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Introduction
The University of Botswana was founded in 1972 in Gaborone, as part of the University of Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland. It was officially inaugurated in 1982 as the only university in a country with a current population of less than two million. The growth rate of the student population is rapid. In 1999/2000 there were 8,000 students and by 2009/2010 the enrolment was 15,980 ([46] University of Botswana, 2011). In recognition of the relative fast growth of the student population, the University committed to computerisation of all facilities, including academic information services, as a strategic management tool. The University established an information technology strategy that seeks "to enable the innovative and effective use of ICT to achieve the goals of the University" ([43] University of Botswana, 2007). These goals are underpinned by the vision that seeks to produce graduates who are independent, confident, self-directed critical thinkers in a technologically advanced teaching environment ([44] University of Botswana, 2009). The University Library on one hand, and the Information Technology (IT) department on the other, are partners responsible for implementing and managing the major information systems within the University. They share the provision of infrastructure and support services for three clusters namely: teaching and learning; research and scholarship; management and administration. The Library is responsible for facilitating information service access to the first two clusters. This partnership has facilitated a holistic approach to policy making, budgetary provision and procurement strategies for both hardware and software.
The University of Botswana has been and remains one of the most well resourced institutions in sub Saharan Africa and was one of the pioneers outside South Africa on the African sub continent to undertake a successful library automation project in 1986 using a fully integrated system. In contrast, many university libraries in sub Saharan Africa started initiating elaborate automation projects from the 1990s. For example, [13] Ekpenyong (1997) points out that as the first largest library to automate its library services in Nigeria in 1993, the University of Ibadan is leading in the automation process and is designated to serve as a training centre for other university personnel in Nigeria on library automation. [41] Rogers (1995) in his Diffusion of Innovation theory notes early adopters of a new innovation are well...