Research and teaching staff in developing countries rate the value of libraries higher than in the West

Nell McCreadie elaborates on the findings from a recent study on the exploring the value of academic libraries in developing countries. Case studies indicated that there is a clear need for better promotion of resources, awareness raising and skills development. However, this is not just a case of internal promotion, but also a case of developing external relationships with the scholarly community to promote advocacy for the library.
A common concern that our global library partners often raise with us is that the role of the academic library in supporting teaching and research staff is not fully understood. Too often, library patrons fail to fully understand the origins of the resources that they are using and how they are able to access them. A new study released by SAGE tells a similar story, with librarians in the developing world becoming increasingly aware of the need to communicate the value of their academic libraries. The study explored opinions of both the library and academic teaching and research community to understand how the library is perceived. More...