Effectiveness of Sokoine National Agricultural Library (SNAL) in disseminating veterinary information.
The Sokoine National Agricultural Library (SNAL) was established by Parliamentary Act No. 21 of 1991, which elevated the former University Library to a national agricultural library. Therefore, SNAL serves both as a University Library as well as a national agricultural library. SNAL’s overall goal is to develop and maintain library and information services in agricultural sciences and related disciplines. As a university library, SNAL aims at supporting efficiently and effectively teaching, research, extension, consultancy and other academic activities of Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA). The Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) consists of many academic units that include four faculties; namely; the Faculty of Agriculture, Faculty of Forestry and Nature Conservation, Faculty of Science, and Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. This paper examines the capacity of SNAL in disseminating veterinary information. Electronic information resources available at SNAL are assessed with the aim of examining the coverage of veterinary information in comparison to other agricultural related fields offered by SNAL. Major electronic information resources include: CD-ROMs, e-journals and an OPAC. Additionally, the information needs and seeking behavior of veterinary scientists and students at SUA are identified in order to establish the extent to which SNAL meets their needs. The quality of library human resources at SNAL in relation to their capacity to provide veterinary information was observed as well.
Insights into Information-seeking and Communicating Behaviour of Academics
Abstract This paper discusses the information-seeking behaviour of academics in relation to the productivity of academics in South African Universities, with particular reference to the University of Zululand, through a survey of 105 academics. It was established that the nature of the discipline and the rank of the academic, which normally corresponds with the academic qualification, experience, exposure and research productivity level, largely determine the information-seeking behaviour. Academics mainly need information for career development, and occupational and professional needs. Furthermore, university libraries, which currently face budget cuts on acquisitions, still play a pivotal role in information access by the academics. It is confirmed that the use of “local environment” is dominant for intra- and inter-university information access network and system. It is recommended that avenues that work colleagues can use to interact should be supported, and career challenges that stimulate productivity by academics, such as research and publication, should be maintained and sustained.
Facing and Coping with Uncertainty During Organizational Encounter
Drawing from previous “encounter” work by several researchers, this investigation identifies the types of uncertainty new hires experience and documents newcomers' information-seeking strategy preferences and target reliance patterns for coping with different forms of uncertainty. Organizational newcomers' (n = 200) uncertainty narratives reveal that new hires experience some uncertainty types more than others. Information-seeking strategy preference patterns reported in the article closely parallel those described by Miller. These patterns, although not affected by uncertainty type, are influenced by information-seeking strategy targets. New hire information target preferences were found to be influenced by type of uncertainty. Findings make a strong case for broadening the operationalization of information-seeking targets to include both intra- and extraorganizational sources. The final portion of the article discusses study limitations and directions for future research.