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The impact of external quality assurance on University libraries in Kenya

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dc.contributor.advisor Ngulube, Patrick
dc.contributor.author Odera-Kwach, Beatrice Achieng
dc.date.accessioned 2011-11-14T09:53:37Z
dc.date.available 2011-11-14T09:53:37Z
dc.date.issued 2011-06
dc.identifier.citation Odera-Kwach, Beatrice Achieng (2011) The impact of external quality assurance on University libraries in Kenya, University of South Africa, Pretoria, <http://hdl.handle.net/10500/5025> en
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/10500/5025
dc.description.abstract The study investigated the impact of accreditation, a process of external quality assurance (EQA) on university libraries in Kenya. The study demonstrated that globalization and commercialization had affected higher education systems. An increasing emphasis was towards outcomes of higher education and evaluators were looking for new data and indicators that demonstrate that students have mastered specific objectives because of their education. The philosophy of pragmatism formed the basis of this study and the mixed research method was used for data collection. This study adopted a sequential mixed model design and data was collected in two phases. Questionnaires and interview survey methods were used to collect both quantitative and qualitative data for this study. A total of 27 (87%) of the 31 respondents from private and public universities completed and returned the questionnaires. Based on the findings from the questionnaire survey five heads of university libraries were interviewed. The findings of the study established that accreditation had made significant impacts on university libraries in Kenya. It was evident that the university librarians did not undertake self-assessment as a step prior to the accreditation visit. The standards used for evaluation of university libraries only covered inputs. The types of measures collected were only descriptive inputs of the libraries. From the findings, it was evident that there was no collection of statistics nationally. It was also evident from the findings that there were no specific performance indicators to facilitate self-assessment and benchmarking between university libraries.The study recommended that CHE should also advocate the use of self-evaluation in university libraries and evaluate university libraries based on evidence of normative practice, hence the need for revision of the standards. The standards should focus on outputs and outcomes of the library programs as primary indicators of quality. The study further recommended that university libraries in Kenya adopt the use of standardized instruments for data collection such as LibQual. In order to develop a culture of assessment in university libraries in Kenya the study recommended a performance evaluation model with a set of nine criteria including 26 indicators. en
dc.format.extent 1 online resource (xix, 272 leaves) : color graphs en
dc.language.iso en en
dc.subject Quality assurance en
dc.subject Library standards en
dc.subject Accreditation en
dc.subject Performance indicators en
dc.subject Outcome assessments en
dc.subject University libraries en
dc.subject Impact assessment en
dc.subject Quality culture en
dc.subject Mixed research method en
dc.subject Kenya en
dc.subject.ddc 025.1977
dc.subject.lcsh Academic libraries --Kenya --Quality control
dc.subject.lcsh Academic libraries --Administration
dc.subject.lcsh Academic libraries --Accreditation --Kenya
dc.title The impact of external quality assurance on University libraries in Kenya en
dc.type Thesis en
dc.description.department Information Science
dc.description.degree D. Litt. et Phil. (Information Science)


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