Search results

The purpose of this paper is to revisit and update Palmer and Choi (2014), which conducted a descriptive literature review on open source software (OSS) studies published by the end of February 2013 in the library context.

The same article search and filtering procedures used in Palmer and Choi (2014) were used, resulting in a total sample size of 105 articles. These articles were then examined based on the same six variables (i.e. publication year, publication outlet, software type, article type, library type and article topic) from Palmer and Choi (2014) along with two new variables (i.e., study country and prolific authors).

The volume of research articles was found to be in a downwards trend since 2010. As suggested by Palmer and Choi (2014), survey research increased and was found to be the second most popular article type. Regarding library types, the proportion of articles in the context of academic and research libraries was found to have expanded even further. As to article topics, perceptions, which investigates users’ (or non-users’) various perceptions towards OSS, was newly added and was ranked fourth. Given the maturity of the research stream, two new variables (i.e., study country and prolific authors) were examined, and the findings from analyzing them are also presented.

By examining library OSS articles published between March 2013 and February 2022, this study uncovers changes and developments in the research since Palmer and Choi (2014), which provides a picture of where the research stands now with several updated and new implications.

The purpose of this study is to examine research on academic libraries and the social web published from July 1, 2019, to June 30, 2023.

The article search and filtering procedures mirrored those of Choi and Harper (2020) and Carlsson (2015), resulting in a total sample size of 93 articles. These articles underwent examination based on the same eight variables (i.e. journal outlet, research theme, publication year, social web type, method, keyword, study participant type and study country) as employed by Choi and Harper (2020) and Carlsson (2015), with the addition of two new variables (i.e. research purpose and the impact of COVID-19).

The research article volume has consistently maintained a stable trend. A notable difference from Choi and Harper (2020) and Carlsson (2015) is the rise of “user perspectives” as the second most prevalent theme. Unlike Choi and Harper (2020), the “survey” method is predominant. Many research purposes, excluding “marketing and promotion,” lack attention. Additionally, there’s a dearth of studies on the impact of COVID-19.

The findings from the study not only offer a snapshot of the current research landscape on academic libraries and their engagement with the social web but also offer insights for future scholarly endeavors.

There is a limited effort in exploring the recent literature regarding the role of the social web in academic libraries. This study serves as a valuable guide for contributing to this dynamic research stream and provides various up-to-date implications.

Similarly to Choi and Pruett (2019), which addressed open source software (OSS) adoption in the academic library context, this study aims to examine barriers and drivers to OSS adoption and to provide a snapshot of the current state of OSS adoption in US public libraries.

An online survey of the public library staff members who oversee information systems/technology in their library was conducted. A total number of 288 valid responses were used for data analysis.

A range of barriers and drivers to OSS adoption in US public libraries were revealed, but, unlike academic libraries, awareness was found to be a barrier. Additionally, the vast majority of the non-adopters showed very low levels of OSS adoption intent in the near future, more than that which was indicated by academic libraries.

Several practical implications tailored for public libraries are provided, such as promoting OSS awareness among public libraries in rural and town areas, the importance of the initial trial/adoption and funding and marketing towards public libraries with small service population sizes and so on.

Following Choi and Pruett (2019) which examined OSS adoption in the academic library context, this study conducted a similar online survey with US public libraries and made several contributions to the literature and to the public library field.

The purpose of this paper is to update Carlsson (2015), which examined the research on public libraries and the social web published from 2006 to 2012, and it also intends to go beyond Carlsson (2015) by including six additional variables.

Literature searches were performed against Web of Science Core Collection and EBSCOhost databases. By adapting Carlsson’s (2015) three level key phrase searches, which were then complemented by chain searching, a total of 60 articles were identified and analyzed.

In comparison to Carlsson (2015), this study shows that the recent research, published between 2012 and 2018, leans toward a more general acceptance of the social web’s usage to improve the services provided by public libraries; that the public library is rarely premised to be in a state of crisis; and that the social web is mostly perceived as having a complementary relationship with librarianship and library services. The findings from analyzing the six additional variables are also presented.

The findings from this study provide LIS professionals a greater understanding of where the research stands on the topic at present, and this study also identifies gaps in the literature to offer insight into the areas where future research can be directed.

Given the continued popularity of social web usage among public libraries, this study examines the literature published on the social web in the public library context between 2012 and 2018 and offers implications and future research suggestions.

The purpose of this paper is to identify barriers and drivers to open source software (OSS) adoption, and measures awareness and adoption stages of OSS in US academic libraries.

An online survey of chief information officers, chief technology officers or heads for IT in US academic libraries was conducted. A total number of 179 responses were used for data analysis.

From the survey, the authors identify significant barriers and drivers that US academic libraries may consider before adopting OSS and found that awareness itself is not a barrier. While about half of respondents confirmed using OSS, the authors found surprisingly low levels of intent to adopt from current non-adopters.

This research offers insights for promoting OSS adoption. Also, it provides funding agencies and administrators with guidelines to encourage successful deployment of OSS in higher education.

While extant research is mostly anecdotal, this research draws from an online survey to snap-shot the current state of OSS adoption in US academic libraries and provides a baseline for practice and research.

The purpose of this paper is to identify challenges and motivators to social media adoption for marketing purposes in public libraries and to investigate how these libraries perceive the importance of social media marketing.

A nation-wide online survey on public libraries in the USA was conducted to carry out this study, and a total number of 470 responses were used for data analysis.

This study determined a range of challenges and motivators to implementing social media for marketing in public libraries. The results also showed that public libraries perceive social media as an important tool for their library marketing and intend to increase their use.

The findings from this study can serve as a guideline for public libraries when employing social media for marketing purposes in their libraries.

This study assessed the current state of social media use for marketing in the public library context, a context that has been under-researched in the literature, from three perspectives: challenges, motivators, and perceptions.

This study aims to investigate the factors affecting students’ continuance intention to use online library resources (OLRs) in the context of academic libraries. Based on an extended expectation confirmation theory (ECT), the effects of usefulness, confirmation and resource quality on continuance intention to use OLRs were examined.

To empirically test the model, a survey study was conducted. Data were collected from 606 student library users at a large state university in the USA. The collected data were analysed quantitatively to answer seven hypotheses using partial least squares method.

The findings revealed that both usefulness and confirmation had a positive direct and indirect influence on continuance intention. Also, the effect of resource quality on continuance intention was found to be significant. Satisfaction had a mediating effect on the relationship between usefulness, confirmation and resource quality, and continuance intention.

This study is one of the first attempts that adopted the ECT to understand students’ continuance intention to use OLRs. In addition, the effect of the multiple dimensions of resource quality – accessibility, credibility, coverage, and format – on users’ continuance intention to use OLRs was investigated.

The purpose of this paper is twofold: to explore what kinds of social media content public libraries create to communicate with users online, and to examine the relationships between social media content types and corresponding levels of user engagement.

The sample comprises 4,637 Facebook posts collected from 151 public libraries across the USA. The authors identified ten types of Facebook posts based on the open coding, and calculated the degrees of user engagement for each type of Facebook post, represented by the numbers of likes, shares and comments. Also, The authors examined the effects of the inclusions of images or video clips on user engagement.

The authors observed that the most frequent type of post was related to announcing upcoming events held in libraries. This study also found that posts about community news or emotionally inspiring messages elicited much engagement from users. Posts having an image or images tend to receive more user engagement.

Based on the findings of this study, the authors discussed practical strategies for public libraries to effectively use social media to better facilitate user engagement.

This study is one of a few attempts that examine the relationships between the types of social media content and the degrees of user engagement in public library environments. Also, the authors have proposed a coding scheme useful to analyze social media content in the context of public libraries.

As libraries face budget cuts, open source integrated library systems are an attractive alternative to proprietary choices. Even though open source software is free to acquire, administrators must consider factors other than initial purchase price. This study aims to provide direction and context for libraries considering migration to an open source integrated library system.

The comparison is qualitative and uses case studies, license agreements and copyright law, and user manuals and brochures. These comparisons divide into four areas: functions, adoption and technical support, usability, and economics.

Major functions that libraries need in an integrated library system are available for open source software. There are no significant differences in usability between open source and proprietary integrated library systems. Internal IT provides a significant role in open source adoption. The relatively new type of open source software licensing may cause confusion for libraries and software developers.

This study considers initial migrations to open source integrated library systems as a key component in overall software adoption. The study qualitatively examines the migration process comparing extant case studies. In addition, the examination of licensing agreements and copyright as well as a comparative review of essential functions are provided.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the general public’s information needs concerning open source software (OSS) and OSS answerers’ motivations for sharing their knowledge of OSS in social Q&A.

Two studies were carried out. In Study 1, a content analysis classifying OSS-related questions posted during December 2005-December 2012 in Yahoo! Answers was employed to investigate the general public’s information needs regarding OSS. In Study 2, an online survey was conducted with OSS answerers in Yahoo! Answers in order to examine what motivates them to share and continue to share their knowledge of OSS in social Q&A. In total, 1,463 invitations were sent out via Yahoo! Answers’ internal e-mail function to those who provided answers to OSS-related questions during September 2009-September 2012. In total, 150 usable surveys were returned and used for data analysis.

The findings from Study 1 indicate that the general public is most interested in finding out if there is OSS that meets their software need in a certain category (51.4 percent). Other popular question categories include the general description of OSS (15.6 percent), technical issues that they have with OSS (9.8 percent), and the advantages/disadvantages of using OSS (7.0 percent). Results on OSS answerers’ motivations from Study 2 support that all seven motivations identified (i.e. altruism, enjoyment, ideology, learning, reputation, reciprocity, and self-efficacy) are important, with the smallest mean value being 4.42 out of seven (i.e. reciprocity). However, only altruism, ideology, self-efficacy, and enjoyment were found to significantly influence contribution continuance intention.

With social Q&A growing in popularity, OSS communities that look for ways to draw in more users from the general public are recommended to increase their presence in social Q&A. The findings with regard to OSS answerers’ motivations can also help OSS community leaders attract and guide more members who are interested in sharing their OSS knowledge in social Q&A.

By classifying OSS-related questions that are publicly available in Yahoo! Answers, this study offers a breakdown of the general public’s information needs regarding OSS. In addition, results on OSS answerers’ motivations suggest that in order to sustain their member contributions in social Q&A, OSS community leaders should pay more attention to nurturing the motivations that are intrinsic (i.e. altruism, self-efficacy, enjoyment) and integrated (i.e. ideology).