The efficiency and effectiveness of an academic library collection from the perspective of postgraduate students, academics and library professionals: collection evaluation at a University of Technology

Sandase, Thembisile

The efficiency and effectiveness of an academic library collection from the perspective of postgraduate students, academics and library professionals: collection evaluation at a University of Technology

Thesis / Dissertation

2026

Publisher

University of Cape Town

Publisher

University of Cape Town

Department

Library and Information Studies Centre (LISC)

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Abstract

Collection evaluation is one of the important aspects of the collection management process. Libraries evaluate their collections to ensure that they serve and satisfy users' needs. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of a library collection. The pragmatic research paradigm was used where both qualitative and quantitative methods (convergent mixed methods approach) were used through a case study of a University of Technology. The study is framed by Evans and Saponaro's (2019) model of the collection management process. The population of the study was postgraduate students, academic staff and library professionals. Convenience sampling was used to select students while purposive sampling was used to select staff for interviews. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to students, while semi-structured interviews were conducted with academics and library professionals. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected. The findings of the study revealed that all the participants were satisfied to some extent with the collection, although the audiovisual collection is outdated and obsolete and needs some improvement. Findings also depicted that reference and print journal collections should be updated to better support the users' needs and academic activities.