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 American International Journal of Multidisciplinary Scientific Research; Vol. 5, No. 1; 2019 

ISSN 2638-1249   E-ISSN 2638-1273 

Research Article                        Published by Centre for Research on Islamic Banking & Finance and Business 

 

12 
 

Perception of Librarians towards Use of Social Media for 

Information Service Delivery: A Conceptual Paper 
 

 

Asabe Pera Awurdi 

Department of library and information 

Faculty of Social and Management Science Library Bauchi, Campus 

Bauchi State  University Gadau, Bauchi, Nigeria 
E-mail: asabepera@gmail.com 

Tel: +234 7015321266 

 

Abstract  

This study conceptualizes how librarians perceive social media in library and information service delivery. The 

study consults and review previous research on the use of social media to provide service delivery by librarians by 

librarians. Social media encourages librarians to create new knowledge, ideas, and services and share it across their 

community of users. Service delivery is the primary function of any university library. Due to the difficult nature of 

traditional library services, libraries now embrace and adopt some social media tools for service delivery. This 

research highlighted the opportunities offer by social media to improve service delivery, the study also discuss the 

categorization of social media, types of social media, applicability of social media, challenges face by librarians 

when using social media and strategies on incorporating social media when using service delivery. Based on the 
conceptual review carried out, majority of studies reveals that librarians use social media and ICT in information 

service library and the most use form of social media is the Facebook, WhatApps and twitter, but, however, they do 

encounter obstacles in terms when using the social media. The study concludes that librarians actually use social 

media for library information service delivery, but yet there is a lot of challenges for proper use of social media in 

library and information delivery. Therefore, the study recommends that university libraries should incorporate more 

social media to provide effective services to their clients and adequate finance should be provided regularly by the 

university management to improve the use of social media in information service delivery and finally librarians 

should render more proactive and more quality social media services to meet the information needs of clients 

 

Keywords:  Social Media, Information Service Delivery, Librarians, Information  

 

1.Introduction 
The development of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), particularly the Internet has become 

pervasive that today libraries are using social media to make their services more popular and user-friendly. The 

concept of a library as a physical place where one can visit to get information is rapidly changing to a social 

cyberspace where users access information, communicate and contribute to existing body of knowledge. The social 

media has gradually crept into the library profession which has become a growing tool that is being used to 

communicate with more potential library users; extending and offering better services to users. In view of this, Tise, 

(2009) stated that the social media is a new model of online services that encourages an increased flow of 

information from the library to users and from users back to the library. 

The evolution of the Internet and World Wide Web (WWW) has transformed the whole globe and presents 

a new way of communication. The limitless connectivity and potential to create an open social order and system of 
interaction and collaboration have been made possible only because of the development in information and 

communication technologies (Parveen, 2011). Therefore, social media is viewed as a platform for serving patrons in 

a more specialized, interactive and value added way. Ezeani & Eke (2011) stated that the most applicable 

technology for library services is the social media tools where librarians can interact with their users to study their 

needs and give a feedback; photo sharing, and where archival pictures can be posted to users or uploaded on the 

library website. Social media encourages librarians to create new knowledge, ideas, and services and share it across 

their community of users. As such, users are therefore exposed to an ever greater variety of knowledge, and 

improved information service delivery. Furthermore, librarians would gain advice and expertises on issues that arise 

in their professional work as a result of their interaction on social media (Gruber, 2008).Libraries by their orientation 

are service providers; the satisfaction of the clientele has always been their objectives and goals. Thus, the library 

provides various types of resources and services in order to meet up with the needs of its users. Nevertheless, these 

mailto:asabepera@gmail.com


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resources are selected, acquired, organized and stored for the purpose of meeting up with its user’s information 

needs. Academic libraries are one of those numerous types of libraries that exist in the information world. In view of 

this, Edoka (2000) defined academic libraries as “libraries that are found in most institutions of higher learning such 

as polytechnics, colleges of education and universities”. He maintained that librarians are in charge of higher 

learning institutions’ libraries; they perform and render different kinds of services to its users still in the old 

traditional way. However, with advancement in technology, librarians are now turning to social media for 
information service delivery of their clientele and also to meet up their professional needs and demands. Therefore, 

Social media according to Ezeah, Asogwu and Edogor (2013), referred to modern interactive communication 

channels through which people connect to one another, share ideas, experiences, pictures, messages and information 

of common interest. On their part, Gupta, Gautham & Khare, (2014) refers to it as means of connecting members of 

various internet communities. 

Son the basis of the above, social media offers boundless opportunities that are highly valued for their 

ability to connect libraries with users who may be unaware of their existence. Thus, providing specialized 

information service delivery. Mathews, (2008) suggested that librarians can create services that are more responsive 

and attuned to the changing needs of users. In the same vein Sadeh, (2007) argued that making social media 

presence remains pertinent and fundamental to meet users’ expectations particularly the younger ones. Therefore, to 

effectively deploy these social media for information service delivery, librarians must be to embrace it. Meanwhile, 

Bradley & McDonald (2011) stated that there are barriers that prevent the use of social media such as perceptions of 
social media as a triviality, security issues or lack of understanding of social media. Hence, the objective of this 

study is perception of librarians towards use of social media for service delivery. The concept is important today, for 

instance, internet live statistics presents that over 3 trillion of people globally are using the Internet out of which 

about 74% are engaged in social media tools (Internet live statistic, 2015). Hence, this study explored the 

perceptions of librarians on using social media to promote library service delivery to both existing and potential 

users (students and lecturers). On the basis of this, this study would pay attention to find out what challenges 

librarians face when using social media in service delivery, discuss the categorization of social media, talk on the 

types of social media, discuss the applicability of social media in library service delivery, talk on the merits and 

demerits of social media and possible strategies on incorporating social media in library service.  

 

2. Literature Review 

2.1 The Concept of Social Media 

Chitumbo, (2015) defined social media as online tools whose principle aim is to offer social interactions and 

exchange of items/products between and or among people with common interests.  According to him Social media 

presents an opportunity to librarians to use them and render service and meet the demand of users as it is popular 

among students and the young generation. It is a fact that developments in the area of ICTs brought about the 

existence of social media which has gradually become an indispensable tool for librarians in the area of information 

service delivery. The use of social media has affected the operations and information service delivery of libraries, as 

it provides librarians with innovative and effective ways of interaction and collaboration with their users (Ayodele, 

2009). The concept enjoys attentions of researcher one of them is Denis, (2018) who posit that social media is a tool 

used for transmitting the idea or thought or information between one to another and understanding through the 

interaction; in other words, it is the act of sharing or exchanging information, ideas or feelings. Meanwhile, in the 

field of library and information science, social media can actually help to promote the services of library and 
information centers to develop the proficiency about technology of professionals and other side like users.  

In addition, Akporhonor & Olise (2015) define social media as a tools that librarians can use for library 

services in order to maintain their relevance in this century. They added that social media are new media for 

effective promotion of library and information services. Furthermore, Olufunke, A.O. (2017) sees it as a medium 

that connect libraries to their patrons outside the physical buildings and build relationships with them. Due to its 

advantages, observations show that globally, many university libraries have embraced the use of social media in 

their library services.  Social media is highly valuable for its ability to connect libraries with users; they are also vital 

tools which help the librarians to generate, disseminate, exchange and share information as well as to gather 

knowledge.  Social media also has the capacity of improving librarians’ professional skills in order to compete and 

work effectively in a rapid changing environment (Onuoha, 2013). With the potentials embodied in social media for 

effective information service delivery, different types of social media exist, notably among them are Facebook, 
Twitter, Linkedin, Blogs, Myspace, YouTube, and Flickr are available to the librarians for information service 

delivery. 

On their part, Ezeani & Igwesi (2012) identified six types of social media available to Nigeria Information 

Professionals “Facebook, Myspace, Blogs, Wikis, Linkedin, Twitter, YouTube, and Flickr”. They argue that they 



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are used for outreach, marketing of library collection, transfer and dissemination of information to users. However, 

Alyson (2012) added that “Facebook and Twitter are capable and are important tools for information dissemination, 

while Blogs and Youtube are used to share information. 

On this note, the use of social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, Wikis, RSS feeds, YouTube, etc. in 

the delivery of library and information services has become necessary for the survival of university libraries. As a 

result of this, university libraries are incorporating new technologies such as social media in order to remain relevant 
in their universities and to meet the information needs of their patrons. For instance, Facebook is used for 

communication between librarians and their patrons. Library patrons can communicate with librarians for enquiries. 

They also receive information on their enquiries. Facebook is used for sharing of information and marketing library 

services. Social media enable communication among libraries and their users thereby serving as an opportunity for 

information dissemination and the marketing of new services. Social media are used for marketing of library 

products and services, announce news and for fund raising. Instant messaging is used to enhance reference service 

delivery processes.   Social media are platforms that enable communication among libraries and their users thereby 

serving as an opportunity for information dissemination.  They are used as tools by librarians and other information 

professionals to reach their patrons irrespective of their locations. They are platforms to share information, promote 

and market new services. Many organisations are applying social media to improve their services and interact with 

their clients. On the other hand, Service delivery is the primary function of any university library. The cumbersome 

nature and the inadequacies of traditional library services have prompted university libraries to adopt social media in 
library service delivery.  However, one of the challenges facing library services in university libraries in Nigeria is 

the unwillingness of the librarians to incorporate ICT in terms of knowledge and skills to implement the modern 

library services (Ojedokun &Ayoka, 2015). Many library staff in academic institutions still relies only on the 

manual ways of rendering library services and do not bother acquiring competencies to incorporate the fast-growing 

technological trends in the profession.  

 

3. Categorization of Social Media Tools 

White, Mary Gormandy (2014) stated that categories of social media includes but not limited to the following: 

 

 Social Connections: Keeping in touch with friends and family members is one of the greatest benefits of 

social networking. Facebook, Twitter, Google + and MySpace are some of the most widely-used websites 
for building social connections online.  

 Multimedia Sharing: Social networking platform makes it easy to share video and managing digital 

photography content online. Some of the most popular sites for multimedia sharing are YouTube, Flickr 

and   Picasa. 

 Professional: Professional social networks are designed to provide opportunities for career-related growth. 

Professionals here connect, while others are focused on specific occupations or interests. A few examples 

of professional social networks are LinkedIn, Classroom  

 Informational: Informational communities are made up of people seeking answers to everyday problems.  

For example, when you are thinking about starting a home improvement project or want to learn how to go 

green at home, you may perform a web search and discover countless blogs, websites, and forums filled 

with people who are looking for the same kind of information. A few examples include:  Super Green, 

HGTV Discussion Forums, HGTV message boards, Do-It-Yourself Community.  
 Educational: Educational networks are where many students go in order to collaborate with other students  

on academic projects, to conduct research for school, or to interact with professors and teachers via blogs  

and classroom forums. Examples of such educational social networks are Student Room, the Math, forum 

and ePALS ,School Blog.  

 Hobbies: One of the most popular reasons many people use the Internet is to conduct research on their 

favorite projects or topics of interest related to personal hobbies. When people find a website based on their 

favorite hobby, they discover a whole community of people from around the world who share the same  

passion for those interests.  Examples of hobby-focused social networking sites include, Oh My Bloom, My 

Place at Scrapbook.com and Sport Shouting  

 Academic: Academic researchers who want to share their research and review results achieved by 

colleagues may find academic-specific social networking to be quite valuable. Examples of online 
communities for academics include Academia.edu and Connotea Collaborative Research. Moreover, 

Kaplan & Haenlein (2010), adds to the categorization of social media to include: Collaborative Project (for 

example, Wikipedia), Blogs and micro blogs (for example, Twitter), Social news networking sites (for 

example, Digg and Leakernet), content communities (for example, YouTube and Daily Motion), Social 



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networking sites (for example, Facebook), Virtual game-worlds (for example, World of Warcraft), and 

Virtual social worlds (for example, Second Life). 

 

4. Merits and Demerits of Social Media 

People from all walks of life, regardless of their skin colour, education, social status, and nationality, use social 

media, gradually the benefits of using social media is spreading. Today, social media have improved the way people 
and industries transact, communicate and create relationships with colleagues, peers and or prospective clients. On 

this note, the following are merits and demerits of social media. 

Merits of social media 

 Worldwide Connectivity  

 Commonality of Interest  

 Real-Time Information Sharing  

 Free Advertising  

 Increased News Cycle Speed  

 Demerits of social media 

 Face to Face Connections are endangered  

 Cyber bullying and Crimes against Children  

 Risks of Fraud or Identity Theft  
 Time Waster  

 Corporate Invasion of Privacy  

 Negative Health Consequences  

 Diminishing Privacy  

 

5. Types of Social Media 

Social media are platform that connect people who share interests, activities, backgrounds or real-life connections.  

 Profile-based SNS: Profile-based services are primarily organized around members' profile pages. Bebo, 

Facebook and MySpace, are all good examples of this. Users often include third party content in order to 

enhance their profiles, or as a way of including information from other web services and SNS.  

  Content-based SNS: In these services, the user's profile remains an important way of organizing 
connections, but plays a secondary role to the posting of content. Content-based communities include 

Flickr, Shelfari, and  YouTube.com. 

  White-label SNS: Most SNS offer some group-building functionality, which allows users to form their 

own mini-communities within sites. Platforms such as Ning and People Aggregator 

broadbandmechanics.com. 

  Multi-User Virtual Environments: Sites such as second life, an online virtual world, allow users to interact 

with each other’s avatars – a virtual representation of the site member.  

 Mobile SNS: Many social network sites such as MySpace, MYUBO and Twitter offer mobile phone 

versions of their services that allowing members to interact with their networks via their phones. 

Increasingly, too, there are mobile–led and mobile-only based communities allows users to share and view 

video over mobile networks.  

 Micro-blogging/ Presence updates: Micro-blogging services such as Twitter and Jaiku allow you to 
publish short (140 characters, including spaces) messages publicly or within contact groups. 

  People Search: People search is another important web development. There are various kinds of social and  

people search, but sites like Wink generate results by searching across the public profiles of multiple social 

network sites allows search by name, interest, location and other information published in profiles and 

allowing the creation of Web-based "dossiers" on individuals. Other types of social media include RSS 

feed, Wiki, Twitter, Instant messaging, Slideshare, Blogs, Whatapps, Myspace, Podcast,Linkdeln, 

Reseachgate and so on. 

 

6. Applicability of Social Media in Library Service Delivery 

User approach towards library is changing gradually; it wants most practical and speedily information in e- learning 

age. But retrieve quick and easy information to user is a big challenge to library professional. Social media helps 
library professional to share information with users in the easiest way for digital library environment. The possible 

implication of social media can be successful by conducting maximum research and experiment on social 

networking from different point of view on library. Social media tools were helpful in promoting library service 

delivery. There is an urgent need for libraries to adopt the new social media tools in their services as a strategy to 



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embrace change while promoting a participatory role for library users in knowledge creation.  Some of the 

applicability of social media in library and Information  Include, understanding and articulating the nature of social 

media, creating webpage and  content, establishing friendly user interface over the network, creating online database 

management, evaluating  and applying information, and assisting users with skill acquisition, searching and 

navigating the web, creating social network space, teaching, and providing  quality online library services, 

performing Reference Desk (VRD) through the use of Wikipedia  
 

7. Challenges Librarians Face when using Social Media to Provide Services? 

According to Olufunke, (2017) librarians are face with enormous challenges but most common one are: 

 Inadequate ICT facilities in the library 

 Poor internet access 

 Lack of finance 

 Epileptic poor supply 

 Lack of management support 

 Lack of corporation among staff 

 Lack of ICT skills 

 Lack of awareness of social media tools 

 Lack of personal knowledge 

 Poor maintenance of e-library 

These are some of the challenges that hinder proper implementation of social media in library service delivery, 

however great commitment of all stakeholders should be put in place to overcome the challenges. 

8. Possible Strategies on Incorporating Social Media in Library Service Delivery 

According to Chitumbo, (2015) the following are some of the possible strategies to incorporate social media in to 

library service delivery. 

 

  Libraries can create social links such as Facebook page, fan-pages and library blogs onto the library 

website. Such platforms would allow interaction between library and users and among users. They can also 

be used as marketing tools for library resources and services, while students would be able to access and 

share concerns and experiences on library services with peers.  
 Library can create accounts for all students on social media platforms to ensure easy and equal participation 

among users on the available network. By creating accounts for students they will comfortably use their 

mobile gadgets to access library services via social links.  

  Libraries should create a position for social media librarian who should be responsible for all activities on 

social media.  

  Establish an social media policy to guide the use of social media on the institutional network 

 

9. Conclusion 

Based on the conceptual review carried out, majority of studies on social media and use of ICT in library and 

information science agrees that Nigerian librarians actually use social media for effective  service delivery and the 
most use form of social media is the Facebook, WhatApps and twitter, but, however, they do encounter obstacles in 

terms of poor communication of the network, conducive environment, poor network, lack of maintenance of e-

library, inadequate computers to serve all the library user and inability of the library users to adapt to changing 

social media role in library service delivery as some of them resist the use of social media for research and prefer the 

old traditional method. The study also understood from the previous studies that Facebook is most use, but users 

normally browse for socialization rather than academic purpose. However, this study conclude that librarians 

actually use social media for library information service delivery, but yet a lot of challenges for proper use of social 

media in library and information delivery exists, hence the need to address those challenges, therefore, the study 

recommends that university libraries should incorporate more social media to provide effective services to their 

clients and adequate finance should be provided regularly by the university management to improve the use of social 

media in information service delivery and finally librarians should render more proactive and more quality social 

media services to meet the information needs of clients. 
 

 



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