Aijrhass15 505

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American International Journal of Research in Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences

Available online at http://www.iasir.net

ISSN (Print): 2328-3734, ISSN (Online): 2328-3696, ISSN (CD-ROM): 2328-3688 AIJRHASS is a refereed, indexed, peer-reviewed, multidisciplinary and open access journal published by International Association of Scientific Innovation and Research (IASIR), USA (An Association Unifying the Sciences, Engineering, and Applied Research)

Adoption of Open Access Initiative by Lecturers for Teaching and Research in Ahmadu Bello University Zaria Lawal Ameenat Olanike, Ibikunle Gladys Omolola Kashim Ibrahim Library Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Nigeria Abstract: The research was conducted to examine the “Adoption of Open Access Initiative for Teaching and Research in Ahmadu Bello University Zaria. Literatures have been reviewed based on the objectives of the study. The findings of the study would improve on the adoption of open access initiatives for teaching and research by lecturers in the university at large. The study used survey research design, the population of the study consist of 1,905 lecturers from the 12 (Twelve) faculties of the university. 10% of the population were used as sample size which is 189 and the response rate was 156 (82.5%). Questionnaire was used to collect data. The data collected have been analyzed through the descriptive statistics using frequency tables and percentages. The study revealed that lecturers are familiar with the open access initiative which comprises of the open access institutional repositories and open access journals. The main recommendation made is that the university should harness the awareness of open access initiative by enlightening lecturers on the adoption of open access initiative through bulleting, conferences, seminars and workshops. I Introduction Berlin Declaration of Open Access (2003) defines open access as a mode of scholarly work which grants to all users free, worldwide right of access to and a license to copy, use, distribute and display the work publicly for any responsible purpose subject to proper attribution of authorship. This scholarly communication is achieved through two main channels which is the open access journal and the institutional repository. Ogbomo (2012) viewed institutional repository to be a type of digital library established by an institution populated by the staff, researchers, students and other members of the institution and to be consulted by both members of the university and outside world which could include print articles, conferences, committee papers, thesis and dissertations. Open access journal are peer reviewed journals made available free of charge to the public through the internet (Hiwarde and Rajlaksmi, 2006). Open access journals allows scientific research go beyond the natural and professional barriers and provides opportunity for scientific communication to improve their citation impact and enhance their readability for further growth and development in science and technology (Sarakadam, 2012). II. Implication of Open Access for Teaching and Research Teaching and research are the fundamental part of any university. Lecturers are the fore runners of any institution because they teach scholars and engage in research in one way or the other. Open access will help academics have access to current and relevant studies. Through the open access lecturers can build on other previously conducted research studies. Lecturers create, share and allow their teaching resources not only to be used but able to be amended, improved and transformed (Ayangwe, 2014). III. Statement of the Problem The universities and higher institution of learning are engaged in research to facilitate speedy development. The Nigeria is one of the most populated country in Africa with about 138 universities both federal, state and private in which they are involved in research and publishing. Online publication of Nigerian journals are low. The Federal government of Nigeria has made telecommunication equipment services available. Access to scholarly journals are usually on a high cost both in print and electronic (Okoye and Ejikeme, 2010).The adoption of open access is a controversial issue where most scholars have disagreed that majority of lecturers are yet to adopt this. The Ahmadu Bello University held an international workshop in 2008 to encourage the use of open access repositories which makes the endorsement of journals, dissertations and conference proceedings in the library and information science sector in Nigeria (Okojie, 2008) Suber (2004) opined that the wide spread of ignorance among lecturers may restrict the adoption of open access as well as connectivity, government may also want to limit what users can see and censorship barriers. It is against this background that the study is conducted.

AIJRHASS 15-505; Š 2015, AIJRHASS All Rights Reserved

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