Resource sharing in academic libraries: a systematic literature review of models, benefits, challenges and enabling technologies with reference to private universities in Uganda.

Resource sharing can widen access to scholarly information when individual university libraries cannot meet all teaching and research needs. Its value, however, depends on the relationship between institutional cooperation, affordable delivery and the ability of users to obtain materials when needed. This article examines resource-sharing models, benefits, implementation barriers and enabling technologies, with particular reference to private universities in Uganda. A structured integrative review combines nine research publications with professional guidance, institutional documentation and technical specifications. Sources were located through targeted web searches, journal websites and university repositories, and assessed according to their provenance, methods, relevance and limits. The synthesis finds that consortial licensing, interlibrary lending, document delivery, shared discovery and open repositories perform different but complementary functions. Uganda already has a national collaborative structure through the Consortium of Uganda University Libraries, whose membership arrangements include licensed private universities. Consequently, the central problem is how to translate participation into dependable access rather than how to establish cooperation from an institutional vacuum. Funding continuity, staff capacity, accurate holdings, lawful delivery, authentication and user support emerge as interconnected conditions. Evidence does not support a universal savings percentage or the assumption that installing a particular platform guarantees effective sharing. The article proposes a staged framework that connects existing national partnerships with institutional service agreements, interoperable discovery, mediated requests and transparent evaluation. Recommendations prioritize reliable basic services, equitable participation and the measurement of completed requests, delivery times, costs and accessibility. The contribution is a contextual synthesis and implementable framework; it does not estimate causal effects or provide a national prevalence measure.