The Reaction to Changes of University Libraries in Portugal and Other Countries

Abstract

Based on a research on organizational structures in Portuguese university libraries and the literature review about this theme a comparative study was done to analyze the solutions and experiences in different countries.The main objective of the research was to study the organizational structures of the university libraries in Portugal and then by comparing it with the resolution adopted in different countries some guidelines were pointed out.To gather data about the Portuguese organizational structure a questionnaire (quantitative data) was sent to all university libraries in Portugal and three of them were chosen for a case study (qualitative data). On the international level a research on different resources was carried out and the literature review provided data about university libraries in countries in America and Europe.From the quantitative data collected with the questionnaire it was possible to understand that there is a variety of solutions in the Portuguese university libraries probably because they have quite different realities related to their academic community, resources, hierarchical structure. The qualitative data from the case study gave more details on the particular changes. The changes on organizational structures were identified and then taking the information from the literature review a comparison was made with the international experiences. This analyses showed that the main reasons which conducted to changes are due to socio-economic conditions but also the new requirements of higher education institutions.It was concluded that each reality requires different solutions but there are certain requirements that should be considered to overcame the constraints of the society or the higher education’s institutions. Libraries always try to achieve a high quality level to answer to user needs and their role on the education or research is growing.