Abstract:
Knowledge is now considered the most important organizational resource, surpassing
other resources like land and capital. It has, therefore, been acknowledged that
knowledge can play an important role in ensuring an organization’s competitive edge.
The purpose of this study was to investigate if knowledge sharing is being used to
improve service delivery at the National University of Lesotho’s Thomas Mofolo Library.
The researcher held the view that Librarians at Thomas Mofolo Library have different
sets of skills which, if combined, could improve service delivery. By not sharing and
retaining this existing wealth of knowledge, the researcher claimed that when librarians
retire or resign from work, they will certainly take with them the knowledge they possess
and the result of this knowledge loss is that the Library may be plagued by an inability to
learn from the past experiences, which leads to reinvented wheels, unlearned lessons
and the pattern of repeated mistakes.
Both qualitative and quantitative methods were employed in the case study design in
order to allow for multiple methods of data collection. Data were collected by means of
questionnaires and interviews. Questionnaires were administered to all librarians who
were available at the time and purposive sampling was used to determine interview
participants. Out of the 25 questionnaires administered, 15 were returned, providing a
response rate of 60%. The data collected by means of questionnaires was processed
using Microsoft Access and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Science
(SPSS) software (Version 17). The results of analysis were exported into Microsoft
Excel for visual presentation and reporting of the results.
The data from the interview sessions was analyzed manually by content analysis, using
the notes that were taken by the researcher from the respondents during the interview
sessions.
The findings pointed to the fact that knowledge sharing does occur at TML, although
mostly in an informal manner. This was largely due to a number of impediments such as
lack of trust and the absence of motivations and rewards. The study concluded by
recommending a number of initiatives that could be implemented in order to retain
knowledge within the Library. The recommendations included developing a knowledgemanagement strategy and formalizing knowledge sharing by formulating the desired
policies.
