Librarians’ Opinion on Mandating Open Educational Resource (OER) Creation as a Criterion for Academic Promotion in Nigerian Universities Libraries

Opara Immaculata Chinyere¹; Opara Anthony Onyekachi²; Leona Ekwebelem³

^1&3Alvan Ikoku Federal University of Education, Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria
²Federal Polytechnic, Nekede, Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria
Abstract:

The adoption of Open Educational Resources (OER) in Nigerian universities remains slow despite global advocacy for open access to reduce educational costs and improve learning outcomes. This research was necessitated by the ongoing debate on whether mandating OER creation as a criterion for academic promotion would accelerate OER development or impose undue burdens on librarians who are already constrained by inadequate funding, infrastructure, and technical skills. The purpose of the study was to examine librarians’ opinions on integrating OER creation into the academic promotion framework in Nigerian university libraries. Three issues were discussed in this research which include librarians’ level of awareness and competence in OER development,  perceived benefits and challenges of mandating OER creation for promotion, and  institutional support required for effective OER integration into promotion criteria. The researchers employed analytical methodology to discuss the issues raised in this study Findings revealed that although 68% of librarians acknowledged the potential of OER to democratize access to information, 74% opposed making OER creation mandatory for promotion due to lack of technical training, insufficient time, and poor institutional incentives. Additionally, most Librarians reported that their universities lacked clear OER policies and infrastructure to support sustained content creation. Based on the findings, the researchers recommended that university management should first establish OER policies, provide capacity-building workshops, and offer alternative incentives before considering OER creation as a promotion criterion. Also, promotion guidelines should recognize diverse scholarly contributions beyond OER to ensure equity. 

Keywords: Open Educational Resources, academic promotion, librarians, Nigerian universities, institutional policy ‎