Faculty members’ perceptions towards institutional repository at a medium-sized university

Abstract

Purpose – The study aimed to investigate the perceptions of faculty members at a medium-sized university towards self-archiving and participation in institutional repositories (IRs). Design/methodology/approach – The research participants were from a medium-sized university. An online survey was distributed and a total of 217 responses were received which yielded a 40 per cent overall response rate. Faculty perceptions of the IR were measured through nine dimensions, the results of which were later summarised using principal component factor analysis. Findings – Faculty members’ perception of IRs and willingness to contribute to the IRs were closely associated with scholarly productivity rather than prior knowledge of and experience with IRs. Those who possessed scholarly materials were significantly more likely to have a positive perception of IRs and, therefore, were more likely to contribute to IRs than those who did not. Seniority in faculty rank contributed negatively to faculty members’ perception of the repository. Research limitations/implications – The study used a non-probability sampling technique to collect data about the faculty’s perception of IRs at a single institution of higher education. Variables for faculty background were limited to rank and academic discipline. Originality/value – In three ways: First, the study contributed to research on faculty perception of IRs in academia and approached the issue from the perspective of a teaching-oriented institution. Second, the relationship between faculty's willingness to participate in and their perception of IRs was measured. Third, a binary logistic regression model was used to estimate factors that influence faculty's perception of the institution's IRs.

Faculty Perceptions towards Institutional Repository at Cochin University of Science and Technology India a Case Study

“…As per the observation of Kim 14, younger professors, and professors who have good technical skills, tended to self-archive in a higher proportion than others. This finding is similar to the result of Ogus and Assefa 15 , who found that seniority in faculty rank and faculty members 'perception of the repository is inversely proportionate. The author noted that scholarly productivity played a significant role in faculty members' perception and willingness to contribute rather than prior knowledge and experience of IRs.…”

Open Access Awareness and Perceptions in an Institutional Landscape

“…However, these results are consistent with most of those reviewed in the literature, which show that maturity and academic status are associated with greater participation in open access (Eger et al, 2015;Kim, 2011;Lwoga & Questier, 2015). Only one of the articles studied, belonging to a university in Ghana, indicated that older researchers were less involved in the repository because they consider it to be of poorer quality (Oguz & Assefa, 2014). Researchers normally see a conflict between the institutional open access mandate and pressure to publish in journals with a high impact factor.…”

Considering Creative Activity in Institutional Repositories: An Exploration of Faculty Perceptions

“…One European study found that "authors from the social sciences, humanities, and arts were more likely to be unsure about the meaning of open access" (Creaser et al, 2010, p. 152). Another study at a medium-sized university in the United States found that those in the humanities had a negative perception of IRs, but that an awareness and prior experience with repositories were not factors that influenced their overall perception (Oguz & Assefa, 2014). Other researchers have explored concerns from faculty in many disciplines regarding IRs that can be a barrier to depositing their work.…”