AFRICAN INSTITUTIONAL REPOSITORIES AS CONTRIBUTORS TO GLOBAL INFORMATION: A SOUTH AFRICAN CASE STUDY

Mousaion ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 98-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brenda Van Wyk ◽  
Janneke Mostert
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Academic Libraries ◽  
Personal Experience ◽  
Research Output ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Institutional Repositories ◽  
Contingency Plans ◽  
In The Beginning ◽  
The University

Globally, institutional repositories (IRs) have become part of the services offered in academic libraries. This is, however, not yet the case in African academic libraries. In South Africa, the majority of academic libraries have embarked on digitising their research output. The aim of the study reported on in this article was to describe the IR of the University of Zululand (commonly known as Unizulu). A literature review, personal experience and observations were used to gather information for the study. It was found that although there were a number of challenges in the beginning stages, the project known as UZSpace was launched successfully. It was also found that due to the fact that the open access principle was embraced, and through the use of harvesters, the IR was heavily utilised especially during the first few months after going live – a trend that is still continuing. The article points out the challenges experienced; highlights the current status of the project; and shows the strengths and weaknesses of the project. Recommendations include that the IR management should form its own department under the auspices of the library; staff issues be resolved; and contingency plans be put in place for when a staff member leaves the project. The digitisation of the research materials should also be done in-house instead of being outsourced in order to save time and finances.

Institutional repositories in Africa: Regaining direction

2021 ◽  
pp. 026666692110154
Author(s):  
Usman Ahmed Adam ◽  
Kiran Kaur
Keyword(s):  
Open Access ◽  
Research Output ◽  
Current Status ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Institutional Repositories ◽  
Widespread Implementation ◽  
Typical Performance ◽  
The Status ◽  
Global Access ◽  
And Cluster Analysis

Institutional repositories are powerful tools to facilitate global access to intellectual output by members of the institution, particularly in assisting them to preserve and maximize access to their research output globally. This exploratory study of the status of institutional repositories implementation in African countries using the global Directory of Open Access Repositories (OpenDOAR) and Transparent Ranking: All Repositories by Google Scholar, reports on the operational status and the performance of repositories. Factor analysis and cluster analysis are used to analyze the operational level of institutional repositories in African countries. The analysis showed that the typical performance of institutional repositories remains below average. The possibility of global open access to research results through institutional repositories in South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Algeria, Sudan, and Egypt appeared to be relatively more feasible than other African countries. This study concludes that many organizations, institutions, and societies spend great efforts in support of open access implementation in Africa, however, the widespread implementation of institutional repositories is still very slow paced, and the performance of the implemented repositories was below expectation. Suggestions for regaining the intended direction of African institutional repositories are given based on the current status.

Which journal ranking list? A case study in business and economics

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rayana Jaafar ◽  
Vijay Pereira ◽  
Samer S. Saab ◽  
Abdul-Nasser El-Kassar
Keyword(s):  
Research Output ◽  
Citation Count ◽  
Google Scholar ◽  
Journal Ranking ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Journal Quality ◽  
Hard Time ◽  
Yearly Average ◽  
The University

PurposeWith over 3,000 academic journals in the fields of Business and Economics, most academics face a hard time selecting an adequate journal to submit their work to. In today's demanding academic environment and with the presence of different journal ranking lists (JRLs), the selection becomes more difficult when considering employment, promotion and funding. The purpose of this paper is to explore key differences among multiple JRLs pertinent to the latter common objectives. An extensive analysis is conducted to compare the content of journals in the Australian Business Deans Council (ABDC) Journal Quality list, Scopus and Web of Science (WoS) in the fields of Business and Economics. Then, a case of a university with medium research output is considered where scholarly performance evaluation is based on the ABDC Journal Quality List.Design/methodology/approachAfter ranking journals in the fields of Business and Economics based on SCImago Journal Rank (SJR) indicator, JCR's Journal Impact Factor (JIF) and JCR's Eigenfactor (EF), a methodology is proposed to categorize journals in the three JRLs into the same categorization adopted by ABDC. The latter establishes a way to compare the four JRLs under consideration and serves as a basis to compare and analyze the content of journals in the ABDC Journal Quality list, Scopus and WoS. As a proxy impact metric, a normalized citation count is associated with each article based on Google Scholar. The publications of the considered university are then evaluated from the perspective of the four JRLs in terms of citation-based impact and quality while considering the exposure to popular world university ranking tables.FindingsFor journals classified under fourth tier by ABDC, over 53 and 59% are not indexed by Scopus and WoS, respectively. In this case study, over 42% of the publications appear in journals that are not listed in JCR despite the fact that over 94% of them are listed by the SJR list. Generally, publications that appear in journals listed by JCR achieve, on a yearly average, significantly higher citation rates when compared to those that appear in journals listed in ABDC and SJR Lists.Originality/valueA four-tier mapping is proposed for consistent comparison among JRLs. Normalized citation count associated with each article based on Google Scholar is employed for evaluation. The findings provide recommendations for scholars, administrators and global universities, including Euro-Med Universities, on which JRL can be more influential for both faculty development and positioning of the university.

scholarly journals Kids in the Library

2021 ◽  
pp. 181-193
Author(s):  
Rachel W. Gammons ◽  
Karina Kletscher ◽  
Kelsey Elizabeth. Corlett-Rivera
Keyword(s):  
Academic Libraries ◽  
Family Study ◽  
Public Libraries ◽  
Daily Practice ◽  
Academic Librarians ◽  
University Of Maryland ◽  
Family Friendly ◽  
The University ◽  
Is Value

While children's services are traditionally associated with public libraries, the increase in students with dependent children means that academic libraries are increasingly being called to provide family-friendly spaces. Using the University of Maryland Libraries as a case study, the authors detail the process of developing, implementing, and overseeing family-friendly services, including a family study room and activity kits for children. They argue there is value in welcoming families into the academy and projects, such as a family study room, worthy not only for the contributions they make to the community but also for the opportunity to enact joy in our daily practice as academic librarians.

scholarly journals The knowledge and perceptions of history students of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
M Oelofse ◽  
A Oosthuysen
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Research Method ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Mixed Method Research ◽  
Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
The University

Using the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa (TRC) and the concept of reconciliation as a case study, the article attempts to assess the knowledge and understanding of the registered undergraduate history students at the University of the Free State’s main campus about the TRC and the concept and process of reconciliation in the country at large. The research will firstly assess whether the younger generation of students, specifically students taking history as a subject, have any knowledge of such a significant and contemporary event in South African historiography as the TRC process. Secondly, in relation to the aims and recommendations of the TRC and against the background of reconciliation efforts in the country, to perceive the views and thoughts of undergraduate history students on the progress in reconciliation endeavours in South Africa. As a result, a sample of 128 undergraduate history students was randomly selected to complete a quantitative questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of both closed and open-ended questions. Group interviews, as a qualitative research method, were added and used to conduct interviews with 16 undergraduate history students selected randomly and answers were recorded. Accordingly, an explanatory mixed- method research method approach was employed by implementing both the qualitative and quantitative method.

A conceptual model of Open Access Institutional Repository in Indonesia academic libraries

2015 ◽  
Vol 36 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 168-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ida Farida ◽  
Jann Hidajat Tjakraatmadja ◽  
Aries Firman ◽  
Sulistyo Basuki
Keyword(s):  
Open Access ◽  
Conceptual Model ◽  
Academic Libraries ◽  
Academic Library ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Institutional Repositories ◽  
Global Access ◽  
Knowledge Content ◽  
Collaboration Process ◽  
The University

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to attempt to build a conceptual model of Open Access Institutional Repositories (OAIR) in Indonesia academic libraries, viewed from knowledge management (KM) perspective. Design/methodology/approach – Literature-based conceptual analysis of previous studies related to open access, institutional repositories viewed from KM perpective. Findings – The conceptual model of OAIR emphasizes three variables – people collaboration, process, and technology functions. These variables, with their many elements, are integrated together in order to help the university or Higher Education (HE) institution in capturing its own scholarship produced as a whole. Besides, that integration aims at facilitating knowledge sharing so as to enrich knowledge content and to enhance global access. A process chart of OAIR based on the conceptual model is built to illustrate knowledge content recruitment in Indonesia academic libraries. Research limitations/implications – The conceptual model proposed in this paper is not yet formally tested. It needs more research to understand the Indonesian context of OAIR to build a more accurate model, based on the experiences in developing and implementing OAIR in Indonesia HE institutions. Originality/value – Many academic libraries in Indonesia develop OAIR to increase the visibility of the scholarship of the parent HE institution. It is significant to view the practice of OAIR in academic library from the KM perspective. KM implementation is almost unheard of in Indonesia universities. However, The OAIR phenomenon in Indonesia academic libraries can be viewed as a KM initiative.

scholarly journals The Nurse in the University: A History of University Education for South African Nurses: A Case Study of the University of the Witwatersrand

2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Simonne Horwitz
Keyword(s):  
Nursing Education ◽  
South African ◽  
Nursing Program ◽  
University Education ◽  
Medical Community ◽  
History Of ◽  
The University ◽  
University Training ◽  
First Time

This paper charts the history and debates surrounding the introduction of academic, university-based training of nurses in South Africa. This was a process that was drawn out over five decades, beginning in the late 1930s. For nurses, university training was an important part of a process of professionalization; however, for other members of the medical community, nursing was seen as being linked to women's service work. Using the case-study of the University of the Witwatersrand, one of South Africa's premier universities and the place in the country to offer a university-based nursing program, we argue that an historical understanding of the ways in which nursing education was integrated into the university system tells us a great deal about the professionalization of nursing. This paper also recognises, for the first time, the pioneers of this important process.

Comparison of content policies for institutional repositories in Australia

First Monday ◽  
2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur Sale
Keyword(s):  
Research Output ◽  
Research Articles ◽  
Short Paper ◽  
Institutional Repositories ◽  
International Data ◽  
The University ◽  
Australian Universities

Seven Australian universities have established institutional repositories (containing research articles, also known as eprints) that can be analyzed for content and which were in operation during 2004 and 2005. This short paper analyses their content and shows that a requirement to deposit research output into a repository coupled with effective author support policies works in Australia and delivers high levels of content. Voluntary deposit policies do not, regardless of any author support by the university. This is consistent with international data.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document