This study is designed to determine the trend of inaugural and public lecture presentations at the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), from 1986 – 2019. A total of thirty-five hard copies of the inaugural and thirty-three public lectures were retrieved from the University Library for the research. The frequency of presentation, gender of the lecturers, discipline/programme, subject matter and trend of presentation of the lectures were analyzed using descriptive statistics including frequency tables, percentages, charts and graphs. Findings revealed that only a few lecturers have presented their inaugural lectures compared to the number of Professors in the University. More males had presented lectures, when compared to females. Sciences, Engineering, Agriculture and Management had low presentation. The subjects of the public lecture revolved around and demonstrated the societal challenges and issues at the time of the presentations. Recommendations were made primarily to ensure motivation and policy position on inaugural and public lectures presentation. Keywords: Inaugural lectures, Public lectures, Research, Universities

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to investigate the challenges and opportunities of librarians in federal and state universities in Nigeria in facilitating access to open access resources.Design/methodology/approachUsing a positivist research paradigm, descriptive survey research approach was employed in the study. Five research questions guided the study. The population of the study was 79 librarians. There was no sampling. A questionnaire was used as instrument for data collection, and the data were presented in figures and tables.FindingsThe major findings of the study were that librarians are aware of open access resources. They make the resources available/visible to users by linking them to the library website and promote the use of Google and Google Scholar searches. The librarians were of the view that free online resources are important for the research process. The major challenges they face in giving users access to these resources are lack of metrics and evidence to demonstrate the value of free content.Research limitations/implicationsThe study only assessed e-resources' librarians in the sampled universities at the time of this study. It may be necessary to assess the perception of users towards open access resources.Practical implicationsAdopting and implementing these opportunities to enhance users' access and use of the resources will improve service delivery without doubt. Though this study is not exhaustive, it has provided insight into the inherent opportunities of using open access resources.Originality/valueFor the library management and librarians, the creation of awareness on available open access resources and facilitating access to users through different strategies will not only increase access but also improve teaching, learning and research. It will also increase users' awareness on accessing other sources apart from through subscription.

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Purpose This paper aims to determine and analyze the rate of content submission by lecturers in relation to type of university, discipline, academic qualification, rank and teaching experience and identified the determinants of research output submission by faculty members in Nigerian varsities. Design/methodology/approach The survey was conducted in six universities with functional institutional repositories in Southern Nigeria. Data collated through questionnaire from the university lecturers were analyzed using frequency distribution, percentages and regression analysis. Findings Results showed that submission of research output was higher for lecturers in Social Sciences than for those in the Sciences; the highest among those with doctorate degree, senior lecturers and those with 6–10 years of teaching experience. The rank of faculty members and the type of university were significant determinants of research output submission. Research limitations/implications The survey was limited to universities in Southern Nigeria with functional institutional repositories. There should be further investigations on same study in universities with functional institutional repositories in other regions in Nigeria. Practical implications Increased submission rate by faculty members will sustain the institutional repositories. Social implications Faculty members get in contact, make friends and engage in collaborative research. Originality/value This report contributes to the global knowledge and communication’s field through the provision of empirical evidence on the determinants of content submission in open access institutional repositories.

The emergence of open access is one of the most significant changes to the world of scholarly publications since the migration from print to digital publishing began. Reports of some authors have demonstrated how libraries across the membership are changing, in response to a need for new services and an increasingly diverse client group. In order to contribute to the existing knowledge in the area of open access movement in libraries, this chapter discusses how the 21st century library provides a service that can open access to knowledge for the growth and development of communities they serve by highlighting the concept of open access and open content, roles of libraries in open access initiative as well as library collection development and open access. This chapter also sheds light on legal and ethical issues in open access and the future of open access in libraries.