University Institutional Repository Research Articles

The current state of institutional repositories in universities of Türkiye: An applied research study

The purpose of this article is to analyze the current state of institutional repositories owned by Turkish universities, identify the challenges faced by librarians responsible for managing these repositories, and propose solutions to overcome these obstacles. A survey was distributed to 181 institutions in Türkiye. Responses were received from 80 institutions. The findings revealed the difficulties experienced by librarians working in institutional repositories and the areas where they need improvement. Researchers spend too much time uploading their publications, data entry is not mandatory in institutional repository policies, copyright/ownership issues, a lack of understanding of the importance of institutional repositories, legal infrastructure deficiencies, budget constraints, and a lack of technical support are among the main challenges faced by institutions. The first three areas that institutional repositories need are budget, support and attention from university administration and adequate and competent staff. Again, the study revealed that Council of Higher Education did not fulfill its duties and responsibilities regarding institutional repositories. As a result of the study, solutions specific to the problems and needs experienced by institutional repositories have been proposed. The study aims to bridge literature gaps on repository processes in Turkish university libraries, providing insights and practical solutions for enhancing institutional repository performance.

Analysis and Research on the Open Access Policy System of Institutional Repositories in Chinese and Foreign Universities

Analysis and Research on the Open Access Policy System of Institutional Repositories in Chinese and Foreign Universities

Measuring data rot: An analysis of the continued availability of shared data from a Single University.

To determine where data is shared and what data is no longer available, this study analyzed data shared by researchers at a single university. 2166 supplemental data links were harvested from the university's institutional repository and web scraped using R. All links that failed to scrape or could not be tested algorithmically were tested for availability by hand. Trends in data availability by link type, age of publication, and data source were examined for patterns. Results show that researchers shared data in hundreds of places. About two-thirds of links to shared data were in the form of URLs and one-third were DOIs, with several FTP links and links directly to files. A surprising 13.4% of shared URL links pointed to a website homepage rather than a specific record on a website. After testing, 5.4% the 2166 supplemental data links were found to be no longer available. DOIs were the type of shared link that was least likely to disappear with a 1.7% loss, with URL loss at 5.9% averaged over time. Links from older publications were more likely to be unavailable, with a data disappearance rate estimated at 2.6% per year, as well as links to data hosted on journal websites. The results support best practice guidance to share data in a data repository using a permanent identifier.

تحليل مقارن لخوارزميات التعلم الآلي لتصنيف مرض السكري باستخدام تحليل مصفوفة الارتباك

يستخدم العاملين في الرعاية الصحية التعلم الآلي أكثر فأكثر في السنوات الأخيرة لتعزيز نتائج المرضى وخفض التكاليف عليهم. بالإضافة إلى ذلك، تم تنفيذ التعلم الآلي في مجالات مختلفة، بما في ذلك تشخيص الأمراض، وتصنيف مخاطر المرضى، واقتراحات العلاج المخصصة، وتطوير الأدوية. يمكن لخوارزميات التعلم الآلي أن تفحص كميات هائلة من البيانات من السجلات الصحية الإلكترونية، والصور الطبية، ومصادر أخرى لتحديد الأنماط والتنبؤات، والتي يمكن أن تدعم المتخصصين في الرعاية الصحية والخبراء في اتخاذ قرارات مستنيرة، وتعزيز رعاية المرضى، وتحديد حالة المريض الصحية. في هذا الصدد، اختار المؤلف مقارنة أداء ثلاث خوارزميات (الانحدار اللوجستي ، Adaboost ، بايزالساذجة) من خلال معدل التصنيف الصحيح للتنبؤ بمرض السكري من أجل ضمان فعالية التشخيص الدقيق. تم الحصول على مجموعة البيانات المطبقة في هذا العمل من مستودع مؤسسي بجامعة فاندربيلت وهي بيانات متاحة للحميع. استنجتت الدراسة أن ثلاث خوارزميات فعالة للغاية في التنبؤ. بشكل أساسي، كان معدل تصنيف الانحدار اللوجستي و Adaboost أعلى من 92٪ ، وحققت خوارزمية بايز الساذجة معدل تصنيف أعلى من 90٪.

Ancient Indian Universities “Institutional Repository” to Create Global Visibility for Learning and Research – Review-Based Analysis

Purpose: Ancient higher education has excellent teaching and research. Takshila University has produced scholars such as Chanakya, author of the great book Arthashastra, Panini, a renowned Sanskrit scholar and grammarian, Charaka, the father of Indian medicine, Surgeon Jivaka Kumarabhattaa, Sharada Peetha Temple University has 5000 scholars like Kumarajiva Buddhist scholar, Thonmi Sambhota and Library, Pushapagiri University, Kanthalloor Sabha in Kerala, and Ujjaini University Alumni Brahmgupa and Bhaskar II. Dipankar Sri-Jnana, a prominent Vikramasila scholar, released over 200 volumes, while Mithila, a centre of Brahminical culture, produced intellectuals like Jagaddhara, who created writings such as Gita and Gita Govinda. These are the world's oldest institutions; no Institutional Repositories were discovered during the Vedic period, but the Buddhist period gave rise to Institutional Repositories, which house collections of books on various subjects. Scholars and students rely on institutional repositories. Takshashila University students come from all across Aryavrat, as well as from places like Greece, Arabia, Japan, Indonesia, Mongolia, and China. Nalanda University specializes in Buddhist education, but it also offers other courses. It contains a massive Institutional Repository of manuscripts from many curricula and Sanskrit texts totalling 5,00,000 shlokas. During the fifteenth century, Tibetan scholar Taranatha wrote about the nine-story library of Nalanda University with 9 million manuscripts and the Saraswati Mahal manuscript library of Tanjore in his travelogues about the Nalanda institutional repository namely Ratnasagara, Ratnodadhi, and Ratnaranjaka located in a complex called 'Dharmaganja'. The University Institutional Repository provides services to its members and community to threaten the institution's visibility, standing, and public ideals. Design/ Methodology/Approach: This is a literature-based paper that investigates ancient university research academics' contributions to Institutional Repositories established around the world to create visibility. Findings and Results: Ancient University Institutional Repositories are the house of millions of manuscripts, Sanskrit text, and its slokas contributed by alumni of the university and Scholars. Originality/Value/Novelty: The article's case study and literature studies disclose the Ancient University Repository and researchers' and teachers' contributions to the repository. Type of Paper: Literature Review.

Development Analysis of Institutional Repository Website In the West Nusa Tenggara: Webometrics Study

The global proliferation of institutional repositories has garnered significant attention, particularly from research-intensive institutions. This trend is crucial for effectively storing, disseminating, and providing access to copious research and scientific output, benefiting both the academic community and society. In Indonesia's research history, repositories have been extensively explored, with a focus on comprehensive research across the country's repositories. This study specifically analyzes institutional repositories in eight West Nusa Tenggara universities. Its objective is a quantitative depiction of higher education institutional repositories in West Nusa Tenggara, utilizing webometrics indicators. This descriptive quantitative research employs a webometrics study with data collected through observation and documentation. The analysis relies on webometrics indicators: Size (S), Visibility (V), Rich File (R), Scholar (Sc), and Weighting. The study showed that Mataram University's institutional repository secured the top webometrics ranking, excelling in Size (S), Visibility (V), and Scholar (Sc). Muhammadiyah University of Mataram follows, securing second place, while Mataram State Islamic University (UIN) claims third. Gunung Rinjani University's institutional repository in East Lombok ranks last among the eight repositories analyzed.

Self-archiving of Scholarly Publications for improved access to local content in Tanzania: A study of Open Access Institutional Repositories in Universities in Tanzania

This study sought to investigate how the self-archiving of scholarly publications in Open Access Institutional Repositories can be strengthened for improved access to local content. Specifically, the study sought to investigate factors that influence self-archiving of scholarly publications in OAIRs, examine the implementation of OAIRs policies on self-archiving of scholarly publications in OAIRs and determine challenges that hinder self-archiving of scholarly publications in OAIRs. The population of the study consisted of 2894 faculty members and 413 sample size, obtained through a systematic random sampling technique. Data were collected using questionnaires and interviews with eight key informants. Key findings indicated that there are factors that influenced self-archiving of scholarly publications in OAIRs among faculty members such motivating factors, availability of technical support, supervisors/peers/colleagues and supporting services. Moreover, the study found challenges that hindered self-archiving as low level of awareness and inadequate advocacy for a self-archiving, lack of personal benefit such as rewards and promotions, fear of the plagiarism, lack of enough facilities like ICT and internet connectivity. The study also found that there was a need to implement OAIR policies in self-archiving of scholarly publications in the OAIRs. In order to strengthen self-archiving, the study recommends providing support services, technical supports, encouraging supervisors/peers/colleagues, creating awareness, providing personal benefits, provide education and give more time, effort and implement OAIR policies to enhance the process of self-archiving scholarly publications in OAIRs. The findings of this study shall contribute new knowledge to the existing research outputs that have been conducted in this field.

Expanding your institutional repository: Librarians working with faculty

Since a successful institutional repository will contain a higher percentage of the contributors' materials, we implemented a system to upload faculty publications more effectively to our academic library's institutional repository. This article acts as an explanation of that system, in the hopes that other scholars or libraries can implement similar systems to increase the popularity of their own institutional repositories. Our method enables a maximum level of materials inputted with minimal required effort from faculty or scholars. We utilize student workers and the resources of the institutional repository manager to get materials uploaded. The success of this method is indicated by the increase in articles that have been uploaded to our institutional repository; as a result of the implementation of this program, the number of publications in our university's institutional repository by these authors has increased 174 %.

Content recruiting: Obstacle to institutional repository development in university libraries in Nigeria and South Africa

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to bring to light the obstacles to collecting contents from faculty members in universities in Nigeria and South Africa. Design/methodology/approach: The study adopted a survey research design. OpenDOAR database search, online questionnaire, and IRs investigation methods were used to collect data from 41 institutional repositories in universities in Nigeria and South Africa. Findings: The study found that the most popular content submitted to IRs in Nigeria and South Africa are electronic theses and dissertations, journal articles, special items (Africana collections, images, artifacts, paintings), conference and workshop papers, and research and technical reports. The comparison of institutional repository development between the two countries revealed that, South Africa is far ahead of Nigeria in terms of institutional repository development using contents emanating from the universities. South Africa is a leading African country in terms of Open Access (OA) policies and South Africa embraced open access movement earlier than Nigeria. The study identified some factors such as: lack of awareness of the existence of institutional repositories by faculty members; lack of mandatory self-archiving policy by institutions or funding bodies; considering copyright and intellectual property issues; some faculty members are skeptical on the principle of open access; some faculty members are not interested in IR; some faculty members believe it is too risky to submit their research work to IR; lack of technical skills for some faculty members to self-archive as obstacles which are peculiar to collecting contents from various contributors in both counties. Research Implication: The findings will inform University Librarians, University management and policy makers on possible ways to overcome the obstacles to recruiting content to IRs. Originality/value: The study reported on the obstacles of recruiting content from faculty members in universities in Nigeria and South Africa and the findings will inform stakeholders by designing strategies to overcome such obstacles and populate the IRs with different contents.

University Institutional Repositories: an analytical study of the ten best university Repositories

The research aimed to study and analyze the best global University institutional repositories, which were selected by the search engines and the Spanish website Metrix. A descriptive approach has been used to carry out the research (survey) and a deliberate sample has been taken (ten university repositories) from a community of 500 repositories mentioned in the directory of free access repositories (open Dora), in terms of content, types of digital content management systems, number of recordings, language used and methods of storage and retrieval. The study found that 70% of university institutional repositories used the open source Dspace system. Press articles have been ranked first with a percentage of 100%, while theses came in second rank with regard to the substantive content of the repositories. Moreover, it is found that the position of the repository does not depend on the number of existing recordings as much as it depends on the quality, usage and the links of these recordings.

Institutional repositories (IRs) in universities of Pakistan: Issues and emergent framework for remedies

This paper assesses the issues affecting the development of institutional repositories (IRs) in Pakistan along with presentation of an emergent framework for the development of IRs. The contribution is based on a sequential mixed methods research approach. In first phase the study opted a cross sectional survey with a structured questionnaire followed by a focus group of university librarians in 2nd phase to collect qualitative data on the phenomenon. The study found that IRs was a developing phenomenon at an infancy and did not emerge as a mandatory component of campus infrastructure in universities of Pakistan. Issues of awareness, willingness, motivation, administrative support, skills, finances, and collaboration were identified as major challenges affecting the development of IRs. The study proposed a framework for the development of IRs. The findings of the study have theoretical implications for researchers and practical implications for higher education policy makers, publishers, university administrators, and library administrators. The study may be generalized to other countries with similar economic and social context.

University Academics’ Usage of Open Access Institutional Repositories

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.

Infectious and Non-infectious Factors Affecting Somatic Cell Count and New Diagnostic Approaches of Intramammary Infections in Dairy Goats: A Review

Background: Intramammary infections constitute major animal health and economic problem in commercial dairy goat farms, being responsible for decreases in milk yield, alter milk composition, and lower milk quality. Objectives: This paper reviews the published literature during the last three decades, highlighting the multiplicity of non-infectious and infectious factors that influence somatic cell count (SCC). Besides that, it intends to contribute to understanding the conventional diagnostic methods and their limitations, and supports the implementation of new technologies for efficient mastitis control, including the use of infrared thermography and ultrasonography. Methods: A search on Medline, ScienceDirect, and University Institutional Repositories databases was performed using “goats, AND mastitis OR intramammary infections OR somatic cells count” for publications from 1990 to present (2020). Results: A total of 144 publications were selected. The SCC is the most important criteria to evaluate the inflammatory status of the mammary glands in goats, but several non-infectious factors (e.g., phenotypic, reproductive, lactational factors) should be taken into consideration for its interpretation. Bacteria and fungi as well as lentivirus are commonly responsive for intramammary infections. Intermittent secretion or environmental contamination of milk pathogens, costs, and time delay poses challenges using conventional diagnostic methods. Ultrasonographic and thermographic techniques applied to the udder seem to be of diagnostic value in acute and chronic mastitis. Conclusions: Unlike other ruminants species, non-infectious factors have a major impact on SCC which should be taken in account for mastitis diagnosis, and according to milk pathogens detection. Further research in imagological techniques is needed to accurately contribute to implant new mastitis control strategies.

What’s in the Box? Assessing the potential usability of four decades of thesis and dissertation supplementary files

<p id="x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-docs-internal-guid-31d15d2e-1c4e-6e32-8ece-45a336f6f2a4"><strong>Objectives</strong>: The objective of this study is to evaluate the quality and usability of supplementary data files deposited, between 1971 and 2015, to our university institutional repository. Understanding the extent to which content historically deposited in digital repositories is usable by today’s researchers can help inform digital preservation and documentation practices for researchers today. <strong>Methods</strong>: I identified all graduate level theses and dissertations (GTDs) in the institutional repository with multiple files as a first pass at identifying documents that included supplementary data files. These GTDs were then individually examined, removing supplementary files that were artifacts of either the upload or digitization process. The remaining “true” supplementary files were then individually opened and evaluated following elements of the DATA rubric of Van Tuyl and Whitmire (2016). <strong>Results</strong>: Supplementary files were discovered in the repository dating back to 1971 in 116 GTD submissions totalling more than 25,000 files. Most GTD submissions included fewer than 30 files, though some submissions included thousands of individual data files. The most common file types submitted include imagery, tabular data, and databases, with a very large number of unknown file types. Overall, levels of documentation were poor while actionability of datasets was generally middling. <strong>Conclusions</strong>: The results presented in this study suggest that legacy data submitted to our institutional repository with GTDs is generally in poor shape with respect to Transparency and somewhat less so for Actionability. It is clear from this study and others that researchers have a long road ahead when it comes to sharing data in a way that makes it potentially useable by other researchers.

Open access institutional repositories in universities in East Africa

PurposeGiven that repositories were proposed as one of the routes to open access (OA), this study sought to establish the achievements universities in East Africa had attained in initiating institutional repositories (IRs), the challenges in providing OA and strategies for the way forward.Design/methodology/approachData were collected through literature searches, using the internet, journal databases and university websites in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda for information about OA and IRs in East Africa. Some of the findings were based on the author’s PhD “The management and accessibility of OA IRs in selected universities in East Africa”, which used face-to-face interviews with six librarians and self-administered questionnaires responded to by 183 researchers at Kenyatta University, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences and Makerere University.FindingsUniversities in East Africa were still in the intermediate stages of embracing OA, and only 40 libraries out of 145 universities had implemented IRs. However, most of the repositories had less than 1,000 items, with this challenge attributed to the absence of institutional and government/funder mandates that affected the collection/provision of OA, in addition to the lack of awareness of IRs among researchers.Originality/valueThe value in this research was establishing the extent of IR initiatives in universities in East Africa and their contribution to OA, which is regarded as more visible and accessible to scholars and government personnel who could leverage the information for further development in the region.

The impact of electronic theses and dissertations: a study of the institutional repository of a university in South Africa

This paper investigates the academic and societal impacts of the engineering electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) at the North-West University. The citation counts obtained through Google Scholar (GS) and the altmetrics data obtained from Dspace on the North-West University institutional repository are used to determine these impacts. Further, the conversion rates of ETDs from an educational output into an academic research output are determined using data from GS and the North-West University institutional repository. The results show that the 612 theses and dissertations attracted 931 citations which translates to 1.52 citations per thesis on average. A total of 41.2% theses and dissertations received at least one citation and the conversion rate into academic research output was 16.8%. The conversion rates in the last 3 years that are part of this research is 27.3% which suggests an improvement. An average of 323 PDF views were received per thesis. The citation and PDF views data show that the Engineering ETDs have commendable academic and societal impacts. Nonetheless, the academic impacts show scant correlation with the societal impacts although some positive trends are noticeable when looking at the origin of PDF views and citations by country.

Tendências e perspectivas de pesquisa sobre repositórios digitais no Brasil: uma análise de Rede Sociais (ARS)

O objetivo geral desta pesquisa é mapear a rede de coautoria científica de pesquisadores brasileiros que publicaram sobre a temática dos repositórios digitais, além de, identificar os atores com maior índice de centralidade na democratização do conhecimento sobre o tema nas instituições de ensino e pesquisa no Brasil. Para a presente investigação empregou-se o Método Relacional de Análise Informacional (MRAI) que parte das seguintes dimensões: quantitativas - as técnicas bibliométricas e medidas de análise de redes sociais (ARS) e qualitativas - categorias analíticas da teoria social de Pierre Bourdieu e de seus conceitos como campo científico e capital social. Para a análise dos dados, fez-se uso do software UCINET 5.0 e para os gráficos, utilizou-se também o VOSviewer. Os resultados evidenciam a maior incidência dos pesquisadores que atuam na Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais com alto índice de citações e centralidade de grau na área, seguidos dos que estão vinculados a Universidade Federal de São Carlos e a Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz). Por fim, recomenda-se a popularização dos repositórios institucionais nas universidades e institutos de pesquisa pela formação de elos entre atores centrais a fim de promover a democratização do acesso aberto a informação científica no Brasil.

Institutional Repositories in Universities in Nigeria

The desire of academic institutions to link up to the virtual repository is a global phenomenon. Traditional scholarly publication through established journals characterized by peer review is being challenged by less formal net-based communication that links scholars essentially instantaneously. The contention is that universities need to preserve the benefits of the old system, in which the review process provides cohesion to a given field, while taking advantage of the speed and ease of access promised by the new media. This paper explores the Nigerian situation as it pertains to universities. The paper is basically descriptive and relies mostly on empirical evidences. It was revealed that because of the opportunities created by this new innovation, there is a burning and widespread desire to latch on this opportunity to increase the visibility of their intellectual output and productivity in the universities. The universities also face challenges in this respect which includes poor technology infrastructure, inadequate funding and lack of awareness amongst others. It is believed that if progress made so far is sustained with improvements on challenges the development, management and deployment of IRs will record tremendous success in universities in Nigeria.

Academics’ Attitudes toward the Utilization of Institutional Repositories in Nigerian Universities

This study was carried out to ascertain the attitudes of academics concerning the utilization of institutional repositories (IRs) in Nigerian universities. The study took the form of a descriptive survey, gathering data from the five Nigerian universities with IRs. The result showed that the universities developed IRs to create a forum for their research, to collaborate with colleagues, and for long-term preservation. Academics have positive attitudes toward the utilization of IRs, and they willingly submit their publications. They believe that publishing works on institutional repositories will improve accessibility to scholarly literature and increase the citation impact of their work. The implication of this study is that academics’ support of institutional repositories favors the growth of IRs in Nigeria. Their contributions and observations will have a considerable impact on the improvement of IRs generally.

Collaborate to Innovate: Expanding Access to Faculty Patents through the Institutional Repository and the Library Catalog

This work explores the use of Clemson University's institutional repository and library catalog in promoting and providing access to the patents granted to its inventors. More specifically, the authors outline the project from generating metadata for patents and crosswalking it into a form that can be batch-uploaded to a bepress Digital Commons repository. They then explore the process of harvesting the records from the repository and using MarcEdit to crosswalk it into the library catalog. The process could easily be adapted to other nontraditional forms of scholarship.