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Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze the level of awareness and usage of open source digital repository software (DRS). The paper also studies the factors, which influence the level of awareness and usage of different open source DRS by academic librarians in India. Design/methodology/approach: The study administered an online questionnaire to academic librarians in India to know their level of awareness and usage of open source DRS. The questionnaire aimed to gather the awareness and usage of open source DSR. In total, 374 complete responses were collected from academic librarians in India and the collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Moreover, Fishers' exact test was used to identify whether factors i.e. qualification and participation in workshop/seminar influence the level of awareness and usage of open source DRS. Findings: The results of the study reveal that the level of awareness and usage of open source DRS, namely, DSpace (Mean = 2.92, SD = 0.906) and Greenstone digital library software (GSDL) (Mean = 2.18, SD = 0.699) are high amongst the academic librarians in India. In total, 33.4%, 11.5% of the participants are using DSpace and GSDL, respectively, on regular basis. Fishers' exact test shows that factor(s) i.e. qualifications and participation in workshop/seminar affect the level of awareness and usage of open source DRS. The results show that there exits strong relation between participation in workshop/seminar and awareness and usage of DSpace (Fishers' exact test = 13.473, p < 0.05). Originality/value: This paper is the new type of study exploring level of awareness and usage of open source DRS by academic librarians in India. It identifies the factors that affect the awareness and usage of open source DRS. It is the first study to analyze the statistical significance between Indian librarians' participation in workshop/seminar and their level of awareness and usage of different open source DRS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of the study is to know the various factors librarians consider while selecting Open Access (OA) journal for publication and to identify the challenges librarians face with OA journal publishing.Design/methodology/approach Online questionnaire was designed to collect data from 402 academic librarians in 87 universities in Africa using SurveyMonkey software.Findings The study found that academic librarians are aware of the “green” and “gold” routes but not familiar with the “diamond” route. The study revealed that a large number of the academic librarians have published only one paper in OA journals, followed by those who have not published any paper in OA journals. The study also revealed that reputation of journal and impact factor of journal were seen as very important among the factors that inform them of choosing OA. The majority of the respondents agreed that author fees, and lack of stable internet connectivity are the major barriers to publishing in OA journals.Practical implications The study recommends that academic libraries in institutions of higher learning in Africa should organize seminars periodically on the need for their librarians to research and publish in OA journals.Social implications Identifying factors involved in author decisions to publish in OA journals will help illuminate issues that may encourage or discourage author support of OA publishing models. Further understanding of these issues can assist the efforts to improve author perceptions of and confidence in OA publications.Originality/value It is believed that this study of African librarians publishing in OA journals is the first study in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report on a research project aimed at gaining an understanding of subject librarians' perceptions and promotion of institutional repositories as an information resource for their clients. Design/methodology/approach – The researchers used the five attributes of innovations and the change agent concept, both drawn from Rogers' diffusion of innovations theory, as the basis of semi-structured interviews with nine librarians, spread equally across the humanities, social sciences, and sciences at three universities. Findings – The researchers found that subject librarians have varying levels of knowledge about institutional repositories as an information resource and hold both positive and negative perceptions. The librarians perceived institutional repositories to be still underdeveloped, with greatest value for humanities clients and least value for science clients, offering little value to undergraduates, but a good resource for accessing theses. Research limitations/implications – Due to their current perceptions of the value of institutional repositories, subject librarians are not yet promoting them as an information resource. If institutional repositories are to be successful, library managers must not only ensure that content is being input into the repositories, but also that they are being promoted to library clients as valuable information resources, so that the content is being accessed and used. Originality/value – While there has been much research in recent years about institutional repositories, the focus has been predominantly on issues related to motivating individuals to input content into them. This research shows that institutional repositories are not yet being perceived or promoted as a valuable information resource by academic subject librarians, who view them as having varying value to their clients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss the University of South Carolina's Digital Activities Department's history and development. Design/methodology/approach – This article recounts the development of the Digital Activities Department and examines local policies and procedures. In addition, the article discusses the fundamental issues of choosing a digital repository, creating metadata, and scanning images. The authors take a practical, in-depth approach in discussing their experiences. Findings – After just a few years, the Library has launched the department and successfully provided online access to a growing number of digital collections. Collaboration has been the key element in the department's success. Originality/value – The lessons learned will help other institutions develop digital activities departments and provide online access to digital archives and collections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]