University Academics’ Usage of Open Access Institutional Repositories

Abstract

The article explores the usage of Open Access Institutional Repositories in universities. The quantitative research approach and survey design were adopted, and simple random sampling and stratified sampling techniques were employed. A questionnaire was used as a research instrument to gather appropriate data for the study; descriptive and inferential statistics were used as statistical tools to analyze data. The study looked at the level of usage of Open Access Institutional Repositories, reasons for Open Access Institutional Repositories usage, and ways of enhancing usage of Open Access Institutional Repositories in universities. Although the level of Open Access Institutional Repositories usage was low, all the respondents were willing to use it (deposit in and download from Open Access Institutional Repositories). The article recommends strategies for the usage of Open Access Institutional Repositories in universities. This strategy consists of improvements in the user experience and user interfaces, archiving services, advocacy and marketing, Open Access Institutional Repositories policy, and automatic harvesting. Universities will be able to determine which factors affect the usage of such repositories in libraries and will be able to design strategies on how to sustain and manage them.