A crack in the 'dam(ned)' wall?: cooperation and collaboration among higher education libraries in South Africa

Abstract

Cooperation within the LIS sector has become common place due to, inter alia, decreasing budgets and increasing subscription costs, and the impact of technology on higher education libraries. South African higher education libraries have an obligation to share resources as this is a national imperative set out in the National Plan for Higher Education which addresses the restructuring of higher education in South Africa. This article examines the issue of cooperation within the higher education library and information sector. The article concludes that it is imperative for higher education libraries to graduate from casual cooperative relationships to robust collaborative initiatives that have a closer leaning towards formal legally binding partnerships.

Innovation No. 42, June 2011