Students’ Information Needs and Digital Technologies in Academic Libraries
31 Dec 2018-Vol. 86, Iss: 4, pp 509-530
TL;DR: In this paper, the influence of digital technologies on the functioning of academic libraries in the context of their users' needs is discussed, and the authors make an attempt to present the way academic libraries react to these changes and how they modify their services and resources.
Abstract: Thesis/objective – The topic of this article is the influence of digital technologies on the functioning of academic libraries in the context of their users’ needs. Users’ information behaviors have changed significantly through the influence of these technologies, what can be identified in particular in students’ behaviors. Do far-reaching changes in the way in which users, in case of this article - students, interact with information cause transformations in the functioning and mission of academic libraries? On the basis of literature containing the results of researches conducted around the world an attempt was made to present the way academic libraries react to these changes and how they modify their services and resources. Research method – The first step in responding to the actual needs of users is to conduct research in this area. For this reason, the subject of the analysis in this article were publications presenting research on the users’ (students) needs in the context of using academic libraries. The next stage was to identify the texts in which the use of digital technology was discussed. The analyzed literature was selected from leading journals indexed in the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), and the Arts & Humanities Citation Index (A & HCI), and included articles which were published within the last 5 years (2013-2018) – a period in which digital technologies in most academic libraries in the world were most widely used, making changes caused by them possible to be diagnosed, and which corresponds to the information query. The results of the query contained 328 articles, 80 of them have been analyzed in detail, because they were deemed to contain the results of research on the functioning of academic libraries in the context of the needs and expectations of the students. Results/conclusions – On the basis of the analysis it can be concluded that the widespread use of digital technologies has changed functioning of academic libraries to a large extent, but these changes are not revolutionary. The way of implementing library tasks has changed, but the tasks themselves as well as the mission of an academic library have remained similar. One of the most important postulates for the future is the necessity of far-reaching personalization of the services being offered. The conducted analysis is based on the research presented in the literature, the next planned stage is verification of these conclusions in empirical research.
Citations
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TL;DR: There is evidence of a growing interdisciplinarity in the scientific publications on Mobile Information Literacy, which interrelates the studies of information and digital literacy with e-learning and mobile technologies.
Abstract: The thematic evolution of research on Mobile Information Literacy between 2006 and 2019 in the field of Information Literacy, learning and mobile technologies is analysed in an international context. For this purpose, the relevant bibliographic references from five databases (ERIC, LISA, LISTA, Scopus and WOS) were retrieved. To systematize the keywords, high dimensionality is reduced by means of a term-based process. Fields, topics, sub-topics and top terms are defined. The main top-terms and their relationships are analysed applying the fractional counting methodology using VOSViewer software. Fifteen major themes were set, which were grouped into six clusters to identify the main thematic trends during the period under review: IL and e-learning, Mobile devices and competencies, Ethics, Library and e-resources, Educational technology and Technological environment. The convergence of IL and e-learning, the growth of e-literacy, the increasing relationship between mobile devices and information competencies, as well as that of libraries and e-resources, are thus detected. In conclusion, there is evidence of a growing interdisciplinarity in the scientific publications on Mobile Information Literacy, which interrelates the studies of information and digital literacy with e-learning and mobile technologies.
25 citations
Cites background from "Students’ Information Needs and Dig..."
...In fact, Mierzecka (2018) emphasises these needs, in her review paper, analysing students’ needs of MoIL and the functioning and tools offered by the university academic library....
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TL;DR: The quality of service and user satisfaction in university libraries contributes to the design and implementation of actions that respond to the needs expressed by the university population, to the optimization of resources and to the impact in the increase of the quality of services offered.
7 citations
14 May 2019
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined critical areas of academic library activity, in a significant or requiring far-reaching changes in all aspects, in the context of needs of the scientific community.
Abstract: The wide expansion of digital technologies has influenced research in all fields of science as well as educational activities. Scientific objective: The purpose of this article is to examine critical areas of academic library activity, in a significant or requiring far-reaching changes in all aspects, in the context of needs of the scientific community. Research methods: It was decided that the method that will allow to outline the situation in this area will be qualitative content analysis texts from leading journals. For this purpose, the main databases of Web of Science articles have been searched: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), and Arts & Humanities Citation Index (A&HCI), using the instruction TS = (“academic library” OR “academic libraries” OR “university library” OR “university libraries”) AND TS = (scholars or scientists or faculty or researchers or academics). The query limited to the last five years yielded gave as results 170 articles, of which 51 were deemed relevant to the issues discussed. Results and conclusions: In the light of qualitative content analysis of those texts, it is possible to distinguish following areas as important: general approach of scholars and librarians to cooperation, practices of research support, access to information resources adapted to scholars’ needs, data curation support, publication strategies support. On this basis, conclusions have been drawn about the role and type of support that academic libraries may provide in the process of scholarly communication. Cognitive value: This study has contributed to the research into the evaluation of academic library’s support services in the process of scholarly communication.
1 citations
Cites background from "Students’ Information Needs and Dig..."
...Additionally, these issues were discussed by the author in a previous work (Mierzecka, 2018)....
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...Interestingly, studies concerning the functioning of academic libraries in relation to the needs of students did not show a necessity for very extensive changes although the obligation to fi t services to the wants of individuals has also been indicated (Mierzecka, 2018)....
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24 Jun 2022
TL;DR: A qualitative research approach was applied in this article using a literature review to harvest different articles in online databases of Scopus and Web of Science, which indicated that digital technologies could be used in the sustainability of academic libraries through accessing, processing, gathering, manipulating, presenting, and communicating information in different format such that library users' information needs are met.
Abstract: Digital technologies are now incorporated into organizations for effective and efficient operations of their job performance. Many African countries are yet to advance into the technology phase whereas other parts of the world are already adopting digital technologies in their operations and service delivery. The qualitative research approach was applied in this study using a literature review to harvest different articles in online databases of Scopus and Web of Science. Findings indicate that digital technologies could be used in the sustainability of academic libraries through accessing, processing, gathering, manipulating, presenting, and communicating information in different format such that library users' information needs are met. Digital technologies such as smartphones, ebooks, blogs, social media, digital computers, scan machines, digital cameras, robotics, drones, etc. were used to support library and information services. The study recommends proactive steps by parent bodies to provide libraries with financial support to acquire necessary digital facilities.
References
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TL;DR: 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 offers insights for academic librarians to make informed decisions in applying social networking tools.
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.
197 citations
TL;DR: It is argued that identities on SNS are deliberately constructed performances that straddle the frontstage and the backstage, the public and the private, and in doing so both support and rely upon webs of social connections which engage with fluid or playful identity constructions.
Abstract: This paper discusses how ideas of performance can be used to conceptualize the play of identity formation on social networking sites (SNS). Linking Goffman's theories of social performance with Granovetter's notion of the social tie, this paper will argue that identities on SNS are deliberately constructed performances that straddle the frontstage and the backstage, the public and the private, and in doing so both support and rely upon webs of social connections which engage with fluid or playful identity constructions.
133 citations
TL;DR: The empirical data reveal that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions determine users' behavioral intention of using library mobile applications.
Abstract: Purpose – This research aims to integrate the unified theory of acceptance and usage of technology (UTAUT) with task technology fit to explain users' behavioral intention of using library mobile applications in university libraries Design/methodology/approach – By integrating the unified theory of acceptance and usage of technology (UTAUT) and the moderator of task-technology fit, this research proposes a library mobile applications usage intention model The study data come from a convenience sample of 363 undergraduate and graduate students A structural equation modelling (SEM) technique was conducted to identify causal relationships Findings – Results showed that the UTAUT model fits the data well The empirical data reveal that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions determine users' behavioral intention of using library mobile applications As a determinant in the UTAUT model, the moderating effect of task-technology fit is also significant Moreove
89 citations
"Students’ Information Needs and Dig..." refers background or methods in this paper
...Within this context it is not unusual that there are attempts made to discover the factors which impact the willingness of users to use smart phones to access library resources (Chang, 2013; Chang & Lou & Cheng & Lin, 2015; Hu & Zhang, 2016; Yi & You & Bae, 2016)....
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...These studies are typical case studies although, a more general perspective was embraced by Taiwanese researchers (Wu & Hsieh & Chang, 2013) who, using the Delphi method, attempted to determine the criteria considered by the students to be the most significant in assessing a usefulness of a library…...
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TL;DR: Investigating distance learners' information literacy skills in using digital library resources and the factors (online learning and information manipulation) that correlate with learner's information seeking self-efficacy revealed that distance learners who have higher self- efficacy for information seeking and proficiency in information manipulation exhibited higher Selfefficacy for online learning.
87 citations
"Students’ Information Needs and Dig..." refers background in this paper
...…found in literature: Ukachi (2015) has shown that limited digital competence of users has a direct impact on the low usage of electronic resources, Tang and Tseng (2013) confirmed the same in regard to a user’s limited conviction about his effectiveness in information retrieval while…...
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Book•
13 Oct 2017
80 citations