scholarly journals The Presence of Web 2.0 Applications Is Associated with the Overall Service Quality of Library Websites

2011 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 61
Author(s):  
Leslie Bussert

A Review of: Chua, A. Y. K., & Goh, D. H. (2010). A study of Web 2.0 applications in library websites. Library & Information Science Research, 32(3), 203-211. Objective – To determine the prevalence and use of web 2.0 applications in library websites and to determine whether or not their presence enhances the quality of the sites. Design – Content analysis. Setting – Public and academic libraries in North America, Europe, and Asia. Subjects – A total of 120 academic and public library websites in English. Methods – This study identified and selected library websites from academic and public libraries using a combination of directories, ratings reports, and ranking lists from three geographic regions. Over a four-month period in 2009, three coders conducted a three-step content analysis of the selected library websites. This analysis was conducted after having established inter-coder reliability using Cohen’s Kappa and analytic procedure familiarity, using a randomly selected pilot set of 30 library websites. The remaining 90 websites were evenly distributed among the three coders for analysis. They determined whether web 2.0 applications were present, examined how those applications were used, and gave an overall appraisal of website quality. Coders inspected library website links, conducted site searches, used search engines, and searched within major social networking sites to determine the presence of web 2.0 applications. A quality framework classification scheme was used during coding to identify how the web 2.0 applications were being used within library websites. This framework was established around four dimensions of library services: information acquisition (blogs and wikis), information dissemination (Rich Site Summary, or “RSS”), information organization (social tagging), and information sharing (social networking and instant messaging). A five-point Likert scale was also used in concert with a website quality evaluation framework to assess the quality of the library websites. This framework included three aspects of website quality: system quality, information quality, and service quality. A combination of statistical techniques such as Chi-square analysis, Cramer’s V, analysis of variance, Tukey’s statistic, and multiple regression were then used to analyze the findings. Main Results – Web 2.0 applications have been adopted by libraries across North America, Europe, and Asia. The most popular web 2.0 applications were blogs (56.6%), RSS (50%), and instant messaging services (46.6%) while less prevalent were social networking services (20%), wikis (16.6%), and social tagging applications (16.6%). The extent of libraries’ adoption of web 2.0 applications also varied according to region. North American libraries used all web 2.0 applications most consistently and were more attuned to heavier users, particularly with regard to information sharing applications (e.g., instant messaging, social networking). European libraries lagged behind those in Asia in embracing information acquisition applications (e.g., blogs, wikis) but were comparable to other regions. Social networking services and instant messaging were strongly associated with region; RSS, blogs, and social tagging showed moderate to moderately strong associations; and only wikis did not demonstrate a statistically significant association with region. This study also identified how web 2.0 applications were being used. Blogs were used to generate interest, engage users, and endear users to library personnel, while wikis culled resources from users thematically. RSS feeds communicated news, events or resource updates, and were also used in combination with library blogs. Social tagging invited users to save, organize, and share information, while some websites used librarian-generated tags for search and discovery or included them as tag clouds in library blogs. Instant messaging was used to assist users synchronously during scheduled timeslots; meanwhile, social networking sites offered alternate channels to communicate and build connections with users. The authors found a relationship between website quality and the presence of web 2.0 applications based on the criteria presented in their quality evaluation framework. Applications facilitating information sharing (i.e., social networks and instant messaging) had a stronger influence on a website’s overall quality than those being used for information acquisition and dissemination (i.e., RSS, wikis, and blogs). Web 2.0 applications among academic and public libraries shared a similar level of presence on the library websites; therefore, the type of library is not associated with the quality of the library website. North American websites tended to be higher in quality than European or Asian library websites, and differences in quality between European and Asian sites were insignificant. Conclusion – This study reveals that libraries in various geographic regions adopt web 2.0 applications differently. Web 2.0 applications in library websites enhance users’ experience with library resources and support their interests. Library websites are implementing web 2.0 applications in a myriad of ways, including using these applications in concert with one another to increase user engagement. The presence of web 2.0 applications strongly affects service quality but only weakly influences information quality.

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana K. Wakimoto

A Review of: Boateng, F., & Liu, Y. Q. (2014). Web 2.0 applications’ usage and trends in top US academic libraries. Library Hi Tech, 32(1), 120-138. doi:10.1108/LHT-07-2013-0093 Abstract Objective – To explore Web 2.0 application use in academic libraries through determining: Web 2.0 applications used, the purpose of using these applications, and how the use of Web 2.0 is changing. Design – Exploratory survey of academic library websites using content analysis of websites, blogs, and social networking service platforms. Setting – Websites of academic libraries in the United States, blog platforms, and social networking services. Subjects – 100 academic libraries. Methods – The researchers based their selection of academic library websites on the US News & World Report’s 2013 list of the top 100 best colleges in the United States. The authors created a checklist to determine which Web 2.0 technologies were used by the academic libraries on their websites and for what purposes. The researchers searched for Web 2.0 applications on the main page and one subpage down from the main page. The researchers also used keyword searches on the library’s website to find Web 2.0 applications and searched blog platforms and social networking sites. Main Results – The authors found that Facebook and Twitter were the most popular Web 2.0 applications and that all of the libraries analyzed used social networking services. Blogs were the second most popular Web 2.0 tool at 99% participation rate, followed closely by RSS (97%) and instant messaging (91%). Libraries used these Web 2.0 tools for information sharing including: outreach, promotion, providing online reference services, subject guides, tutorials, highlighting resources, and posting announcements. Conclusion – The academic libraries analyzed in this study use Web 2.0 applications to a much greater extent than previous research had shown. The researchers expect to see increased use of Web 2.0 applications by academic libraries in the coming years. They suggest that future research focus on Web 2.0 use by historically black colleges in the United States and on collaboration between academic libraries and other academic units when offering Web 2.0 services.


Author(s):  
Berislav Andrlic ◽  
Ezendu Ariwa

This chapter explores the usage of Web 2.0 technologies in determining the level of quality of Websites in the Croatian hotel industry. Namely, in order to determine the level of quality, it is necessary to identify the characteristics of Websites qualitatively and quantitatively. From the data obtained, it is possible to determine the degree of information compliance with the wishes and needs of potential clients. As the basis of primary research, the authors use the original model evaluation on a selected sample of hotels in Croatia.


Author(s):  
Ravi S. Sharma ◽  
Dwight Tan ◽  
Winston Cheng

This paper examines how Web 2.0 may be used in organizations to support business intelligence activities. Five leading professional services firms in the Energy, IT, software and health industries were used as the field research sites and action research performed on their Web 2.0 tools and environment. Business intelligence was the most significant driver of service value to their clients. From the data, five key findings were observed on the strategic use of Web 2.0 in the leading services firms. Firstly, the firm is aware that social networking tools can improve employees’ performance. Secondly, there are more tools for tacit-to-tacit and tacit-to-explicit knowledge transfer than explicit-to-explicit and explicit-to-tacit. Thirdly, the firm has a higher number of tools where knowledge flows within itself and almost none for external knowledge flows. Fourthly, social network is part of normal work responsibilities. Finally, among KM tools that were most recognized as assisting social network use were of the Web 2.0 genre such as wikis, RSS feeds and instant messaging and blogging. The authors show that using Web 2.0 improves social networking and may be linked to a service professional’s individual performance.


Author(s):  
Richard Hartshorne ◽  
Haya Ajjan ◽  
Richard E. Ferdig

In this chapter, the authors provide evidence for the potential of various Web 2.0 applications in higher education through a review of relevant literature on both emerging educational technologies and social networking. Additionally, the authors report the results and implications of a study exploring faculty awareness of the potential of Web 2.0 technologies (blogs, wikis, social bookmarks, social networks, instant messaging, internet telephony, and audio/video conferencing) to support and supplement classroom instruction in higher education. Also, using the Decomposed Theory of Planned Behavior as the theoretical foundation, the authors discuss factors that influence faculty decisions to adopt specific Web 2.0 technologies. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the implications of the study and recommendations for future research.


2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 64-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wu Yanyan

With the development of e-commerce, online shopping for agricultural products has been more popular. And how to improve consumer's satisfaction has become more important. Literature review shows that few researches on online purchasing agricultural food focus on the consumers' satisfaction. This article designs a questionnaire, including 20 factors based on agricultural product characteristics, website quality and service quality to evaluate consumers' satisfaction. The evaluation shows that service quality, agricultural products' safety, brand and website quality significantly impact consumer satisfaction. Moreover, service quality is the most important factor. Finally, some recommendations are made in this article to develop cold chain logistics system, strictly control the agricultural products quality, build an agricultural products brand, improve the quality of agricultural product websites and strengthen policy control and guidance.


Author(s):  
Ravi S. Sharma ◽  
Dwight Tan ◽  
Winston Cheng

This paper examines how Web 2.0 may be used in organizations to support business intelligence activities. Five leading professional services firms in the Energy, IT, software and health industries were used as the field research sites and action research performed on their Web 2.0 tools and environment. Business intelligence was the most significant driver of service value to their clients. From the data, five key findings were observed on the strategic use of Web 2.0 in the leading services firms. Firstly, the firm is aware that social networking tools can improve employees’ performance. Secondly, there are more tools for tacit-to-tacit and tacit-to-explicit knowledge transfer than explicit-to-explicit and explicit-to-tacit. Thirdly, the firm has a higher number of tools where knowledge flows within itself and almost none for external knowledge flows. Fourthly, social network is part of normal work responsibilities. Finally, among KM tools that were most recognized as assisting social network use were of the Web 2.0 genre such as wikis, RSS feeds and instant messaging and blogging. The authors show that using Web 2.0 improves social networking and may be linked to a service professional’s individual performance.


Author(s):  
Wai-Tat Fu ◽  
Thomas Kannampallil

We present an empirical study investigating how interactions with a popular social tagging system, called del.icio.us, may directly impact knowledge adaptation through the processes of concept assimilation and accommodation. We observed 4 undergraduate students over a period of 8 weeks and found that the quality of social tags and distributions of information content directly impact the formation and enrichment of concept schemas. A formal model based on a distributed cognition framework provides a good fit to the students learning data, showing how learning occurs through the adaptive assimilation of concepts and categories of multiple users through the social tagging system. The results and the model have important implications on how Web 2.0 technologies can promote formal and informal learning through collaborative methods.


2010 ◽  
pp. 1511-1526
Author(s):  
Wai-Tat Fu ◽  
Thomas Kannampallil

We present an empirical study investigating how interactions with a popular social tagging system, called del.icio.us, may directly impact knowledge adaptation through the processes of concept assimilation and accommodation. We observed 4 undergraduate students over a period of 8 weeks and found that the quality of social tags and distributions of information content directly impact the formation and enrichment of concept schemas. A formal model based on a distributed cognition framework provides a good fit to the students learning data, showing how learning occurs through the adaptive assimilation of concepts and categories of multiple users through the social tagging system. The results and the model have important implications on how Web 2.0 technologies can promote formal and informal learning through collaborative methods.


2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chung-Min Wu ◽  
Ching-Lin Hsieh ◽  
Kuei-Lun Chang

Evaluating the e-service quality is essential to organizations. The future of e-libraries has a vital place in universities. Libraries need to use websites as means to provide access to information resources, news and events. The importance of assessing e-service quality of libraries is significant. Previous researchers have developed many methods for assessing e-service quality. However, most of them only focus on the independent hierarchical structure. In this paper, we would like to figure out the criteria for assessing the service quality of library websites from university students’ viewpoints. According to interdependent criteria, the analytic network process (ANP) approach is employed to (i) generate the priority weights of each criterion; (ii) measure the service quality of university library websites. 12 web-based service criteria are identified according to 3144 university students’ viewpoints based on fuzzy Delphi method. On the basis of past studies, we divide 12 criteria into 3 perspectives, namely, system, efficiency, and information quality to measure the service quality of university library websites. On the basis of 3 perspectives and 12 important criteria, service quality of university library websites could be measured more effectively. Moreover, the practical application to measure the service quality of the old and new versions of one university library website presented in Section 5 is generic and also suitable to be exploited for Taiwanese universities.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document