PERSONIFYING THE SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE OF ACADEMIC LIBRARIANS: A USES AND

GRATIFICATIONS PERSPECTIVE
NIUSHA ZOHOORIAN-FOOLADI (2014)

1.2 Problem Statement

The use of social media has become widespread in academic libraries with recent
literature showing a wide range of studies focusing on its uses and importance in library
services. Academic libraries started using social media tools for variety of reasons such
as facilitating the communication and interaction with patrons to conventional library
services such as information sharing (Han & Liu, 2010; Nguyen, Partridge & Edwards,
2012; Tripathi & Kumar, 2010), current awareness (Loudon & Hall, 2011; Mahmood &
Richardson, 2011; Si, Shi & Chen, 2011) and reference services (Hanif, 2009;
Harinarayana & Raju, 2010; Phillips, 2011; Si , Shi & Chen, 2011; Steiner, 2009; Tripathi
& Kumar, 2010). It has been observed that academic libraries are adopting and
incorporating Web 2.0 and social media tools faster than other types of libraries (Habib,
2006; Han & Liu, 2010; Harinarayana & Raju, 2010; Tripathi & Kumar, 2010; Xu et al.,
2009) and consequently are the target libraries in many library social media studies
(Boateng & Liu, 2014; Edzan, 2009; Foley, 2002; Gerolimos, 2011; Phillips, 2011). Han
and Liu (2010) also highlighted the importance of social media in top Chinese university
libraries and discussed the various use of tools such as RSS in their library services (Han
& Liu, 2010). According to Tripathi and Kumar (2010) RSS can be a good tool to convey
relevant news and event of the library and announcing schedule of workshop, exhibition
and online databases. Moreover, Philip (2011) highlighted Facebook can be tool as
fundamental in forming relationships. More literature emphasized the areas where
libraries and the users can benefit from social media applications such as in information
dissemination (Romero, 2011), marketing (Harinarayana & Raju, 2010; Hendrix et al.,
2009; Mahmood & Richarson, 2011), communication with users synchronously and
asynchronously (Phillips, 2011; Xu, Ouyang & Chu, 2009), and library outreach
programmes (Gall, 2012; Luo, 2008; Nguyen, Partridge & Edwards, 2012; Phillips, 2011;
Xu, Ouyang & Chu, 2009). Dickson & Holley (2010) highlighted that academic librarians
can advocate and reach out to students in their familiar environment, thereby extending
library services further than the traditional library wall. More recent literature discussed
stimulating community and public engagement through social media especially social
networking sites (Bonsón et al., 2012; Men & Tsai, 2013; Menzie, 2006; Sung, Hepworth,
& Ragsdell, 2012), as Web 2.0 tools have the affordances to increase transparency,
interactivity and openness to public (Bonsón et al., 2012).
However, despite its prospects to open up new channels in delivering library services
and better engage their users, many researchers opined that libraries were not using
the full potential of social media (Curran, Murray & Christian, 2007; Joint, 2009; Kercher,
2008). Curran, Murray & Christian (2007) emphasized that employing the concept Web

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2.0 as a Library 2.0 requires libraries to employ services that are very different from the
service one knows today, one that operates according to the expectations of today’s
users. The user- driven approach makes it possible for users to be presented with
choices to view information online or request from afar appropriate to their needs and
circumstances. Joint (2009) who argued that websites are no longer appealing to
libraries, felt that the time was right for libraries to opt for a single, all-in-one systems–
based approach through Web 2.0 services. He lamented that there were however plenty
of examples of libraries who are rejecting this approach. Without such an approach, the
library services will risk of becoming “a jaded and unappealing mausoleum to the web as
it was in the mid-1990s – a sort of online Miss Havisham’s tea-party that increasingly
few users will want to be part of in future” (Joint 2009, p.174). Kercher (2008) in her
study to discover how blogs were being used in Australian and New Zealand libraries,
found that although most blogs are regarded as successful for disseminating
information in a timely manner, the conversational and marketing aspects of the blogs
are not being realised. Many blogs are still in their infancy and libraries have not yet
utilized the full potential of this interactive medium.
The fact that there have been more studies on how libraries are establishing their social
presence after 2010 may indicate a measure of success, and more researchers tried to
delve further into this topic, discuss the challenges and find ways on how best to exploit
social media completely in library services. Si, Shi & Chen (2011) have emphasized the
importance and benefits of social media as well as discussed some problems related to
the lack of standard and training amongst librarians to fully exploit social media tools in
their library. Arif and Mahmood (2012) were also unsatisfied with the inconsistencies
and lack of practices in using social media in library services. The results of their study
showed that only 20 percent of librarians in Pakistan were able to use Web 2.0
technologies. Therefore, despite the importance and expansive application of social
media tools, scholars were concerned about the challenges and reasons for not fully
using these technology tools in libraries. These challenges could be because the level
librarians’ personal familiarity and professional awareness, and behavior and attitudes
toward social media tools were low (Nicholas et al., 2011). Therefore, it can be inferred
that personality characteristics as well as computer expertise and motivation are the
important reasons for social media usage (Eijkman, 2010; Gupta, 2012; Jowitt, 2008;
Partridge, Lee & Munro, 2010; Ram et al., 2010). Also, there is a lack of framework of
good practices in the context of library and information services for the application of
social media in libraries. Consequently, in the absence of a full understanding of these
aspects, it is unlikely that academic librarians will be able to fully exploit social media
and effectively integrate it in their services. Given the hype around many social or Web
2.0 technologies, and the speed of change in this area, it could be confusing for
academic librarians to decide on which tools to apply to information challenges and
problems.
In Malaysia, libraries reportedly began engaging in social networks in 2008 (Edzan, 2010).
Early adopters began to experiment with social networks software tools such as RSS
feeds, wikis, chat tools, podcasting, video-sharing and bookmarking. Since then, there

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have been surveys conducted in domains that describe how these tools are used (Ayu &
Abrizah, 2011; Ismail, Kiran & Abrizah, 2013; Mansor & Idris, 2010). In addition,
academic librarians regularly reported their use of social media at librarian associations,
professional development seminars or in scholarly papers presented at national
conferences (such as, International Conference on Libraries, Information and Society,
2012 (Kuala Lumpur); International Conference on Libraries, 2009 (Penang) and Seminar
Professional Pustakawan which was held in June 2011 (Petaling Jaya) Malaysia).
However, no study could be located that relates to librarian’s awareness, actual
practices, motivations, deterrents and readiness for social media presence. Therefore,
there is a need to have an overall view of the actual uses of social media in Malaysian
academic libraries in order to capture best practices and to apply that information to
develop library services using social media frameworks. The library and information
sciences literature have many reports of applied research, opinion-based case studies
and early theoretical research but generally, there is a lack of study with a strong
empirical base. There is a need to establish an overall view of innovative uses of social
media in Malaysian academic libraries, for capturing best practices and for applying that
information to developing theoretical frameworks and novel services to reach out to
faculty, staff and students. Given the newness of social media applications in Malaysian
academic libraries, this study is focused on the objective to investigate and address this
knowledge gap.
This study will therefore, explore whether librarians, whose main work focuses on
information, are familiar with new technological changes and innovations, and whether
they make use of different Web 2.0 applications. It examines the “how” and “why” of
academic librarians’ social media presence using a “uses and gratifications” theoretical
framework. “Uses and gratifications” refers to the how and why of media use,
specifically, it refers to the motivations of specific uses, and the satisfaction people gain
from such use (Ruggiero, 2000). The goal is to establish factual information and reveal
the nature and extent of social media usage by Malaysian academic librarians for
various purposes such as communication, networking and marketing, research and
reference. It also elicits the attitudes and behaviors of Malaysian academic librarians in
using social media.
The study will also identify dominant themes and issues of concern such as what
barriers (i.e. lack of time, knowledge or institutional support) currently restrict the use
of social media. This research will examine whether librarians’ personal attitudes,
awareness, practices and motivations has an influence on the integration of different
applications of social media in the future and how it can be utilized to propose a
compatible framework and model for applying appropriate social media technologies in
academic libraries.
1.3 Purpose and Objectives
The purpose of this study is to learn from academics librarians themselves about their
social media presence with respect to awareness, current practices, readiness,
motivations and deterrents.

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In view of the above problems, this study intends to address, the following research
objectives:
a) to examine academic librarians’ usage of social media in Malaysia and the reasons
for this behavior,
b) to understand the gratifications obtained from creating a social media presence
among academic librarians, and
c) to model academic librarians’ social media presence in terms of awareness, current
practices and motivations.
1.4 Research Questions
The following research questions have been formulated to address the above research
objectives:
a) What is the prevalence of social media presence in the academic libraries where
the librarians are affiliated to?
b) How has social media fulfilled gratification in terms of personal and professional
use among the librarians?
c) What are the conditions that deter academic librarians from participating in social
media?
d) How would academic librarians see themselves making use of social media in
terms of awareness, current practices and motivations?

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CONCEPTION, INTEGRATION, AND EXPERIENCES OF INFORMATION LITERACY
THROUGH RESOURCE-BASED LEARNING
HALIDA BT YU (2014)

1.4 Problem Statement

The rapid advancement of information communication technology today has brought
new challenges to learning never imagined before. Modern inventions, particularly the
internet, have flooded people with instant and abundant amount of information. Never
before have learning resources been so abundant and varied that students are tested
with new challenges to look for, manage, and use effectively. Awareness of information
literacy has begun in the 1970s in the West. Numerous efforts directed to information
literacy education have been intensified since then to ensure that young school children
are adequately trained to become competent information users to survive in the
information age. The authentic and problem solving nature of the PBL approach has
been advocated to be a good platform to teach the skills. Numerous studies on
information literacy education through PBL have been implemented in the Western
society, often with positive outcomes (Nichols, 2009; Markless & Streatfield; 1992). In
Malaysian schools, school projects have been introduced since late 1980s amid efforts
to shift towards student- centred instructional approach. These project assignments
were further revised and refined in the early 2000s with the aim to produce critical
thinking and independent students who could survive in the information age, (Chan,
2002).
The history project under study has been introduced in secondary schools in Malaysia
since 1989. However, after more than 20 years, little is known about the contribution or
the effectiveness of the project in producing “critical thinking and independent”, or
information literate students. A number of questions pertaining to the accomplishment
of this assignment in achieving the project objectives have remained unanswered. For
instance, exactly how is information literacy awareness appreciated among teachers and
students? How do teachers conceptualize information literacy and see their roles in
teaching the skills through the project? How do the students experience information
literacy through the project and how competent are they? The search on the local
literature has failed to identify studies that investigate the project with regards to
information literacy development. There are also limited local studies that investigate
on how information literacy is developed or experienced in schools. Most of the limited
local studies concentrate on information literacy in higher education, and are viewed
from library perspective, rather than from educator’s point of view such as studies by;
(Edzan and Mohd Sharif, 2005; Janaki, 2006; and Yushiana, 2003).
Although a large body of literature promotes information literacy development through
resource-based assignments, many of these studies explore learning experiences
through information literacy-focused curriculum in the western countries (Mondshein,

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(2006), Williams & Wavell, (2006), Mokhtar et al. (2007), and Nichols, (2009)). Not much
is known about information literacy experiences through subject-focused assignments
(where the skill is not the central curriculum focus) in less developed nations.
There is a need to study how information literacy is understood and experienced
outside the western culture, such as, in a developing, eastern society. This is in line with
the situated cognition theory, which theorizes that there could be differences on how
information literacy is understood and experienced in different cultures.
It is therefore thought to be important to discover how IL is experienced in an eastern,
developing society. Having said these, this qualitative study is set to discover how
information literacy is understood, integrated, and experienced through a school project
work in selected Malaysian schools.
1.5 Purposes and Objectives
This study aims to add a new dimension of information literacy insight from a learning
context, in which, information literacy is not the central curriculum focus. The objectives
of the study that guide the research are:
1. To understand subject teachers’ conceptions of information literacy;
2. To understand how teachers embed information literacy through project
instruction; and
3. To understand how students experience information literacy through project-
based learning.

1.6 Research Questions

The research questions for this study are as below:
1. How has information literacy been conceived by teachers in project- based
learning?
2. How do teachers embed information literacy through project instruction?
3. How has information literacy been experienced through project-based
learning by secondary school students?
4. How can a model of students’ IL experiences be developed from the situated
cognition theoretical perspective.

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ADOPTION OF E-PUBLISHING AMONGST MALAYSIAN JOURNAL PUBLISHERS
SANNI SHAMSUDEEN ADEMOLA (2014)

1.6 Problem Statement

In the new economic world order, information has become not only a source of
intellectual and knowledge stimulation, but also a source of income for the information
managers, service providers and the publishers. In order for journal publishers to take
advantage of the opportunities presented through the digital economy, they need to
embrace the changes brought about by the shift in technology and internet innovations.
Apparently, the rate of adoption of e-publishing amongst journal publishers in Malaysia
is very low and is below expectation (Zainab et al., 2012) and yet in some cases where e-
publishing has been adopted, the adoption has not been effectively implemented (Sanni
et al., 2013). Moving journal publishing online presents opportunities and challenges for
publishers. A visit to most Malaysian e-journals websites reveals a lack of proper
organization and structure. There are lots of slow and broken links discovered in most of
the pages. Most of the e-journal website is not really offering a complete package to
users. This reflects the fact that even in cases where e-publishing has been adopted, the
implementation and sustainability aspect of it, has not been achieved.
The first problem is that the shift from traditional print publishing to e-publishing will
require publishers to change their roles, routines and improve on their skills. This
automatically affects their capacity to produce, reproduce, and distribute their titles
(Jange and Kademani 1999; Atilgan and Bayram 2004; Klein and Knight 2005; Hahn and
Schoch 1997; Johnson and Luther 2007; Park 2007; Zainab and Abrizah 2007; Houghton
et al 2009). Therefore negotiation of new roles with regards to the new technology is
one of the challenges.
The second problem is that the publishing landscape in Malaysia is represented by a
cadre of traditional publishing systems of which most are by small-scale, not-for-profit
organizations, public higher academic institutions and professional societies (Roosfa and
Yahya, 2011; Walsham, 2012; Zakaria and Rowland, 2006), and may lack the expertise to
transform their models or re-engineer their production systems to handle the new
technique. Therefore any attempt to alter the traditional structure by introducing new
technology may create a lot of uncertainties within the system.
As long as these journals remain in print or as peripheral journals online, they will no
longer be useful for teaching and learning purposes and not for assessment purposes
either. This is because the students and academics of the digital era now conduct their
information acquisition, knowledge exchange and social integration online. Likewise, we
are in the era of data science where the analyses and evaluation of serials is derived
mainly from open- access dataset of numbers, bibliographic databases and indexing
systems, in which many Malaysian journals are absent.
The third problem is that most publishers are trapped in the dual zone owing to lack of

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proper understanding on how to handle the already existing print with its potential e-
version. As the scholarly community move along the Post PC Device (PPD) era where
institutions are already adopting m-learning (mobile learning) expending iPad
technologies to facilitate teaching and learning (Murphy, 2011), some scholars have
moved the motion that printed journals should be permanently discontinued and the
journal of the electronic form should henceforth be the norm; citing the operational
costs of maintaining two systems as the reason. However, other scholars have
countered, stating that print should still be maintained alongside the e-version, in view
that some subscribers still values prints items and are not in any mood to switch sides.
These latter categories share same sentiments with researchers who are of the opinion
that printed items are real work and e- version just a supplement, which is unreliable
since according to them, each e - journal’s life depends on its publisher’s continued
existence and what happens if the publisher cease to exist?
Noteworthy is the fact that Malaysian researchers are producing high quality research
and contributing to scientific knowledge through the journal publishing medium. To
make their work visible to the scholarly community, they must make sure their research
is published in the first league journals of their discipline, which are largely published in
developed countries by professional publishers. Sometimes they have to pay a large
sum of money to publish in these foreign journals (mostly open access journals) and the
copyright is transferred to the publisher and not the authoring institution or the funding
agency.
Although there are new publishing models that protect the right of the author and the
authoring institution, however, the challenges are still overwhelming. These issues and
the like has invoke discussion on the future of scholarly communication in developing
countries, and how to move forward, the goal of the funding agencies.
Conflicting arguments notwithstanding, most of the literatures are showing e-journal
the green light. In Malaysia, however a large number of publishers still offer their
journals only in print and while few are available in hybrid format, just a small fraction
existed in purely electronic (Roosfa, 2000; Sanni et al., 2013; Walsham, 2012; Zainab and
Abrizah, 2007; Zainab, Edzan and Ang, 2002; Zakaria and Rowland, 2006). The reason for
this slow adoption is unknown and the need to know is what motivates this study.
Malaysia is one of the early adopters of internet technology among developing nations
(Ramasami, 2010). The recent globalization of higher education and research
institutions 15
in Malaysia coupled with focus on university rankings by Malaysian ministry of higher
education (Roosfa and Yahya, 2011) has expanded the tentacles of research focus. The
government’s drive for research never falters. The globalization of higher education
must flow in sync with diffusion of innovations and scientific development which is
influenced by research production.
If stakeholders and institutions alike are keen on improvement in scientific production
and development, then diffusion of innovative technologies is the key. As regards, it was

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observed that an important innovation that needs to be studied is e-journal publishing
adoption amongst Malaysian journal publishers as there are no studies yet dedicated to
this topic. This would be achieved by identifying the role of familiarity, innovativeness,
adopter characteristics: field of publishing, publication age, publication size, publishing
experience, the five attributes of innovation: relative advantage, compatibility,
complexity, observability and trialability, and the two supporting factors: peer network
and change agent influence on the adoption of e-journal publishing amongst Malaysian
journal publishers.
As a way of contributing to the array of literature on this discourse, the study would also
be able to verify the strength of relationships that exists between innovation diffusion
variables highlighted in the introduction part and e-publishing adoption. This would
illuminate on the factors that drives e-publishing adoption amongst Malaysian journal
publishers.

1.7 Objectives of the Study

The objectives of this study are as follows:
[i] To determine the relevance of publishers characteristics in the adoption of e-
publishing amongst Malaysian journal publishers.
[ii] To identify key attributes and factors that are most relevant in the adoption of e-
publishing amongst Malaysian journal publishers.
[iii] To evaluate the diffusion rate of e-publishing amongst Malaysian journal
publishers.
[iv] To examine the level of implementation of e-publishing amongst Malaysian
journal publishers.

1.8 Research Questions

The study attempt to answer the following research questions:
[i] How relevant are the publishers characteristics in the adoption of e-publishing
amongst Malaysian journal publishers?
[ii] What are the key attributes and factors that are most relevant in the adoption of
e- publishing amongst Malaysian journal publishers?
[iii] What is the diffusion rate of e-publishing amongst Malaysian journal publishers?

[iv] What is the level of implementation of e-publishing amongst Malaysian journal

publishers?

1.9 Research Hypotheses

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According to Roger’s diffusion theory, innovation adoption exemplifies a process over
time, which begins with an initiation or stage of awareness, moving on to having
aperception about the attributes of the innovation, then the decision making stage
where external and internal factors comes into play to influence the decision to adopt,
and finally the adoption and implementation stage. All these stages are represented by
specific variables. Therefore, in order to answer the research questions, the following
hypothesis were formulated:
Research Hypothesis H1: There is a statistically significant relationship between field of
publishing and publication format. Research Hypothesis H2: There is a statistically
significant relationship between publishing experience and familiarity with e-journal
publishing.
Research Hypothesis H3: There is a statistically significant relationship between
publishing experience and adoption of e-journal publishing. Research Hypothesis H4:
There is a statistically significant relationship between publication age and familiarity
with e-journal publishing.
Research Hypothesis H5: There is a statistically significant relationship between
publication age and adoption of e-journal publishing. Research Hypothesis H6: There is
a statistically significant relationship between publication size and familiarity with e-
journal publishing.
Research hypothesis H7: There is a statistically significant relationship between
publication size and adoption of e-journal publishing. Research Hypothesis H8: There
is a statistically significant relationship between familiarity with e-journal publishing and
adoption of e-journal publishing.
Research Hypothesis H9: There is a statistically significant relationship between
innovativeness and familiarity with e-journal publishing.
Research Hypothesis H10: There is a statistically significant relationship between
perception about the five attributes of innovation and adoption of e-journal publishing.
Research Hypothesis H11: There is a statistically significant relationship between peer
network influence and adoption of e-journal publishing.
Research Hypothesis H12: There is a statistically significant relationship between change
agent influence and adoption of e-journal publishing. Research Hypothesis H13: There
is a statistically significant difference in the relationship between familiarity and
adoption with respects to field of publishing.
Research Hypothesis H14: There is a statistically significant difference in the relationship
between the five attributes of innovation and adoption with respects to field of
publishing Research Hypothesis H15: There is a statistically significant difference in the
relationship between peer network influence and adoption with respects to field of
publishing.
Research Hypothesis H16: There is a statistically significant difference in the relationship
between change agent influence and adoption with respects to field of publishing.

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