Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Does Tenure Matter? Factors Influencing Faculty Contributions To Institutional Repositories, Anne M. Casey

Anne Marie Casey

INTRODUCTION Institutional repositories (IRs) provide colleges and universities a way to ensure stability of access to and dissemination of digital scholarly communications. Yet, many institutions report that faculty willingness to contribute to IRs is often limited. This study investigates faculty attitudes about IR contributions by tenure status and category of material. METHODS Two focus group interviews were conducted in the spring of 2009 among English department faculty at a large Midwestern university. One group consisted of tenured faculty and the other of tenure-track and adjunct faculty. RESULTS Both groups recognize the benefit of open access to research materials but expressed …