Community Participation in Digital Libraries for Sustainable Transdisciplinary Higher Education

Community Participation in Digital Libraries for Sustainable Transdisciplinary Higher Education | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Community Participation in Digital Libraries for Sustainable Transdisciplinary Higher Education Prabhat Mittal, Mehta Kamakshi This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8630297/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 17 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The ever-changing digital library service can be considered as a burning issue of the institutions of higher learning as technological development is rapidly increasing, and end-users demands continue growing. At that, the current research questions the role of transdisciplinary collaboration in promoting the sustainability of the latter, suggesting that the community engagement serves as an intermediary construct. With the help of a structural equation modelling framework (SEM), the relationship between transdisciplinary collaboration, community engagement, and sustainability of digital libraries was investigated. The structural equation analysis showed that transdisciplinary collaboration had statistically significant positive effect on community engagement, but its immediate effect on digital library sustainability did not become significant. On the other hand, community involvement became a complete intermediary and this has defined a route through which transdisciplinary occupation connects with digital library sustainability. The findings suggest that interdepartmental cross-functional work makes sustainability majorly through encouraging active user engagement, incorporating feedback, and promoting interactive learning programs. Taken together, these results would add to the academic literature on the issues of digital library sustainability and higher-education and provide empirical support to the key role of community engagement to support digital library systems through collaborative governance. Practically, the implications that follow are institutional in nature, and thus imply designing user-friendly strategies coupled with interdepartmental collaboration to ensure the sustainability of digital library services and their effectiveness in the long-term. sustainability community engagement digital library higher education Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 1. INTRODUCTION Digital libraries have essentially changed the educational landscape of institutions of higher learning through the provision of unprecedented access to academic materials, which has improved the processes of research work and fostered learning communities. The sustainability of the services offered by these libraries has become an important institutional concern, as colleges and universities face growing pressure to prove their worth, keep up with the fast-paced technological changes, and meet the demands of a diverse population (Dei and Asante, 2022; Trevisan et al., 2023). In this respect, sustainability goes beyond financial sustainability or IT infrastructure to include relevancy, support of changing user requirements and a sustainable and positive impact on the outputs of the academic process. Modern researchers are now aware that in order to become long-term sustainable, digital libraries cannot be sustained by technologies only. On the contrary, a comprehensive solution that would integrate collaborative governance frameworks, participatory involvement, and active co-working with user communities is essential (Ramachandran et al., 2024). The participation of transdisciplinary teams, comprising of librarian, faculty, technical, and administrator staff, among others, in a coordinated mode of operation has been cited as a strong tool of ensuring the efficiency and viability of digital libraries.The collaboration of this kind encourages the distribution of different opinions, facilitates the exchange of resources, and allows developing a unified approach to the institutions regarding common goals (Gladwin et al., 2024). However, the underlying processes in which transdisciplinary partnership can lead to sustainability of a digital library are not empirically well-researched. Even though cooperation can create favorable environment to sustainability, the channels and mechanisms that connect the collaboration practices and sustainability should be examined further. Community engagement, which implies the active involvement of the users and feedback and jointly created services, proves to be one of the potentially crucial mediating mechanisms. The communities, involved do not merely use digital resources but contribute to their continuous evolution and promotion of their value and to ensuring adaptation to the changing academic demands (Xuan & Isa, 2025). The gap in this question is addressed by investigating the question of whether and how community engagement acts as an intermediary between transdisciplinary collaboration and digital library sustainability in higher education. Based on the principles of socio-technical systems theory, and mediation models, we assume that collaboration enhances sustainability primarily because it has an impact on community engagement, but not the direct effects. Owing to the application of structural equation modeling and data gathered among faculty, staff, and students working in different institutions, we become able to test this mediation hypothesis and determine the price, in its turn, of direct versus indirect pathways. The findings complement theoretical knowledge and practical advice in institutions that want to create stature, user-focused digital library solutions, which can successfully survive the times of rapid technological and pedagogical transformation. 2. DEVELOPMENT OF HYPOTHESIS In this paper, the socio-technical systems theory and mediation models are used as the theoretical basis because of the focus on the interdependence of social and technological factors in organizational realities. Digital libraries are not only technological systems but also socio-technological systems, where technical competencies, organisational designs, user practices and institutional cultures come in contact (Farnell et al., 2023). Such systems need constant adjustment, interdependence of technical and social elements, and correlation to the overall institutional objectives and the user demands in order to be sustainable. Transdisciplinary collaboration is one of the most important organizational mechanisms to match the various stakeholder interests, combined with the professional knowledge and actions coordinating within and across institutions. Community engagement, in its turn, is one of the social mechanisms that are crucial because they trigger user involvement, responsiveness to the needs of users, and create a permanent support with the digital library services. Three hypotheses are developed in this part in terms of relationships between transdisciplinary collaboration, community engagement and digital library sustainability. 2.1 Transdisciplinary Collaboration and Digital library Sustainability Transdisciplinary collaboration in higher education involves a carefully orchestrated interaction between a continuum of stakeholders, the librarians, faculty scholars, technical staff, administrators, and at times, students in tackling multifarious challenges that overshadow the traditional disciplinary and professional boundaries (Ramachandran et al., 2024). These joint efforts enable organizations to pool together different threads of knowledge, combine resources and come up with holistic ways of solving a dilemma that cannot be adequately resolved in only one perspective. This synoptic paradigm assists in the blending of various epistemic traditions, hence, pooling of resources and development of holistic approaches that endeavor to deal with complex problems efficiently and in a sustainable way. Combining incompatible spheres of knowledge, the institutions are in a position of utilizing the synergies of transdisciplinary collaboration. The transdisciplinary cooperation in the context of the digital library, in particular, can also significantly contribute to sustainability, namely, through better resource management, innovation, institutional priority concerns, and a sense of ownership about the digital library projects. According to the literature about the collaboration in organizations, coordination across specialities enhances the adaptive power, resilience, and sustainability of complex systems. It would therefore be possible to expect that transdisciplinary collaboration has a salutary impact on the sustainability of the digital library as it produces the organizational environment that cannot be left without to adapt and evolve. Based on these insights, the following hypothesis is proposed: H1: Transdisciplinary Collaboration has a positive influence on digital library sustainability . 2.2 Transdisciplinary Collaboration and Community engagement Transdisciplinary collaboration is a critical tool of community engagement, primarily via the setting-up of institutional space and processes that promote the involvement of the users. Such collaboration can be viewed as an example of inclusive praxis because it encourages dialogue at both ends (life cycle) of the service provider and end user product and facilitates the co-development of digital resources, as such, giving students and other stakeholders practical opportunities to affect the decision process. The collaboration architectures are used to increase the transparency, to develop trust, and to indicate an evident institutional investment in user-centric approaches. Besides, these intersectoral partnerships foster the creation of a greater range of diversified and contextually engaging digital properties, which in turn enhances user interest and engagement. The recent research in participatory learning contexts emphasizes that interdisciplinary teamwork between educators and professionals who belong to different worlds has a significant positive impact on the student engagement process by introducing more versatile and comprehensive instructional opportunities (Fam et al., 2025). In the realm of digital libraries, usability of this collaboration into higher levels of community activity is expected to arise as a result of the development of inclusive cultures, amplification of the voices of users, and validation of the participatory governance systems. Accordingly, the following hypothesis is proposed: H2: Transdisciplinary Collaboration has a positive influence on community engagement . 2.3 Mediating Role of Community Engagement The theorization is based on community engagement as a vital mediating factor between transdisciplinary collaboration and digital library sustainability. Mediation is a case in which an independent variable impacts a dependent variable via an intermediary variable, and not directly. Transdisciplinary collaboration in this regard promotes sustainability firstly through community involvement, which converts collaborative governance into real use practices and institutional enabling. The process of community engagement is both a mechanism of localizing collaborative efforts, as well as a process of actualizing these efforts into long-term user request, feedback, and co-creating digital resources. Collaborative initiatives might also not be sustainable even in the event that they are properly designed on the organizational level without the integration of activities in the community. The mediation theory implies that the influence of the indirect effects involving key intermediate variables may be greater than direct effects, when the latter involves a central change mechanism. Current studies on organizational change focus on the fact that structural interventions are successful mostly because they provoke behavioral and cultural changes in stakeholders (Ramachandran et al., 2024). Community, in the digital library context, embodies such change, whereby the users are no longer passive consumers, but active participants and co-creators of the knowledge content. Hence, the transdisciplinary collaboration does not affect sustainability directly because it impacts sustainability as a result of its ability to produce community engagement but not by direct organizational or technical processes. Thus, the following hypotheses are advanced: H3: Community engagement mediates the relationship between social motivation in cleanliness and environmental sustainability. 3. MATERIALS AND METHODS Research Design and Sample This paper follows a quantitative and cross-sectional design methodology to identify the mutual relationships between Transdisciplinary Collaboration (TC), Community Engagement (CE), and Digital Library Sustainability (DLS). Primary data was derived using a structured questionnaire that the respondents who participated in the study were members of institutions of higher learning and frequently use digital library facilities. The sample also included the members of the faculty, technical and library personnel, and students representing the largest possible number of disciplines of learners engaged in the process of using and managing digital libraries, hence covering the main stakeholders. This mixed set was critical to the capturing of collaborative practice, engagement behaviour and perceptions of sustainability throughout institutional roles. Data screening of the results resulted in the retention of 240 valid responses, which is perceived to be enough to complete a Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The sample size satisfied the intended recommendations in estimating and assessing reliability and statistical power of a model. Measurement of Constructs Operationalization of all constructs was done through multi item reflective scales and measured on a five point and Likert scale with strongly disagree and strongly agree as the two extreme scores of (1) and (5). The measurement items were transformed based on the previous literature in collaboration, engagement, and digital library management, with the modifications to adapt it to the context of the higher-education environment. • Transdisciplinary Collaboration (TC), treated as the independent variable, was assessed through four items that gauge the extent of collaboration across disparate departments, the coordination between faculty and technical staff, the inclusion of multiple disciplinary perspectives in decision‑making, and the role of collaborative processes in resolving digital‑library‑related challenges. • Community Engagement (CE) was modeled as a mediating construct and measured by four indicators that capture active student participation in digital library utilization, the incorporation of user feedback in service improvement, the encouragement of participatory digital activities, and the promotion of interactive and collaborative learning environments facilitated by digital libraries. • Digital Library Sustainability (DLS), the dependent variable, was evaluated using four items reflecting the reliability and availability of digital library services, their capacity to meet long‑term academic needs, their adaptability to technological changes, and their contribution to sustaining academic learning outcomes. Data Analysis Technique The Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) (Hooper et al., 2008; Shrout and Bolger, 2002) was used to analyze the data with the maximum likelihood (ML) estimator in R (lavaan, mediation, semMediation and semPlot). The modeling procedure used was two-stage. The measurement model was first criticized to ascertain the construct reliability and construct validity with regards to factor loadings and standardized estimates. We then tested the structural model in order to test the hypothesized direct, indirect (mediated) and total relationships among the constructs. Bootstrapped indirect effects were used to measure mediation effects, and z-values and p-values were used to provide statistical significance. This was tested using traditional measures of goodness of fit, such as the Comparative Fit Index (CFI; Tucker and Lewis, 1973), Tucker-Lewis (TLI; Bentler, 1990), Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR; Hu and Bentler, 1998), Akaike Information Criterion (Akaike, 1974) and Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC; Schwazer, 1978). 4. RESULTS The descriptive statistics of the important variables in the study i.e. transdisciplinary collaboration, community engagement and digital library sustainability are shown in Table 1 . On the whole, the average results of all items show that there is moderate agreement with all respondents on the question of all constructs, which is a relatively positive attitude towards collaborative practices, engagement initiatives, and sustainability outcomes in the digital library setting. In regard to transdisciplinary teamwork, the average score is between 3.64 and 3.94, which indicates that the respondents are mostly of the opinion that there is collaborative working process between and among departments and professionality’s in management of digital library services. The most notable mean score is the one concerned with the use of several disciplines in cases of digital library decision-making (M = 3.94, SD = 1.10), and then there is interdepartmental cooperation with regard to services (M = 3.94, SD = 1.17). Such discoveries hint at the fact that the presence of cross-disciplinary contributions into the processes of decision-making is rather entrenched. Nevertheless, the collaboration in enhancing digital resources (M = 3.64, SD = 1.08) and problem solving (M = 3.67, SD = 1.10) have slightly low mean scores, which suggests that they could be strengthened by increasing collaboration at the operational level. The standard deviations indicate a moderate variation in responses, which are an indication of disparities in collaborative practices among the institutions. The average scores of community engagement are between 3.36 and 3.82, which means that the student and user engagement in digital libraries is moderate. There was more agreement among respondents regarding digital libraries encouraging interactive and participatory learning environments (M = 3.82, SD = 1.11) and that user feedback is taken into account during improvement of the services (M = 3.80, SD = 1.09). On the contrary, smaller mean scores of student contribution to digital library resources (M = 3.36, SD = 1.19) and encouragement to participate in activities (M = 3.48, SD = 1.11) indicate that the interaction is more of consultative than co-creative nature. This trend brings out a chance to enhance active engagement and ownership in the group of students. Table 1 Description of Variables and Summary Statistics Item description Mean SD Transdisciplinary Collaboration (TC) ( IV ) TC1: Different departments collaborate in managing digital library services. 3.937 1.170 TC2: Faculty and technical staff work together to improve digital resources. 3.640 1.082 TC3: Digital library decisions involve inputs from multiple disciplines. 3.941 1.102 TC4: Collaboration helps in solving digital library-related problems. 3.669 1.097 Community Engagement (CP) (Mediator) CE1: Students actively use and contribute to digital library resources. 3.355 1.189 CE2: User feedback is considered in improving digital library services. 3.799 1.093 CE3: Students are encouraged to participate in digital library activities. 3.476 1.106 CE4: Digital libraries promote interactive and participatory learning. 3.820 1.106 Digital Library sustainability ( ES ) ( DV ) DLS1: The digital library services are reliable and consistently available. 3.820 0.937 DLS2: Digital resources meet long-term academic needs. 3.715 0.992 DLS3: The digital library adapts well to technological changes. 3.719 1.017 DLS4: The digital library supports sustainable academic learning. 3.828 0.961 Concerning the sustainability of digital libraries, all the items have quite high mean scores, (3.72–3.83), which have lower standard deviations compared to other constructs. The respondents were very much in agreement with the fact that digital library services are trustworthy and accessible at all times (M = 3.82, SD = 0.94) and that they facilitate sustainable academic education (M = 3.83, SD = 0.96). The findings also suggest good impressions regarding the ability of the digital library to serve the long-term academic requirements and adaptation to the change in technology. The relatively low standard deviation of the answers indicates a more uniform evaluation of sustainability results of the sample. Lastly, the findings show that although digital library in higher education is currently viewed as a relatively sustainable force with support of transdisciplinary cooperation, community involvement (especially active participation of the students) is relatively underdeveloped. The aim of the proposed study is the cognitive one since this descriptive pattern supports the initial examination of community engagement, as a viable mediating factor between collaboration and sustainability, in the next inferential analysis. Table 2 Measurement Model Results (Confirmatory Factor Analysis) Latent Construct Indicator Estimate Std. Error z-value p-value Std. Loading Transdisciplinary Collaboration (TC) (IV) TC1 1 - - - 0.904 TC2 0.887 0.046 19.471 < 0.001 0.867 TC3 0.924 0.045 20.428 < 0.001 0.887 TC4 0.852 0.049 17.392 < 0.001 0.821 Community Engagement (CP) (Mediator) CE1 1 - - - 0.736 CE2 1.156 0.079 14.672 < 0.001 0.926 CE3 1.035 0.08 12.869 < 0.001 0.819 CE4 1.14 0.08 14.301 < 0.001 0.903 Digital Library sustainability (ES) (DV) DLS1 1 - - - 0.892 DLS2 1.049 0.053 19.604 0 0.883 DLS3 1.055 0.056 18.907 < 0.001 0.867 DLS4 0.973 0.054 17.991 < 0.001 0.846 Table 2 presents the results of the confirmatory factor analysis of the measurement model, which suggests that all the indicators observed have a significant loading on their latent construct. Regarding transdisciplinary collaboration (TC), the standardized factor loadings range from 0.821 to 0.904, with every indicator exhibiting robust and statistically significant associations (p < 0.001). Similarly, community engagement (CE) is well represented by its indicators, with standardized loadings spanning 0.736 to 0.926. Even though the evidence was a little weaker when compared to CE1, it is still within acceptable levels, and the user feedback and participatory learning indicators make especially good contributions to the construction. The results pertaining to digital library sustainability (DLS) likewise reveal a robust measurement structure, with standardized loadings extending from 0.846 to 0.892 across all indicators (see Fig. 1 ). All factor loadings are statistically significant, which proves that reliability, adaptability, and facilitation of sustainable academic learning are the important dimensions of sustainability in the digital library environment (Anderson & James C.; Gerbing, 1998; Fornell and Larker, 1981; Hair et al., 2017). On the whole, the CFA results can be discussed as arguments of the convergent validity, and they make sense in support of the sufficiency of the measurement model to be used in further structural and mediation analysis. Table 3 Model Fit Indices for the Structural Equation Model Category Fit Index / Statistic Value User Model Fit Chi-square (χ²) 167.011 Degrees of Freedom (df) 51 p-value P < 0.01 Baseline Model Fit Chi-square (χ²) 2662.791 Degrees of Freedom (df) 66 p-value P < 0.01 Incremental Fit Indices Comparative Fit Index (CFI) 0.955 Tucker–Lewis Index (TLI) 0.942 Absolute Fit Index Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR) 0.037 Information Criteria Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) 6067.171 Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC) 6161.036 Sample-size Adjusted BIC (SABIC) 6075.453 Table 3 presents the model -fit measures of the structural equation model and gives evidence that the specified specification has an adequate overall fit to the empirical data. Whereas the value of the chi -square test of user model is statistically significant ( Chi squared test -Statistic -It should be noted that data is as expected at the sensitivity of chi squared test to sample size, 2021, p.1), this is not surprising because the chi-square test is highly sensitive to sample size. The chi-square values, when used concurrently with other indices, do not raise any substantive issues concerning the adequacy of the model. The incremental and absolute fit indices also emphasize the strength of the model. The Comparative Fit Index (CFI = 0.955) (Bentler, 1990) and the Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI = 0.942) (Tucker and Lewis, 1973) are also better than the suggested level of 0.90, and it is a significant improvement to the baseline set up. In addition, the Standardized Root -Mean-Square Residual (SRMR=.037) (Hu -Bentler, 1998) is a comfortable margin lower than the acceptable threshold of 0.08 that the actual covariance structure has minimal residuals where the actual and expected structure deviate. Lastly, the information-criterion values (AIC, BIC, and SABIC) provide handy information on comparing models and support the frugality of the suggested specification (Akaike, 1974; Schawrz, 1978). These findings in turn all lead to the same conclusion that the structural equation model is well specified and appropriate to test hypotheses and perform a mediation analysis. The results of the structural equation model relying on the direct, indirect, and total effect of the relationship between the variables under investigation are shown in Fig. 2 . This direct correlation between transdisciplinary collaboration and community engagement becomes a significant and statistically significant ( 0.632, z 10.909, p 0.01) value, thus, suggesting that escalated collaboration levels across the differences in disciplines significantly contribute to community engagement in digital library settings (see Table 4 ). This fact supports the central importance of cross-functional and cross-disciplinary interaction of the development of participatory practices. On the other hand, the direct impact of transdisciplinary collaboration on the digital library sustainability is positive but statistically insignificant ( 8 = 0.154, z = 2.302, p = 0.02). Therefore, teamwork does not seem to bring about sustainability outcomes directly. However, the community involvement indirectness is strong and significant (β = 0.354, z 6.186, p -0.01), which supports a complete mediation. This kind of pattern suggests that the role of transdisciplinary collaboration to the sustainability of digital libraries is achieved mostly by increasing the level of community participation. The integrated, statistically relevant overall effect (= 0.508, z = 10.413, p = 0.01) is one more confirmation of the overall effect of collaboration on sustainability through engagement. It is this holistic impact that brings out the entire impact that can be highlighted on the potential of collaboration to sustainability. Collectively, these results place the community engagement as an important mechanism as a bridge between the collaborative practices and the sustainable outcome of digital libraries. Table 4 Results of Structural Model Path (Direct Effects) Slope Coefficient Standard Error z-value P(>|z|) Results TC→ CE 0.632 0.058 10.909 P 0.02 Insignificant Path (Indirect Effects: Mediation Model) TC → CE → DLS 0.354 0.057 6.186 P < 0.01 Significant (Full Mediation) Total Effects SMC + CS → ES (Total) 0.508 0.049 10.413 P < 0.01 Significant 5. DISCUSSION The empirical data obtained as a result of this research highlights the pivotal role of community participation in realising the positive outputs of transdisciplinary cooperation towards sustainable sustainability of digital library project in institutions of higher learning. Although the facts suggest that this type of collaboration has a significantly significant positive effect on the level of community, it does not have a statistically significant direct impact on the sustainability of digital libraries. Instead, sustainability outcomes are still achieved through, seemingly, the mediating conduit of community engagement, thus, indicating a complete mediation effect. This empirical trend adds theoretical as well as practical knowledge on how digital libraries are functional as human-based and socio-technical ecosystems. It has been shown that there is a strong correlation between transdisciplinary collaboration and community engagement which is an indication of the role played by cross-disciplinary interactions in the development of participatory cultures in digital libraries. Interdependence between the faculty, technical personnel, librarians and other members of stakeholders creates an effective space that actively stimulates the involvement of the user (Fischer et al., 2025). In the context of higher-education, it appears that those types of collaborative architectures play an essential role in enabling students and user communities to share the dynamism in using digital library services. The fact that the major direct difference produced by transdisciplinary collaboration and digital library sustainability is not significant, in turn, shows that collaboration itself is not enough to ensure long viability and resilience. These results dispute the technological/management based thinking that interdisciplinary coordination leads to the automatic achievement of sustainable results. They align with recent research on changes in digital transformation that emphasize that technological sustainability implies not only the presence of advanced infrastructure but also such social practices that will enable the continuity of adaptation and user interaction (Trevisan et al., 2023). Therefore, sustainability of digital libraries could not only be considered as a structural or technical output, but rather a process accepted by society. Devoid of substantive engagement of users, collaborative efforts have a chance to stay within institutional or professional circles, hence narrowing the scope of their influence on long-term sustainability. The immense side effect of transdisciplinary interaction on sustainability under community reach confirms the theory of mediation and highlights the key role of participatory mechanism. Modern studies of community engagement in higher education assume that participatory strategies enhance the resilience of institutions and develop sustainable development by integrating the two institutional offerings with needs of the community (Xuan and Isa, 2025; Farnell et al., 2023). The interaction of communities therefore is a defining channel through which the collaborative practices can be changed to become sustainable digital library services. Communities who are engaged improve sustainability through enhancing trust, adoption, relevancy of the resources, and adaptive change. The entire mediation reported in this paper implies that community engagement is not an independent variable but an antecedent of sustainability. Digital libraries which focus on user engagement, feedback, and co-creation are better placed to continue with services over time, keep up with technological change and keep in service with changing academic needs. This observation is particularly relevant within the field of higher-education, as students who are both main consumers and makers of knowledge. Student activity aligns digital library services and academic activity to enhance sustainability and institutional support. Similar research on the importance of transdisciplinary learning situations supports the idea that the effect of learners engaging in co-creating processes positively influences learning results and the sustainability of educational innovations (Ramachandran et al., 2024). The results of the study also have their weight in terms of understanding the user satisfaction and service effectiveness in the realities of the digital libraries. The latest studies prove the fact that the level of user satisfaction with the digital libraries services directly correlates with the quality of user experience and the process of active user engagement in service design and other improvement procedures (Azib et al., 2025; Kaba et al., 2025). The digital resilience construct has become a relevant concept of thinking about the ways in which libraries can not only digitise resources but also develop adaptive capacity in case of technological disturbance and changing customer needs (Lee, 2025). Furthermore, the priority of sustaining academic libraries would require technological infrastructure as well as an improved level of awareness of sustainability principles and involvement into green library programs by their users (Tanzin & Atikuzzaman, 2025). The digital transformation studies in academic libraries have revealed that the effectiveness of digital reading systems and digital services are mediated by their capacity to improve user satisfaction and achieve the new demands of accessibility and interactivity (Lin et al., 2024). In general, the paper contributes to the body of knowledge as, statistically, it confirms that the mediators of collaboration-sustainability relationship are community engagement. It contributes to the literature by explaining the role of human-centred practices in determining the sustainability of digital libraries and provides the evidence-based recommendations on how to develop resilient and participatory digital knowledge facilities within higher education. 6. CONCLUSIONS This study made an attempt to examine the relationships of transdisciplinary collaboration, community involvement and sustainability of digital libraries in tertiary institutions and more so the mediating role of community involvement. Using structural-equations modeling and mediation analysis, the findings develop a solid and unambiguous information on the socio-technical nature of the processes underlying sustainable digital library ecosystems. The results indicate that cross-disciplinary cooperation between librarians, faculty members, and technical staff (and other stakeholders) is important and determines the engagement of communities. Nonetheless, the intensity of direct impact of collaboration on sustainability shows the lack of significant one, and sustenance is not guaranteed by collaboration only. Instead, sustainability is achieved through joint efforts where the user community, especially students are actively engaged into activities of participation and interaction. The fact that community engagement is identified as a complete mediator makes it as central in the maintenance of digital library services. Engaged communities also lead to sustainability due to relevancy, increased trust, promotion of adaptive change and strengthening the long term academic value of digital libraries. Such results can support the view that digital libraries need to be understood as human-generated socio-technical systems where sustainability arises as a result of on-going communication between technological infrastructure and social engagements. This research has a number of important contributions. It in theory builds on the current literature of digital library and socio-technical systems by empirically validating a mediation mechanism, which can explain the impact of collaboration on sustainability. In practical terms, it provides some practical implications to institutions of higher learning regarding why community engagement should be entrenched in the digital library governance, design, and assessment systems. It is advised that policy makers and administrators should be at the forefront to promote participatory framework in which users will become co-creators other than the passive consumers of digital resources. The research has some limitations to it in spite of its contributions. The cross-sectional study limits the causal inference and future studies may use longitudinal, or mixed-method, to define the changes in engagement and sustainability with time. Moreover, it will be better to realize the extension of the investigation to different institutional and cultural degrees to improve the generalizability of the findings. To sum it all up, the research illustrates that sustainable digital libraries in higher education not only represent by-products of technical proficiency, inter-disciplinary liaisons but are essentially hewn out by the extent of meaningful community involvement. Through the introduction of community engagement into transdisciplinary collaboration, institutions will be able to create resilient, adaptive, and sustainable digital library ecosystems, which can sustainably support teaching, learning, and research in the long term. Declarations Ethics approval and consent to participate The study was carried out in accordance with the ethical principles of the Declaration of Helsinki, as well as ethical approval from the Research Ethical Consideration Committee (RECC), Manipal University. 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Journal of Librarianship and Information Science , Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/03400352251331465 Lin, S., Ye, D., Wang, F., Zhang, J., & Lu, L. (2024). Digital transformation in college libraries: The effect of digital reading on reader service satisfaction. PLoS ONE , 19(8), e0307699. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0307699 Fischer, C., Gugerell, K., Laa, U. et al. Evaluating transdisciplinary methods: a new scale for measuring knowledge integration. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 12 , 1395 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-05634-w Ramachandran, A., Schwellnus, M., Gladwin, D., & Alldred, K. (2024). Cultivating educational adaptability through collaborative transdisciplinary learning spaces. Discover Education , 3(1), 2. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44217-023-00084-5 Schwarz, G. (1978). Estimating the dimension of a model. The Annals of Statistics , 6(2), 461-464. https://doi.org/10.1214/aos/1176344136 Shrout, P. E., & Bolger, N. (2002). Mediation in experimental and nonexperimental studies: New procedures and recommendations. Psychological Methods , 7(4), 422-445. https://doi.org/10.1037/1082-989X.7.4.422 Tanzin, M., & Atikuzzaman, Md. (2024). Towards achieving a sustainable academic library: Users’ awareness and perceptions in a developing country. IFLA Journal , 51 (2), 327-338. https://doi.org/10.1177/03400352241276841 (Original work published 2025) Trevisan, L.V., Eustachio, J.H.P.P., Dias, B.G. et al. Digital transformation towards sustainability in higher education: state-of-the-art and future research insights. Environ Dev Sustain 26 , 2789–2810 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-022-02874-7 Tucker, L. R., & Lewis, C. (1973). A Reliability Coefficient for Maximum Likelihood Factor Analysis. Psychometrika, 38(1), 1–10. doi:10.1007/BF02291170 Xuan, L., & Isa, R. M. (2025). Trends and themes in community engagement in higher education: A bibliometric analysis (1971-2023). Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education , Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1108/JARHE-01-2025-0057 Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. 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INTRODUCTION","content":"\u003cp\u003eDigital libraries have essentially changed the educational landscape of institutions of higher learning through the provision of unprecedented access to academic materials, which has improved the processes of research work and fostered learning communities. The sustainability of the services offered by these libraries has become an important institutional concern, as colleges and universities face growing pressure to prove their worth, keep up with the fast-paced technological changes, and meet the demands of a diverse population (Dei and Asante, 2022; Trevisan et al., 2023). In this respect, sustainability goes beyond financial sustainability or IT infrastructure to include relevancy, support of changing user requirements and a sustainable and positive impact on the outputs of the academic process.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eModern researchers are now aware that in order to become long-term sustainable, digital libraries cannot be sustained by technologies only. On the contrary, a comprehensive solution that would integrate collaborative governance frameworks, participatory involvement, and active co-working with user communities is essential (Ramachandran et al., 2024). The participation of transdisciplinary teams, comprising of librarian, faculty, technical, and administrator staff, among others, in a coordinated mode of operation has been cited as a strong tool of ensuring the efficiency and viability of digital libraries.The collaboration of this kind encourages the distribution of different opinions, facilitates the exchange of resources, and allows developing a unified approach to the institutions regarding common goals (Gladwin et al., 2024).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eHowever, the underlying processes in which transdisciplinary partnership can lead to sustainability of a digital library are not empirically well-researched. Even though cooperation can create favorable environment to sustainability, the channels and mechanisms that connect the collaboration practices and sustainability should be examined further. Community engagement, which implies the active involvement of the users and feedback and jointly created services, proves to be one of the potentially crucial mediating mechanisms. The communities, involved do not merely use digital resources but contribute to their continuous evolution and promotion of their value and to ensuring adaptation to the changing academic demands (Xuan \u0026amp; Isa, 2025).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe gap in this question is addressed by investigating the question of whether and how community engagement acts as an intermediary between transdisciplinary collaboration and digital library sustainability in higher education. Based on the principles of socio-technical systems theory, and mediation models, we assume that collaboration enhances sustainability primarily because it has an impact on community engagement, but not the direct effects. Owing to the application of structural equation modeling and data gathered among faculty, staff, and students working in different institutions, we become able to test this mediation hypothesis and determine the price, in its turn, of direct versus indirect pathways. The findings complement theoretical knowledge and practical advice in institutions that want to create stature, user-focused digital library solutions, which can successfully survive the times of rapid technological and pedagogical transformation.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"2. DEVELOPMENT OF HYPOTHESIS","content":"\u003cp\u003eIn this paper, the socio-technical systems theory and mediation models are used as the theoretical basis because of the focus on the interdependence of social and technological factors in organizational realities. Digital libraries are not only technological systems but also socio-technological systems, where technical competencies, organisational designs, user practices and institutional cultures come in contact (Farnell et al., 2023). Such systems need constant adjustment, interdependence of technical and social elements, and correlation to the overall institutional objectives and the user demands in order to be sustainable.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTransdisciplinary collaboration is one of the most important organizational mechanisms to match the various stakeholder interests, combined with the professional knowledge and actions coordinating within and across institutions. Community engagement, in its turn, is one of the social mechanisms that are crucial because they trigger user involvement, responsiveness to the needs of users, and create a permanent support with the digital library services. Three hypotheses are developed in this part in terms of relationships between transdisciplinary collaboration, community engagement and digital library sustainability.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec3\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.1 \u003cem\u003eTransdisciplinary Collaboration and Digital library Sustainability\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eTransdisciplinary collaboration in higher education involves a carefully orchestrated interaction between a continuum of stakeholders, the librarians, faculty scholars, technical staff, administrators, and at times, students in tackling multifarious challenges that overshadow the traditional disciplinary and professional boundaries (Ramachandran et al., 2024). These joint efforts enable organizations to pool together different threads of knowledge, combine resources and come up with holistic ways of solving a dilemma that cannot be adequately resolved in only one perspective. This synoptic paradigm assists in the blending of various epistemic traditions, hence, pooling of resources and development of holistic approaches that endeavor to deal with complex problems efficiently and in a sustainable way. Combining incompatible spheres of knowledge, the institutions are in a position of utilizing the synergies of transdisciplinary collaboration. The transdisciplinary cooperation in the context of the digital library, in particular, can also significantly contribute to sustainability, namely, through better resource management, innovation, institutional priority concerns, and a sense of ownership about the digital library projects. According to the literature about the collaboration in organizations, coordination across specialities enhances the adaptive power, resilience, and sustainability of complex systems. It would therefore be possible to expect that transdisciplinary collaboration has a salutary impact on the sustainability of the digital library as it produces the organizational environment that cannot be left without to adapt and evolve.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBased on these insights, the following hypothesis is proposed:\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eH1: \u003cb\u003eTransdisciplinary Collaboration has a positive influence on digital library sustainability\u003c/b\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec4\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.2 Transdisciplinary Collaboration and Community engagement\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eTransdisciplinary collaboration is a critical tool of community engagement, primarily via the setting-up of institutional space and processes that promote the involvement of the users. Such collaboration can be viewed as an example of inclusive praxis because it encourages dialogue at both ends (life cycle) of the service provider and end user product and facilitates the co-development of digital resources, as such, giving students and other stakeholders practical opportunities to affect the decision process. The collaboration architectures are used to increase the transparency, to develop trust, and to indicate an evident institutional investment in user-centric approaches. Besides, these intersectoral partnerships foster the creation of a greater range of diversified and contextually engaging digital properties, which in turn enhances user interest and engagement. The recent research in participatory learning contexts emphasizes that interdisciplinary teamwork between educators and professionals who belong to different worlds has a significant positive impact on the student engagement process by introducing more versatile and comprehensive instructional opportunities (Fam et al., 2025). In the realm of digital libraries, usability of this collaboration into higher levels of community activity is expected to arise as a result of the development of inclusive cultures, amplification of the voices of users, and validation of the participatory governance systems.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAccordingly, the following hypothesis is proposed:\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eH2: \u003cb\u003eTransdisciplinary Collaboration has a positive influence on community engagement\u003c/b\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec5\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.3 \u003cem\u003eMediating Role of Community Engagement\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe theorization is based on community engagement as a vital mediating factor between transdisciplinary collaboration and digital library sustainability. Mediation is a case in which an independent variable impacts a dependent variable via an intermediary variable, and not directly. Transdisciplinary collaboration in this regard promotes sustainability firstly through community involvement, which converts collaborative governance into real use practices and institutional enabling. The process of community engagement is both a mechanism of localizing collaborative efforts, as well as a process of actualizing these efforts into long-term user request, feedback, and co-creating digital resources.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eCollaborative initiatives might also not be sustainable even in the event that they are properly designed on the organizational level without the integration of activities in the community. The mediation theory implies that the influence of the indirect effects involving key intermediate variables may be greater than direct effects, when the latter involves a central change mechanism. Current studies on organizational change focus on the fact that structural interventions are successful mostly because they provoke behavioral and cultural changes in stakeholders (Ramachandran et al., 2024). Community, in the digital library context, embodies such change, whereby the users are no longer passive consumers, but active participants and co-creators of the knowledge content. Hence, the transdisciplinary collaboration does not affect sustainability directly because it impacts sustainability as a result of its ability to produce community engagement but not by direct organizational or technical processes.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThus, the following hypotheses are advanced:\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eH3: Community engagement mediates the relationship between social motivation in cleanliness and environmental sustainability.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"3. MATERIALS AND METHODS","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eResearch Design and Sample\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis paper follows a quantitative and cross-sectional design methodology to identify the mutual relationships between Transdisciplinary Collaboration (TC), Community Engagement (CE), and Digital Library Sustainability (DLS). Primary data was derived using a structured questionnaire that the respondents who participated in the study were members of institutions of higher learning and frequently use digital library facilities. The sample also included the members of the faculty, technical and library personnel, and students representing the largest possible number of disciplines of learners engaged in the process of using and managing digital libraries, hence covering the main stakeholders. This mixed set was critical to the capturing of collaborative practice, engagement behaviour and perceptions of sustainability throughout institutional roles. Data screening of the results resulted in the retention of 240 valid responses, which is perceived to be enough to complete a Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The sample size satisfied the intended recommendations in estimating and assessing reliability and statistical power of a model.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eMeasurement of Constructs\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOperationalization of all constructs was done through multi item reflective scales and measured on a five point and Likert scale with strongly disagree and strongly agree as the two extreme scores of (1) and (5). The measurement items were transformed based on the previous literature in collaboration, engagement, and digital library management, with the modifications to adapt it to the context of the higher-education environment.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026bull; Transdisciplinary Collaboration (TC), treated as the independent variable, was assessed through four items that gauge the extent of collaboration across disparate departments, the coordination between faculty and technical staff, the inclusion of multiple disciplinary perspectives in decision‑making, and the role of collaborative processes in resolving digital‑library‑related challenges.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026bull; Community Engagement (CE) was modeled as a mediating construct and measured by four indicators that capture active student participation in digital library utilization, the incorporation of user feedback in service improvement, the encouragement of participatory digital activities, and the promotion of interactive and collaborative learning environments facilitated by digital libraries.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026bull; Digital Library Sustainability (DLS), the dependent variable, was evaluated using four items reflecting the reliability and availability of digital library services, their capacity to meet long‑term academic needs, their adaptability to technological changes, and their contribution to sustaining academic learning outcomes.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eData Analysis Technique\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) (Hooper et al., 2008; Shrout and Bolger, 2002) was used to analyze the data with the maximum likelihood (ML) estimator in R (lavaan, mediation, semMediation and semPlot). The modeling procedure used was two-stage. The measurement model was first criticized to ascertain the construct reliability and construct validity with regards to factor loadings and standardized estimates. We then tested the structural model in order to test the hypothesized direct, indirect (mediated) and total relationships among the constructs. Bootstrapped indirect effects were used to measure mediation effects, and z-values and p-values were used to provide statistical significance. This was tested using traditional measures of goodness of fit, such as the Comparative Fit Index (CFI; Tucker and Lewis, 1973), Tucker-Lewis (TLI; Bentler, 1990), Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR; Hu and Bentler, 1998), Akaike Information Criterion (Akaike, 1974) and Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC; Schwazer, 1978).\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"4. RESULTS","content":"\u003cp\u003eThe descriptive statistics of the important variables in the study i.e. transdisciplinary collaboration, community engagement and digital library sustainability are shown in Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e. On the whole, the average results of all items show that there is moderate agreement with all respondents on the question of all constructs, which is a relatively positive attitude towards collaborative practices, engagement initiatives, and sustainability outcomes in the digital library setting.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn regard to transdisciplinary teamwork, the average score is between 3.64 and 3.94, which indicates that the respondents are mostly of the opinion that there is collaborative working process between and among departments and professionality\u0026rsquo;s in management of digital library services. The most notable mean score is the one concerned with the use of several disciplines in cases of digital library decision-making (M\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;3.94, SD\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;1.10), and then there is interdepartmental cooperation with regard to services (M\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;3.94, SD\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;1.17). Such discoveries hint at the fact that the presence of cross-disciplinary contributions into the processes of decision-making is rather entrenched. Nevertheless, the collaboration in enhancing digital resources (M\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;3.64, SD\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;1.08) and problem solving (M\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;3.67, SD\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;1.10) have slightly low mean scores, which suggests that they could be strengthened by increasing collaboration at the operational level. The standard deviations indicate a moderate variation in responses, which are an indication of disparities in collaborative practices among the institutions.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe average scores of community engagement are between 3.36 and 3.82, which means that the student and user engagement in digital libraries is moderate. There was more agreement among respondents regarding digital libraries encouraging interactive and participatory learning environments (M\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;3.82, SD\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;1.11) and that user feedback is taken into account during improvement of the services (M\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;3.80, SD\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;1.09). On the contrary, smaller mean scores of student contribution to digital library resources (M\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;3.36, SD\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;1.19) and encouragement to participate in activities (M\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;3.48, SD\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;1.11) indicate that the interaction is more of consultative than co-creative nature. This trend brings out a chance to enhance active engagement and ownership in the group of students.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab1\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 1\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDescription of Variables and Summary Statistics\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"3\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eItem description\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMean\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSD\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eTransdisciplinary Collaboration (TC) (\u003c/b\u003e\u003cem\u003eIV\u003c/em\u003e\u003cb\u003e)\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTC1: Different departments collaborate in managing digital library services.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.937\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.170\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTC2: Faculty and technical staff work together to improve digital resources.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.640\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.082\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTC3: Digital library decisions involve inputs from multiple disciplines.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.941\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.102\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTC4: Collaboration helps in solving digital library-related problems.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.669\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.097\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eCommunity Engagement (CP)\u003c/b\u003e \u003cb\u003e(Mediator)\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCE1: Students actively use and contribute to digital library resources.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.355\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.189\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCE2: User feedback is considered in improving digital library services.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.799\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.093\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCE3: Students are encouraged to participate in digital library activities.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.476\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.106\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCE4: Digital libraries promote interactive and participatory learning.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.820\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.106\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eDigital Library sustainability\u003c/b\u003e (\u003cb\u003eES\u003c/b\u003e) \u003cb\u003e(\u003c/b\u003e\u003cem\u003eDV\u003c/em\u003e\u003cb\u003e)\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDLS1: The digital library services are reliable and consistently available.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.820\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.937\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDLS2: Digital resources meet long-term academic needs.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.715\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.992\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDLS3: The digital library adapts well to technological changes.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.719\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.017\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDLS4: The digital library supports sustainable academic learning.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.828\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.961\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eConcerning the sustainability of digital libraries, all the items have quite high mean scores, (3.72\u0026ndash;3.83), which have lower standard deviations compared to other constructs. The respondents were very much in agreement with the fact that digital library services are trustworthy and accessible at all times (M\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;3.82, SD\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.94) and that they facilitate sustainable academic education (M\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;3.83, SD\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.96). The findings also suggest good impressions regarding the ability of the digital library to serve the long-term academic requirements and adaptation to the change in technology. The relatively low standard deviation of the answers indicates a more uniform evaluation of sustainability results of the sample.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eLastly, the findings show that although digital library in higher education is currently viewed as a relatively sustainable force with support of transdisciplinary cooperation, community involvement (especially active participation of the students) is relatively underdeveloped. The aim of the proposed study is the cognitive one since this descriptive pattern supports the initial examination of community engagement, as a viable mediating factor between collaboration and sustainability, in the next inferential analysis.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab2\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 2\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMeasurement Model Results (Confirmatory Factor Analysis)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"7\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c7\" colnum=\"7\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eLatent Construct\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eIndicator\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eEstimate\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eStd. Error\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ez-value\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ep-value\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eStd. Loading\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"3\" rowspan=\"4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTransdisciplinary Collaboration (TC) (IV)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTC1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.904\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTC2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.887\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.046\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e19.471\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.867\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTC3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.924\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.045\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e20.428\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.887\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTC4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.852\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.049\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e17.392\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.821\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"3\" rowspan=\"4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCommunity Engagement (CP) (Mediator)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCE1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.736\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCE2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.156\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.079\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e14.672\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.926\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCE3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.035\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.08\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e12.869\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.819\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCE4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.14\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.08\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e14.301\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.903\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"3\" rowspan=\"4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDigital Library sustainability (ES) (DV)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDLS1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.892\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDLS2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.049\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.053\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e19.604\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.883\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDLS3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.055\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.056\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e18.907\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.867\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDLS4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.973\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.054\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e17.991\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.846\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTable\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e presents the results of the confirmatory factor analysis of the measurement model, which suggests that all the indicators observed have a significant loading on their latent construct. Regarding transdisciplinary collaboration (TC), the standardized factor loadings range from 0.821 to 0.904, with every indicator exhibiting robust and statistically significant associations (p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001). Similarly, community engagement (CE) is well represented by its indicators, with standardized loadings spanning 0.736 to 0.926. Even though the evidence was a little weaker when compared to CE1, it is still within acceptable levels, and the user feedback and participatory learning indicators make especially good contributions to the construction.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe results pertaining to digital library sustainability (DLS) likewise reveal a robust measurement structure, with standardized loadings extending from 0.846 to 0.892 across all indicators (see Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e). All factor loadings are statistically significant, which proves that reliability, adaptability, and facilitation of sustainable academic learning are the important dimensions of sustainability in the digital library environment (Anderson \u0026amp; James C.; Gerbing, 1998; Fornell and Larker, 1981; Hair et al., 2017). On the whole, the CFA results can be discussed as arguments of the convergent validity, and they make sense in support of the sufficiency of the measurement model to be used in further structural and mediation analysis.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab3\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 3\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eModel Fit Indices for the Structural Equation Model\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"3\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCategory\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eFit Index / Statistic\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eValue\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"2\" rowspan=\"3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eUser Model Fit\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eChi-square (χ\u0026sup2;)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e167.011\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDegrees of Freedom (df)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e51\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ep-value\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eP\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.01\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"2\" rowspan=\"3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBaseline Model Fit\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eChi-square (χ\u0026sup2;)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2662.791\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDegrees of Freedom (df)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e66\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ep-value\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eP\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.01\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eIncremental Fit Indices\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eComparative Fit Index (CFI)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.955\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTucker\u0026ndash;Lewis Index (TLI)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.942\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eAbsolute Fit Index\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eStandardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.037\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"2\" rowspan=\"3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eInformation Criteria\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eAkaike Information Criterion (AIC)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6067.171\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBayesian Information Criterion (BIC)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6161.036\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSample-size Adjusted BIC (SABIC)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6075.453\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTable\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e presents the model -fit measures of the structural equation model and gives evidence that the specified specification has an adequate overall fit to the empirical data. Whereas the value of the chi -square test of user model is statistically significant ( Chi squared test -Statistic -It should be noted that data is as expected at the sensitivity of chi squared test to sample size, 2021, p.1), this is not surprising because the chi-square test is highly sensitive to sample size. The chi-square values, when used concurrently with other indices, do not raise any substantive issues concerning the adequacy of the model.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe incremental and absolute fit indices also emphasize the strength of the model. The Comparative Fit Index (CFI\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.955) (Bentler, 1990) and the Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.942) (Tucker and Lewis, 1973) are also better than the suggested level of 0.90, and it is a significant improvement to the baseline set up. In addition, the Standardized Root -Mean-Square Residual (SRMR=.037) (Hu -Bentler, 1998) is a comfortable margin lower than the acceptable threshold of 0.08 that the actual covariance structure has minimal residuals where the actual and expected structure deviate. Lastly, the information-criterion values (AIC, BIC, and SABIC) provide handy information on comparing models and support the frugality of the suggested specification (Akaike, 1974; Schawrz, 1978). These findings in turn all lead to the same conclusion that the structural equation model is well specified and appropriate to test hypotheses and perform a mediation analysis.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe results of the structural equation model relying on the direct, indirect, and total effect of the relationship between the variables under investigation are shown in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e. This direct correlation between transdisciplinary collaboration and community engagement becomes a significant and statistically significant ( 0.632, z 10.909, p 0.01) value, thus, suggesting that escalated collaboration levels across the differences in disciplines significantly contribute to community engagement in digital library settings (see Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e). This fact supports the central importance of cross-functional and cross-disciplinary interaction of the development of participatory practices.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eOn the other hand, the direct impact of transdisciplinary collaboration on the digital library sustainability is positive but statistically insignificant ( 8\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.154, z\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;2.302, p\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.02). Therefore, teamwork does not seem to bring about sustainability outcomes directly. However, the community involvement indirectness is strong and significant (β\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.354, z 6.186, p -0.01), which supports a complete mediation. This kind of pattern suggests that the role of transdisciplinary collaboration to the sustainability of digital libraries is achieved mostly by increasing the level of community participation.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe integrated, statistically relevant overall effect (=\u0026thinsp;0.508, z\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;10.413, p\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0.01) is one more confirmation of the overall effect of collaboration on sustainability through engagement. It is this holistic impact that brings out the entire impact that can be highlighted on the potential of collaboration to sustainability.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eCollectively, these results place the community engagement as an important mechanism as a bridge between the collaborative practices and the sustainable outcome of digital libraries.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab4\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 4\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eResults of Structural Model\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"6\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePath (Direct Effects)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSlope Coefficient\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eStandard Error\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ez-value\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eP(\u0026gt;|z|)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eResults\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTC\u0026rarr; CE\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.632\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.058\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10.909\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eP\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.01\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eSignificant\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTC \u0026rarr; DLS\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.154\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.067\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2.302\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ep\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;0.02\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eInsignificant\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"6\" nameend=\"c6\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePath (Indirect Effects: Mediation Model)\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTC \u0026rarr; CE \u0026rarr; DLS\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.354\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.057\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6.186\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eP\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.01\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eSignificant\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e(Full Mediation)\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"6\" nameend=\"c6\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eTotal Effects\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSMC\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;CS \u0026rarr; ES (Total)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.508\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.049\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10.413\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eP\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.01\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eSignificant\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"5. DISCUSSION","content":"\u003cp\u003eThe empirical data obtained as a result of this research highlights the pivotal role of community participation in realising the positive outputs of transdisciplinary cooperation towards sustainable sustainability of digital library project in institutions of higher learning. Although the facts suggest that this type of collaboration has a significantly significant positive effect on the level of community, it does not have a statistically significant direct impact on the sustainability of digital libraries. Instead, sustainability outcomes are still achieved through, seemingly, the mediating conduit of community engagement, thus, indicating a complete mediation effect. This empirical trend adds theoretical as well as practical knowledge on how digital libraries are functional as human-based and socio-technical ecosystems.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIt has been shown that there is a strong correlation between transdisciplinary collaboration and community engagement which is an indication of the role played by cross-disciplinary interactions in the development of participatory cultures in digital libraries. Interdependence between the faculty, technical personnel, librarians and other members of stakeholders creates an effective space that actively stimulates the involvement of the user (Fischer et al., 2025). In the context of higher-education, it appears that those types of collaborative architectures play an essential role in enabling students and user communities to share the dynamism in using digital library services.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe fact that the major direct difference produced by transdisciplinary collaboration and digital library sustainability is not significant, in turn, shows that collaboration itself is not enough to ensure long viability and resilience. These results dispute the technological/management based thinking that interdisciplinary coordination leads to the automatic achievement of sustainable results. They align with recent research on changes in digital transformation that emphasize that technological sustainability implies not only the presence of advanced infrastructure but also such social practices that will enable the continuity of adaptation and user interaction (Trevisan et al., 2023). Therefore, sustainability of digital libraries could not only be considered as a structural or technical output, but rather a process accepted by society. Devoid of substantive engagement of users, collaborative efforts have a chance to stay within institutional or professional circles, hence narrowing the scope of their influence on long-term sustainability.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe immense side effect of transdisciplinary interaction on sustainability under community reach confirms the theory of mediation and highlights the key role of participatory mechanism. Modern studies of community engagement in higher education assume that participatory strategies enhance the resilience of institutions and develop sustainable development by integrating the two institutional offerings with needs of the community (Xuan and Isa, 2025; Farnell et al., 2023). The interaction of communities therefore is a defining channel through which the collaborative practices can be changed to become sustainable digital library services. Communities who are engaged improve sustainability through enhancing trust, adoption, relevancy of the resources, and adaptive change. The entire mediation reported in this paper implies that community engagement is not an independent variable but an antecedent of sustainability. Digital libraries which focus on user engagement, feedback, and co-creation are better placed to continue with services over time, keep up with technological change and keep in service with changing academic needs. This observation is particularly relevant within the field of higher-education, as students who are both main consumers and makers of knowledge. Student activity aligns digital library services and academic activity to enhance sustainability and institutional support. Similar research on the importance of transdisciplinary learning situations supports the idea that the effect of learners engaging in co-creating processes positively influences learning results and the sustainability of educational innovations (Ramachandran et al., 2024).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe results of the study also have their weight in terms of understanding the user satisfaction and service effectiveness in the realities of the digital libraries. The latest studies prove the fact that the level of user satisfaction with the digital libraries services directly correlates with the quality of user experience and the process of active user engagement in service design and other improvement procedures (Azib et al., 2025; Kaba et al., 2025). The digital resilience construct has become a relevant concept of thinking about the ways in which libraries can not only digitise resources but also develop adaptive capacity in case of technological disturbance and changing customer needs (Lee, 2025). Furthermore, the priority of sustaining academic libraries would require technological infrastructure as well as an improved level of awareness of sustainability principles and involvement into green library programs by their users (Tanzin \u0026amp; Atikuzzaman, 2025). The digital transformation studies in academic libraries have revealed that the effectiveness of digital reading systems and digital services are mediated by their capacity to improve user satisfaction and achieve the new demands of accessibility and interactivity (Lin et al., 2024).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn general, the paper contributes to the body of knowledge as, statistically, it confirms that the mediators of collaboration-sustainability relationship are community engagement. It contributes to the literature by explaining the role of human-centred practices in determining the sustainability of digital libraries and provides the evidence-based recommendations on how to develop resilient and participatory digital knowledge facilities within higher education.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"6. CONCLUSIONS","content":"\u003cp\u003eThis study made an attempt to examine the relationships of transdisciplinary collaboration, community involvement and sustainability of digital libraries in tertiary institutions and more so the mediating role of community involvement. Using structural-equations modeling and mediation analysis, the findings develop a solid and unambiguous information on the socio-technical nature of the processes underlying sustainable digital library ecosystems. The results indicate that cross-disciplinary cooperation between librarians, faculty members, and technical staff (and other stakeholders) is important and determines the engagement of communities. Nonetheless, the intensity of direct impact of collaboration on sustainability shows the lack of significant one, and sustenance is not guaranteed by collaboration only. Instead, sustainability is achieved through joint efforts where the user community, especially students are actively engaged into activities of participation and interaction. The fact that community engagement is identified as a complete mediator makes it as central in the maintenance of digital library services. Engaged communities also lead to sustainability due to relevancy, increased trust, promotion of adaptive change and strengthening the long term academic value of digital libraries. Such results can support the view that digital libraries need to be understood as human-generated socio-technical systems where sustainability arises as a result of on-going communication between technological infrastructure and social engagements. This research has a number of important contributions. It in theory builds on the current literature of digital library and socio-technical systems by empirically validating a mediation mechanism, which can explain the impact of collaboration on sustainability. In practical terms, it provides some practical implications to institutions of higher learning regarding why community engagement should be entrenched in the digital library governance, design, and assessment systems. It is advised that policy makers and administrators should be at the forefront to promote participatory framework in which users will become co-creators other than the passive consumers of digital resources. The research has some limitations to it in spite of its contributions. The cross-sectional study limits the causal inference and future studies may use longitudinal, or mixed-method, to define the changes in engagement and sustainability with time. Moreover, it will be better to realize the extension of the investigation to different institutional and cultural degrees to improve the generalizability of the findings. To sum it all up, the research illustrates that sustainable digital libraries in higher education not only represent by-products of technical proficiency, inter-disciplinary liaisons but are essentially hewn out by the extent of meaningful community involvement. Through the introduction of community engagement into transdisciplinary collaboration, institutions will be able to create resilient, adaptive, and sustainable digital library ecosystems, which can sustainably support teaching, learning, and research in the long term.\u003c/p\u003e "},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003ch2\u003eEthics approval and consent to participate\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe study was carried out in accordance with the ethical principles of the Declaration of Helsinki, as well as ethical approval from the Research Ethical Consideration Committee (RECC), Manipal University. The research design involved an anonymous online questionnaire survey with voluntary participation. The respondents included faculty members and graduates of higher education who access digital libraries (aged 18 years and above). No personally identifiable information was collected, and participation was based on informed consent. The data have been used only in anonymised form, and any identifying details have been removed to ensure confidentiality.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eConsent for publication\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot applicable.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eCompeting interests\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe authors declare no competing interests.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eAuthor Contribution\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eP.M. and K.M. wrote the main manuscript text \u0026amp; the analysis\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eData Availability\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe datasets analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAkaike, H. (1974). A new look at the statistical model identification. \u003cem\u003eIEEE Transactions on Automatic Control\u003c/em\u003e, 19(6), 716-723. https://doi.org/10.1109/TAC.1974.1100705\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAnderson, J. 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Trends and themes in community engagement in higher education: A bibliometric analysis (1971-2023). \u003cem\u003eJournal of Applied Research in Higher Education\u003c/em\u003e, Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1108/JARHE-01-2025-0057\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"discover-education","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"diedu","sideBox":"Learn more about [Discover Education](https://www.springer.com/journal/44217)","snPcode":"44217","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/44217/3","title":"Discover Education","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Discover Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"sustainability, community engagement, digital library, higher education","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8630297/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8630297/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThe ever-changing digital library service can be considered as a burning issue of the institutions of higher learning as technological development is rapidly increasing, and end-users demands continue growing. At that, the current research questions the role of transdisciplinary collaboration in promoting the sustainability of the latter, suggesting that the community engagement serves as an intermediary construct. With the help of a structural equation modelling framework (SEM), the relationship between transdisciplinary collaboration, community engagement, and sustainability of digital libraries was investigated. The structural equation analysis showed that transdisciplinary collaboration had statistically significant positive effect on community engagement, but its immediate effect on digital library sustainability did not become significant. On the other hand, community involvement became a complete intermediary and this has defined a route through which transdisciplinary occupation connects with digital library sustainability. The findings suggest that interdepartmental cross-functional work makes sustainability majorly through encouraging active user engagement, incorporating feedback, and promoting interactive learning programs. Taken together, these results would add to the academic literature on the issues of digital library sustainability and higher-education and provide empirical support to the key role of community engagement to support digital library systems through collaborative governance. Practically, the implications that follow are institutional in nature, and thus imply designing user-friendly strategies coupled with interdepartmental collaboration to ensure the sustainability of digital library services and their effectiveness in the long-term.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Community Participation in Digital Libraries for Sustainable Transdisciplinary Higher Education","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-02-23 11:16:40","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8630297/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2026-03-24T16:10:18+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-03-22T13:45:00+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-03-22T08:55:24+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-03-20T20:48:59+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-03-18T17:50:57+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-03-16T08:40:34+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"311507579945954279213832246666006175838","date":"2026-03-13T08:56:30+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"241026078595917996239826264182350236525","date":"2026-03-13T05:39:16+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"20730548835503895555013609867271840526","date":"2026-03-11T08:22:02+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"236912157518100559515034498722130566301","date":"2026-03-11T02:37:56+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"232065312904646379332578334626785493034","date":"2026-03-10T22:03:31+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"317883375598286074571221871187049913407","date":"2026-03-05T12:51:04+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2026-02-17T07:23:33+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"","date":"2026-02-14T22:55:24+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2026-02-12T04:46:53+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2026-02-11T14:50:53+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Discover Education","date":"2026-02-11T14:31:43+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"discover-education","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"diedu","sideBox":"Learn more about [Discover Education](https://www.springer.com/journal/44217)","snPcode":"44217","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/44217/3","title":"Discover Education","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Discover Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"8beb9e17-62ba-422c-a712-7bfde102a18e","owner":[],"postedDate":"February 23rd, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-05-15T09:12:11+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-02-23 11:16:40","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8630297","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8630297","identity":"rs-8630297","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}