Evaluating Makerere University Library's institutional repository using the balanced scorecard

Abstract

This study evaluates Makerere University and Makerere University Library’s (MakLib) Institutional Repository using the balanced scorecard. As a performance management tool, the balanced scorecard has been successfully applied to university libraries in developing countries, mostly notably the University of Pretoria Library. It has also been used for the purposes of strategic planning in other kinds of organizations. The research question that guided the study asked how the balanced scorecard can be used to evaluate the performance of the Institutional Repository at Makerere University Library. A number of sub-questions focused on specific aspects of the balanced scorecard and institutional repositories with a view to answering the main research question. The four key perspectives of the balanced scorecard were used as the broad structure for the evaluation of MakLib’s Institutional Repository. A hybrid methodology blended a number of appropriate data collection methods within a qualitative approach. The emphasis was therefore on the analysis and interpretation of the key primary and secondary sources related to the topic, supplemented by key informant analysis and the comparative method. The primary sources included original planning documents, reports, and website pages. The example of the application of the balanced scorecard to the University of Pretoria Library’s open scholarship program was the basis for the comparative evaluation. The study is timeous because MakLib’s Institutional Repository has not yet been evaluated since its inception a few years ago. Also, the study benefited by the researcher’s familiarity with the Institutional Repository, although objectivity was maintained in self-conscious way. The findings of the study revealed the inadequacies of MakLib’s Institutional Repository and proposed a strategy map for an improved Institutional Repository. On the basis of the analysis and interpretation of the data, the study also explicated MakLib’s e-strategy as an additional achievement. The general conclusion is that the balanced scorecard is an effective tool for the strategic implementation and evaluation of e-services of an academic library in a developing country.