Discovering the contextual factors for digital library education in Vietnam

The purpose of this paper is to discover the contextual factors affecting the development of digital library education (DLE) in Vietnam and to determine how those factors are enabling or hindering its development.

Based upon the literature and the theories of Fullan (2007), Nowlen (1988) and Rogers (2003), an initial model of contextual factors that were potentially affecting DLE development in Vietnam was developed. The model was then tested using a qualitative methodology involving interviews and focus groups with key stakeholders, along with the gathering of documentary evidence. The data were then analysed using the interactive model of Miles et al. (2014), and the initial model was then revised.

The initial model allowed for the depiction of potential factors, both internal and external, along with some relationships between the factors. Based on the data analysis, a revised model was developed composed of seven major contextual factors that were enabling and/or hindering DLE development in the Vietnamese context. These are grouped into three categories: external factors – government, IT infrastructure and social and cultural values; internal factors – stakeholders’ attitudes, DLE characteristics and the personal and organisational nexus; and change agents, which is both an internal and external factor. These factors had different levels of influence on DLE development and are inter-related.

No prior study has looked at contextual factors affecting DLE development in a developing country such as Vietnam.