Explorations of electronic outreach – the Republic Polytechnic Library experience
By: Francy Chong and Yit Chin Chuan. pp. 1-13.
Abstract:
The Republic Polytechnic Library explored the use of electronic platforms such as emails, blogs and Facebook to reach out to its intended audience. Survey results indicate that 13% of library users did not read emails from the library and steps should be taken to improve the library’s outreach to users. It was found that about 60% of the students surveyed at Republic Polytechnic used Facebook. The results suggest that libraries should continually assess the effectiveness of their user outreach platforms and approaches and whether new technologies and media should be adopted.
Information needs and seeking behaviour of Business students
By: Shaheen Majid, Iftikah Hayat, Rashna Phiroze Patel and Srivatson Vijayaraghavan. pp. 14-35.
Abstract:
Information needs and seeking behaviour of library users are changing due to several factors such as availability of information in multiple formats, new information discovery and delivery channels particularly mobile devices, changes in scholarly communications, and the entrance of new players in publishing and information provision. The main objective of this study was to investigate information needs, information seeking behaviour and usage of different information sources by MBA students in Singapore. Data was collected through a pre-tested questionnaire, using the snowball sampling technique. It was found that the basic purposes of seeking information by the students were for writing assignments, conducting case study analyses, and preparing for student presentations and class discussions. Mostly students were looking for information about market research, financial information, economic news, and industry trends. Electronic information sources were considered more important than printed sources. The paper suggests certain measures for improving information literacy skills of students to make them more competent information users.
Impact of a new discovery service at Li Ka Shing Library
By: Yeo Pin Pin. pp. 36-50.
Abstract:
At the Li Ka Shing Library, an evaluation of discovery systems was done with one system selected and implemented in a short time frame. The evaluation and the implementation were described. A survey to measure user satisfaction with the new discovery service was conducted and the results analyzed. Based on the results of the survey, the actions taken by the Library to improve the discovery service were discussed. The usage of electronic resources was compared pre- and post-implementation of the discovery system.
Asia-Pacific libraries on Facebook: Content analysis on posts and interactions
By: Catherine Tan, Sum Wai Yuan Hedren, Frank Seah Eng Kiat, V.Somasundram & Evelyn Wong. pp. 65-88.
Abstract: A study was conducted on 82 university library Facebook pages across 52 Asia-Pacific universities. The popularity of these Facebook pages was analysed and they reached an overall average of 9.4% of their user population. The study also analysed the Facebook posts from August to November 2011. These library posts were examined and classified into seven categories – Promotion (39%), Interests (14%), Announcements (13%), News (8%), Activities (3%), Enquiries (2%) and Feedback (2%). Each library post received an average of 3 interactions. The majority (83%) of the interactions were expressed through post likes while the remaining were expressed through comments. This paper aims to provide a better understanding of Asia-Pacific university libraries’ use of Facebook and how effective are university libraries in using Facebook pages.