A website for provision of current awareness services at Busoga College Mwiri Library

Abstract

The study was about a website for provision of current awareness services at Busoga College Mwiri Library. The aim of the project was designing a website to promote Current Awareness Services in the library of Busoga College Mwiri. The objectives were to identify how Current Awareness Services are provided at B.C.M Library, to identify the challenges of providing CAS to the B.C.M Library users, to propose strategies for providing Current Awareness Services at B.C.M Library and to design a website for provision of Current Awareness Services at B.C.M Library. A case study research design was used. The study used convenience sampling and random sampling technique to sample the respondents. Three data collection methods were used while collecting data and these included questionnaire, interview and observation methods. Sample size of forty one (41) was included in the study and this included five (5) library staff and thirty six (36) users. The findings indicate that CAS are provided using display of information on the notice boards, display of new arrivals on shelves, visits to the library and references services. The challenges faced in providing CAS at BCM are lack of knowledge in using ICTs, high costs in providing CAS, inadequate library equipment, lack of information about different subjects, high costs for maintenance. The strategies for improved provision of CAS in BCM are regular telephone calls, social media platforms, sensitization about the use of internet, use of notice boards, training library staff and the requirements for deigning a website for CAS provision at BCM are; software and hardware requirements which included computers, hard disks, web browsers, Notepad++, HTML , CSS and Internet connection. The study concluded that there was a need to design a website for providing Current Awareness Services at BCM Library. The study recommended the following; publicity and awareness, comprehensive orientation on current awareness services, training of the BCM Library staff, use of social media networks and user education services.