Welcome remarks
Welcome to MCA Libraries website. MCA Libraries constitute three campus libraries of the College. This include Blantyre, Lilongwe and Mzuzu campus Libraries.The Library is the heart of the Malawi College of Accountancy and it is an integral part of the College`s mission which revolves around teaching, research, and consultancy and community engagement.MCA Libraries plays a central role in ensuring the fulfilment of core academic initiatives, of the College. The Libraries strives to provide a dynamic information service to its clientele in order to provide momentous knowledge acquisition and skills development also give a practical meaning to the MCA`s vision as ……….
The aim of MCA Libraries is to maintain a collection (print and electronic format) which serves the demand of both professional and academic programs which include; Bachelor of Applied Accounting and Information Systems, Bachelor of Business Management and Entrepreneurship, Bachelor of Banking and Finance, Bachelor of Marketing and Public Relations and Bachelor of Management Information Systems.
Our competent librarians are there to provide timely assistance to your academic and research information needs. You are encouraged to consult with our librarians for assistance with information searching and referencing as much as possible as you access our rich collections in both print and electronic formats. You may also bring your laptop in our libraries and enjoy wireless network access to the Internet.
Services
Our Libraries strive to provide unique and spacious environment for adventurous learning, knowledge acquisition and skills development. Our service line;
- Reference
- Circulation
- Internet
- Electronic Databases
- Journal Publishing
- Data Management
- E-Library
- Research, Citation and Reference Management
- Document imaging and publishing
We provide access to electronic databases which include but not limited to; Emerald Insight, Jstor, SAGE, AJOL, Taylor and Francis, Science Direct, Research4Life, Cambridge, Oxford University Press, IMF and World Bank databases.
Location and Opening
Our Libraries are uniquely located in quite spaces of our Campuses and boost a seating capacity of 462 with free access to computers, internet and electronic databases. It opens from 8:00 AM to 10:00 PM. From Mondays to Fridays, from 8:00 AM to 12:00 Noon on Saturdays, and from 1:00 PM to 4:30 Pm on Sundays, during school sessions. During vacations it opens from 8:00 AM to 12:00 Noon and from 1:00 PM to 4:30 PM. It remains closed on public holidays.
Membership
Membership is open to all registered students of College, All senior staff and their spouses, Members of the Board and Members of the Junior Staff.
Leadership
MCA Library department is headed by the College Librarian who is assisted by two Chief Library Assistants; Chief Library Assistants- Readers, Chief Library Assistants –Cataloguer and Chief Library Assistants –Reference. The College librarian also doubles as Systems librarian.
Collection
The MCA Libraries collection reflects the programmes offered at the Malawi College of Accountancy. The resources are in both print and electronic formats. In print format there are books, periodicals, maps and charts.
Refeerence books are shelved separately from the general books. Examples of reference books are: Dictionaries, atlases, encyclopedias, handbooks, and yearbooks just to mention a few. These books are also not allowed to go out, consultation is within the library. Like the reference books, malawiana materials are never taken out of the library.
In electronic formats there are slides, video tapes, audio cassettes, compact discs. These resources are located at circulation desks. The library also subscribes to electronic databases which are accessed through data bases like African Journals On-Line (AJOL), EbscoHost, Emerald, Taylor and Francis, SAGE publishing, Science Direct (ELSEVIER), Google Scholar, Blackwell Publishing, Elgar Publishing, Oxford Journals and many more. Each campus has fifteen computers connected to the internet for students to enable them have access to the electronic journals, electronic information and the internet. These services are offered for free.
Currently the library is building its own databases by digitizing some resources with the use of the DSpace. Digitization is the process of converting information which is in analog format like text, photographs voices and others into a digital format. In this format, information is organized into discrete units of data that can be separately addressed. This is the binary data that computers and many devices with computing capacity such as digital cameras and digital hearing aids can process. Text and images can be digitized similarly: a scanner captures an image which may be an image of text and converts it to an image file, such as a bitmap.
Digitizing information makes it easier to preserve, access, and share. For example, an original historical document may only be accessible to people who visit its physical location, but if the document content is digitized, it can be made available to people worldwide. There is a growing trend towards digitization of historically and culturally significant data.
