Open access publishing is an initiative that aims to provide universal, unrestricted free access to full-text scholarly materials via the Internet. This presents a radically different approach to the dissemination of research articles that has traditionally been controlled by the publishing enterprise that regulates access by means of subscriptions and licences fees levied on users, predominantly academic libraries. In presenting the case for open access publishing, the thesis explored the contemporary research environment, changing modes of knowledge production, the problems associated with the existing academic journal system, and the subsequent growth of the open access movement as an intervention to reclaim scientific communication. It highlighted the ways in which open access better answers the requirements of researchers, funders, governments, and society more broadly.

Open access publishing is an initiative that aims to provide universal, unrestricted free access to full-text scholarly materials via the Internet. This presents a radically different approach to the dissemination of research articles that has traditionally been controlled by the publishing enterprise that regulates access by means of subscriptions and licences fees levied on users, predominantly academic libraries. In presenting the case for open access publishing, the thesis explored the contemporary research environment, changing modes of knowledge production, the problems associated with the existing academic journal system, and the subsequent growth of the open access movement as an intervention to reclaim scientific communication. It highlighted the ways in which open access better answers the requirements of researchers, funders, governments, and society more broadly.

Magister Bibliothecologiae - MBibl / Open access publishing is an initiative that aims to provide universal, unrestricted free access to full-text scholarly materials via the Internet. This presents a radically different approach to the dissemination of research articles that has traditionally been controlled by the publishing enterprise that regulates access by means of subscriptions and licences fees levied on users, predominantly academic libraries. In presenting the case for open access publishing, the thesis explored the contemporary research environment, changing modes of knowledge production, the problems associated with the existing academic journal system, and the subsequent growth of the open access movement as an intervention to reclaim scientific communication. It highlighted the ways in which open access better answers the requirements of researchers, funders, governments, and society more broadly. / South Africa

Thesis (M. Bus.)--University of Technology, Sydney, 2003. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on July 25, 2005). Includes bibliographical references (p. 50-56).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of South Florida, 2002. / Title from PDF of title page. Includes bibliographical references.

The purpose of this study was to examine the management of electronic information resources (EIRs) to enhance their long-term links preservation and access in the University of KwaZulu-Natal Pietermaritzburg (PMB) and Howard College campus libraries. The study investigated the strategies and policies used in managing EIRs, how the librarians overcome technological obsolescence, the information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructures used in the management of the EIRs and the competency of the librarians in electronic preservation. The significance of this study lay in its addressing of the issue of long-term links preservation of and access to EIRs that has not been addressed by previous studies. There is rapid growth in the creation and dissemination of EIRs which has emphasized the digital environment’s speed and ease of dissemination with little regard for its long-term preservation and access. The study population was 33 and it comprised the subject librarians, metadata librarians and electronic resources librarian of PMB and Howard College campus libraries of the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Adopting a quantitative approach the research design was that of a survey and the research instrument was a self-administered questionnaire comprising both open and closed questions. A total of 28 librarians responded to the questionnaire giving a response rate of 84.8%. Data was analyzed using SPSS. Results were presented in the form of figures and tables. The study was underpinned by the Open Archival Information System (OAIS) Reference Model, which is being used widelyin the digital preservation community. The analysis of the findings revealed that there was an intermediate level of ICT knowledge and skill with regard to management of EIRs amongst the respondents and a need for training in EIRs management particularly with regards to metadata, migration, emulation, maintenances and bit preservation techniques.It was also revealed that the libraries were using the server’s hard drive to store the EIRs. The results also showed that there were an arguably high number of respondents ten (35.7%) who indicated that their libraries did not have anEIRs management policy. For those respondents who said that their libraries do have a policy, the vast majority indicated that the policy did provide guidelines for acquiring materials in electronic form and for transforming materials from print to electronic form. Recommendations emerging from the conclusion were made and suggestions for further research put forward. / Thesis (M.I.S.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2013.

The aim of this study was to investigate factors affecting the adoption of open access in research activities within Tanzanian public universities in order to device mechanisms of enhancing the use of this mode of scholarly communication. The study adopted the UTAUT model to formulate an open access research model comprising of six constructs and five moderators for guidance of this investigation. A triangulation approach for data gathering was adopted. In the first instance, a semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 398 respondents selected using the stratified random sampling from a population of 1088 university researchers from six public universities in Tanzania. The interview involving 63 policy makers and structured records review were also conducted to complement the questionnaire survey. The descriptive and binary logistic regression statistics of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) were used for data analysis. The study established that majority of the policy makers (90.5%) and researchers (72.1%) were aware of open access. Attitude, awareness, effort expectancy, and performance expectancy were established as the key determinants for researchers’ behavioural intention of open access usage while age, awareness, behavioural intention, facilitating conditions and social influence were found to significantly affect researchers’ actual usage of open access. It was concluded that researchers’ and policy makers’ general perceptions about open access were very positive signifying the acceptance of this mode of scholarly communication in the study area. Current poor research conditions and researchers’ low Internet self-efficacy such as inadequate information search and online publishing skills were cited as the main hindrances for researchers to use open access in scholarly communication. The study recommends institutionalisation of open access publishing in Tanzanian public universities and other similar research institutions so as to improve the dissemination of research output emanating from such institutions. Six areas for further research to establish more insights regarding the feasibility for open access development in the country are also recommended. / Information Science / D. Litt. Phil. (Information Science)

The aim of this study was to investigate factors affecting the adoption of open access in research activities within Tanzanian public universities in order to device mechanisms of enhancing the use of this mode of scholarly communication. The study adopted the UTAUT model to formulate an open access research model comprising of six constructs and five moderators for guidance of this investigation. A triangulation approach for data gathering was adopted. In the first instance, a semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 398 respondents selected using the stratified random sampling from a population of 1088 university researchers from six public universities in Tanzania. The interview involving 63 policy makers and structured records review were also conducted to complement the questionnaire survey. The descriptive and binary logistic regression statistics of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) were used for data analysis. The study established that majority of the policy makers (90.5%) and researchers (72.1%) were aware of open access. Attitude, awareness, effort expectancy, and performance expectancy were established as the key determinants for researchers’ behavioural intention of open access usage while age, awareness, behavioural intention, facilitating conditions and social influence were found to significantly affect researchers’ actual usage of open access. It was concluded that researchers’ and policy makers’ general perceptions about open access were very positive signifying the acceptance of this mode of scholarly communication in the study area. Current poor research conditions and researchers’ low Internet self-efficacy such as inadequate information search and online publishing skills were cited as the main hindrances for researchers to use open access in scholarly communication. The study recommends institutionalisation of open access publishing in Tanzanian public universities and other similar research institutions so as to improve the dissemination of research output emanating from such institutions. Six areas for further research to establish more insights regarding the feasibility for open access development in the country are also recommended. / Information Science / D. Litt. et Phil. (Information Science)

Title from PDF of title page. / Document formatted into pages; contains 215 pages. / Originally submitted in HTML and can be accessed at http://www.lib.usf.edu/ETD-db/theses/available/etd-04102002-122814/unrestricted/default.htm / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of South Florida, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references. / Text (Electronic thesis) in PDF format. / ABSTRACT: Electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) are an evolving genre of graduate student research that is gaining widespread acceptance among universities in the international community. ETDs are also beginning to diffuse slowly among American universities; however, a number of issues continue to work against more rapid adoption among intitutions in the United States. / ABSTRACT: This dissertation examines ETDs as an evolving electronic research genre by (1) historicizing the situated development of its predecessor, the traditional print dissertation, in nineteenth century German and American Universities; (2) reporting on the current state of the Networked Digital Library of Electronic Theses and Dissertations, an initiative of Virginia Polytechnic University; (3) analyzing ETDs as a technological innovation undergoing the diffusion process according to Emmet Roger's Diffusion of Innovation Theory; and (4) presenting the results of an ETD pilot project case study carried out at the University of South Florida. / System requirements: World Wide Web browser and PDF reader. / Mode of access: World Wide Web.