Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how an innovation in the University Management Information System was leveraged to incorporate library data by an initially sceptical strategic management team. The rationale was to extract evidence of correlations between library use and student achievement. This kind of information is of particular interest to the institution, which is at present dealing with crises popularly summarised in the slogan “#FeesMustFall” among students who suffer from the effects of poverty and exclusion in higher education. Comment is offered on some of the relationships between student library behaviour before, during and after the nationwide disruptions that destabilised universities and threatened their survival at the end of 2016, just before the final examination period. Design/methodology/approach Data were extracted from the data warehouse from the comparative demographic perspectives of students’ degrees of disadvantage in an effort to uncover any hitherto hidden patterns of library use. Findings The use of the library as expressed by footfall and loans was mapped against students’ pass rates and their collective GPA, indicating that increased library use correlates positively with better academic performance. Some of the initial correlations between student library behaviour before, during and after the nationwide disruptions that destabilised universities and threatened their survival at the end of 2016 just before the final examination period are explored. The effects that library closures (under threat of damage) at a critical time in the academic year might have had on library use and on student performance are interrogated. Practical implications Students on financial aid, which was used as an indicator of disadvantage, come from schools and environments where access to information technology and libraries is very limited, so that library habits are either poorly established or not at all. At the University of Cape Town (UCT), considerable support is in place for students to encourage the development of library habits. An analysis of available data indicates that students who have acquired library habits regardless of unfavourable financial circumstances do not exhibit behaviour and academic outcomes markedly different from that of their more privileged peers. Originality/value Combining library data with data from the university data warehouse is a new approach in South Africa. It is an approach that is of value both to the library and the institution at large and has brought meaningful insights into the role the academic library might be seen to play in promoting student academic achievement.

中文翻译：

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在动荡时期使用高校图书馆：开普敦大学学生图书馆的行为和学术表现

目的本文的目的是探讨最初持怀疑态度的战略管理团队如何利用大学管理信息系统中的一项创新来整合图书馆数据。基本原理是提取图书馆使用与学生成绩之间相关性的证据。这类信息对学校特别有意义，该机构目前正在处理遭受贫困和高校排斥影响的学生的口号“ #FeesMustFall”中普遍概括的危机。在全国性动荡之前，之中和之后，对学生图书馆行为之间的一些关系进行了评论，这些事件破坏了大学的稳定，并威胁到2016年底（即期末考试之前）的生存。设计/方法/方法从学生的不利程度的比较人口统计学角度从数据仓库中提取数据，以期发现迄今任何隐藏的图书馆使用模式。调查结果以人流量和借阅量表示的图书馆使用情况与学生的及格率及其集体GPA相对应，表明图书馆使用的增加与更好的学习成绩呈正相关。探索了全国性骚乱之前，期间和之后学生图书馆行为之间的一些初始相关性，这些事件破坏了大学的稳定并在最终考试期之前的2016年底威胁了他们的生存。在本学年的关键时刻关闭图书馆（遭受损坏的威胁）可能会对图书馆的使用和学生的表现产生影响。实际影响曾经被视为劣势指标的经济援助学生来自学校和环境，那里访问信息技术和图书馆的机会非常有限，因此图书馆习惯要么根深蒂固，要么根本没有。开普敦大学（UCT）为学生提供了大量支持，以鼓励他们养成图书馆习惯。对可用数据的分析表明，无论经济状况如何，已经养成图书馆习惯的学生都不会表现出与较特权的同学显着不同的行为和学习成果。原创性/价值将图书馆数据与大学数据仓库中的数据相结合是南非的一种新方法。这是一种对图书馆和整个机构都具有价值的方法，并且为大学图书馆在促进学生学术成就方面的作用带来了有意义的见解。