Status and practices of digitisation in Kuwaiti academic libraries

Abstract

Digitisation offers many advantages for academic libraries. This study explores the status and practices of digitisation in Kuwaiti academic libraries, and librarians’ perceived importance of digitisation. The survey method was employed, and a questionnaire was used to collect data from four universities and two other higher education institutions; one academic institution did not participate due to administrative procedural requirements. All professional librarians from these institutions were invited to participate, 81 responses (65%) were received. The results demonstrated that current digitisation projects focus most on digitising magazines, books, periodicals, dissertations and theses, photographs, and university publications. The respondents reported a moderate level of satisfaction with digitisation projects and attached a high level of importance to starting digitisation projects. This might reflect a high level of awareness among librarians regarding the challenges encountered and their potential solutions. Copyright issues, staff training, and funding were among the top five challenges and suggestions for improving digitisation projects. Several recommendations were suggested based on the results obtained to enhance digitisation in Kuwaiti academic libraries, such as more effort on the part of academic libraries into planning digitisation projects.

The influence of library service quality, library image, place, personal control and trust on loyalty: the mediating role of perceived service value and satisfaction

“…The claim made by Peter and Altman (2010) that users typically place little weight on tangible issues in library studies can be used to explain this finding. Our results contradict the findings of Kassim (2009), who argued that the essential function of the library as a place of learning is still significant today.…”

“…It is believed that users' reuse of library services is a reflection of how satisfied they are with the services given. According to Kassim (2009), user satisfaction is "a personal, emotional response to a library service", and is one way to assess how well library services are performing.…”

“…Due to the fact that they provide essential services in addition to books and space, like information literacy training, reference services and bibliographies to support research activities. Also, libraries constantly contribute to the development of new knowledge by gathering, organizing and making users' access to prior knowledge available (Kassim, 2009). However, the fast evolutions in information technology have had an impact on how libraries deliver their services (Perng et al, 2009).…”