Strategies for Managing Scholarly Content at Universities in Kenya

Abstract

This study investigated strategies employed by universities in Kenya in managing scholarly content and addressed the following research questions: What kinds of scholarly content are generated and used in uni versities in Kenya? How is the scholarly content generated and/or acquired in universities in Kenya preserved and archived for current and future use? How do Kenyan scholars communicate amongst themselves in the various stages of their research work? To wh at extent do Kenyan scholars participate in local and/or international professional social networks? To what extent do existing institutional facilities in the universities support scholars‘ research and communication needs? The study was underpinned by th ree theoretical lenses namely: The Conversation Theory, the Social Network Theory and the Knowledge Management Process Model. The Knowledge Management Process Model was the main theoretical lens used to underpin the research problem in this study as it enc ompassed most issues of the research problem on the subject matter of scholarly content management in universities in Kenya. The study was based on the post - positivist paradigm and applied quantitative and qualitative approaches. A survey plan was employe d within a multiple case study design . The population of the study consist ed of academic staff and postgraduate students drawn from six purposively selected universities using the 2013 Webometric academic ranking of best Universities in Kenya (based on the qualitative and quantitative aspects of research output). Convenience sampling was used to identify participants for the study from academic staff and postgraduate students . In this strategy, those respondents who were available and willing to participat e in the study when the questionnaires were being administered were included in the study. Academic staff and postgraduate students were targeted for the study since they were considered key actors in the scholarly communication process as creators and con sumers of scholarly content. P urposive sampling was used to target all the s ix U niversity L ibrarians and all six representatives of the universities‘ research units respectively . Therefore a census of the University Librarians and Representatives of the un iversities‘ research units was taken . These respondents were considered key informants since they were directly involved in facilitating and managing research and scholarly communication at the universities . Self - administered questionnaires were used to co llect data from 350 academic staff and 370 postgraduate students while interviews were u sed to collect data from the key informants from the research units and also from the university librarians. Qualitative data were analysed and presented using derived themes while quantitative data were analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics and Gephi Social Network Analysis software. Descriptive and inferential statistics were generated by the statistical software while the social network analysis software was used to depi ct the social networks existing among scholars at the universities. Results of quantitative data analysis were presented using tables, graphs and charts. Cronbach‘s Alpha was generated for individual questions in the survey questionnaire to help determine internal validity. The study adhered to the ethical protocol of the University of KwaZulu - Natal. Moreover, permission was obtained from the National Council of Science and Technology in Kenya as well as from individual universities to allow the study to b e undertaken in the selected universities . iv The results revealed th at several types of scholarly content we re generated through research and publications in the universities surveyed, with the most common being theses, journal articles and conference pape rs. The results further revealed that a majority of academic staff in universities in Kenya were not actively involved in knowledge generation through research and publications with only 42% of academic staff and 37% of postgraduate students producing 1 - 3 journal articles in the period 2010 - 2014. The results also showed that there was high level of awareness among academic staff and postgraduate students regarding preservation of scholarly content as most respondents documented their research procedures, ba cked up information, moved files to newer computers and used printouts to preserve content. However, the respondents seemed to hardly use digital archives or university servers for preservation of their scholarly content. The results seemed to suggest heav y reliance on modern technology - enabled communication techniques and face - to - face interactions for communication amongst scholars. Institutional repositories were hardly used for scholarly communication although they existed in all universities surveyed. S ocial Network Analysis revealed limited participation by respondents in local and international scholarly networks with majority of collaborations taking place as independent dyads or triads. Results also revealed inadequate institutional support for resea rch and scholarly communication including funding, material and physical infrastructure, mentorship, and ICT facilities . From the results, it is concluded that strategies for managing scholarly content at universities in Kenya are weak , impacting negativel y on quality, quantity and visibility of scholarly content. It is therefore concluded that a policy framework that would encompass the different facets of managing scholarly content is necessary. Specifically, research productivity in universities in Kenya was low owing to among other factors poor research culture, poor mentorship, weak social ties between scholars, and inadequate support for research and scholarly communication in the universities. Moreover, v isibility of scholarly content was found to be poor owing to reliance by academic staff and postgraduate students on traditional publishing modes such as subject journals and conference proceedings compared to institutional websites and repositories . The study recommended among other things development of specific strategies to enhance management of scholarly content within the universities. The study recommends development of an elaborate policy framework to guide content generation, storage, dissemination, access and use of scholarly content in univer sities in Kenya. Additionally, the study recommended institutionalization of mentorship programs to entrench scholarship amongst academic staff and graduate students ; nurturing of scholarly collaboration to facilitate knowledge sharing and enhance the qual ity, quantity and visibility of research output from the universities ; provision of more research funds especially by government to strengthen research capacity of the universities ; and strengthening of university research niches to improve quality of rese arch . The study makes an original contribution to the area of managing scholarly content from the perspective of universities in Kenya. Unlike previous studies that focus primarily on management of scholarly content from academic staff, the present study i ncluded academic staff, postgraduate students and librarians. The Social Network Analysis model was used to depict the departmental, interdepartmental and international scholarly collaborations in the universities surveyed.