Awareness, knowledge and attitude of lecturers towards institutional repositories in university libraries in Nigeria

Content recruitment is a very crucial aspect of institutional repository (IR), and yet, a major challenge in the implementation of an IR system. Literature highlighted the numerous issues associated with IR implementation in the Sub-Saharan Africa, including Nigeria, and the necessity to review and tackle the divergent challenges of institutional repositories. This study aims to address the issues of awareness, knowledge and attitude of lecturers towards institutional repositories in university libraries in Nigeria.

The study adopted the descriptive survey research design. A multistage sampling procedure was used to sample 751 lecturers of the universities in Nigeria and eight heads of the digitization section of the libraries. Data generated were analyzed using descriptive statistics.

The findings revealed that majority of the lecturers in Nigeria are either unfamiliar with the term IR or have very little level of knowledge on the aims and objectives of IR, and therefore have low disposition to submitting their work. The study identified various options to resolve the problem of awareness, knowledge and pessimistic attitude of lecturers towards IRs, including massive awareness and enlightenment programmes on the subject of IR and on copyright issues within the university communities in Nigeria.

The study will enhance the awareness and advocacy of IR in Nigeria. The awareness and knowledge of IR will bring about positive attitudinal change of lecturers towards investing into IRs.