Influence of motivational factors and attitude in the formation of library consortium services rendered by university librarians in Sri Lanka

Abstract

The paper is derived from the combination of results of two studies conducted on motivational factors on career development of university library professionals and on building library consortium among Sri Lankan university libraries. One of the findings of the first study was that the formation of consortium is influenced by attitude of human resource and its capacity. It drew attention on stabilizing the attitudinal framework of the professionals to work in cooperation to manage the financial and physical issues involved in providing efficient information services. The main purpose of the second study was to find the effects of motivational factors on career development of university librarians, where it was found that the biggest management challenge faced by the universities, at present, is to motivate the library professionals towards the common goals, such as effective information services to reach maximum level of user satisfaction. First study emphasized on the influence of attitude and human resource competency to provide better services in the line of depleting and/or limited resources. The findings in the second study indicated that there was a positive but moderate correlation between motivational factors and the attitude of the professionals. It was also found that the attitude of the professionals and career development is also positively correlated. Thirdly, in the same study, motivational factors and attitude of the professionals are positively dependent on career development of the library professionals. In conclusion, the paper infers that positively motivated professionals with positive attitude will be effectively engaged in career development that will ultimately enhance the effectiveness of information services. Whilst, the attitudinal change and career-orientation will influence the library professionals to devise innovative and cooperative function to combat the obstacles in effective information services to cater to the ever-growing user demand.