Social networking tools for academic libraries

Abstract

This is an exploratory study investigating the use of social networking tools in academic libraries, examining the extent of their use, library staff’s perceptions of their usefulness and challenges, and factors influencing decisions to use or not to use such tools. Invitations to participate in a web-based survey were sent to 140 university libraries from Asia, North America and Europe. Responses were received from 38 libraries (response rate: 27.1%). Twenty-seven libraries (71.1%) used social networking tools, five (13.1%) were potential users and six (15.8%) did not plan to use them at all. Facebook and Twitter were the most commonly adopted tools in university libraries. Most library staff had positive perceptions on the usefulness of social networking tools, but hesitancy among library staff and limited participation of users (i.e. students) were perceived to be hindrances. This study offers insights for academic librarians to make informed decisions in applying social networking tools.

Assessing the appropriation of social media by academic librarians in South Africa and Zimbabwe

“…One of the major constraints of using social media effectively is time. Librarians believe that social media tools are relatively technical and require time to learn, but because of work demands, librarians' time is limited (Cohen 2011, Chu & Du 2013. Collins and Quan-Haase (2012: 2) maintain that librarians are of the opinion that social media platforms are time-consuming and too engrossing to use, as they need to be constantly updated.…”

“…According to Boxen (2008) and Luo (2009), some social media platforms have proven to be more technical than others and demand a substantial amount of time from librarians to learn. Banda (2011), Chisenga andChande-Mallya (2012: 16), and Chu and Du (2013) note that librarians across the world lack time to use social media effectively.…”

Librarians’ behavioral performance on chat reference service in academic libraries: Perceived importance vs actual practices

“…Virtual reference has been developed to assist library users to seek information and consult librarians, often in real time, without Page | 20 being physically present in the library. Apart from instant messaging and web based chat reference, librarians also offer reference services virtually via web conferencing tools, such as Adobe Connect (Arvin and Kaiser 2012), Web 2.0 tools such as Twitter (Arya and Mishra 2011;Beaton 2012), Facebook and Twitter (Chu and Du 2012); mobile devices, such as WeChat (Pun 2015), Whatsapp (Akeriwa, Penzhorn and Holmner 2014) and Skype (Beaton 2012). These services are initiated by the libraries in order to meet users' needs, pursue virtual reference technologies (Yang and Dalal 2014) and improve library services (O'Dell 2010).…”

Grassroots Outreach to Foster a Diverse Community

“…Staff training may also help outreach contributors make the most of social media by enhancing their confidence in their ability to use these tools (Chu & Du, 2013) as well as the ability to speak according to institutional guidelines or in the institutional "voice" (Solomon, 2011, p.29). The chapter section, Making the Most of Social Media, examines how Albertsons Library has developed a social media persona, or voice, which helps promote the library as a fluid, progressive institution tuned into the campus zeitgeist.…”