a library acquisition system for buryansungwe secondary school library, ibanda district

Description

The study aimed at developing an Online Information Acquisition System for Buryansungwe Secondary School (BSS) Library. The study objectives were to; investigate on the information resources needed by users of Buryansungwe Secondary School Library, identify the methods of acquiring information resources at BSS Library, examine the acquisition policies available at BSS Library, evaluate problems encountered in the acquisition of information materials at BSS Library and develop a library acquisition System for BSS Library. The study employed a case study research design while adopting a qualitative research approach in data collection. The interview guides, and the observation guides were used to collect data from the respondents. Purposive sampling was used to select 10 teachers, 2 librarians and 30 students who participated in the study. The study established that Buryansungwe Secondary School Library does not have an Information Acquisition System. The user‟s needs were; reference/consultation services, reading services, research services, internet services, reading space and many others. The research findings also showed that the various ways through which the library acquires its information materials are through donations and gifts, purchase and the interlibrary loans. The challenges in acquisition were; poor coordination with the suppliers, lack of user involvement in Decision Making, and inadequate information materials. The study concluded that there is need for an online information acquisition system for Buryansungwe Secondary School Library to help the library staff select and acquire information which is relevant to users‟ needs. The study recommended Buryansungwe Secondary School Library Management to adopt the proposed information acquisitions system to avail relevant information to users of the library. Other recommendations include; evaluation of donations and gifts received, proper identification of user‟s needs, good relationship with book vendors, setting up a library acquisitions policy, acquisition of current information materials.