Search results

The study aims to identify novel open-access institutional repository (OAIR) implementation barriers and explain how they evolve. It also aims to extend theoretical insights into the information technology (IT) implementation literature.

The study adopted the interpretive philosophy, the inductive research approach and qualitative case study research method. Three Nigerian universities served as the case research contexts. The unstructured in-depth interview and the participatory observation were adopted as the data collection instruments. The qualitative data collected were analysed using thematic data analysis technique.

Findings show that IR implementation barriers evolved from global, organisational and individual implementation levels in the research contexts. Results specifically reveal how easy access to ideas and information and easy movement of people across international boundaries constituted globalisation trend-driven OAIR implementation barriers given their influence on OAIR implementation activities at the organisational and individual implementation levels. The two factors led to overambitious craving for information technology (IT) implementation and inadequate OAIR implementation success factors at the organisational level in the research contexts. They also led to conflicting IR implementation ideas and information at the individual level in the research contexts.

The primary limitation of the research is the adoption of qualitative case study research method which makes its findings not generalisable. The study comprised only three Nigerian universities. However, the study provides plausible insights that explain how OAIR implementation barriers emanate at the organisational and individual levels due to two globalisation trends: easy access to ideas and information and easy movement of people across international boundaries.

The study points out the need for OAIR implementers to assess how easy access to information and ideas and easy movement of people across international boundaries influence the evolution of conflicting OAIR implementation ideas and information at the individual level, and overambitious craving for IT implementation and setting inadequate OAIR implementation success factors at the organisational level. The study extends views in past studies that propose that OAIR implementation barriers only emanate at organisational and individual levels, that is, only within universities involved in OAIR implementation and among individuals working in the universities.

The study argues that OAIR implementation consists of three implementation levels: individual, organisational and global. It provides stakeholders with the information that there is a third OAIR implementation level.

Data validity, sample validity and novel findings are the hallmarks of the study's originality. Study data consist of first-hand experiences and information derived during participatory observation and in-depth interviews with research participants. The participants were purposively selected, given their participation in OAIR implementation in the research contexts. Study findings on the connections among global, organisational and individual OAIR implementation levels and how their relationships lead to OAIR implementation barriers are novel.

The purpose of this research is to present a report on Nigerian universities' use of their web sites for collaboration.

Descriptive research methodology and content analysis technique were adopted in the research. The research was undertaken through an examination of the various university web site contents and web link structures. The study relied on the Google search engine as the source of its electronic data, while manual evaluation was used to carry out content analysis. Only Nigerian universities with 500 or more web pages were considered; 15 of the 92 universities met this criterion and were subsequently sampled.

The research revealed that Nigerian universities' web sites did not contain appropriate contents. Both non‐academic and academic contents expected to be found in university web sites were not available and, hence, made the expected inter‐university web links, electronic social networking and cooperation non‐existent. Consequently, only commercially‐based web sites had web link with the sampled web sites. The findings show that the required structure needed to support web collaboration among Nigerian universities has not been developed. Hence, further research to understand the existing structure required for electronic collaboration among Nigerian universities is needed.

Since the study was limited to only those university web sites that had 500 or more web pages, this meant that universities with fewer than 500 web pages, which nevertheless may have traces of social network and cooperation in their link structures, were automatically excluded.

The research provides information on the readiness of Nigerian universities to adopt web site technology for collaboration and solving the problem of resource sharing that they currently face. It has also laid the foundation for understanding Nigerian universities' web site use in relationship with three social capital dimensions: structural, contents, and relational.

The research provides web analysis information on Nigerian universities. Past experience has shown that research available on web analysis and characteristics of Nigerian universities is very limited and that none has been carried out on their web site use for e‐collaboration.

The purpose of this paper is to examine Nigerian academics' adoption of open access initiatives as authors and readers of scholarly resources. The study was necessitated by the growing need to have the number of Nigerian scholarly publications increased on the internet and accessible to scholars around the world through the use of open access initiatives.

Academics of two first generation Nigerian universities selected using convenient sampling technique were surveyed using the questionnaire to find out the extent of their awareness and use of open access initiatives as authors and readers of scholarly works. Two hundred and fifty questionnaire copies were distributed in the two universities out of which 189 copies were returned, while 180 copies were found to be useable for the study.

It was revealed that the respondents were aware of the pre‐print and open access journal initiatives than the post‐print initiative. In terms of the use of open access initiatives, although the study revealed insignificant use among the academics, academics in sciences showed more promise of adopting open access initiative as authors and readers of scholarly resources than their counterparts in the humanities.

Unlike studies that assessed specific subject based and institutional repositories that allowed for the search and extraction of depositors' names and characteristics, this particular study relied on respondents' responses as a source of their actual use of open access repositories.

This paper reveals that academics' perception and publishing culture, and not awareness, determines the extent of their use of open access initiatives in Nigeria.