  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
