An information retrieval system for foundation for Human Rights Initiative Resource Center

Abstract

The aim of this project was to design an information retrieval system for Foundation for Human Rights Initiative Resource Center. The objectives that guided the study were to; To establish the current status of FHRI resource center, identify the types of materials at FHRI resources center, find out the challenges faced when retrieving information materials at FHRI resources center and design, test a computerized retrieval system used at FHRI resources center and provide recommendations for implementation. A case study research design was used while adopting a qualitative research approach. The data collection methods used include: unstructured interviews and questionnaires and participant observation. Sample size was 15 and this included two (2) library staff and 13 users. Major findings were; library users and librarians retrieve and store respectively information materials manually within the library and the challenges they face during the retrieval process which include tiresomeness, making long queues and time consuming. The findings further revealed that the current retrieval system used at Foundation for Human Rights Initiative library is paper based which causes information overload on the circulation desk and also insecure because it accommodates torn paper which may lead to loss of library user data in case of a disaster. From the findings above, the study concludes that Foundation for Human Rights Initiative library wastes a lot of time in retrieving of information materials and sometimes losing the user details. The study therefore recommends the management of Foundation for Human Rights Initiative to adopt the proposed information retrieval system because it does not require a lot of money to operate and the library staff should be trained on how to use the system to be able to meet the needs of the users. Further, the study recommends that, for the proposed system to effectively serve Foundation for Human Rights Initiative community, users should provide correct information about themselves for the library staff to print out the lists of registered library users and to be contacted in case of an emergency. Additionally, the researcher recommends that the library staff should be trained on how to use the proposed system to avoid debugging during the retrieval process.