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UNIT 2 BENEFITS AND BARRIERS OF NETWORKING
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possible ways on how to improve the service of resource sharing among one another.
(ii) Economic: Networking helps people to get involves into different business opportunities such as the sales of books, electronics and other reading materials meant for libraries and other information centres. These resources are inevitable when dealing with issue of resource sharing and without its libraries and information centres cannot be sustained. The fluctuation in prices of library materials has resulted in libraries not having adequate information resources. The fluctuation of prices of information resources also lead to the dwindling economy of many nations.
Therefore, the need for libraries to plan ahead becomes significant thus depending more in online materials since many libraries are now networked.
(iii) Problem Solving: Problem solving has to with attending to certain issues that are of great concern for the organisation or individual. The way forward for problem solving is when people are willing to apply their knowledge and skills to solve organisational problem. The problem that needs to be solved could only be when colleagues share their intuitive knowledge and skills together. However, since many librarians and libraries are working in different geographical location, the use and support of networking in libraries becomes imperative at this point as it could help to solve the problem libraries are having as libraries could network and share their knowledge and skills of resource sharing together.
(iv) Brainstorming: Brainstorming is when people with the same mindset having core interest with one another put heads together to address certain issues that would benefit them. When people brainstorm, they share their ideas, insights and knowledge in order to invent something or use it to solve a particular problem.
Through the assistance of networking in libraries, librarians could brainstorm on best practices through which resource sharing to be improved in libraries and information centres.
(v) Interaction: Interaction has to do with when people talk or share what they have in mind. Since many developing nations of the world could no longer cope with their inability to fund libraries as expected, due to the dwindling economy, librarians working in different libraries now interact on the way forward in resource sharing. Through this interaction, librarians are able to proffer solutions that could be beneficial to their resource sharing practices. The medium of interactions is social networking.
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Besides, there are some librarians who could have even try on their part to support their libraries through acquisition of required materials, since they have interacted with vendors on how to get information materials to their libraries.
(vi) Job search: Job search is when people engage in looking for specific jobs that they want to do. This act could be carried out through the support of networking since librarians or those working in different organisations are connected together. In the job search, you do not need to travel to where the job is located, rather though your networking, the seeker of the job is able to search the internet and other web pages or sites for job opportunities. The reason why job search is important is that, librarians could gain opportunity to get jobs where they are needed most for resource sharing. The resource sharing practices require expertise of knowledgeable individuals in such practices.
Therefore, the job search approach will open opportunity for librarians to get jobs where they are mostly needed through the networking in resource sharing.
(vii) Skills acquisition: Skills acquisition is the act of adding value in terms of more knowledge and skills to what an individual already have. It takes the form of reskilling, education, training, exposition, gaining insights required for present needs of an organisation and individual. The essence of skills acquisition is to enhance service delivery. Therefore, when librarians acquire more skills, they should do better in their resource sharing practices, where the use of digital technologies are required and application of know-how is a must in the act of resource sharing. The attributes of skills acquisition could strengthen the support which the use of moveable computers and additional mobile technology brings to the library organisation (Bazillion, 1992). The networking established could be further strengthen through continuous reaching to each other based on identified goals which the libraries hope to pursue.
Ugwuanyi, Nwafor and Onoh (2013) indicate that the benefits of networking in libraries comprises of:
Social benefits
Intellectual
Economic
Political among others
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The benefits of networking are not associated with the use of tools only, to transform the processes but also to affect library staff and librarians, engaged in the practices. Networking has become crucial among libraries such that they no longer struggle as they were when technology was not available. The advent of technology has made networking much easier and better for libraries, especially for those in distant environment. The reason attributes to Internet and other ranges of networks that are connected together (Wiid, Cant & Nell, 2014). How do you think it could have been possible if libraries were to operate without the use of any technological tools, either to scan, search, retrieve and disseminate large volumes of information to other neighbouring cities libraries (Wiid, Cant & Nell, 2014). It is expected that, since libraries are the warehouse of knowledge housing every information resources, the approach to how they network among themselves should differ considering the consciousness of their position in the information world (Bazillion, 1992).
Importantly, previous study by Gelaw (1998) made reference to online integrated access created through continuous building up of library collections. Other things which Gelaw (1998) mentioned were diverse products of information contractors and facilities, and cut down of library budgets which were to be used for purchase of library materials.
Dempsey (1997) refers to appropriate network that was well position in the right environment where libraries could function better based on activities in place. This was further strengthen according to Dempsey (1997) that libraries might not make use of facilities of information format like CD-ROM and print considering networking that has come to stay in libraries. The reason is that, most operations are now carried out on the Internet, where everything could be saved in google doc or cloud.
With networking in the library environment, many information resources are now deposited in the institutional repository, where students could harness and download whenever they need them. But what is most significant right now is how librarians could enhance their operations through continuous reskilling, in order to use the Internet and information systems very well (Enakrire, 2019) because locating and reorganising information and knowledge require adequacy of skills for their applications.
Dickson and Holley (2010) emphasise on ability of librarians to connect to users through different social networking sites, especially when the users could not visit the physical building of the library and the information need required is urgent. Most of the social networking sites used to reach libraries consists of Facebook, Myspace, Delicious, Flicker, Twitter, blogs, wikis among others (Dickson & Holley, 2010).
From this analogy, it was established that libraries could also use the same social networking sites to market their products and services, such
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that, new and anticipated users could see the available activities which the library has in place. Users and librarians (in vice versa), could leave feedback to either users or libraries (librarians), in areas of clarity (Dickson & Holley, 2010). Another benefits as envision by Dickson and Holley (2010) has to do with a scenario where the library could post some of their books, newly arrived books, journals and other video materials through the YouTube, and possibly discussion forum such that, students could have access to them, without coming to visit the physical building of the library (Dickson & Holley, 2010).