Institutional Repositories (IRs) are increasingly becoming crucial library resources, and more use of digitized material is fundamental in building sustainable IRs. With a series of universities and research sites distributed throughout the continent, a lot of researchwhich requires preservation is obviously carried out in the institutions. However, a majority of the research generated from these institutions ends up in various libraries which are hardly accessed by learners. As such, many African scholars rely greatly on information from developed nations and reduce Africa to just a consumer of information, rather than a source, hence building an accessible IR allows the display of the works of scholars to the broader community and considerably assists in the advancement of an institution and its outreach. The successful establishment of an institutional repository needs careful arrangements and enthusiasm from the entire institutional community such as students, faculty members and academic staff. Critical decisions have to be made before making any designs and redesigns on IRs such as the funds, staff, technology, metadata, content, building operations and successful management and running of the IRs. This paper explores knowledge management in terms of software and the evolution of how knowledge is managed, the inclusion process of content through structured content organization and modular content publishing, issues of IRs in Nigerian Universities, and the roles of the librarian in building institutional repositories.
Keywords: Academic, Digital, Institution, Nigeria, librarian, repository
