Use of the University of Khartoum Institutional Repository by Graduate Students

Abstract

This paper attempted to investigate the use of the University of Khartoum Institutional Repository (Khartoumspace) by graduate students and to explore their attitudes towards the repository and its contents. The study adopted a descriptive survey approach. A questionnaire was used to collect data from 150 students who formed the study sample from a study population of about 1800 graduate students in the Humanities and Social Sciences disciplines at the University. Data collected was analysed in simple statistics and presented in tables consisting of frequencies and percentages. The study revealed that electronic theses and dissertations and eBooks are the most frequently used items of the repository’s collection. The study also showed that there is low usage rate of the repository by the respondents but they have positive attitudes towards the repository, and that the majority of the respondents learnt about the existence of the repository from a colleague rather than from a librarian. The findings indicated that, in order to enhance the usage of the repository by graduate students,there is a need for more awareness raising and advocacy programmes to be carried out by the library about the repository and its benefits to the academic community of the university.