COPYRIGHT AWARENESS, INSTITUTIONAL POLICY AND ACCESS RESTRICTION AS PREDICTORS OF EFFECTIVENESS OF DIGITAL ARCHIVING OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY IN ACADEMIC LIBRARIES IN CROSS RIVER STATE

Abstract

This study investigated copyright awareness, institutional policy and access restriction as predictors of effectiveness of digital archiving of intellectual property in academic libraries in Cross River State, Nigeria, with emphasis on the roles of copyright awareness, institutional policy, and access restrictions. To achieve this purpose four objectives, research questions and hypotheses, were formulated to guide the studies. The research employed an ex-post facto design with a population of 778 library staff, from which a representative of 389 sample was drawn. The instrument for data collection was titled “Copyright Awareness, Institutional Policy, Access Restrictions, and Effectiveness of Digital Archiving of Intellectual Property Scale (CAIPREDAIPS) using a Cronbachs Alpha coefficients, the result indicated accepted level of consistency copyright awareness (a = 0.84) institutional policy (a = 0.81) access restriction (a = 0.79) and effectiveness of digital archiving of intellectual property (a = 0.86) since all coefficient exceeded the bench mark of 0.70 as recommended by Ofem et ‘al (2024) the instrument was deem reliable for full scale administration. Data were collected after ethical approval was obtain from Institutional Review Board of University of Calabar (IRB/UNICAL/2024/2019) A research assistant was recruited was trained on the objective of the study administrative procedure and ethical standard to ensure consistency. The instrument was administered physically to the respondent in their respective libraries. Data collected from the study were analyzed using Descriptive Statistics and Inter-Item Correlations for Study Variables for table one while simple regression analysis was used for table 2, 3 and four. The outcome obtained is presented appropriately. Findings revealed that copyright awareness significantly influenced the effectiveness of digital archiving, underscoring the importance of intellectual property literacy in safeguarding repository practices. Institutional policy also exerted a significant effect, highlighting the role of governance structures in ensuring continuity, accountability, and alignment with preservation standards. Similarly, access restrictions emerged as a significant predictor, demonstrating the need for balanced controls that both protect intellectual property and promote scholarly access. The combined effect of copyright awareness, institutional policy, and access restrictions was particularly strong, confirming the multidimensional nature of digital archiving effectiveness. It was recommended among others that sustainable digital archiving requires integrated legal, institutional, and operational measures.