Abstract:
The study assessed the impact of institutional repositories in enhancing teaching, learning and research in academic institutions. In particular, this study assessed the impact of the institutional repository of the University for Development Studies (UDS), Tamale, on teaching, learning and research in the university. The objectives were to assess the level of institutional repository (IR) awareness among faculty members and graduate students and the level of contribution of depositors to the institutional repository. The study also assessed the role of institutional repositories in teaching, learning and in the research lifecycle of faculty members and students of academic institutions. The study further examined the challenges that confront both faculty members and students in the utilization of the IR of UDS. Some appropriate recommendations for policy interventions based on the findings of the study to improve on the utilization of the institutional repository of the University for Development Studies, Tamale were made by the study. The study made use of both qualitative and quantitative data. The total sample population was 988 made up of faculty members, graduate students and the managers of the institutional repository on the four campuses of the university. Questionnaires and interviews were used to collect the data for the study. The data obtained from the questionnaires was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 23 whilst the data from the interviews was analysed thematically. Data from the questionnaires were presented first followed by the data from the interviews. The major findings of the study reveal that there is high level of awareness amongst the faculty members and graduate students of the UDS. This high level of awareness has not yet translated into high deposits in the institutional repository, although the rate of submission is beginning to appreciate as compared to previous rates. Another major finding is that faculty members find it difficult to upload their documents themselves and have to rely on library staff to upload it for them. One other finding is that faculty members did not face challenges with copyright but were confronted with the fear of plagiarism. The lack of ICT infrastructure and lack of power generators were also some of the major findings of the study. It was recommended that training programmes are organised for faculty members to be able to do self-archiving. During such training programmes issues of plagiarism could be explained to the understanding of faculty members. There is, also the need for the university administration to install power generators on all the four campuses of the university. ICT connectivity and infrastructure should be improved by paying for more bandwidth and by providing more computers, scanners and printers
