Examining the Impact of Industry 4.0 on Academic Libraries

The fourth industrial revolution (4IR) is radically transforming the roles and responsibilities of librarians in different types of libraries. This calls for a fundamental rethink in order to retool the competencies and skills of librarians to ensure that they deliver efficient services to patrons who have diverse and dynamic information needs. The digital era provides librarians with an opportunity to reprofile their competencies and reinvent themselves in order to remain relevant. This chapter documents continuous professional development by librarians in the industry 4.0 era. A literature review was done to unpack how libraries are dealing with the impact of the 4IR. The findings revealed that the libraries are affected by the seismic technological changes that are arise from the 4th industrial revolution and librarians should develop their skills to be able to remain relevant in the industry 4.0 era.

The Libraries are in an era where changes come with high speed and much intense issues, and this seems to be as a result of the 4th industrial revolution. These emerging issues come in the form of changes that are not supposed to be overlooked by the library managers. These are changes libraries and Librarians have to be knowledgeable about. This chapter will address the impact, issues, challenges and controversies, prospects and how libraries should adapt, embrace and redesign their services, spaces and roles to accommodate this change on the Libraries. Existing research in the 4th Industrial revolution tends to focus on the challenges without much prospects and little or no evidence that researchers have approached how the libraries should accommodate and harness this revolutionary changes for improved library services provision. Therefore, this chapter aims to provide how the 4th industrial revolution affects the library and how libraries can harness the industrial revolution for enhanced services provision.

Given the speed at which technologies are reshaping economies and societies, libraries are called to embrace these changes while maintaining their role in the achievement sustainable development goals. This chapter aims to highlight how libraries can embrace the sustaining and disruptive technologies brought by the fourth industrial revolution on the library role in advancing sustainable development. The chapter highlights the role of libraries in sustainable development, and the unveils how the fourth industrial revolution technologies, that is, maker spaces, block chain technology, augmented reality, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence are used to enhance the library role in advancing sustainable development. Major challenges affecting libraries in embracing Library 4.0, that is, chronic financial constraints, inadequate infrastructure, resistance to change, and technical skills deficiency and possible recommendations to overcome these challenges are highlighted. This chapter is based on desktop review of relevant literature and the authors' views.

Information users of all categories find it difficult to search information especially in this electronic age. To access information, the user has to know the necessary commands to use when searching for any information electronically. The study discussed the concept of digital literacy, Classification of Understanding the information user in electronic Age, Studies dealing with Information need and challenges of the information user in the electronic age. Suggestions on how to reach out efficiently and effectively to users were made.

Application of Industry 4.0 in the library is still exploratory and despite an increase research on the rising trend, many challenges remain in designing a more packaged and accessible information using industry 4.0 components, especially for the special need library users such as the visually impaired, auditory impaired, wheel chair bound among others. Existing research, tends to focus on how special need library users can utilize information services using the third industrial revolution components. However there is very slim evidence that researchers have approached the issue of how industry 4.0 can be impactful on special need library users. This chapter tries to provide an overview of how special need library users can be supported to access and utilize library services effortlessly using industry 4.0 components like IOT services, cyber-physical systems, and cloud computing.

Reference service of any type of library can be offered over the Internet in real-time that we meant here Virtual Reference Service or VRS, in short. Virtual reference service is an online and interactive text-based communication service through which it is possible to provide the reference service of a library or a group of libraries to their distant users using a set of modern communication-based technologies. This paper is based on the results of experimental research. It mainly focuses on the customization process of Zoho chat in the ABCD site module to provide a virtual reference service from the library website. There is very little research across the globe that addresses the implementation and customization process of chat-based widget embedded into web pages, which is a key-focusing area of the current study.

The mission of libraries is to carry out information management responsibilities in the areas of acquisition, organization, preservation and dissemination of information to clientele and the clientele is expected to be satisfied with the services provided. One way in which user's satisfaction can be achieved is by repackaging the information to meet their needs in this era of ICT expansion. This advancement has posed challenges which call for changes in library services. This chapter therefore, looked at the concept of information packaging and repackaging, their various forms and the importance of information, the reasons for information packaging and their functions. Strategies for information packaging and repackaging in libraries and information centres, type of users/their information needs and the sources.

This study discusses the role of librarian in the 21st century. Libraries are in a state of dilemma due to dramatic changes that information and communication technologies (ICTs) have brought to libraries. Libraries are faced with various challenges including insufficient funds, but the inability of librarians to acquire IT skills relevant to addressing 21st century library services could be seen as a more difficult challenge, because without these skills it will be difficult for today's librarians to render adequate services to their patrons. Therefore, it is important for librarians to recognize and proactively seek to acquire the ICT skills needed to deliver 21st century library services to their patrons. This means that librarians need to also recognize the need to continually update themselves to keep up with today's fast-paced IT changes so that they will be able to deliver what is expected of them in this new millennium.

Academic libraries are undergoing a paradigm shift of service, due to various changes in their environment and internally. The maker culture is one of these factors and implies challenges regarding space, infrastructures, and services organization. This situation extends to research support services, in which the users have a particular informative behavior. This chapter aims to analyze whether the academic library has created research support services adapted to the era of maker culture. It examines how research is a key factor in the higher education system to contextualize the importance of research support services in academic libraries. How the researcher accepts or not the role of academic libraries in the process of production and communication of research is studied. As critical elements of the process, we examine part of researcher information behavior in the era of maker culture and the relationship of these users with librarians.

A study was done to document the standards that should be adhered to by library and information professionals in Zimbabwe to assure quality in service provision in order to meet the sustainable development goals. A literature review and web content analysis were done to unpack the various standards that all types of libraries should consider from library buildings, service provision, qualifications and accreditation of library and information science schools and professionals, and assessing the impact of libraries in the communities that they are serving. The findings review that there are international and national standards from various governing bodies that should be considered in library and information service provision. The author recommends the implementation of these standards in all the libraries to assure quality in library and information service provision.

The chapter focused on quality assurance and marketing of library services and products at the Midlands State University (MSU). The chapter's main objective was to identify the quality assurance mechanisms at the MSU Library. The major findings of the research were; the MSU library was practising quality assurance, staff was trained on the latest trends in the profession, the collection was multidisciplinary and in different forms, and that there were Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) used in enhancing service provision. The researcher recommended that the library needed to continuously train librarians on issues to do with quality, improve the infrastructure, introduce Research Data Management to enhance the Research Support Services and improve on the Information Literacy Skills training programmes. The author identified some areas for further research and the major one was that there is need for clarification on the concept of the 4th Industrial Revolution.

Marketing is an important component of libraries and other information centres. In the past, few approaches where used for marketing library collections and services. However, the use of social media tools in marketing library collection and services have over the past many years promise to be an important channel for marketing library collections and services. The purpose of this chapter therefore is to dig answers on the challenges and opportunities of using social media technologies in marketing library services and collections in 21st century environment. The chapter start with a snapshot overview of the importance of marketing library services and collection, highlight social media tools that can be used for marketing library collection and services. In addition, the chapter examines and presents the challenges facing libraries and other information centres in marketing the collection and services in 21st century environment. The methodology that will be used for this chapter is literature review comprising of journal articles, books, conference papers and newspapers articles.

Marketing concept is being widely used in all disciplines including library and Information Science domain for disseminating the services, resources and products to the target audiences. Thus, this study aims to define the marketing concept and how libraries can do marketing of their services, resources and products using marketing techniques and tools, such as 7Ps of the marketing mix. This study further pointed out the important internet resources available freely on the marketing of library services on the Internet which can be used by library and Information Science professionals with regard to getting the ideas how to market the library services and resources to the targeted users.

The chapter discusses the importance of capacity building and need for continuous professional development for library and information science professionals in university libraries. The changing dynamics in higher education, information and communication technologies and the shift in the learning landscape has led to more demands for skills and competencies of library and information professionals. The need for training is more urgent than before. If University Libraries are to remain relevant in the 21st Century, they need to constantly adapt and have professional staff who are able to cope with such rapidly changing environments enabling them to deliver resources and services efficiently and effectively. The chapter, therefore, document the importance of capacitating staff in university libraries.

This chapter x-rayed the industrial revolution phases down to the 4th industrial era or the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) The Fourth Industrial Revolution — commonly referred to as Industry 4.0 or i4.0 — is the next stage in digital transformation. The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) is sometimes described as an incoming thunderstorm, a sweeping pattern of change visible in the distance, arriving at a pace that affords little time to prepare. With the resultant effects of up-skilling and re-skilling the workforce for future fits of the industry 4.0 era. The chapter also provided answers to what skills today's workforce need to develop as their roles evolve, what re-skilling, cross-skilling, up-skilling is all about and the various strategies through which library managers can adopt to encourage their workforce to re-skill, cross-skill and up-skill.