libraries in South-East Nigeria with the objective to find out their training needs, the training programmes available to them, their utilization of training opportunities, hindrances to their training and strategies for enhancing training for them. Design/methodology/approach The descriptive survey design and total enumeration technique were used for the study. The instrument for data collection was a questionnaire. The collected data were analysed using frequency counts and percentages and are presented in tables for clarity. The population of the study was comprised of all the paraprofessional staff of the university libraries in South-East Nigeria. Findings Major findings showed that paraprofessional staff had a variety of training needs. The findings also showed that training opportunities available for them were very limited and that staff based their utilization on availability rather than need. Factors such as inadequate training facilities and lack of fund hindered training. Strategies that can enhance training were also indicated. Practical implications This study has practical implication as it is an empirical study conducted among paraprofessional library staff to identify their training needs, training opportunities available, utilization of training opportunities, hindrances to their training and strategies that can effectively enhance training for them. Originality/value Looking at the objectives of the study and the fact that most researches are focussed on librarians not the support staff (paraprofessionals), it will be useful to library administrators, the library professional field and planners of training programmes.

A comparative gender study of the factors affecting motivation of professional and paraprofessional staff of selected private university libraries in Ogun state, Nigeria

The purpose of the study is to identify the key factors of motivation for professional and paraprofessional library staff based on their gender and to identify how they rate the various motivational factors. The descriptive survey method was employed and five university libraries were selected for the study. The respondents comprise all professional and paraprofessional staff of the various libraries. 140 copies of questionnaire were distributed and a total of 107 representing 83.2% were duly completed and found usable for this research. Data analysis was done using frequency counts, mean rankings and percentages. Major findings revealed that high salary was ranked as the highest motivational factor by male and female professional and paraprofessional library staff other striking similarities were noticed betweenmale and female library staff as regards the factors that could motivate them.The paper concluded that management of academic libraries should show greater interest in the welfare of the library staff to make them more valuablecontributors to the success of the institution.

The impact of digital divide on skills development amongst academic librarians in Imo State

The library had been the primary source of information for staff and students, and services were carried out manually until the advent of Information and Communication Technologies which resulted in the digital divide. Today library function/services are carried out with the help of ICT facilities. This has forced academic librarians to shift from manual library services to the use of ICT facilities in carrying out library functions. The paper is on the impact of digital divide on skills development amongst academic librarians in Imo State. Questionnaire were designed and distributed to all the professional and para-professional library staff in the four academic libraries in Imo State. A total of 97 questionnaires were distributed to these staff members but only 60 (61.85%) were who completed and returned. All the professional and para-professional staff who constitute the senior staff members was represented in the sample. The result presented and anlaysed with tables, percentages and graph revealed that; many of the libraries are short staffed, considering the large of students they attend to on daily basis; the libraries under study do not have adequate ICT facilities; majority of the staff members are computer literate but few are experienced in the use of computers and other ICT facilities; majority of the staff members actively participate in continuous professional development in the use of ICT facilities using different methods of training which include conference, seminar, workshop, apprenticeship training, job rotation, formal training and in-service training. It was also observed that many factors militated or hindered ICT skill acquisition by academic library staff which includes lack of fund on the part of library management and staff, inadequate training programme on ICT, high cost of ICT facilities, lack of time on the part of staff. It recommended that: - Academic libraries should employ more professional and para-professional librarians. - Government should provide adequate funds for academic libraries. - Academic library management should send their staff on compulsory ICT training and also retain their staff. - Academic library management should source for alternative source of funds using donor agencies. - Staff members can save part of their income and enroll for evening and weekend training on ICT. - Academic library management should arrange for in-house training. - Using key members of staff who are experts on the use of ICT facilities or pay consultants on ICT to come and teach staff members.

Canadian Library Human Resources Short-Term Supply and Demand Crisis Is Averted, But a Significant Long-Term Crisis Must Be Addressed

Canadian Library Human Resources Short-Term Supply and Demand Crisis Is Averted, But a Significant Long-Term Crisis Must Be Addressed

Certificate and Associate Degree Education for Library Paraprofessionals: Distance Makes It Possible

ABSTRACT Distance education makes library paraprofessional education possible and desirable to meet needs in library staffing. Lexington Community College (LCC) developed online certificate and associate degree programs to meet the legal requirements for Kentucky paraprofessional library staff. In collaboration with the Southeastern Library Network (SOLINET), in Spring Semester 2004, the LCC courses were offered to SOLINET member library staff at the in-state tuition rate. The enrollment and completion rates of students in the online LCC courses show a high degree of interest in library science education at the undergraduate level. Furthermore, formal education for library paraprofessionals is taking on a new significance with the “professionalization” of paraprofessional employees. The American Library Association (ALA) has begun to explore the desirability and possibility of accreditation of paraprofessional programs, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) has funded projects for undergraduate library science education.

The Approval Plan

Approval plans are used by many libraries as an adjunct to title-by-title selection, and sometimes as a substitute for it. The author examines this approach to purchasing library materials, considering positive and negative effects approval plans may have on collection balance as well as on acquisitions budgets and workflow. The article also serves as an introduction to approval plans for entry-level acquisitions librarians, library school students, and paraprofessional library staff. Practical concerns in setting up approval plans are discussed, such as approval plan profiling, plan maintenance, and evaluation. Budget and accounting considerations are introduced. Although approval plans are widely used, new librarians may have learned little about them in library science courses. The approval plan is presented as a useful tool for shaping and maintaining library collections.

Impact of New Library Technology on Training Paraprofessional Staff

This article discusses the training of para-professional library staff in new technologies with an emphasis on reference services. For the purposes of the article, paraprofessional is defined as those not holding the professional library science degree. General training principles and procedures are discussed including the training environment, equipment, handouts, and goals or projected outcomes. The results of a survey of training needs for Library and Information Studies graduate students working in the Northern Illinois University Libraries is incorporated into the article. This article concludes by suggesting that paraprofessional training is in effect a continuing education opportunity that focuses on skill development and learning transfer as a means to improve work performance.