The Chapman Library of the Christian Service University College has become one of the leading academic institutions
in Ghana, to have its text books made available to students via a Virtual Library. The technology also comes with making
available all other library services, such as Literature Assistance, Inter-Library Loaning and Information Literacy training,
via the Virtual Library.
This concept was birthed when the library decided to acquire electronic copies of its textbook stock, for its patrons,
made up of the university community and other users all over the globe.
The project is aimed at replicating the entire library online, so that all resources and services available to patrons
can be obtained online. The Chapman Library was in this bid, harnessing the power of technology to reach out to its
patrons.
The resources stocked at the Virtual Library (approximately 1000 books) span across the various disciplines being
taught at the university college and more, including Accounting, Banking, Finance, Marketing, Medicine, Planning,
Computer Science, Information Technology, Information System, Library and Information Science, Communication,
Education, English Literature, Human Resource Management, Knowledge Management, Leadership, Ethics, Mass Media,
Political Science, Project Management, Research Methods among others. Other resources that can be accessed via
the Virtual Library are old campus pictures, past examination questions, previous graduation brochures, student
handbooks and library newsletters, to name a few.
There is section for young learners known as the Juvenile Library, dedicated to the wards of faculty and staff,
but also open to others, to serve their specific needs. A seminar held on Thursday, July 30, 2020 brought together
both users and other librarians from across the nation and around the world to appreciate the end of the first
phase of the Chapman Virtual Library. The program was a hybrid of physicaland online participations, with the
Acting Librarian at the University of Ghana, Professor (Mrs.) Perpetua Dadzie delivering the Keynote Address,
as the Special Guest. In attendance were the President and the Acting Vice President of CSUC as well as some
invited leadership of the Ghana Library Association and the Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in
Ghana.
The second phase of the Virtual Library project, which began this semester, (August 2020), is to focus on
the following key areas:
1. Building of a Technical Platform, by some staff and students of the universitycollege (Information
Science and Technology Club). This will help mitigate against the challenges of the current Open Source
platform being used, which includes security restrictions.
2. Stocking of approximately 10,000 books, with some more added subject areas, by the end of the academic
year (July 20201).
