Awareness and Usage of Open Access Journals Among Academic Staff of University of Mines and Technology, Tarkwa

Yaw Ofori, Gloria Pomfowaa

Abstract


Open Access (OA) resources refer to any literature published electronically on the internet, and freely available to the public permitting users to read, download, copy, print, distribute and search for information. As the mandate of every university relates to teaching, learning and research, OA resources have contributed immensely to the advancement of knowledge on the part of academic staff of universities. However, some academic staff of universities have not taken full advantage of this freely available published resources. This study seeks to ascertain the level of awareness and usage of OA resources on the part of teaching and aademic staff of the University of Mines and Technology, Tarkwa. The objective of the study is to engage the targetted audience to ascertain their proper utilisation, or otherwise, of OA resources. The study utilised both primary and secondary sources of information. Primary information was obtained from responses from questionnaire administration while secondary information was obtained from published literature and the internet. It was found out from the study that academic staff of the University are very much aware of, and use, OA resources. They also very much appreciate that OA resources are useful for teaching, learning and research. Recommendations to enhance uptimum use of OA resources have been outlned in the study.

Keywords


Open Access, Information Use, Information Technology, Internet Sources, Online Databases.

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References


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