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Analysis of technological, individual and community factors influencing the use of popular Web 2.0 tools in LIS education

Chokri Barhoumi (Department of Information Sciences and Learning Resources, Taibah University, Al Madinah Al Munawarah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia)

The Electronic Library

ISSN: 0264-0473

Article publication date: 2 October 2017

748

Abstract

Purpose

This research paper aims to explore the technological, individual and community factors influencing the use of popular Web 2.0 tools in library and information science (LIS) education to prepare LIS students for Library 2.0. The study was guided by the activity theory (AT) and technology acceptance model (TAM) of Davis as a lens. The study reveals a set of factors concerning the technical tools, subjective perceptions, goals of online discussion, social presence within a community, rules for participation and roles of the participants that affect their online engagement patterns.

Design/methodology/approach

This study was performed during the 2015 academic year; it used a descriptive analytical research approach for exploring and analysing technological, individual and community factors influencing the use of the popular Web 2.0 tools in LIS education.

Findings

The results show that at the technological level of the AT, educators in the sample found the WhatsApp instant messaging and Twitter to be the easiest tools to use, selecting those tools at, respectively, 73.2 per cent (standard deviation = 0.450) and 61.1 per cent (standard deviation = 0.490). WhatsApp and Twitter also lead at the individual level of the AT, as the most valuable platforms for sharing information and knowledge. Video, text and photo objects are the most commonly shared items, used by 90.7, 93.5 and 98.9 per cent, respectively.

Originality/value

This study may be useful to help information science educators to prepare graduates for the emerging Web 2.0 environments and to prepare students for Library 2.0.

Keywords

Citation

Barhoumi, C. (2017), "Analysis of technological, individual and community factors influencing the use of popular Web 2.0 tools in LIS education", The Electronic Library, Vol. 35 No. 5, pp. 977-993. https://doi.org/10.1108/EL-03-2016-0069

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited

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