MOTIVATION OF LIBRARIANS ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF INSTITUTIONAL REPOSITORIES: THE CASE OF FEDERAL UNIVERSITIES IN NORTH-EAST, NIGERIA | Abubakar | The Catalyst Journal of Library and Information Literacy - CJLIL

Abstract:  The objective of the study was to explore the factors motivating librarians for the development of Institutional Repositories (IRs): The Case of Federal Universities in North East Nigeria, the study adopted quantitative approach using cross sectional survey design. The population of the study was made up of one hundred and forty (140) librarians in the seven (7) university libraries of federal universities in the North East, Nigeria. Using census sampling technique, the entire population was used employed as the sample size. A self-developed was used to collect data from the study. The questionnaire was tested for validity to ensure that what was asked was based on the link between the questions and the aim of the study. The instrument was pretested and obtained the cronbach’s alpha value of 0.711 to 0.843.  A total of 140 copies of questionnaire were administered to the respondents, out of which 98(70.0%) copies were duly completed, retrieved, and found usable for the analysis. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data collected. Findings of this study revealed that by creating awareness about the existence of institutional repositories, creation of policy for mandatory self-archiving by the university, provision of adequate funding, training and retraining of staff to acquire skills on institutional repositories, provision of adequate infrastructure, creation of awareness on copyright and intellectual property issues and up to-date ICT facilities, universities would overcome the identified challenges associated with the development of institutional repositories in the university libraries in the North East Zone, Nigeria. The study further revealed that lack of awareness about the existence of institutional repositories; copyright and intellectual property issues were major challenges; moreover inadequate funding, poor state of ICT infrastructure, and lack of skills for institutional repositories were among the challenges associated with the development of institutional repositories in the libraries understudy. The study then recommended for more awareness to scholars on the best practices to self-archive their articles and other works legally protected without infringing copyright laws to promote awareness, usage and adoption of institutional repositories. This study further recommended that universities should formulate comprehensive policies to govern development of their IRs. The university libraries understudy should put effort into adding more computers in the libraries among others and training their staff on institutional repositories.