Adoption of social media for scholarly use in Bishop Stuart University Mbarara, Uganda

Abstract

The 21st century has been an era of remarkable advances that have revolutionized the world in ways that the previous generations could not imagine. The emergence of the information age has been a critical driver of this transformation, ushering in the fourth and fifth industrial revolutions (4IR and 5IR), which have brought about unprecedented levels of innovation and progress. The advancements in academic libraries have displayed notable progress, particularly in connection with social media's influence, and this has generated significant interest in its adoption and utilization. The research analyzed how academic libraries use social media tools to promote scholarly engagement among users, using Bishop Stuart University Library as a case study. The objectives were to identify the social media tools used, assess their impact on supporting scholarly activities, identify challenges, and propose measures to enhance social media utilization across academic libraries in Uganda. The study employed a mixed methods research design, combining qualitative and quantitative methods to capture participants' experiences utilizing social media tools for academic endeavors. The target population comprised 9,183 individuals, including 368 registered library users intended for the quantitative segment and 5 librarians contributing to the qualitative aspect. Data was gathered using questionnaires, interviews, and observation techniques. The findings unveiled that BSUL adopted social media tools for scholarly purposes, including WhatsApp, Facebook, and Blogs, for activities such as disseminating information to users, providing reference services, sending reminders, and utilizing WhatsApp for current awareness services and instant communication with users and lecturers. It was also discovered that library users had subscribed to various social media tools including YouTube, Twitter, WhatsApp, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and LinkedIn for purposes such as knowledge sharing, research, social interaction, and communication with librarians, among other uses. Furthermore, both librarians and library users encountered various challenges when incorporating social media for scholarly purposes. Librarians highlighted key challenges such as unstable power supply, hesitance towards social media usage, scarcity of social media-trained librarians, absence of social media policies, staff shortages, and insufficient computers with unreliable internet connections. Library users also mentioned obstacles like financial constraints, electricity supply issues, university policies, lack of smartphones and laptops, slow internet, limited computers with consistent internet access, absence of social media-trained librarians, and inadequate awareness about social media tools. Drawing from these findings, the study proposed recommendations to enhance the integration and utilization of social media at BSUL, including defining specific purposes for social media tools, implementing policies to regulate their usage, and enhancing user services.