... A research project at the Victoria University of Wellington collected data from a large study of the implementation and use of IRs in New Zealand in 2008. The project addressed a number of research questions regarding the purpose and scope of the repositories being established by New Zealand tertiary institutions and their libraries. It also asked about the acceptability of the IR concept to the New Zealand academic community.
As a part of this project, a questionnaire was sent to academic staff at New Zealand universities and polytechnics exploring their attitudes towards the concept of IRs, as well as the motivators and barriers that might lead them to deposit their own material or use this resource in their research. The resulting data are drawn from responses of academic staff who could be expected to be active researchers, based on a random sample drawn from each of the eight universities and twelve of the larger polytechnics.
The main findings of this study were:
Awareness of the concept of institutional repositories was relatively high. A total of 345 (63.5%) respondents stated they were aware of the concept, with 198 answering no (3 non-responses). However, a smaller percentage was aware of their own institution’s repository; over 54% were unaware of the existence of a repository at their institution. In many cases, the No response did not correlate with the actual existence of an IR in the institution.
The chief reasons for depositing clearly reflected an altruistic intent in making work available. There was less support for the personal benefits resulting from this enhanced access to a researcher’s work in the form of increased recognition and reputation.
Concerns about copyright, while high, are not excessively high and concerns about plagiarism are lower than concerns about the time required to deposit items in a repository. The most significant barriers are still related to awareness of the repository and lack of encouragement to deposit. ...
Academics’ use of IRs in New Zealand is still fairly low. While 239 individuals (44.3%) reported the existence of an IR at their institution, only 131 (24%) have ever deposited in it ...
Posted by
Gavin Baker at 11/11/2009 04:26:00 PM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
