PROJECT TOPIC ON IMPLICATIONS OF INTEGRATED LIBRARY SYSTEMS (ILS) SWITCHING COSTS IN NIGERIAN UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES
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PROJECT
TOPIC ON IMPLICATIONS OF INTEGRATED LIBRARY SYSTEMS (ILS) SWITCHING COSTS IN
NIGERIAN UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES
Abstract
Integrated
Library System (ILS) switching is a very crucial project in the life of any
library, and capital intensive. However, Nigerian university libraries have
continued to switch ILS within a short period after deployment without reaping
the cost of investment made in the first instance. This study sought to
determine the reasons for switching ILS among Nigerian university libraries,
the procedural and financial switching costs of ILS and factors taken into
consideration while switching.
Additionally,
the study determined the implications of switching ILS on Nigerian university
libraries. A qualitative research approach using multiple case study design was
used to gain a better understanding of the problem; purposive sampling
technique was used to select the participants. Interview was the instrument
used for data collection, and the researcher conducted five interviews with
five (5) participants from university libraries across the geo-political zones
of Nigeria.
Data were
collected from June 2016 through July 2016. The analysis of data was done using
themes derived from the objectives of the study. Findings revealed that delay
in getting vendors support to fix ILS problems, some ILS have limited storage
space to accommodate large data, crashing and data loss, and political
considerations, were some of the reasons given by NUL for switching ILS.
The study
also discovered the implications for switching as delay; inability of students
to use the online public access computer; time taken to populate the new ILS;
and cost in terms of manpower training; while capacity to manage the system,
costs, security of data, staff capacity building, hardware, power backup,
services to be provided to users, availability of funding, were some of the
factors considered by the libraries when switching. The study, therefore,
recommended among others that Nigerian university libraries should conduct
adequate and thorough feasibility study based on the peculiar needs of their
libraries before selecting the appropriate library software, libraries
should adopt
and deploy open source ILS which are more cost effective and easier to maintain
rather than buying proprietary ILS which were developed based on US and UK
standards and which might not fit their needs. The study concluded that the
switching over from one ILS to another by NUL studied is too frequent. The
frequency of change is associated with lack of proper feasibility study and
knowledge involved in determining the implications of frequent switching on the
libraries.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1
BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
University
libraries are grappling with enormous challenges due to high turnover rate of
integrated library systems (ILS). In many organizations, information technology
(IT) has become crucial in the support, sustainability, and growth of their
businesses, university libraries inclusive. As the rate of publication
increased, libraries realized that they could not process resources fast enough
with traditional manual systems and that automation could be a way out which
could also control costs on labour-intensive operations. Gbaje (2013) posits
that an automated library is one where a computer system is used to manage one
or several of the library‟s key functions such as acquisitions, serials
control, cataloguing, circulation and public access catalog.
Library
automation no doubt offers many opportunities to improve library services to
patrons. It makes materials easier for patrons to locate as well as allow staff
to serve patrons better by facilitating a multitude of tasks. For any
automation process to commence, the choice of an appropriate Integrated Library
System (ILS) has to be made which will drive the automation process.
The adoption
and implementation of Integrated Library System is expensive as opined by Gbaje
and Murtala (2014), whereas the budget of most libraries is inadequate.
Therefore, libraries cannot afford the huge repercussions as a result of
frequent switching of integrated library systems. In spite of the huge
implications, as revealed by Chetty et al. (2007) university libraries in Nigeria
have a high turnover rate of integrated library system.
An ILS,
according to Deewil (2013), is an automated package of library services that
contains several functions. These functions usually include circulation,
acquisitions and cataloguing etc. He further revealed that ILS usually
comprises a relational database, software to interact with that database, and
two graphical user interfaces (one for patrons and one for staff). Most ILSs
separate software functions into separate modules, each of them integrated with
a unified interface. Many integrated library system packages are available in
the Nigerian market. These includes Liberty, LIBS+(X-Lib), CDS/ISIS, TINLIB,
GLASS, Alice for Windows, Innovative Millennium, Virtua, KOHA, Voyager and more
recently NewGenLib.
Libraries in
developing countries such as Nigeria have depended on ILS imported from
developed countries like UK and USA. These ILS are very expensive to purchase,
maintain, implement and deploy. Implementing a new ILS, according to Deewil,
(2013) is probably one of the biggest and most expensive projects undertaken in
a library. Previous studies such as Omoniwa (2001), Bozimo (2006), Nok (2006),
and Imo and Igbo (2011) clearly revealed that within a short span of time many
university libraries have switched from one integrated library system to
another without fully implementing and deploying the old system.
This
pervasive use of automation software has created a critical dependency on the
software by university libraries calls for a specific focus on implications of
switching cost of integrated library systems. Switching costs is defined by
Haj-Salem and Chebat (2014) as “the one-time costs that customers associate
with the process of switching from one product to another”. Similarly, Fan and
Suh (2014) view Switching cost as the “difficulty” or “disutility” involved in
changing over or switching (to a new product/service/system).
This is why
Farrell and Klemperer (2007) in Puekert (2010) concludes that when a user
changes a product it means that funds specific to the current product have to
be duplicated, then switching costs occur. This notwithstanding, organizations
are regularly confronted with the decision to renew an existing contract or
evaluate the market and switch products.
University
libraries, according to Spiers (2010) are generally the most developed
libraries in Nigeria as they are the core of any university and therefore are
at least minimally sustained. The primary purpose of university libraries as
posited by Emwanta (2012) is to “support teaching, learning and research in
ways consistent with and supportive of the institution‟s mission and goals”.
Thus,
university libraries are considered the most important resource centre of an
academic institution. No university can develop or function effectively without
a strong library at its centre. This emphasizes the saying that an educational
institution is rated largely by its library.
Burnham,
Frels and Mahajan (2003) developed a switching cost typology that identifies
three types of switching costs as (1) procedural switching cost, primarily
involving the loss of time and effort; (2) financial switching costs, involving
the loss of financially quantifiable resources; and (3) relational switching
costs, involving psychological or emotional discomfort due to the loss of
identity and the breaking of bonds.
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Similarly,
Fan and Suh (2014) adapted from the research of Burnham et.al (2003) separates
switching cost into two types, procedural switching cost and financial
switching cost. This study therefore adopted procedural switching cost and
financial switching cost, because this study was interested in determining the
implication, of switching from one integrated library system to another, as
such relational switching cost is excluded.
PROJECT
TOPIC ON IMPLICATIONS OF INTEGRATED LIBRARY SYSTEMS (ILS) SWITCHING COSTS IN
NIGERIAN UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES
1.2
Statement of the Problem
One of the
most crucial decisions in library automation is the choice of an appropriate
Integrated Library System. Having taken such crucial decisions to adopt
specific Integrated Library System, it is expected that university libraries
will use this software for some time before considering switching to another,
but unfortunately the researcher had observed that few years into the
deployment of these software the libraries abandon them for another with
substantial implications.
Due to the
enormous cost of acquiring and deploying Integrated Library Systems it is not
expected, in the view of Deewil (2013), that ILS turnover rate for library
automation should be high. According to Applegate, Austin and Mcfarlan (2007),
IT system should ideally be easy to adopt and deploy but difficult to stop
using. Customers drawn into the system through series of increasingly valuable
enhancements should willingly become dependent on the systems functionality. In
developed countries, technology savvy executives switch to new technologies
because of among others their flair for new innovations these technologies have
to offer in anticipation of solving an identified need and their quest to try
out something new.
In Nigerian
university library system, studies have revealed a high ILS switching rate.
According to Imo and Igbo (2011), Nigerian university libraries switch software
averagely within five years of use. This is a colossal waste of resources with
huge implications on the libraries quest for automation. These not withstanding,
Nigerian university libraries continue to switch from one ILS to another
Oketunji (2006) and Zaid (2004). Perhaps the management of these libraries are
ignorant of the implications of switching ILSs. In the Nigerian university
libraries system the implication of this frequent switching is yet to be
ascertained.
Several
studies have been conducted on switching costs. For instance, Farrell and
Klemperer (2007) studied switching costs from a broad theoretical perspective,
and Chen and Hitt (2006) from information technology (IT)) perspective.
Empirical studies such as (Greenstein, 1993; Knittel, 1997; Chen and Hitt,
2002; Whitten and Wakefield, 2006; Krafft and Salies, 2008; Maicas et al.2009)
provide evidence of switching costs in IT markets. This study determined the
implication of switching ILS by Nigerian University libraries. This is because
of the need to provide empirical data on the implication of ILS switching in
Nigerian university libraries.
1.3 Research
questions
The study
was guided by the following questions:
What are the
reasons for Switching Integrated Library System in Nigerian University
Libraries?
What are the
factors considered when switching Integrated Library Systems in Nigerian
university libraries?
What is the
procedural switching cost of Integrated Library Systems in Nigerian university
Libraries?
What is the
financial switching cost of Integrated Library Systems in Nigerian university
libraries?
What are the
implications of Integrated Library System switching in Nigerian university
libraries?
1.4
Objectives of the study
The
objectives of this study are to determine the following:
Reasons for
switching Integrated Library Systems in Nigerian university libraries
Factors
considered when switching Integrated Library System in Nigerian university
libraries.
Procedural
switching cost of Integrated Library Systems in Nigerian university Libraries?
Financial
switching cost of Integrated Library Systems in Nigerian university libraries?
Implications
of switching Integrated Library System in Nigerian university libraries.
1.5
Significance of the study
This study
is significant because the findings would provide an insight into the
implications of ILS switching on libraries and their parent institutions. The
result of this study would add to the limited body of knowledge on ILS
switching in the information science field. In the wave of dwindling financial
resources of the libraries, shedding light on the implications of switching ILS
would enable library managements and their parent institutions to be more
prudent with their resources and enable them evaluate more critically the
decision to switch ILS.
1.6 Scope of
the study
The scope of
this study was limited to determining the implication of switching ILS in
Nigerian federal university libraries. The study was further limited to only
those Nigerian federal university libraries that have switched ILS. This means
that Nigerian university libraries that have newly acquired or have been using
same ILS over time were excluded. The study was focused on the following
Universities: Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi; Ahmadu Bello
University, Zaria; University of Jos; University of Lagos; University of
Nigeria, Nsukka; and University of Port-Harcourt.
1.7
Operational Definition of Terms
The
following terms used in the study were operationally defined as follows:
Financial
Switching Cost: this refers to the loss of financially quantifiable resources
as a result of switching.
Implications:
These refers to the positive or negative outcomes of switching ILS in
university libraries
Integrated
Library Systems (ILS): These are computer programmes designed to enable
libraries automate their house keeping functions.
Library
Automation: Is the process of computerizing library manual operations
Procedural
Switching Cost: refers to time and effort loss as a result of switching
Switching:
The act of changing one ILS for another
Switching
Costs: quantifiable resources, time and effort lost as a result of switching
integrated library systems.
University
Library: Is an academic library located in a university under study
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