R.A. Egunjobi and R.A. Awoyemi
Libraries in Nigeria have had to face several challenges and constraints in the development of library automation systems. These challenges include poor information and…
Abstract
Purpose
Libraries in Nigeria have had to face several challenges and constraints in the development of library automation systems. These challenges include poor information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure, poor funding, and poor ICT skills among library staff, as well as choosing appropriate software solutions. The introduction of open source software such as Koha is therefore a positive revolution in Libraries across Nigeria. The purpose of this paper is to make a strong case for the adoption of open source software in various libraries and information centres.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper discusses Adeyemi College of Education Library automation processes using the Koha Library Management Software. It highlights the strategy adopted, major automation areas, and various factors to be considered by librarians when developing automation processes for their libraries.
Findings
This paper shows that automation can improve the library's relevance to the academic community. It further reveals that library staff enjoy working in an automated environment and the patrons enjoy services rendered using an OPAC instead of a card catalogue.
Practical implications
Library automation will address the problem of manual processing of materials. It will further mean less drudgery, easy generation of records, space conservation, improvement of information services, and easy retrievals.
Originality/value
The major obstacle to library automation in Nigeria has been poor funding. This paper is an eye opener. Libraries now have the opportunities to use open source software instead of waiting to acquire software that costs so much and may discourage management from granting the request.
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Shana Rachel Ponelis and Philliam Adoma
Libraries globally automate their operations and services using integrated library systems (ILS) to increase operational efficiency and meet the ever-evolving demands of their…
Abstract
Purpose
Libraries globally automate their operations and services using integrated library systems (ILS) to increase operational efficiency and meet the ever-evolving demands of their users. Open source ILS (OS ILS) has become more popular globally. The purpose of this paper is to better understand the diffusion of OS ILS in academic libraries in Uganda.
Design/methodology/approach
Rogers’ diffusion of innovation (DoI) supplemented by the fit-viability theory was used as a theoretical framework. A questionnaire was developed based on extant literature and distributed electronically to representative members of a Ugandan university library association.
Findings
The diffusion of OS ILS in Ugandan academic libraries approximates the S-curve expected based on DoI. Ugandan academic libraries are adopting OS ILS for more flexibility to meet changing needs at what is perceived as an affordable cost but not all are fully satisfied. Koha is the most adopted OS ILS and is also being considered by all libraries without any ILS or a proprietary ILS. The information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure, organizational procurement policies and national procurement legislation, human resource capacity and limited finances are barriers to diffusion. The total cost of ownership and technical skills required are of particular concern for OS ILS.
Research limitations/implications
The research was limited to a single African country and the recommendations may not be transferable to other African countries. Future research can expand the survey, the countries studied and/or address the methodological limitations of this study.
Practical implications
When embarking upon library automation using OS ILS or migrating to an OS ILS solution libraries should consider their ICT infrastructure, local support community, available training and be realistic about the costs. Local library associations should provide guidance on OS ILS selection, ongoing training, and opportunities for knowledge sharing. LIS schools should consider expanding their curriculum to include library automation and, in Uganda incorporate training on Koha as OS ILS. Libraries and library associations should advocate to reduce restrictive organizational procurement policies and national procurement legislation.
Originality/value
Studies on country-level diffusion of ILS are comparatively few, particularly in African countries. This is the first country-level study of OS ILS diffusion in Uganda. This study can positively impact future patterns of diffusion for optimal deployment of OS ILS software by informing academic libraries, university management, library association, LIS schools, and policymakers in Uganda and across the African continent, and encouraging academics and researchers to teach and study library automation using OS ILS.
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Elisha Ondieki Makori and Norak Mauti Osebe
The purpose of this paper is to focus on Koha enterprise resource planning system and its potential impact on information management organizations in Kenya against the risks and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to focus on Koha enterprise resource planning system and its potential impact on information management organizations in Kenya against the risks and myths associated with the solution.
Design/methodology/approach
The study focused on selected scan and analysis of information management organizations using Koha enterprise resource planning system in addition to document or desk review analysis. Expert opinions and ideas of information professionals, especially information systems and information leaders, also provided vital knowledge.
Findings
Koha enterprise resource planning system as the premier and leading free and open-source software is transforming and integrating information services in knowledge-based organizations. Driving significant forces include economical benefits, global customer base, free use and distribution, technical and online support, compatibility and integration with other technologies and global access to information and organization of knowledge. The study also established that the risks and myths associated with the system such as compatibility and integration with other technological solutions are no longer possible challenges. Koha provides business intelligence and cloud computing solutions over proprietary or commercial systems for managing and supporting information in organizations.
Research limitations/implications
This study purposively focused on selected information and knowledge management organizations using the Koha free and open-source enterprise resource planning system in addition to expert opinions and ideas of stakeholders in the information industry.
Practical implications
Koha enterprise resource planning system provides alternative solutions to information organizations already burdened with limited financial resources. In addition, it proves to the entire world that the solution that was developed for rural and small-based information organizations has developed into a leading knowledge enterprise resource planning solution. In information management organizations, Koha enterprise resource planning system is the strategic asset whose growth and use has increased tremendously across the globe.
Social implications
Potential widespread application and usage of the Koha enterprise resource system that was initially developed for rural and small information organizations is proof enough that the free and open-source software movement can produce best solutions that are economically viable over proprietary systems. Significant impact of the enterprise system across the globe indicates that information management organizations, information professionals and leaders are satisfied with the system.
Originality/value
In the knowledge-based economy, where technological systems and solutions are fundamental for quality delivery of services to the customers, information professionals must and as always provide the necessary technology, leadership and management qualities. Across the world, Koha free and open-source enterprise resource planning system is increasingly gaining momentum in information management organizations, and Kenyan information professionals are no exception.
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Kingdom Hudron Kari and Ebikabowei Emmanuel Baro
– The study aimed to look at the library software in use in Nigerian university libraries, and the challenges and frustrations experienced in their automation projects.
Abstract
Purpose
The study aimed to look at the library software in use in Nigerian university libraries, and the challenges and frustrations experienced in their automation projects.
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopts a descriptive survey method and covers university libraries in Nigeria. A questionnaire was used to collect data from 32 university libraries in Nigeria.
Findings
The study revealed that university libraries in Nigeria widely use library software such as KOHA, SLAM and VIRTUA for their library operations. Challenges such as lack of skilled manpower, lack of fund, absence of modern systems (computers) and erratic power supply were identified as the major problems university libraries in Nigeria encountered while using library software. Librarians recommended the use of KOHA, SLAM or VIRTUA library software for use by university libraries that are in search for library software to use.
Originality/value
The findings of this study will provide useful information to librarians and library administrators in Nigeria and other developing countries who want to automate their library operations.
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Muhammad Asim and Muhammad Ijaz Mairaj
This study aims to find out the reasons of adopting Koha integrated library software, discovers the problems faced by librarians during its implementation, and gets the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to find out the reasons of adopting Koha integrated library software, discovers the problems faced by librarians during its implementation, and gets the perceptions of librarians about the performances of Koha in Punjab, a province of Pakistan.
Design/methodology/approach
Survey method was used to collect the data through questionnaire from the purposefully selected sample (N = 66) of university librarians of Punjab, a province of Pakistan.
Findings
The librarians adopted Koha due to the availability of Web online public access catalog (OPAC), provision of MARC21 standards for cataloging and its free availability. During implementation, the librarians were faced with the problems of lack of technical skills, lack of knowledge about the Linux operating system, shortage of skilled manpower, slow internet speeds and approval from their organization. They highly rated the performance of the cataloguing, circulation, patron and OPAC modules of Koha.
Originality/value
This research provides a brief picture of librarians’ perceptions about Koha adoption and satisfaction levels. The findings highlighted the issues and problems faced during the implementation of Koha. This study will be helpful for librarians in the selection, implementation and usage of the Koha software in their libraries.
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Md. Habibur Rahman and Md. Zillur Rahman
The purpose of this paper is to explain how the author carried out the modernization project of the central library and establishment of an e-resource center at Chittagong…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explain how the author carried out the modernization project of the central library and establishment of an e-resource center at Chittagong Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (CVASU), stated the implementation of integrated library system (ILS) in a library and encouraged library professionals by sharing practical experience to implement modernization project in their libraries.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper describes the authors’ practical experiences regarding implementation of the modernization project of the central library and establishment of an e-resource center at CVASU using open-source ILS and library management systems (LMSs).
Findings
The study reveals practical and systematic approach toward implementation of the modernization project starting from the project proposals, fund release, vendor selection, mode of procurement, manpower selection, selection of ILS and LMS solution to the library’s day-to-day activities and a series of communication with the funding organization.
Practical implications
This paper will help librarians implement the modernization project in a practical way to their libraries. This paper stands as a unique case study for the new applicant and for those who have got University Grants Commission funding for library modernization.
Originality/value
The paper provides a practical experience in the implementation of a library modernization project complying all the procedures of funding agencies. The content of the paper was not published before in any form other than the internal workshop and presentation.
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Mazhar Iqbal, Muhammad Kabir Khan and Arslan Sheikh
The aim of this study was to investigate the use of software for the automation of academic libraries in Sialkot. This study consisted of three objectives, including recognizing…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this study was to investigate the use of software for the automation of academic libraries in Sialkot. This study consisted of three objectives, including recognizing the reasons to adopt the software for library automation, investigating the problems faced by librarians while using library software and identifying the satisfaction level with the attributes of library software.
Design/methodology/approach
A quantitative research approach was used to achieve the objectives of this study. A survey was conducted to collect data from the library information science professionals working in the academic libraries of Sialkot. The data was collected from 46 library professionals through a structured questionnaire.
Findings
The findings showed that the economic cost of implementation, maintenance and the software providing multilingual support were the major reasons for adoption of software for the purpose of automation. In this study, compliance with the internet, noncooperation in library automation by university/institution, availability of training facilities, insufficient library budget, a lack of financial/economic resources, staff transfer and a lack of consultancy and technical service were identified as major issues when using library automation software. However, the respondents were quite satisfied with the performance of software attributes including circulation modules, easy to use cataloguing modules, reports’ modules, software attributes of administration modules and multilingual facility.
Originality/value
This study persuades library and information science professionals to automate their libraries through the adoption of library software.
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Yakub Kayode Saheed, Usman Ahmad Baba and Mustafa Ayobami Raji
Purpose: This chapter aims to examine machine learning (ML) models for predicting credit card fraud (CCF).Need for the study: With the advance of technology, the world is…
Abstract
Purpose: This chapter aims to examine machine learning (ML) models for predicting credit card fraud (CCF).
Need for the study: With the advance of technology, the world is increasingly relying on credit cards rather than cash in daily life. This creates a slew of new opportunities for fraudulent individuals to abuse these cards. As of December 2020, global card losses reached $28.65billion, up 2.9% from $27.85 billion in 2018, according to the Nilson 2019 research. To safeguard the safety of credit card users, the credit card issuer should include a service that protects customers from potential risks. CCF has become a severe threat as internet buying has grown. To this goal, various studies in the field of automatic and real-time fraud detection are required. Due to their advantageous properties, the most recent ones employ a variety of ML algorithms and techniques to construct a well-fitting model to detect fraudulent transactions. When it comes to recognising credit card risk is huge and high-dimensional data, feature selection (FS) is critical for improving classification accuracy and fraud detection.
Methodology/design/approach: The objectives of this chapter are to construct a new model for credit card fraud detection (CCFD) based on principal component analysis (PCA) for FS and using supervised ML techniques such as K-nearest neighbour (KNN), ridge classifier, gradient boosting, quadratic discriminant analysis, AdaBoost, and random forest for classification of fraudulent and legitimate transactions. When compared to earlier experiments, the suggested approach demonstrates a high capacity for detecting fraudulent transactions. To be more precise, our model’s resilience is constructed by integrating the power of PCA for determining the most useful predictive features. The experimental analysis was performed on German credit card and Taiwan credit card data sets.
Findings: The experimental findings revealed that the KNN achieved an accuracy of 96.29%, recall of 100%, and precision of 96.29%, which is the best performing model on the German data set. While the ridge classifier was the best performing model on Taiwan Credit data with an accuracy of 81.75%, recall of 34.89, and precision of 66.61%.
Practical implications: The poor performance of the models on the Taiwan data revealed that it is an imbalanced credit card data set. The comparison of our proposed models with state-of-the-art credit card ML models showed that our results were competitive.
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Women's contributions to socio-economic development of many developed and developing economies have improved substantially over the years. However, women participation in economic…
Abstract
Women's contributions to socio-economic development of many developed and developing economies have improved substantially over the years. However, women participation in economic development and contributions to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) are still inadequate as a result of insufficient access to finance to enhance their business performance and other challenging factors such as infrastructure, government policy and enabling business environment. This study aimed to examine the financing issues faced with female entrepreneurs in Nigeria in terms of supply side finance gap that hinders their performance. Other specific objectives are to: establish reasons for external source of finance; identify various financial options available for female-owned businesses in Nigeria; investigate the effect of financial options on the performances of female-owned businesses in Nigeria. Survey research design was employed with administration of structured questionnaire on nine hundred and seventy five (975) female entrepreneurs of selected Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) from the population of nine million, six hundred and two thousand, two hundred and forty nine (9,602,249). Data analysis was carried out using descriptive statistics (frequency, percentages, mean, standard deviation) and inferential statistics of regression analysis. Results of the regression analysis at 5% significant level using two-tailed test for all the variables of financial options displayed significant effects on the performance of female businesses in Nigeria. It was recommended that more female-owned businesses should take the advantage of these financial options to enhance business performance as only 38% of them have successfully utilized these financial sources to bridge the finance gap.
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Kemi Ogunyemi, Omowumi Ogunyemi and Amaka Anozie
Wisdom from Africa comes in different forms: proverbs, adages, folktales with moral lessons, the use of figurative speech which transmit deep messages, a variety of wise sayings…
Abstract
Wisdom from Africa comes in different forms: proverbs, adages, folktales with moral lessons, the use of figurative speech which transmit deep messages, a variety of wise sayings, songs, etc. Such wisdom guided many interactions including those relating to trade, entrepreneurship and other activities that drive the dynamics of economies. African communities are well known for a sense of communal living and a concern for others often manifested as solidarity. Aggregating the combined data from the preceding chapters, this final chapter in Volume 2 of Responsible Management in Africa explores the role of these two realities that are part of the African cultural heritage in promoting solidarity and inclusion. Four themes emerge: values-based education, mutual trust, personal social responsibility and sustainability factors. Beyond these four, since responsible businesses ought to have inclusive growth among their goal, they can also apply the knowledge of traditional values such as Ubuntu and Omoluabi for tackling challenges to sustainable development and contributing to attaining an ethical economy.