Managing a Library of a Distant Learning site of TUT, South Africa

Rirhandzu S. MhingaTshwane University of Technology, Polokwane, South Africamhingars@tut.ac.za

INTRODUCTIONTUT Polokwane was established in 1995

as a non-resident campus by the then Technikon Pretoria

Situated in the Limpopo Province of SA

Introduction…. Limpopo is the third largest province

in SA Population of 5 million distributed in

123 910 square km One of the poorest in the 9

provinces of SA 86% live in largely under-developed

rural areas 14 % live in urban areas

Introduction……..

Since inception Polokwane campus has experienced a steady growth

Student numbers escalated to 1896 in 2006

Share and narrate experiences that have been encountered over 4 years…..

Pre-merger : Management model Prior to the 2004 merger a hybrid

management model existed. Satellite librarians were not part of

the library management team nor the main library staff structure

No official link between satellite libraries

Main Library acted in an advisory capacity when needed

Pre-merger : management model…

Hence very limited professional interaction between satellite librarians and other library professionals at the main library.

All Technikon Libraries shared, computerized library system, most of the library’s policy and procedures and all electronic databases

Pre-merger : funding Allocation of information resources

funds was done by Pretoria (main Library)

Pretoria processed all library material.

Expenditure was centrally managed on the Innopac system.

Operational budget was from the campus budget and last allocation prior to the merger was R21000.00 about $3000.

Pre-merger : human resources

Campus was semi-autonomous.Staff recruitment was the

responsibility of the campus director – funds dependant.

One professional Librarian and one library assistant.

Student assistants were appointed on an ad-hoc basis.

Interim-post merger scenario 3 Technikons merged in January

2004 to become TUT-Tshwane University of Technology.

Libraries had to merge with the rest of the Institution.

Satellite Librarians were only invited in November 2004 to be part of the LMC (Library management Committee).

LMC changed to LIS EXCO.

Post to interim merger scenario…Library Management structure 2006+

Overall Head: LIS (1 New)

Current=Interim Executive DirectorSecretarial Support

Logistics & Facilities (1)

PretoriaHead: Pretoria (1 New) Current: Acting Director

Manager Client Services (1)

Info Librarian (5 + 1 vacant)) Info Librarian P/T (1 day, 1 A/H ) Lib. Assist: Info (1 Vacant)

Info. Lit. Train Lib. (1) Circulation Librarian (1)

Lib Assist: Circ / MM ( 6 day) 3 redundant) 2 redeployment 6 A/H

Student Asts

Lib.Assist:

Cont. Res. Admin (1.5)

Int-Lib-Loans Librarian (1)

Lib Assist: Int-Lib-Loans (3.5)

Student Shelf Attendants (6 day + 2 A/H))

Archives Lib Assist: Vacant (0.5)

Science

Head (1)

Info Librarian (2 day, P/T 1 A/H) Lib

Assist: Info Lit Train (1)

Lib Assist:Circ (1) P/T (1 + Leseding 2, 1 redundant 1 redepl) 4 A/H Student Assistants

Lib Assist: Int-Lib-Loans/ Continuous Res. Admin (1)

Student Shelf Attendants (2)

Witbank

Head (1)

Info / Info. Lit. Train Librarian (1)

Lib. Assist: Int-Lib-Loans + Continuous Res. Admin (1)

Lib. Assist: Circulation (1)

Student Shelf Attendant (2)

Polokwane

Head (1)

Lib. Assist: Circulation / MM / Shelf Attendant / Int-Lib-Loans (1)

Info. Lit. Train / Info Librarian (1)

Student Shelf Attendant (2)

IT & Systems

Manager (1)

D/bases Content Librarian (1)

System Librarian: Custom Systems (1)

System Librarian Millennium (1)

Electronic Content Librarian (1)

IT Suport Engineers (2)

Archives

Librarian (1)

Information Resources Management

Manager (1)

Acquisitions Libr.(1)

Lib Assist: Acquisitions (5), (1 vacant )

Librarian: Catalog.(4) Lib. Assist: Inform. Res Processing (2) Note: 1 redundant move to other lib.

Cont Res Librarian (1)

ERCs

Manager (1) Current: Manager contract)

ERC Assist. (13 Temp, 36 Student Assist )

Current: ERC Assist. Contract / Student Assist

Admin. Assist. (1)

Ga-RankuwaHead: Ga-RankuwaCurrent: Director (1)

Info Librarian (3 day, P/T 1 A/H)

Info. Lit. Train Lib. (1 Temp)

Circulation Librarian (1)

Circ / MM Lib. Assist (3 day, 3 A/H Stud Assts)

Lib. Assist:Continuous Res. Admin (1) 1 x Temp)

Int-Lib-Loans Lib. Assist (1)

Student Shelf Attendants (2 day + 1 A/H)

Note: Lib Assistants:

3 redundant to be redpl to other lib.

5 redpl to other lib.

The Arts

Head (1)

Info Librarian (1)

Lib. Assist:Int-Lib-Loans/ Cont. Res. Admin (1)

Lib. Assist:Circulation / MM (3 day, 1 redpl. , 2 A/H Stud Assts)

Student Shelf Attendants (2 day + 2 A/H)

Nelspruit

Head (1)

Lib. Assist:Circulation / MM / Int-Lib-Loans (1)

Lib. Assist:Continuous Res. Admin (1)

Student Shelf Attendants (2)

Info. Lit. Train / Info Librarian (1)

Sosh-South

Head: Soshanguve (1)Current: Director

Manager (1) Current: Dep. Director Client Services (1)

Info Librarian ( 3 – day, P/T 1 A/H)

Circulation Librarian

Lib. Assist:Circ / MM (4 + 2 redepl –

day, 3 A/HStudent Assistants)

Lib. Assist: Continuous Res. Admin (2 + 1redepl)

Lib. Assist: Int-Lib-Loans (1)

Student Shelf Attendants (3 day + 3 A/H)

Note: Secrredpl within the library

Sosh-North

Head (1)

Info Librarian (2 + P/T 1 A/H

Lib. Assist:Circulation / MM (1 day, 1 redepl, 4 A/H Stud Assistants)

Lib. Assist:Continuous Res. Admin (1)

Lib. Assist: Int-Lib-Loans (1)

Student Shelf Attendants (2 day + 2 A/H)

CentralisedSupport Services

Head (1 new)

Interim- post merger scenario…

Exco consists of the acting Executive Director, heads of 10 individual libraries and three centralised support services managed by LIS.

Of the 10 libraries 3 bigger libraries are all in a radius of 30Km (19 miles).

Smaller libraries are between 110 and 300km away from the main library.

Polokwane is situated 300km away from the main library.

Head of library reports to both CD and LIS Executive Director.

Funding

Library receives information resources and operational funds via the office of the LIS Executive Director.

Campus Director is informed of the total amounts and control the operational expenditures.

In terms of the operational budget significant improvement during the first year of the merger even after 62% budget reduction.

Funding…. Not much change with regard to

information resources. Funds allocation formula was the

same as the formulae prior to the merger.

Average book and journal price based on previous years expenditure were taken into consideration.

2006 – no funds for information resources

SERVICES AND FACILITIES

Library facilities and services at Polokwane are still the same as before the merger.

Core business is Information provision. Information service provision is adversely

affected due to inadequate infrastructure and resources

Library houses an excellent collection of journals and electronic databases.

Infrastructural limitations have an adverse effect on collection building

The library offers the following services:

Services and Facilities…

Provision of Information to all Faculties on Campus

Research support Training and Orientation Identify and evaluate information

needs of the clients Journals, books and multimedia

circulation Inter Library Loans

Services and facilities…

Do not boast world class library facilities. It is 122 square meters. Shelf area, current awareness services,

study area and 2 electronic resource centre with 26 work stations.

Recommended reading space is 2,3 square meters.

Practically – 53 students can be provided with study space at a time.

Current facilities:

Services and facilities

120 seating spaceOf the 120, 80 are regularly

shared as an alternative lecture hall

No seminar roomNo classroom for information

literacy trainingNo facility to cater for students

with disabilities

Services and Facilities

ERC picture

CHALLENGES Geographical separation form main

campus has a direct impact on the holistic management of the library.

Over the years it has proven impractical for the overall LIS head to visit far laying sites.

Planning of Library was typically guided by operational needs rather than by systematic knowledge of how student learn

Challenges….. Staff from Polokwane must travel a day

before the meeting and overnight after for safety and security reasons.

Practically it means that the librarian is away 12 working days a year for management meetings excluding the impromtu ones.

During these times the library is run by library assistants – non qualified.

Other meetings are by tele/video conferencing to reduce traveling time and cost but it surely does not make it for the unavailability of an information librarian during the meetings.

Challenges

Information service at Polokwane campus of TUT is highly compromised

By far less than the bare minimum that can be offered to university students

Library facilities utilized beyond capacity Supported by a 2006 survey conducted by

directorate of quality promotion Students alluded to the inadequate facilities

and limited hours of library access All these factors combined makes

managing TUT Polokwane Library a challenging task

Merger impact Non-voluntary merger - resistance Resistance to change and job securities Brought along a multicultural LIS at TUT Brought together a community that

previously worked in independently A platform to share professional

information and resources Smaller Libraries - a significant increase

in operational budgets- though not yet enough

To date the merger process is still unfolding much to the discomfort of staff

Recommendations

Appointment of more qualified staff and acquire new facilities with essential technological features to redress the current short-comings

State-of-the art Library and ERC be built to provide comprehensive information retrieval

Recommendations…..

A classroom dedicated for teaching and information literacy instruction

All relevant stakeholders have to be involved in the planning.

Recommendations…..

A need for a complete turnaround strategy towards providing LIS to Polokwane students

This has to be timeously corrected if the Library is to support the learning missions of the university it supports

Conclusion It remains the responsibility of

executive management for a decision to improve service delivery and infrastructure to enhance the learning environment

In this position my management skills have been put to a rigorous testing

This position requires specific and particular skills to render efficient service

Conclusion

Polokwane library of TUT is vital component of teaching and learning, TUT management has to avail resources for creating and maintaining an intellectual environment to nurture student learning and student life to foster research and life long learning.

Failure to provide the above, will yield undesirable results to all academic offerings on campus.

Conclusion….

It will be in TUT’s best interest to focus on the challenges above, and act in a way that the primary client’s needs are totally uncompromised to ensure that Tshwane University of Technology lives up to its name a ‘University of Technology”

Conclusion…

Thank you for listening!

Inkomu…..