Strategic alignment of the integrated library system at Makerere university as a critical success factor in achieving the university strategy

Abstract

Samuel Wilson has said, “……. One of the biggest challenges to medicine is the incorporation of Information Technology in our practices.” This statement encapsulates the need for systematic and “useful” deployment of IT systems and solutions in any organization. There is a general trend in libraries today is towards the use of computerized systems integrated with mobile technology systems in the growing expectation of Ubiquitous library services to the 21st Century clients. All these systems seek to do what librarians have been doing from ages ago. The service improvements in Information Technology development requires of Academic libraries simply cannot be ignored. However, simply accumulating new technologies and related services as the opportunities arise may in the end be impractical, and may present intractable difficulties in terms of workload, security, authentication and intellectual property management. This study therefore attempted to assess the strategic alignment of ICTs in achieving the institutional strategy. The study specifically focuses on the alignment of the Integrated Library Systems (ILS) in Makerere University Library to achieve strategic fit within the corporate environment of the University and achieve the institutional strategy.