Awareness and use of Open Access resources by researchers of the University of Zululand
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Date
2018
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University of Zululand
Abstract
This study set out to investigate whether researchers at the University of Zululand were aware of scholarly open access resources available to them. This involved determining the strategies put in place by the University to promote open access databases and resources and the extent to which the researchers had incorporated these resources into their research. The study also aimed to assess the barriers against and factors in favour of adoption and use open access resources at the University of Zululand.Open access resources are key to assisting institutions in strengthening their research and this study sought to investigate how the institution had progressed in doing this while acting as an awareness tool so that previously uninformed researchers could become knowledgeable about resources available to them. This research was underpinned by the pragmatic paradigm, to effectively carry out mixed method research.
This study was conducted within the natural setting of the research problem and was guided by case study design using a qualitative approach to collect data that helped to understand the population under study in depth. Data was collected directly from the target population by way of questionnaires and focus groups targeted at the researcher population and semi-structured interviews with the information librarians. The questionnaires were used in a survey to gather both qualitative data from open-ended questions and quantitative data from closed-ended questions and the focus group discussion points were not restrictive. This meant that both qualitative and quantitative data were collected concurrently thus saving time. The data from the information librarians was qualitative and assisted in getting a view from the staff tasked with bringing about awareness and promotion of these resources. The target populations for this study were researchers at the University of Zululand and information librarians. Included as researchers were postgraduate students of all faculties at the University of Zululand and academic staff. This brought the target population to 1515 (one thousand five hundred and fifteen) researchers and all four information librarians were targeted. It must be noted that the researcher number also includes some members of the academic staff who are studying part-time. The target population was stratified with the intention of getting respondents in proportion to their numbers at different academic levels and therefore achieve a measure of representivity in an effort to attain external validity. Stratified random sampling was employed across academic levels to sample respondents for participation in the questionnaire survey and the focus group discussions. This resulted in a total of one hundred and twenty-five (125) questionnaires being handed out. Of these, 96 were returned representing a response rate of 76.8%. The study held three focus group discussions with a total of fifteen (15) researchers participating. The study found that not all researchers are aware of the OA resources at their disposal. Of those who are aware, some are not always willing to make use of them or make their own work openly accessible. Researchers expressing awareness could not all be drawn to provide specific named examples of OA databases they use. This suggests a lack of thorough knowledge as to what OA is, while at the same time showcasing the challenges that come from the pressure to “publish or perish”, particularly in the Department of Higher Education and Training-approved journals. Challenges highlighted to using open access resources by researchers included poor or inadequate university ICT infrastructure and lack of adequate information literacy skills.
While the university is not idle, there is need for further awareness and training activities to take place for researchers to realize the maximum potential of the open access movement. This will assist in challenging the negative perceptions attached to OA and at the same time promote them to those who are not familiar with these resources.
Description
A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Arts in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master Of Arts in Library and Information Science in the Department of Library and Information Studies at the University Of Zululand, 2018
Keywords
awareness --open access --use --South Africa