Purpose

This study aims to assess the extent to which Uganda university libraries have implemented digital transformation technologies and to determine the facilitators and barriers affecting the implementation of digital transformation in selected university libraries in Uganda.

Design/methodology/approach

This study used a convergent parallel mixed methods design. It was conducted in six selected university libraries in Uganda, which were in three private and three public universities. The study sample included 103 librarians with a minimum qualification of a bachelor’s degree and six library directors.

Findings

The findings indicated that there was an average (n = 37, 48.7%) implementation of digital transformation in the selected university libraries in Uganda. Some of the barriers hindering digital transformation included inadequate funding, lack of awareness of digital technologies, inadequate ICT skills, insufficient ICT infrastructure and limited staff among others. There is a need for library management to provide support in the form of funds, policies and human resources to implement such digital transformation.

Research limitations/implications

The criteria for choosing universities were those that have been around for at least 10 years. The reason for this was that it was assumed that these universities would have well-established staff development programmes and procedures as well as be likely to have incorporated technology into their services, including libraries. This study’s limitations stem from the fact that this criterion for selection might not apply to all Ugandan university libraries, particularly those that are less than 10 years old and may not have been well represented in this study.

Originality/value

The magnitude of the problem of digital transformation in university libraries in Uganda is unclear because of the limited research available in the Uganda library and information science field. This study presents the status of digital transformation in Uganda university libraries.

中文翻译：

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利用数字力量实现相关性：乌干达部分大学图书馆的数字化转型现状

目的

本研究旨在评估乌干达大学图书馆实施数字化转型技术的程度，并确定影响乌干达选定大学图书馆实施数字化转型的促进因素和障碍。

设计/方法论/途径

本研究采用收敛并行混合方法设计。该项目在乌干达选定的六所大学图书馆进行，其中三所私立大学和三所公立大学。研究样本包括 103 名至少具有学士学位的图书馆员和 6 名图书馆馆长。

发现

调查结果表明，乌干达选定的大学图书馆平均（n = 37，48.7%）实施了数字化转型。阻碍数字化转型的一些障碍包括资金不足、缺乏数字技术意识、ICT技能不足、ICT基础设施不足以及人员有限等。图书馆管理层需要在资金、政策和人力资源等方面提供支持，以实现这种数字化转型。

研究局限性/影响

选择大学的标准是那些已经存在至少10年的大学。这样做的原因是，人们认为这些大学将拥有完善的员工发展计划和程序，并且可能已将技术纳入其服务中，包括图书馆。这项研究的局限性源于这样一个事实，即这一选择标准可能不适用于所有乌干达大学图书馆，特别是那些成立时间不到 10 年且在本研究中可能没有得到很好体现的图书馆。

原创性/价值

由于乌干达图书馆和信息科学领域的研究有限，乌干达大学图书馆数字化转型问题的严重程度尚不清楚。本研究介绍了乌干达大学图书馆的数字化转型现状。