Quality Assurance Practices in Selected Libraries of Higher Education Institutions in Zambia

Quality assurance standards and guidelines play an important role in ensuring that students, lecturers and researchers have access to the required services and resources to support their academic endeavours. They have influenced the development of a quality culture in higher education in various institutions. Evidently, quality assurance is no longer an option, but a critical reality as libraries in general are under immense pressure to prove their worth in competition with other information enterprises. The aim of the study, therefore, was to assess the levels of adherence to the HEA Zambia standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance (ZSGQA) by university libraries of HEIs in Zambia. This study employed an exploratory study design of 25 purposely selected universities accredited by the HEA in Zambia out of a total of 90 universities. A questionnaire was utilised to collect empirical data from a purposively selected sample of 25 university chief librarians. These were identified from both public (9) and private (16) universities. The results revealed that the perceptions of leaders on quality assurance practices in university libraries of HEIs in Zambia were generally found to be positive, based on the high scores recorded for each dimension. This implies that University libraries in Zambian HEIs complied to the set quality assurance standards by the HEA. This can be seen from high scores across most of the items assessed. However, this compliance was at a subconscious level and had areas of concern suggesting a lack of awareness of the existence of ZSGQA. It is hoped that this research will contribute to the field of library and information science in two ways, that is, by providing valuable insights on the state of quality assurance in Zambia and raising awareness about national standards on quality assurance and specifically the ZSGQA framework for university libraries. Ultimately, this may foster a culture of benchmarking and implementation of best practices, thereby, enhancing quality and service delivery in libraries.