Research data management services among librarians in Nigerian universities

Abstract

The contemporary advancements in network technologies and scholarly communication which provide opportunities to academic libraries to look for novel means of engaging with researcher communities has necessitated librarians to retort with service innovations in data science and research data management (RDM). The aim of this study is to investigate Research data management services among librarians in Nigerian universities. A questionnaire was used to collect data on RDM services among librarians in Nigerian universities for this study. The participants were the librarians in the public universities in South-west, Nigeria. The study found that the roles of librarians in RDM services in Nigerian universities are to encourage research facilitation and promote scientific communication. The extent of involvement of librarians in RDM in Nigeria is low. The study also found that although librarians in Nigerian universities derive many benefits from RDM services, they encounter challenges such as a lack of data management plan and limited grants from research funding agencies in contributing to RDM. It was therefore recommended that universities in Nigeria should create RDM centers in the libraries to prevent data loss and for easy accessibility of research data by researchers