Digital Preservation of Electronic Theses and Dissertations in Public University Libraries in South-East Nigeria

Jerry E. Friday, Federal University Otuoke

Document Type Article

https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/

Abstract

Abstract

The study examined digital preservation of electronic theses and dissertations in public university libraries in South-East Nigeria. The study adopted descriptive survey research design. The study population comprised 256 librarians out of which only 68 digital or institutional repository librarians were covered. A self-constructed questionnaire was used for data collection. Data were analysed using mean and standard deviation. It was found that information migration was the most common strategy adopted for preserving e-theses and dissertations in the university libraries. It was also discovered that the libraries mostly used DSpace for preserving e-theses and dissertations. Moreso, their most common policies for preserving e-theses and dissertations relate to ensuring long-term accessibility, maintenance of continued authenticity and integrity of items, allocating responsibility to skilled and administrative staff, allowing open access and permitting items to be deposited by author for self-archiving. The research also identified lack of adequate funding, adequate ICT facilities, skilled staff, poor power supply, lack of staff development programmes and policy as the top challenges facing the libraries in preserving e-theses and dissertations. The study recommended that government should provide adequate funding to public universities, universities management should conduct personnel development programmes for librarians and improve power supply.