An electronic resource management system for Kawempe Youth Centre Community Library

Abstract

The study aimed at developing an Electronic Resource Management System for KYC Community Library to manage the acquisition of information resources. The study objectives were to; find out the information needs of library users, assess the current library management system, establish the requirements needed for designing an ERMS, design an ERMS to manage the acquisition of information resources for KYC Community Library. The study established that Kawempe Youth Center Community Library acquires a wide variety of information resources available for users to meet their needs. The print information resources were; Textbooks, Journals, Magazines, Pamphlets, Novels, Periodicals, and Newspapers which are supplied daily. Currently, the library manually manages these information resources, though there is a system called Librarika, which is not actively in use. The users of the library include; children, secondary and tertiary students, teachers and the community band members within the community. To have access to information resources, library users must be registered on payment of a membership fee, possess an ID, and visit the community library physically. The challenges in acquisition of information resources include; lack of skills by librarians, limited staff to carry out the acquisition processes, inadequate Library Staff, outdated information resources in the library, limited funds, and disorganized information resources in the library among others. The requirements for designing an ERMS for KYCCL support staff in the provision of the information resources to the users, easy to use, a user-friendly interface, compatibility with the available hardware and software, accessible to only the authorized users and ensure security for the information resources. The study concluded that electronic resources would be acquired in the Kawempe Youth Center Community Library to support the needs of users. Inadequate funding as a major challenge would be solved by increasing library funding. The study concluded that there was a need for an ERMS for Kawempe Youth Center Community Library to help in the management of library resources. The study recommended that electronic resources should be acquired through subscribing to e-journals, e-books, e-newspapers, increasing the library funding to curb the challenge of inadequate funds and improving on the Library Staffing to effectively provide the information resources to the users of information. The study recommended the Kawempe Youth Centre Community Library Staff to adopt the designed proposed Electronic Resource Management System to support them in the acquisition of information resources to meet users’ needs.