Abstract
This study investigated the uses of Institutional Repositories for promoting knowledge sharing practices in Federal University Libraries in North-Central Nigeria. Descriptive survey design was used for this study. A total of 116 questionnaires were purposefully distributed to respondents in four(4) Federal University Libraries in North Central Nigeria who have functional institutional repositories. Data were analyzed using Arithmetic Mean (x̅) and Standard Deviation (SD) (with the help of Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS)). It was found There are 3 Federal University Libraries in North-Central who don't have functional Institutional Repository, whereas 4 of the them have functional Institutional Repositories. The study also found that databases, preprint, post-print, patent and standards, internship/industrial attachment reports, books, book chapters, journals articles, reference materials, monographs, conference papers, research progress reports, technical papers, theses and dissertations among others are the recourses shared on repositories platforms. Promoting open access to knowledge and information by all, centralization and storage of all types of institutional output, overcoming small budgetary allocation to libraries, increasing visibility and productivity of authors/institutions are some of the roles and benefits institutional repositories found by the study. Lastly, the research revealed that all the roles of for institutional repository have contributed to knowledge sharing on a very high level with an overall mean range of between 3.86 and 3.75. The study concludes that the empirical evidence in this paper should encourage Federal University Libraries in North-Central Nigeria and beyond to build institutional repositories if they are ready to partake in the benefits of repositories.
Key words: Federal University Libraries; Institutional Repositories; Knowledge Sharing
Publication Date: 2026-10-31