Usage of Sokoine University of Agriculture Institutional Repository among academic staff at the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Science in Tanzania

Abstract

Purpose -This study aims to investigate the use of Sokoine University of Agriculture Institutional Repository (SUAIR) among academic staff at the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Science (CVBMS). Specifically, the study looked at awareness of, attitude, self-archiving and challenges the academic staff face when using SUAIR.Design/methodology/approach -The study used survey method. The data were collected using selfadministered questionnaire with the results analysed using descriptive statistics.Findings -The study found that although there was more than one source of raising awareness on SUAIR, the university's library, the internet and meetings were the major sources. Majority of the respondents were not aware of how to deposit their scholarly output in the institutional repository. As a result, the majority of academic staff had never deposited their scholarly work in SUAIR. Generally, the respondents had a positive attitude towards using SUAIR. Apart from lack of skills and knowledge on how to deposit research outputs, the study established that lack of time, fear of plagiarism and lack of awareness of existence of the SUAIR were significant barriers to the effective utilisation of SUAIR.Originality/value -This is the first time such a study has been undertaken focussing on the use, awareness and attitude of SUAIR in Tanzania. As such, the study findings can be used to assess the attitude of academic staff at Sokoine University of Agriculture and other universities in Tanzania and Sub-Saharan Africa with similar operational characteristics.

Exploring academic staff engagement in depositing locally produced research content in open access institutional repositories in Tanzania

“…However, recent studies carried out at Annamalai University, Tamil Nadu, India, and in Nigeria report that despite efforts by universities to establish OAIRs, there were some academic staff who were not aware of the existence of OAIRs in their universities (Aghwotu and Ebiere, 2016; Dhanavandan and Tamizhchelvan, 2013). Despite the fact that some academic staff are aware of the presences of OAIRs in their universities, the amount of content deposited in OAIRs is low, especially in Tanzania (Chilimo, 2016; Mnzava and Chirwa, 2018; Samzugi, 2017). Therefore, this study was conducted to find out the level of awareness of the presence of OAIRs in universities and the process of self-archiving locally produced content in university OAIRs.…”

“…Most academic staff do not engage in self-archiving or give their academic work to be deposited in university OAIRs (Aghwotu and Ebiere, 2016; Dutta and Paul, 2014; Ezema and Okafor, 2015; Halder and Chandra, 2012; Omeluzor, 2014). Other studies have also found that there are several challenges with regard to depositing or self-archiving locally produced content in OAIRs, such as lack of awareness of the process, time limitations, lack of technical skills, an unstable network and electricity problems (Halder and Chandra, 2012; Mnzava and Chirwa, 2018; Omeluzor, 2014). Different studies have been carried out in Tanzania (Chilimo, 2016; Mnzava and Chirwa, 2018; Samzugi, 2017) but it is still not clear how academic staff engage in self-archiving, which drove the researchers to embark on this study.…”

“…However, the policies at the UDSM and MU require that only the abstract of an article be deposited in the OAIR. Despite the availability of OAIR policies at the universities in this study, the engagement of academic staff in depositing or self-archiving their locally produced content in OAIRs is low (Mnzava and Chirwa, 2018). Therefore, this study set out to investigate the extent to which academic staff are engaged in depositing or self-archiving their locally produced content in OAIRs in Tanzania.…”

Citation Impact of Institutional Repositories in Selected Higher Learning Institutions in Tanzania

“…Studies related to IRs in Tanzania have not addressed the impact of IRs. Nunda and Elia (2018) Samzugi (2017) and Muneja (2016) focused on the adoption and implementation of IRs; Mbughuni (2022), Mnzava and Chirwa (2018) studied the contents and usage of IRs; Kakai et al (2018), Kodua-Ntim and Fombad (2020) and Muneja and Ndenje-Sichalwe (2017)assessed the open access and copyright issues. Similar studies assessing the IR impact have been conducted in other countries; for instance, Ndhlovu (2021)evaluated the impact of IR contents in Zimbabwe, and Wheel et al (2022) assessed the impact of institutional repositories in the USA, Austria, Columbia, and Mexico.…”