Browsing by Author "Muthee, Daniel W."

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Researchers’ Perceptions of Research Data Management Activities at an Academic Library in a Developing Country
    (2021-12) Masinde, Johnson M.; Jing, Chen; Muthee, Daniel W.
    This study investigated researchers’ perceptions of RDM activities at the Mahatma Gandhi Graduate Research Library (MGGL) to recommend measures to enhance managing, sharing, and reusing research data. The study was underpinned by the DCC curation lifecycle model and the community capability model framework (CCMF), which enabled the investigator to employ a descriptive research design to capture data from a broad cross-section of 330 researchers purposively. The data was analyzed using SPSS to generate descriptive and inferential statistics that enabled the investigator to address the research problem. Though the library had policies on research data, quality assurance, and intellectual property, study findings evidenced no explicit policies to guide each stage of data curation and capabilities. There were also inadequacies in the knowledge and skills capability, technological infrastructure, and collaborative partnerships. Overall, RDM faced challenges in all examined capabilities. The study recommends establishing an RDM unit within the library to oversee the implementation of RDM activities.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    The Role of Indigenous Knowledge Systems in Enhancing Agricultural Productivity in Kenya
    (2019) Muthee, Daniel W.; Gwademba, Goudian Kilemba; Masinde, Johnson M.
    This paper gives an insight into the role of indigenous knowledge systems in improving agricultural productivity in Kenya. It examines how application of indigenous knowledge can help to scale up sustainable agricultural intensification in order to increase production, protect the environment and reduce poverty. The paper describes different forms of indigenous knowledge and recognizes the important role that indigenous people and their knowledge of the environment, can play in the enhancement of agricultural productivity and environmental protection. While indigenous knowledge has been the basis for local-level decision-making in many rural farming communities in Kenya, the paper finds that, its application has not been wholly integrated into the farming systems not only by local farming communities but also by researchers, extension service providers, scientists, policy makers and planners striving to improve conditions in rural areas and suggests how indigenous knowledge can be applied in improving agricultural productivity among smallholder farmers in Kenya. The paper considers the broad knowledge indigenous people have on how to live sustainably, but discerns that formal education systems sometimes disrupted this sound knowledge by creating an assumption that it is outdated and irrelevant in addressing present-day agricultural challenges. The findings of this paper will help agricultural stakeholders change the perceptions and attitudes they have towards various Indigenous Knowledge Systems in enhancing agricultural productivity and should, therefore, be promoted and that awareness of this importance should be created through policy formulation and implementation in order to foster consciousness among smallholder farmers in Kenya.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Utilization of Mobile Phone and the Ethical Implications on University and Government Services: a Case of Post Graduate Students at Kenyatta University, Kenya
    (Association for Computing Machinery., 2021) Masinde, Johnson M.; Muthee, Daniel W.
    This study investigated access and usage of mobile phones by postgraduate students. Mobile phone technology has greatly contributed to the quick access and sharing of information in the contemporary world. However, the issue of integrity in the usage of mobile phone remains a paradox. The data was collected using a questionnaire that was administered to 165 post graduate students in the Schools of Education and Business. The respondents were purposely selected because the researchers were interested in post graduate students working in government institutions and departments. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 18. The results indicated that mobile phone usage for information sharing and research is very high. All the students sampled used mobile phones to access, share, and search information since all of them had smart phones. It was noted that the University lacked a policy on use of mobile phones to access and read educational materials. Interestingly, it was noted that mobile phone is a handy technology for most examination malpractices and dishonesty. The study highly recommends policy issues on usage of mobile technology by students particularly in enhancing learning and information sharing as well as maintaining sanctity of examinations and individual student integrity.