A study of success factors of resource sharing in Iranian academic libraries

This paper aims to present the results of a study on success factors of resource sharing (RS) and cooperation in Iranian Academic Libraries (IAL), from the point‐of‐view of librarians who have direct experience of such activities. It investigates and compares the librarians' experiences of, and opinions on, the importance of the success factors in the current and desirable situations in the IALs.

Based on a comprehensive review of the relevant literature, 58 success factors of RS were identified from the previous studies. Using Likert scale technique, the importance of the factors in the current and desired situations of the RS programs were explored and ranked, based on the experiences and opinions of a sample of “key informants” who had direct experience of RS activities in the context of IALs. Then the consistency and/or inconsistency between the current and desired situations of the success factors were identified, using gap analysis method.

The findings revealed that almost all of the success factors mentioned in previous studies are considered important by the respondents. However, only eight factors received high rankings in the current and desired situations of the RS programs in the IALs.

The research focuses on factors identified in previous studies. This may ignore certain, especially cultural, factors, which are effective in the context of IALs.

The study highlights the importance of success factors in development or improvement of any RS activity. The factors would provide both researchers and practitioners with a rich framework to examine the current situation of their RS programs and develop informed strategic plans to improve that. In particular, the findings inform the RS planners and policy makers that particular attention needs to be given to the factors that are identified as very important by the study participants. These factors would alert them to the causes and impacts of such a deficiency in the RS and library cooperation systems.

There is no comprehensive study on the success factors of RS in libraries and, as such, no investigation of the factors in some real‐life contexts of RS activities. Both researchers and practitioners in the field of RS may value the novelty and results of this study.