Digital preservation and institutional repositories: case study of universities in Kenya

Abstract

This article reports on part of the findings of a study that was completed at the University of KwaZulu Natal in 2015. The study investigated the strategies used by universities in Kenya for the preservation of their scholarly content and is the first of its kind. The survey method was used within a multiple case study design. The data was collected using questionnaires administered to 350 academic staff and 370 postgraduate students conveniently selected from six universities in Kenya. Personal interviews were used to collect data from the university librarians in these universities. It was found that scholars at the universities were personally engaged in preservation of their digital information but did not extensively use university digital archives, servers or repositories. This was largely attributed to lack of awareness of the important role of digital repositories in digital preservation. The present study reveals that even with the existence of institutional repositories, much need to be done to create more awareness and acceptance of digital repositories as well as integrating digital preservation best practices into the daily repository management activities.