Understanding the influence of librarians cognitive frames on institutional repository innovation and implementation

Abstract

An institutional repository (IR) is an information system (IS) that has the potential to promote open access to scientific knowledge and the visibility and reputation of scholars. The small number of universities in developing countries that have successfully innovated and implemented an IR hampers the actualization of these benefits. This situation calls for effort toward understanding the factors responsible. We used the snowball sampling technique to select 45 academic librarians from three university libraries in Nigeria that were involved in IR innovation. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and participatory observation for 15 months. Thematic data analyses show that the relationships between academic librarians' IR innovation cognitive frames (belief, scripts, and resistance routines) influence IR innovation outcomes. The result is a research model that explicates how the relationships between academic librarians' cognitive frames and internal functioning of libraries constitute IR innovation barriers to IR innovation and implementation.