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

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.