Readiness of academic libraries in South Africa to research, teaching and learning support in the fourth industrial revolution

Ocholla, Dennis N.; Ocholla, Lyudmila

Readiness of academic libraries in South Africa to research, teaching and learning support in the fourth industrial revolution

dc.contributor.author	Ocholla, Dennis N.
dc.contributor.author	Ocholla, Lyudmila
dc.coverage.conference	issn
dc.date.accessioned	2026-03-18T07:06:23Z
dc.date.available	2026-03-18T07:06:23Z
dc.date.issued	2020
dc.departmentName	Information Studies
dc.description.abstract	Purpose – In this paper, we refer to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in 2016, where the concept of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) was coined by Klaus Schwab, with the reference that it would be building on “the Third, the digital revolution” and would be “characterized by a fusion of technologies that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres”. While acknowledging that the 4IR will impact on everything, everywhere, including research and libraries, we conceptualize 4IR, and we compare current academic library services/trends in South Africa with 4IR requirements, through the analysis of 26 public university library websites. Design/methodology/approach – Besides conceptualization of 4IR, a content analysis of websites of 26 public universities’ libraries in South Africa was achieved followed up with verification of the data by respective libraries through a preliminary research report circulated to them by email. 23 areas were identified as the trends in academic libraries, which included free Wi-Fi in the libraries; 24/7 study areas and access to library resources on and off campus; research commons; makerspace; borrowing ICTs (e.g. laptops); e resources; e-catalogues; research data services (RDS; RDM, IR); open scholarship; information literacy and reference/bibliographic tools, library as a publisher, among others. Data obtained were captured in Excel and analyzed by the research questions. Findings – The 4IR concept does not occur often in literature, in relation to academic libraries, but it is implied. The findings show that the libraries are responding well to the revolution through their services, with remarkable innovation and creativity on display. There was a 64% presence of the analyzed trends/services in the libraries, with emerging trends/services such as library as a publisher (4%), robotics/AI (4%), makerspace (8%), RDS (27%), borrowing of ICTs/devices (19%) and user experience (19%) scoring low, while information literacy and digital scholarship (e.g. IR) (88%), e-catalogue and e-resources (92%), group study area (85%) and off campus access (77%) scoring above 75%. The scatter of the trends/services among the university libraries is noted for knowledge sharing of best practice. Research limitations/implications – In order to improve accordance with trends, academic libraries have to be better resourced, accessed and used, as well as improve web visibility. The study expects library services to be responsive, resourced and accessible anytime and anywhere, and it provides a conceptual framework and a benchmark for further research and exploration in the country, region and perhaps elsewhere. Practical implications – The study can be used for benchmarking current and future academic library services in Africa. The conceptual framework provides an agenda for theoretical discussions and deliberations. Social implications – The trends, framework and 4IR representations in the study can inform theory and practice in LIS, particularly in Africa. Originality/value – Linking 4IR to current and future library services provides a tool for academic libraries services benchmarking and development and provides a conceptual framework for theoretical and practical debates and implementation. The study is quite current and appropriate for the ongoing discussions of 4IR implications to academic libraries.
dc.faculty	Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
dc.identifier.citation	Ocholla, D.N. and Ocholla, L. 2020. Readiness of academic libraries in South Africa to research, teaching and learning support in the fourth industrial revolution. Library Management, 41(6-7), pp.355-368.
dc.identifier.issn	1758-7921 (online)
dc.identifier.issn	0143-5124 (print)
dc.identifier.other	https://doi.org/10.1108/LM-04-2020-0067
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10530/58981
dc.inproceedings	issn
dc.issuenumber	41 / 6- 7
dc.keynote	issn
dc.language.iso	English
dc.pages	355 - 368
dc.peerreviewed	Yes
dc.publisher	Emerald
dc.subject	4th industrial revolution
dc.subject	New trends / services
dc.subject	Academic libraries
dc.subject	South Africa
dc.title	Readiness of academic libraries in South Africa to research, teaching and learning support in the fourth industrial revolution
dc.title.journal	Library Management
dc.type	Journal Article
dspace.entity.type	Publication
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