Understanding the technology and humans as determinants of cloud computing adoption for digital preservation of research outputs in university libraries

As the need for digital content increases almost daily, preserving this content for university libraries, especially in the least developed and developing nations, becomes a challenge, resulting in the loss of this data. Even though most of these libraries are automated and adopt one digital preservation strategy or the other, library users need more assurance of continued access to these digital objects. Thus, there is a need for university libraries to adopt emerging technologies such as cloud computing for proper digital preservation. Owing to the insufficiency of knowledge on the relationship between technology and humans, taking account of human capabilities and how they work in harmony with technology like cloud computing called for a study of this nature. This study investigates the determinants of cloud computing adoption in university libraries, focusing on technological and human factors. A quantitative survey design technique was adopted, and purpose sampling was used. Data were gathered and analyzed from 398 staff from Information and Communication (ICT) directorates, e-library, and institutional digital repositories units of universities as decision-makers for IT adoption. Results show that all the variables under technological and human factors except for complexity have a positive relationship with the intention to adopt cloud computing. This study gives decision-makers like information scientists, librarians, and information technologists' insights into how the two factors contribute to the successful adoption of cloud computing. It also contributes to the knowledge of technology adoption literature, adding more knowledge to the theory-building, especially in the context of university libraries.