Merging libraries and computing centers in Taiwan.

Abstract

The research questions o f this study are concerning the factors o f decision-making o f merging libraries and computing centers in Taiwan. The decision-makers on four campuses in Taiwan were interviewed by using the multiple-case study approach. The answers, responses, and feedback from the participants were compared, synthesized, and analyzed into the five categories o f the researcher’s theoretical framework, which combines the cognitive and psychological elements o f Simon’s bounded rational decision-making and Rogers’ innovation-decision process. The five categories o f factors that act as helpful but not restricting guides are: 1. factors o f environment, 2. factors o f decision-making units, 3. Merging Libraries and Computing factors o f decision-makers’ personality, 4. factors o f innovation, and 5. factors o f time. The findings reveal that the mergers o f libraries and computing centers on Taiwanese campuses is an authoritative and necessitated decision and the decision-makers’ personality is a key factor which may be changed according to the school size and budget resources. All o f the decisions o f merging libraries and computing centers of schools are impacted by the factors o f environment, decision-making unit, and time; no matter if the school is public, private, large, or small. The results o f this study imply that Rogers’ five stages o f innovation decision process are not proper to explain Taiwanese mergers o f libraries and computing centers and echoes three limitations o f Simon’s bounded rational decision-making process. This study suggests Library and Information Study to emphasize the importance o f building a new legitimacy for adding accountability and consistency in this new organization, offering The International Federation o f Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) a cultural undersantding regarding decision-making types in Taiwan, and improving curriculum of the Library and Information Study for involving the fields o f management and law.