The document summarizes a study on the effects of mergers between technikon libraries and universities of technology in South Africa. It finds that while some libraries saw benefits like more diverse collections and skills, most had not received improved funding, staffing or infrastructure to match the increased demands of becoming a university. The majority of libraries planned to restructure to better align with university needs, but over half remained dissatisfied with budget allocations not meeting expectations. It recommends that institutions include library funding in research infrastructure requests and redress project submissions to address the mismatch between merger goals and resourcing.

1. SOUTH AFRICAN
HIGHER EDUCATION
LIBRARY MERGERS:
WHAT DID THEY ACHIEVE?
Library and Information Services
15th LIASA Conference Vivian Agyei
10 October 2013
“Merger policy is seldom merger practice” Jonathan Jansen

2. Library and Information Services
ORDER OF PRESENTATION
• Goals for higher education institutional mergers
• General perceptions on mergers
• Aim of the study
• Approach
• Limitations of the study
• Findings
• Conclusions
• Recommendations

3. Library and Information Services
GOALS
FOR THE HE
INSTITUTIONAL
MERGERS
An increased
contribution to
the solution of
social
problems
Improved use
of financial
and human
resources
Curriculum
restructuring
Improved
administrative
governance of
higher
education
institutions
Increased
student
access
A better
standard
of higher
education
An increase in
training and
development of
higher
education staff

4. Library and Information Services
GENERAL PERCEPTIONS
ON MERGERS
Traumatic
Government does not follow-up on
implementation of employment equity
Government does not follow up on the cost of
mergers
Government does not follow up on utilisation of
resources
Mergers failed

5. Library and Information Services
To assess the success of the
mergers in creating efficient
university of technology
libraries out of the former
technikon libraries w.r.t.
provision ofo
AIM OF THE STUDY
Infrastructure
Financial

6. Library and Information Services
(5)
Surveyed
areas
(3)
Focus on SA
UoTs formed
from mergers
(2)
Survey
Monkey
(1)
Questionnaire
APPROACH
(4)
Obtain data

7. Library and Information Services
LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
Small and targeted sample
Not aimed at all staff of the said libraries
Some of the directors may or may have not
been in the former technikons
The views of the directors may differ
significantly from those of their staff

8. Library and Information Services
Some of the directors may be for or against
the mergers
Survey may not cover the full extent of areas
surveyed in the libraries
Responses were interpreted at face value
…./ 2 Limitations of the study

9. Library and Information Services
FINDINGS
All the libraries surveyed report to academic environments
They have campus/branch libraries ranging in number from
6 to 13
Numbers of students served range from 25,000 to 55,000
they are universities
they conduct research as a KPA
All the libraries view UoTs as more demanding
of LIS than technikons

10. Library and Information Services
Staff morale
in 66% of the
libraries was
low
• High rates
of
personnel
turnover
• Job-
hopping
• Complaints
All met
employment
equity targets
Only 34% of
those
surveyed
analysed
needs per
campus to
determine
staffing
66% indicated
that the
design and
population of
their current
organisational
structures
were based on
job retention
for then
existing staff –
thus ignoring
matching
skills with
jobs or needs
Human resources
…./ 2 findings

11. Library and Information Services
66% of the libraries
were working on re-
aligning
organisational
structures with
institutional
objectives
…./ 3 findings
Human resources
Staff morale in 34% of
the libraries was high
o Taking advantage of
new opportunities
and
o Personal growth
from diverse
cultures

12. Library and Information Services
…./ 4 findings
Funding for library collections
increased since the merger in 66% of
those surveyed
For some, funding stagnated in the
past few years
COLLECTIONS
OF
INFORMATION
RESOURCES
Financial resources

13. Library and Information Services
…./ 5 findings
All the libraries allocated 60% of
the budgets to development of
e-resource collections, and
40% to print
COLLECTIONS
OF
INFORMATION
RESOURCES
Financial resources

14. Library and Information Services
…./ 6 findings
Financial resources
66% of the libraries were not satisfied
with budgets received:
o No formula for allocations
o Expressed needs not provided for
o Allocations had been decreasing
by the year
34% were satisfied with the budget
allocated.
OPERATIONAL
BUDGETS

15. Library and Information Services
…./ 7 findings
Financial resources
66% of the respondents had not
received funding specifically for library
development since the merger
However, all the libraries had seen
development in one or more of
o integration of information literacy
training into curricula
o statistics collection and analysis
LIBRARY
DEVELOPMENT

16. Library and Information Services
…./ 8 findings
Financial resources
Library development
LIBRARY
DEVELOPMENT
o establishment of an institutional
repository
o library e-learning for staff
o setting up of e-tutorials
o focused staff development and training
o alignment of library services with
university goals
o postgraduate service with librarians
especially for the purpose

17. …./ 9 findings
Infrastructure
Library and Information Services
34% had realised an extension of a library and its
renovation into a modern academic library
66% of the libraries had not realised any improvement in
infrastructure since the merger
None of the libraries perceived existing infrastructure as
adequate.

18. Library and Information Services
Whether library mergers enhanced the efficiency
of library services
…./ 9 findings
66% of the participants answered in the
affirmative
* More diverse collections
* A diverse skills base
* The library is regarded by the
institution as a strategic partner in
teaching, learning and research
* “We do things smarter and better”
For 34%, there was
misalignment between
resourcing the libraries
and the expectation of
fulfilling objectives

19. Library and Information Services
There has not been
improvement in the
provision of human or
financial resources to 66%
of the libraries since the
merger
Only 34% of those surveyed
has seen improvement in
the provision of human and
financial resources since the
merger
None of the surveyed
libraries had seen
improvement in the
infrastructure
CONCLUSION

20. Library and Information Services
CONCLUSION
The majority of the libraries plan to re-engineer
their environments to
o Better align organisational structures,
services and
o human resources deployment with
the demands of provision of service to a
university of technology

21. Library and Information Services
RECOMMENDATIONS
Institutions should include libraries in their
submissions for infrastructure for research
support
With respect to research support, the government
expects institutions to have appropriate ‘research
infrastructure in terms of library holdings’ (CEPD
2001: 68). They acknowledge that building
research capacity and infrastructure may take
time and depends on availability of resources.

22. Library and Information Services
…/2 Recommendations
Institutions should include libraries in their
submissions for redress projects; e.g. IEF grants
Government acknowledged that successful
implementation of the National Plan for Higher
Education was dependent on securing adequate
funding for restructuring and re-engineering, in
particular, for redress purposes.

23. Library and Information Services
…/3 Recommendations
Government should introduce mechanisms to ensure
alignment of resource provision to institutions with their set
outcomes. Otherwise, mergers will continue to be perceived
as a stumbling block to development in higher education
rather than an enabler that they were meant to be.
Libraries must not let up on trying to get support for
improved funding, re-engineering and infrastructure
development

24. Library and Information Services
Questions/Comments?
agyeimv@tut.ac.za
“Merger policy is seldom merger practice”
Jonathan Jansen