Mzuzu University Digital Repository

Coping with the fire disaster at Mzuzu university: experiences from librarians and students

Show simple item record

dc.contributor.author Dube, Gift Alfred B.
dc.contributor.author Kanyundo, Allan J.
dc.contributor.author Majawa, Felix P.
dc.date.accessioned 2022-09-22T17:56:19Z
dc.date.available 2022-09-22T17:56:19Z
dc.date.issued 2018
dc.identifier.citation Dube, G. A. B., Kanyundo, A. J. & Majawa, F. P. (2018). Coping with the fire disaster at Mzuzu university: experiences from librarians and students. 147-168. https://www.scecsal.org/publications/papers2018/009_dube_2018.pdf en_US
dc.identifier.uri https://www.scecsal.org/publications/papers2018/009_dube_2018.pdf
dc.identifier.uri 192.168.2.8:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/315
dc.description.abstract This study provides an account of the experiences of library staff and students at Mzuzu University as they coped with the fire disaster. A phenomenological research design was used to elicit experiences of both library staff and students when coping with fire disaster. Purposive sampling was used to identify library staff and students who participated in the study. Interview and focus group discussion was used to collect data from library staff while a questionnaire and focus group discussion were used to collect data from students. The study revealed that library staff used several strategies to rebuild the collection and provide service to students, such as appealing to donors and partners, using electronic resources and establishing a short loan counter. Library staff experienced both challenges and opportunities during the time of rebuilding the collection. Challenges included delay in acquisition of resources and lack of processing tools a while opportunities included learning new skills, teamwork and acquisition of new resources among others. Students also faced challenges and opportunities when adapting to new ways of information delivery. Challenges included inadequate resources, lack of reading space, and limited access to electronic resources due to limited skills and poor network while opportunities included new skills, new resources, and a new information seeking culture. The library devised some strategies to minimize students’ challenges, which included increasing hotspots, increasing band width, training students in internet skills, and opening an interim library to provide more resources and reading space. Data was presented using tables and analysed using narrative text. en_US
dc.language.iso en en_US
dc.publisher SCECSAL en_US
dc.subject Fire disaster en_US
dc.subject Library en_US
dc.subject electronic resources en_US
dc.subject Library staff en_US
dc.title Coping with the fire disaster at Mzuzu university: experiences from librarians and students en_US
dc.type Article en_US


Files in this item

This item appears in the following Collection(s)

Show simple item record

Search MzuniDR


Advanced Search

Browse

My Account