Web 2.0 applications' usage and trends in top US academic libraries

Abstract

Purpose – This paper aims to explore Web 2.0 technologies usage and trends in the top 100 US academic libraries as exemplified through the academic library websites. Design/methodology/approach – The top 100 universities were selected from the US News & World Report's (USNWR) 2013 ranked list's top 100 of the best colleges in the USA. Content analysis was used in terms of quantitative approach. A checklist was developed as the main research instrument based on other checklists and questionnaires. Each of the selected university library websites was visited within a period of two weeks to explore implementation and usage of web tools, including SNS, blog, RSS, wikis, podcast/vodcast, and social bookmarking/tagging. Findings – All 100 academic libraries had a social media presence on Facebook and Twitter, making SNS the most widely applied Web 2.0 tool. The wiki was the least applied Web 2.0 technology, with a 34 percent participation rate. Blog was the second most popular tool with a 99 percent participation rate, followed by RSS and IM/Chat with 97 percent and 91 percent respectively. The vodcast and podcast had 47 percent and 46 percent participation rates respectively, while social bookmarking/tagging were also used by 39 percent of the academic libraries. Research limitations/implications – This study is completely based on publicly available data regarding usage of Web 2.0 applications. Web 2.0 tools used on library intranets were not analyzed for this study. Outcomes suggest that academic libraries are increasingly using Web 2.0 applications to promote themselves, enhance library services, and highlight resources to patrons. Originality/value – This is the first research that draws an overall picture of the usage and trends of Web 2.0 applications in the top 100 US academic libraries. This study demonstrates some noticeable patterns regarding usage, trends, and adoption which are relevant to how Web 2.0 applications are perceived and used within academic libraries. The study provides academic libraries with helpful information to better meet their user needs by effectively applying Web 2.0. Additionally, library managers, librarians and other libraries may also find this research beneficial as they plan to deploy Web 2.0.

Uses of Social Networking Sites among Postgraduate Students at University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh : A Study

“…Here, authors discussed few relevant studies which are related to the major theme of this study. Number of researchers [3][4][5][13][14][15] stated that use of social networking tools in learning can prove as a boon of course only if the society starts thinking about it differently and use it for productive purposes rather than chatting all the time.…”

“…However, Tiryakioglu & Erzurum 3 defined social network as 'an online service, platform, or area where social communication and relations can be established, and also individuals share information. Social networks offer the user ability to share online their views, feelings, activities, events, and fields of interest' The foremost advantage of SNSs' is that anyone can create a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, connect with others and communicate with each other 4 ; and view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system…”

Las redes sociales como herramienta para la divulgación de fondos documentales de bibliotecas. Estudio de caso de la cuenta en Twitter de la JFK Library

“…(Pinchevski, 2011: 255) El uso de la tecnología 2.0 en general en el ámbito de los servicios que ofrecen las bibliotecas ha sido ampliamente estudiado desde hace ya unos años (Stephens, 2006;Casey y Savstinuk, 2007;Kroski, 2008;Aharony, 2009;Chua y Goh, 2010). Algunos trabajos más recientes abordan el tema centrándose en las bibliotecas universitarias (Tripathi y Kumar, 2010;Mahmood y Richardson, 2011;Boateng y Liu, 2013;Alonso Arévalo et al, 2014).…”

A Design Analysis of Indiana Public Library Homepages

“…These include investigations into the adoption of specific technologies among certain library populations (Anttiroiko and Savolainen 2011;Boateng and Liu 2014), usability tests of library websites (Teague-Rector, Ballard, and Pauley 2011;VandeCreek 2005), case studies of library website redesigns (Felker and Chung 2005;Garber and Hooper 2009;Mellone and Williams 2010), and examinations of the features that appear on the websites of groups of libraries (Aharony 2012;Mestre 2011;Chu 2013). Because great discrepancy may exist among the design practices for similar libraries within a geographic region (Solomon,2004, analyzing an entire library population may be useful in determining prevalent features among members in the group.…”