OPEN DIGITAL REPOSITORIES: PROSPECTS OF AFRICAN COUNTRIES WITHIN THE GLOBAL INFORMATION SPACE

Abstract

This study examines the contributions of African countries to open digital repositories in the world information space. Two online directories of open digital repositories were used as data sources. The OpenDOAR is an authoritative directory of academic open access repositories listing 3,670 repositories as at 6th January, 2019. The Registry of Open Access Repositories (ROAR) is a directory of 4,580 institutional repositories and their contents as at 7th January, 2019. Extracted data were analysed using quantitative techniques and presented in tabular and pictorial formats to reveal findings in accordance with desired objectives. The results revealed that Dspace is the most preferred open digital repositories software across the world. The results showed that the contributions of African countries (3.78%) to open digital repositories in the world are low. The results also showed that only 22 African countries contribute to global open digital repositories and that the rate of contribution increased rapidly in the last few years. The study concludes that for Africa to overcome the challenges associated with open digital repositories there is need for more African countries to be involved in the African Open Access Initiative and the need to tap into the experiences of various professionals on the African continent.