Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1 Iranian Research Institute for Information Science and Technology (Irandoc)
2 Kharazmi University, Karaj, Iran
Abstract
Introduction: The purpose of establishing academic libraries is to achieve the goals of the university, which is to preserve, disseminate, and promote knowledge. These duties and responsibilities are also a significant issue when dealing with crises in society. Have a look at the researches shows that the study of how libraries deal with crises has been an interesting topic for researches. In these studies, confronting of all types of libraries has been examined and most of them have been done during and after the crisis to examine the actions, functions and nature of the services provided or changed by these institutions. Therefore, the present study aimed to identify the way academic libraries in the world deal with Covid-19 and analyze their services and activities in this situation.
Methodology: The present study was an applied study that was conducted by survey method and descriptive-analytical method. To do this, the World University Libraries website was reviewed based on the Times Higher Education University Rankings. Based on the Cochran's formula, 300 samples were randomly selected from this community. The instrument of this research was a researcher-made checklist.
Findings: The research findings showed that academic libraries in the world followed the six main strategies of "creation", "development", "change", "updating", and "reduction or cessation", respectively, and the most common strategies were "creation" and "development". For these main strategies, 34 sub-strategies and 123 actions were implemented by these libraries around the world. In other words, these libraries played an active role in responding to the crisis. Hence, the efforts of the world's academic libraries were significant. The most practical measures were related to the main strategies of "creation" (39 cases), "development" (18 cases), "commitment to social responsibility" (13 cases) and "change" (12 cases), respectively.
Conclusion: Academic libraries, instead of accepting strategies to stop or reduce their services and activities in the face of this crisis, have turned to creation strategy and changing services and activities. The contribution of commitment to social responsibility in these libraries was also significant.
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