The Role of Academic Libraries in Facilitating E-Learning at Universities in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Scoping Review

Abstract

This scoping review mapped and synthesized the available literature on the role of academic libraries in facilitating e-learning at universities in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Academic libraries in LMICs have been called upon to support e-learning, yet the scope and nature of their contribution remain inadequately documented in the synthesized literature. Scoping review or systematic review is yet to be identified on this specific topic. The review considered studies involving academic and university librarians, library staff, students, and faculties at universities in LMICs (Population), examining the role of academic libraries in facilitating e-learning and digital library services (Concept), within university settings in lLMICs as classified by the World Bank (Context). The review followed the JBI scoping review methodology and was reported per PRISMA-ScR guidelines. The protocol was registered with the Open Science Framework in 2022. A three-step search strategy was employed across Web of Science, SCOPUS, ProQuest, EBSCO Host, HINARI, and Google Scholar, covering English-language literature published between January 2013 and January 2023. Of 1,824 records, 832 remained after duplicates were removed and 40 full texts were assessed. Six studies met the inclusion criteria, a yield of 0.7 per cent. These were of Sudan, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Ghana, and Pakistan; thus, five of the six were of Africa and one of South Asia. In terms of years, one appeared in 2019, three in 2021, and two in 2022; four examined pandemic responses. Two were quantitative surveys and one qualitative, while three analyzed documents, facilities, or practice accounts. None was longitudinal or mixed-method, and none measured an association between library provision and learning outcomes. Four themes emerged: digital content and e-resources (six of six studies), ICT infrastructure and policy (four), capacity building (three), and Web 2.0 adoption (two). The evidence of the study is small, geographically narrow, methodologically thin, and concentrated in the pandemic period, and it records activity rather than effects. The review contributes an evidence map of an intersection which no earlier synthesis had covered, a four-theme scaffold for later work, and the proposition that facilitating conditions act as a precondition of use in these settings. Longitudinal and mixed-method studies from under-represented regions, reporting user-level outcomes, are needed before the contribution of academic libraries to e-learning can be stated with confidence.