Analysis of library patrons’ usage of social media in a Nigerian university library

Abstract

The changing nature of library services and the advent of social media network technology have created emphasis on its usage in academic institutions. Librarians are using the latest social media technology in marketing their information products and services to the library patrons. The aim of this study is investigating the library patrons’ usage of social media in a Nigerian University Library; and the instrument for data collection was a questionnaire of Two hundred and thirty-eight copies and the usable rate of returned responses was 87% of the anticipated responses. The findings revealed that Whatsapp and facebook were greatly used as it creates current awareness on the happening in the institution; it also established that social media enabled students to access local and web contents of information needs globally. The findings revealed that critical social media literacy is needed to help students to critically deal with the large amounts of information they interact with by sharing its content on social media. Furthermore, the research provides information on how this technology can be fully exploited for the benefits of the students and community at large.

Keywords: academic library, library patrons, social media, use