University Libraries in the South: from virtual to real

Abstract

Deficiencies observed in the virtual library project in Tunisia led us to reflect on the networking of university libraries in the South that often experience “absolute deficiency”. Without rational management, virtualization through connectivity and the transitioning of activities to a non-physical, time-independent, uninhabitable cyberworld could result in information spaces that are increasingly ephemeral, even chaotic. Despite the launch in 1996 of the virtual library project called Bibliothèque Informatisée pour la Rénovation Universitaire [digital libraries for university renewal] (BIRUNI) and the acquisition of hardware and VIRTUA, the powerful, expensive software by VTLS, university libraries still suffer from inefficient information services and the increasing deterioration of their collections and resources. To overcome the current deficiencies, my aim is to identify the primary trends, tensions and problems in higher education to determine their impact on libraries and consider different perspectives. To accomplish that, it was necessary to establish several hypotheses, present a method and recall the basic principles. Among the hypotheses: this Tunisia case study, with a median sociocultural configuration, could postulate that the Tunisia experiment is a model for the Third World, and consequently the remarks and findings could be extrapolated to the Southern countries. There are three parts to the study: the first is devoted to trends in higher education and a status report of Southern university libraries in a context of increasing student enrolment and stagnation of public funding; the second involves the management of transitioning from computerization to connectivity for production, the dissemination of knowledge; the third is a normalization system to provide cultural and linguistic diversity and promote unanimity of spirit for the circulation of ideas and universal access to information.