8-University Students’ Motives and Challenges in Utilising Institutional Repository Resources

University Students’ Motives and Challenges in Utilising Institutional Repository Resources
Authors: Suzan P. Massawe, Paul S. Muneja and Vincent T. Msonge

Abstract

One of the core functions of an academic institution is to generate knowledge, disseminate to the intended audiences and preserve it for future use. Academic institutions are now establishing Institutional Repositories (IRs) to collect produced resources to facilitate accessibility, dissemination, utilisation and management of intellectual materials that are produced within an institution. The purpose of this study was to assess postgraduate students’ motives for utilising IR resources and also the challenges they encounter when utilising IR resources at the University of Dar es Salaam. This study was conducted using a descriptive study design whereby it used both qualitative and quantitative research approaches. The population of this study comprised postgraduate students, librarians and ICT personnel from the University of Dar es Salaam. A sample of 102 respondents was drawn conveniently and purposively for this study. Data were collected through questionnaire, interview, as well as a review of documentary sources. Quantitative data were analysed through a Version 16 Statistics Package for Social Science (SPSS) and qualitative data were analysed using content analysis. The findings indicate that access to full-text documents, the relevance of IR resources and easy searching of the materials in the repository system motivate the utilisation of IR resources. However, several challenges impede the utilisation of these resources including unreliable internet access, inaccessibility of full-text and lack of guiding policy have been revealed as the major challenges toward utilisation of IRs resources. The study recommends training postgraduate students on the general use of IRs. Also, the University management should develop an IR policy that will guide the utilisation IR esources.

Keywords: Repository, Institutional Repository, scholarly resources    

Proceedings of  the 4th COTUL Scientific Conference, 7th-11th November, 2022