Libraries at University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Date of this Version
Summer 6-29-2021
Abstract
The intense penetration of ICT through the application of social media in society, particularly in communications, has altered the ways of social interaction, business, education and research. Being a bandwagon concept, postgraduate (PG) students are also heavily influenced by the use of SMTs in their research. Thus, the present study assesses the extent and perceived usefulness of SMTs for communication, collaboration and, multimedia/Interactive media services in addition to find influential factors to use SMTs in research. The study has employed census taking enumerative approach to collect data on a structured questionnaire from the LIS postgraduate students (M.Phil and Ph.D) enrolled during previous five years (2015 – 2020) at Minhaj University, Lahore (MUL), Pakistan. The findings indicate that SMTs are frequently used by the LIS postgraduate students in performing their research works. The participants spend their maximum time to use SMTs through laptops and mobiles in order to carry out different activities. The findings reveal that SMTs are helpful for identifying in research opportunities, collecting, organizing and analyzing research data, providing advance ways to participate in research activities, securing support in research [from others or peers] and disseminating research findings. The study also reveals that SMTs play a vital role in academic research communication, collaboration, presentations and sharing files. Thus, SMTs are perceived as integral in academic research activities. The study reports the vital influencing factors such as “academic societies, supervisors, others using technology, faculty members, social distancing, trainings and developments, peers, library staff, media or learning centers” to use SMTs in research. This study may be helpful for practitioners, administrators and policy makers to make social media literacy as an integral part of curriculum and research development programs.