Adoption and use of scholarly communication web based tools in Tanzania’s universities
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Date
2016
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
University of Dar es Salaam
Abstract
This study investigated the adoption and use of scholarly communication Web-based tools in universities in Tanzania. Specifically, the study determined the researchers' awareness and usage of scholarly communication Web-based tools; examined the methods used and examined the challenges faced by scholars in communicating scholarly information. This study employed a cross-sectional research design that used a mixed method research approach. The study sample was drawn from the selected six universities in Tanzania. The findings of this study show that most of the respondents had skills and experience of using the Internet. However, adoption and use of Web¬ based tools in scholarly communication was found to be very minimal. It was revealed that Web 2.0 tools were mostly used for social networking rather than sharing scholarly content. It was also found that respondents with young age had mostly used Web-based tools. Likewise, most respondents with low level of education indicated high frequency of using Web-based tools in sharing scholarly output. It was also revealed that most of the respondents had published in local journals most of which were in print format and very few had published online. The key challenges were found to include lack of publishing and sharing policies, lack of formal trainings and lack of institutional support. This study concludes that universities in Tanzania should adopt policies for sharing and publishing scholarly materials. Moreover, training programmes on scholarly communication should be integrated in universities' curricular and establishment of sustainable research and publication funding mechanisms.
Description
Available in print form
Keywords
Scholarly Publishing, University and Colleges, Tanzania
Citation
Muneja, P. S. (2016) Adoption and use of scholarly communication web based tools in Tanzania’s universities, Doctoral dissertation, University of Dar es Salaam. Available at (http://41.86.178.3/internetserver3.1.2/detail.aspx)