Awareness, knowledge, attitude and use of social media among librarians and in libraries of medical colleges of punjab: A study

Abstract

Introduction: Social media is becoming an essential part of today’s life. Even, it is hard to imagine a daily routine without social media. Libraries are the main source of creating; gathering and sharing knowledge and librarians are the information managers, and an important link creator in between a user and library resources. Social media is so powerful tool that it can disseminate a piece of information to any number of users in more secure and reliable way, thus social media can be used for delivery of library services. The present study is an attempt to know the present status awareness, knowledge and attitude of medical librarians about social media and its usage in delivery of library services. Objectives: The main aim of the study is to know the level of awareness, knowledge and use of social media applications among librarians and in libraries of medical colleges of Punjab. Method: A self-structured questionnaire was designed for the librarians to collect the relevant data from the medical colleges’ libraries of Punjab under study. The investigator personally visited all the medical colleges under study for data collection. Results: The results of study revealed that 75% of the librarians are aware of various applications of social media to be used for providing library services. 87.5% of the respondents i.e. librarians admitted that they are or will use social media applications for communication with users, followed by reference services with 75% responses. A majority of the respondents from libraries of medical colleges are not satisfied with the present infrastructure available for access of social media with 75% responses. 50% of the librarians indicated poor infrastructure as one of the major reason for dissatisfaction, followed by lack of training/ skills with 37.5% responses. Keywords: Social media, Medical librarians, Case study, Medical colleges, Punjab, Awareness, Attitude, Knowledge.