Information Services of Academic Libraries in Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina during The Covid-19 Pandemic

Globalna pandemija prouzrokovana virusom COVID-19 bitno je utjecala na poslovanje u visokoškolskim bibliotekama u cijelom svijetu, a cilj ovoga istraživanja je utvrditi kako su javne visokoškolske biblioteke u Federaciji Bosne i Hercegovine prilagodile i/ili redefinirale svoje bibliotečko-informacijske usluge pandemijskim okolnostima rada. Za potrebe prikupljanja takvih podataka, anketirani su samo bibliotekari/ke onih javnih visokoškolskih biblioteka koje imaju kontakt (e-mail) na web stranici fakulteta / akademije / univerziteta, a samo istraživanje, koje je kvantitativne prirode, realizirano je korištenjem posebno kreiranog anketnog upitnika, upotrebom Google Forms, u junu 2021. godine. Od ukupno 47 mapiranih biblioteka, 26 biblioteka je sudjelovalo u ispunjavanju ankete (ukupno 55,3%). U ovom istraživačkom radu, koji je prvi ove vrste u Federaciji Bosne i Hercegovine, donose se pristupi visokoškolskih biblioteka koje, za razliku od visokoškolskih biblioteka iz razvijenih evropskih zemalja, djeluju u vrlo specifičnim uslovima koje, prije svega, karakteriziraju ograničeni i nedovoljni budžeti za nabavku građe, ali i nedostatak osnovne IT opreme. Rezultati pokazuju da su uprkos zatečenim, često neodgovarajućim elementarnim uslovima rada, visokoškolski bibliotekari ulagali izvjesne napore orijentirane ka zadovoljenju informacijskih potreba korisnika tokom svjetske zdravstvene krize, ali i da je pandemija naglasila hitnu potrebu digitalne transformacije istraživanjem obuhvaćenih visokoškolskih biblioteka.The global pandemic caused by the COVID-19 virus has significantly affected library processes and procedures in academic libraries worldwide, and the aim of this study is to determine how public academic libraries in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FB&H) have adapted and/or redefined their library and information services to pandemic circumstances. For the purposes of collecting such data, only librarians of those public academic libraries who have contact information (e-mail) displayed on the faculty / academy / university website were surveyed. The research itself, which is of a quantitative nature, was realized by using a survey questionnaire, which was created on Google Forms, in June 2021. Out of a total of 47 mapped libraries, 26 academic libraries participated in the survey (response rate of 55.3%). This research paper, which is first of its kind in Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, brings approaches of academic libraries which, unlike academic libraries from developed European countries, operate in very specific circumstances which are primarily characterized by limited and insufficient budgets for procurement of collections but also basic IT equipment. Results showed that despite the found inadequate elementary working conditions, academic librarians made certain efforts aimed towards meeting the information needs of library users during the world health crisis, but also that the pandemic emphasized the urgent need for digital transformation of surveyed academic libraries