Library Departments

The Cataloguing and Classification department is one of the oldest departments at UNZA Library. It was established when the library was established in 1969. This department was formerly the technical department. It houses cataloguers and classifiers of library information resources. The Cataloguing and Classification Department catalogues and classifies information resources. It ensures that the library's information resources are systematically organised, accessible, and usable, thereby supporting the library's role in knowledge dissemination and learning. By improving information resources organisation, and improving information discovery and retrieval, the department is essential in facilitating access to all information resources in the library.

Functions/Services

The Department provides cataloguing and classification services to the library. Below are some specific functions performed by the Department:
Cataloguing and classifying information resources using the Library of Congress Classification (LCC) Scheme and Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH).

Labelling of information resources before they are put on shelves.
Entering the classified and catalogued library materials into a library management system called Koha to make them available to the patron users.
The Department also provides practical training for Library and Information Science students in Cataloguing and Classification through library attachment.

Staffing

The Department has an establishment of six (6) of which five (5) positions are filled. The table below shows the current staff and their positions:

1. Dr. Tuesday Bwalya
   Ph.D. (Library and Information Science)
   Senior Librarian and Head
2. Mrs. Judith Banda-Zulu
   M.A (Library and Information Science)
   Assistant Librarian
3. Mrs. Ireen Miyoba-Kaumba
   M.A (Library and Information Science)
   Assistant Librarian
4. Mr. Jason K. Banda
   B.A (Library and Information Science)
   Acting Assistant Librarian
5. Mrs. Judith Chibale
   B.A (Library and Information Science)
   Acting Assistant Librarian

Initiatives Underway

The Department of Cataloguing and Classification seeks to embark on the following initiatives:

• Revising the Cataloguing and Classification Manual.
• Modify the Cataloguing framework in the Koha library management system so that the library becomes compliant with the new cataloguing standards called Resources Description and Access (RDA).
• Conduct a training workshop in Cataloguing and Classification.

This Department plays a vital role in ensuring the library’s collection remains relevant, useful, and supportive of university academic programs such as teaching, research, and learning. This Department has been in existence since the time when the UNZA Library was established.

Relevance to the University

The Collection Development Department is a crucial unit within a library for it is responsible for building, maintaining, and evaluating the library’s collection in to support the information needs of library users. Its major roles and responsibilities are listed below:

Key Responsibilities of the Collection Development Department

1. Collection Building: this department is cardinal by way of identifying, selecting, and acquiring new materials for the library. Materials are selected and acquired should be those that support the Mission of the University, that is, Teaching, Learning, and Research.
2. Collection Maintenance: This department is key in the Library as it is vested with the sole responsibility of collection maintenance. This department is responsible for ensuring that outdated, obsolete, damaged, and irrelevant materials are deselected or weeded out of the main collection. This is done to ensure that only updated and relevant materials are maintained in the collection to ensure user satisfaction.
3. Collection Evaluation: This department plays a key role in the library by way of assessing the collection’s strengths, weaknesses, and gaps to inform future collection development decisions.
4. Liaison with Faculty: This department has a mandate of ensuring that there is a collaboration with faculty members when selecting and acquiring materials. This is done in order to understand their research and teaching needs as enshrined in the mission of the university.

Future Outlook

1. It is the wish of the department to realign its collection by way of going Digital through acquiring E-Books.

Staffing

1. Mr. Siamuzwe Fedias- Acting Head of the Collection Development
2. Mr. Nambale Joseph – Assistant Librarian
3. Ms. Katulushi E.M Antoinette- Senior Library Assistant

The role of the Public Services Department in the Library is to provide direct support and access to library resources for students, faculty, and researchers. Below is an outline of its roles and functions:

1. Roles of the Public Services Department

• Facilitator of Access to Resources – Ensures that users can easily find and utilize library materials.
• Support and Assistance Provider – Helps students and faculty navigate information resources.
• Educator – Conducts user education programs on library tools, research techniques, and citation styles.
• Customer Service Hub – Handles user inquiries, resolves issues, and enhances the overall library experience.
• Coordinate night and weekend duties

2. Functions of the Public Services Department

A. Reference and Information Services

• Assists users in locating books, journals, and digital resources.
• Provides research consultations and guidance on database searches.
• Answers general and subject-specific queries.

B. Circulation Services

• Manages borrowing, returning, and renewing books.
• Maintains library user accounts and enforces lending policies.
• Oversees interlibrary loan services for resource sharing.

C. User Education and Library Instruction

• Conducts workshops on library resources and research skills.
• Provides orientation programs for new students and faculty.
• Teaches citation management and avoiding plagiarism.

D. Academic reserves and provides Digital and Electronic Services for past and examination papers

E. Study Space and Facility Management

• Manages reading rooms, discussion areas, and study spaces.
• Oversees the use of library equipment (printers, scanners, computers).
• Ensures a conducive learning environment.

F. Outreach and Engagement

• Organizes library events, exhibitions, and academic workshops.
• Collaborates with faculty on resource recommendations and curriculum support.
• Collects user feedback to improve library services.

Conclusion

The Public Services Department is essential in ensuring that library users can efficiently access, navigate, and utilize academic resources. It plays a vital role in fostering research, learning, and collaboration within the university.

The Technical Services Department (TSD) supports information and communication technology (ICT) used throughout UNZA Libraries. The department maintains and supports ICT hardware and software used for library services in all UNZA Libraries. It also provides technical support for staff and patrons for all technical services the library provides.

The department is responsible for coordinating, development, implementation, and management of automated information systems in the University of Zambia Libraries. It works closely with the Centre for Information and Communication Technology (CICT) staff in order to facilitate linkages between the University libraries and university's systems; makes recommendations on long-range automation needs of the University libraries, maintains the library webpages and implements security policies to safeguard data and equipment.

The Serials Department of the University of Zambia Library is housed on Deck 4 and 5. Its main aim is to support he academic research, teaching and learning at UNZA through acquisition and processing of serials resources.

The Serials Department is responsible for all functions related to providing access to a wide range of scholarly materials (both print and electronic) in an effort to meet the current and emerging needs of its clientele. This is achieved through various functions such s:

• Coordinating and liaising with schools in the selection of e-Journals from online sources
• Managing all aspects of library's electronic resources licencing
• Managing subscriptions of databases and collections, OA Resources and Discovery Systems, and remote access platforms.
• Analysing electronic resource usage statistics for anticipating future trends.
• Providing Information Literacy training (either one-on-one or classroom)
• Providing remote access via a platform called Myloft
• Collaborates with Zambia Library Consortium (Zalico) on shared subscriptions and licensing of the e-resources

The e-resources can be accessed through the UNZA Website (www.unza.zm), then the Library to Quick Links. if on campus, click on e-resources and outside campus network, click on e-resources remote access

Some of the University of Zambia E-Resources

The Special Collections Department

This is a research area of the library where materials on historical, cultural, and religious, political,l and economic information about Zambia and those books written by Zambians are kept. Special Collections & Archives is a non-circulating collection of unique, rare, interesting, and historical objects. The collections cover a wide range of topics, subjects, and time periods and are open to the public for research and inspiration. This is the department responsible for the curation and digitization of the University of Zambia's research output. The department also has the status of National Reference Library.

Our collections

The physical materials in the department are divided into collections classified according to the information they contain. These collections comprise the following:

1. University collection;
2. Zambiana collection;
3. Government documents collection;
4. United Nations collection;
5. Theses and dissertations collection;
6. Rare books collection, and the
7. Maps collection.

Infrastructure and Technological Framework:

Apart from the physical collections, the department maintains an online research repository, also known as the Institutional Repository (IR), established in 2010, dedicated to housing UNZA-related research work. This repository contains both published and unpublished research outputs from the University of Zambia, including postgraduate theses and dissertations, faculty research article,s and conference presentations. Notably, the IR does not include undergraduate work; this policy acts as a quality measure to ensure that only high-quality research outputs are included. The IR serves as a research database that is accessible both locally and internationally via the Internet, providing a platform for the dissemination and accessibility of UNZA academic contributions.

The Institutional Repository (IR) also serves to minimize the necessity of maintaining hard copies of documents, which can be storage-intensive. By housing research outputs in an electronic and online format, the IR enhances the security of these documents, safeguarding them from physical damage or loss. Additionally, the repository plays a crucial role in increasing the visibility of the institution’s research outputs, promoting them both locally and internationally, thereby extending the reach and impact of the university’s academic contributions and university ranking. The content of the Institutional Repository (IR) is managed by the UNZA Library, which coordinates closely with the Centre for Information and Communication Technologies (CICT) at UNZA.

Standardization, Data Management:

Dspace, an open-source software, is utilized to manage the University of Zambia’s Institutional Repository. This system was selected after a thorough assessment of various options, chosen for its user-friendly interface and its capability to accommodate diverse types of content and formats, including video, audio, and text-based outputs. This flexibility makes DSpace a highly adaptable platform for the university’s needs.

Access, Permissions, and Data Security:

Apart from being accessible through the UNZA institutional website, the IR content is also accessible through search engines such as Google and Google Scholar, and does not require any login or search credentials, making it openly accessible to anyone with internet access. This open access policy ensures that the repository’s contents are readily available to a broad audience, facilitating wider dissemination and engagement with the research outputs of the university.