One of the core functions of an academic institution is to generate knowledge, disseminate it to the intended audiences, and preserve it for future use. Academic institutions are now establishing Institutional Repositories (IRs) to collect produced resources to facilitate accessibility, dissemination, utilization, and management of intellectual materials produced within an institution. This study aimed to assess postgraduate students motives for utilizing IR resources and the challenges they encounter when utilizing IR resources at the University of Dar es Salaam. This study was conducted using a descriptive study design whereby it used both qualitative and quantitative research approaches. The population of this study comprised postgraduate students, librarians, and ICT personnel from the University of Dar es Salaam. A sample of 102 respondents was drawn conveniently and purposively for this study. Data were collected through questionnaires, interviews, as well as a review of documentary sources. Quantitative data were analyzed through a Version 16 Statistics Package for Social Science and qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis. The findings indicate that access to fulltext documents, the relevance of IR resources, and easy searching of the materials in the repository system motivate the utilization of IR resources. However, several challenges impede the utilization of these resources including unreliable internet access, inaccessibility of full-text and lack of guiding policy have been revealed as the major challenges toward utilization of IR resources. The study recommends training postgraduate students on the general use of IRs. Also, the University management should develop an IR policy that will guide the utilization of IR resources

翻译：学术机构的核心职能之一是创造知识、传播给目标受众并保存以供未来使用。当前，各学术机构正纷纷建立机构库以收集本机构产生的学术成果，旨在促进这些智力资源的可获取性、传播、使用与管理。本研究旨在评估达累斯萨拉姆大学研究生使用机构库资源的动机及其面临的挑战。采用描述性研究设计，综合运用定性与定量研究方法。研究总体涵盖达累斯萨拉姆大学的研究生、图书馆员及信息技术人员，通过便利抽样和目的抽样共选取102名受访者。通过问卷调查、访谈及文献资料审查收集数据，其中定量数据采用社会科学统计软件包第16版进行分析，定性数据则采用内容分析法。研究结果表明：全文文档的获取便利性、机构库资源的相关性及系统内资源的检索便捷性构成了使用机构库的主要驱动力。然而，多项障碍制约了资源利用，包括互联网接入不稳定、全文获取困难以及缺乏指导性政策，这些已成为利用机构库资源的主要挑战。研究建议对研究生开展机构库通用使用培训，同时大学管理层应制定指导机构库资源使用的政策规范。