harnessing collective intelligence through online social networks

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Keywords: Collective intelligence, Librarians, Nigeria, Online social networks, ... gathered from such social websites is useful to librarians and indeed the library ...
Ozean Journal of Social Sciences 4(2), 2011

Ozean Journal of Social Sciences 4(2), 2011 ISSN 1943-2577 © 2011 Ozean Publication

HARNESSING COLLECTIVE INTELLIGENCE THROUGH ONLINE SOCIAL NETWORKS: A STUDY OF LIBRARIANS IN PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES IN OGUN STATE, NIGERIA

ATULOMAH, BOLA. C. and ONUOHA, ULOMA D.* Babcock University Library Nigeria * Department of Information Resources Management, Babcock University, Nigeria. E-mail address for correspondence: [email protected]

______________________________________________________________________________ Abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine librarians’ use of collective intelligence in online social networks. Particularly, the study sought to determine librarians’ awareness and use of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn and to establish the extent to which information gathered from these networks assist librarians professionally. The descriptive research design was adopted for the study. The population consisted of 45 librarians in private university libraries in Ogun State, Nigeria. Sampling was enumerative while data was collected by means of the questionnaire and analyzed using frequency and percentage distribution. Findings from the study revealed that librarians in university libraries in Ogun State, Nigeria, are mostly aware of Facebook, and few still lack knowledge of online social networks. Membership in online social networks, helped majority of the respondents to identify experts, find solutions to work problems, etc., although little assistance was received in the area of locating resources for research. Facebook was also seen as the most effective network for advancing library profession. Based on the findings, the study recommended amongst others, that librarians make online social networks more professionally oriented by using them extensively for sharing work experiences and challenges. Keywords: Collective intelligence, Librarians, Nigeria, Online social networks, University libraries. _____________________________________________________________________________________________

INTRODUCTION Librarianship has witnessed many changes in recent times following the advancement of information communication technologies. Most librarians now take advantage of the opportunities offered by Web 2.0 applications to improve their skills and offer better services to users. Social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn provide opportunities to exchange ideas and resources with students, faculty members, information professionals and professionals in other fields, bringing about the concept of collective intelligence. Ferreira-Schut (2010) describes collective intelligence as the capacity of understanding, learning from, reasoning about (intelligence) the data produced by groups of individuals. Through the use of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn,

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Ozean Journal of Social Sciences 4(2), 2011 librarians no doubt have the opportunity to interact and draw knowledge from diverse groups to improve their services as individuals and advance the library profession. Indeed, Borgatti and Cross (2003) noted that the extent to which one person knows what another person knows, is associated with the likelihood of seeking information from that person. Although most online social networks are more popular for making personal relationships and sharing videos, music, photos, etc., Mishra (2010) points out that they are now being used extensively by various professionals to better their profession. Brief history of private universities in Nigeria Nigeria is located on the West Coast of Africa with 36 states and a recorded population of over 120 million people, out of which 30 million are students (United States Diplomatic Mission to Nigeria, 2010). The government of Nigeria has shown considerable concern for education with the establishment of schools at all levels of education. At the tertiary level, Nigeria has 104 universities (National Universities Commission, 2010). While 27 are owned by the Federal Government of Nigeria, 36 are owned by state governments. Although the existence of federal and state universities dates back to 1948 with the establishment of the University of Ibadan in 1948, private universities are however a recent development. Osagie (2009) points out private universities came into existence in Nigeria on April 20, 1999 with the granting of licenses by the Federal Government of Nigeria to four universities to operate as private universities. Currently, Nigeria has 41 privately owned universities out of which 6 are located in Ogun State. Statement of the problem Online social networks have become a global phenomenon with websites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn reporting number of users in millions. Users in these networks contribute knowledge within the network by sharing all kinds of information with one another including work related information, but the extent to which knowledge gathered from such social websites is useful to librarians and indeed the library profession in Nigeria remains unknown. It is for this reason that the present study investigates the use of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn among librarians in selected private university libraries in Nigeria. Objectives of the study The general objective of the study is to explore the role of online social networks in enhancing collective intelligence among librarians in private university libraries in Ogun State. Specific objectives are to: 1

determine the awareness of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn among librarians in the universities under study

2

identify between Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, the site mostly used by librarians in the universities under study

3

identify gender difference in librarians’ use of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn

4

find out hindrances to the use of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn by librarians

5

identify the extent to which information gathered from Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn assist librarians in specific aspects of work.

6

determine the extent to which librarians consider Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn effective in advancing the library profession

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

The concept of online social networks Social networks are maps of individuals, and the ways they are related to each other (Kazienko and Musial 2005). Whatis.com (2006) describes it as the practice of expanding the number of one's business and/or social contacts by

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Ozean Journal of Social Sciences 4(2), 2011 making connections through individuals. In the past, most of these relationships existed mainly among family members, colleagues, and church members, etc, relied mainly on face-to-face communication. Today the story is no longer the same as most of these relationships can be carried out in virtual space using social networking sites which make it possible for people to interact on the Internet. Online social networks can, therefore, be described as relationships between groups of people carried out in virtual space. While online social networks share similar characteristics with traditional form of social networks which rely on face to face communication, the major difference between them lies in the fact that relationships on online social networks are computer mediated using websites. In view of this, Goad and Mooney (2008), describe online social networks as online communities of people who share interests and activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others. Cachia, Compano, and Da Costa (2007), however, add that social networking sites facilitate relationship among members in this kind of relationship by providing a dynamic platform that enables content sharing, discussions, and organization of activities and events. Although the history of online social networks dates back to 1997 with the appearance of SixDegrees.com (Boyd and Ellison, 2007), there are currently over 100 websites which provide social networking functionalities. Considering the large number of online social networks, Namali Suraweera et al., (2010) categorized them into two broad categories namely: internal and external social networks. According to the authors, external social networks involve an open community. In this case membership is open to everyone irrespective of their profession, hobbies, beliefs, views, etc., as seen in Facebook, Twitter, Bebo, LinkedIn, etc. Internal social networks on the other hand is a closed community that consists of a group of people within a company, association, society or even an “invite only” group created by a user in an external social network.

Collective intelligence and online social networks Collective intelligence is a term often associated with group collaboration. Surowiecki (2005) terms it as the emergence of intelligent behaviour from the interaction of individuals in a group. Tapscott and Williams (2007) call it mass collaboration. The ideas of mass collaboration according to the authors is based on large number of individuals, most of them having different interests and possessing diverse knowledge and expertise, employing widely distributed computation and communication technologies to achieve shared outcomes through loose voluntary relationships. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English (2001) defines collaboration as the act of working with another person or group of people to create or produce something. Axelsson, Sonnenwald, and Spante (2006) define it as human behaviour among two or more individuals that facilitates the sharing of meaning and completion of tasks with respect to a mutually-shared super ordinate goal. The concept of collaboration, therefore, involves the coming together of people to achieve a desired goal. Murphy and Moulaison (2009) affirm that Librarians are indeed responding to the popularity of online social networks and their expanding role in the creation, use, and sharing of information. This is likely so, as Lin (2002) states that online social networks enhance the flow of information hence the individuals in online networks gain information about opportunities and choices that otherwise would not be available for them. Paulus, et al (2001), however, argued that the benefit of networking may be not so much the acquisition of new information, but the creation or consideration of new associations among the existing information and knowledge a person has. In the opinion of Dyer, Green and Christensen (2009) devoting time and energy to finding and testing ideas through a network provides different perspectives. In order words, the value of networking online may not lie simply in gaining new information, but in relating new information with existing knowledge to create something new. Emery (2008) expressed the opinion that there is everything to be gained by the information professional that joins Facebook or LinkedIn because they allow members to instantaneously create a network of colleagues with whom to consult and exchange ideas, identify publication opportunities or begin a collaboration project. In view of this, Liebowitz (2007) argues that the connections that are made through social websites have the ability to increase the intelligence of individuals.

Online social networks and university libraries The use of online social networks is gaining popularity in university libraries. The reason for this is that university libraries are ideally placed within the university community to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the latest web technologies. The annual influx of new students provides librarians with large number of users for whom

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Ozean Journal of Social Sciences 4(2), 2011 traditional communication channels within the institution have not already become entrenched, and who are already regularly using social network sites in their personal lives (Stuart, 2010). Bearing that in mind, Evans (2006) explains that university libraries have a chance to be leaders on their university campuses and in the larger community by realizing the possibilities of using social network sites to bring their services to the public. Although there are around 100 websites which provide online social network functionalities, not all of these sites are likely to offer the same degree of usefulness to university libraries. Marshall (2009) identified Twitter as a tool for staying current. Twitter allows users to send instant messages to social network via short messages, also known as micro-blogs. Mack, et al., (2007) also identified Facebook as an excellent mechanism for communicating with students because it allows librarians to reach them easily. Creese, Cribb and Spicer (2008) agree to their line of argument by stating that establishing a Facebook presence would provide opportunities for librarians to further their knowledge of the profession and provide them with a way to assist their career progression. Facebook is therefore an excellent tool for understanding the information needs and seeking behaviour of today’s library users, as well as for providing individuals librarians the opportunity to make progress in their career. LinkedIn, in the opinion of Marshall (2009), stands out as a worthwhile social networking destination for library professionals. Through introductions made by online colleagues, librarians can continually expand their professional contacts using LinkedIn. Platt (2008) opines that LinkedIn members can form groups within the network where they can share professional activities such as presentations of research work. Boyd and Ellison (2007) summarize the use of LinkedIn by stating that it enables people to create network relationships of collaboration rather than competition. Many researchers from the field of library and information science are beginning to show interest in online social networks. Cook and Wiebrands (2010) researched into librarians’ use of online social networks for current awareness. The study publicized on Twitter, Facebook and Friendfeed received 137 responses. The study revealed that curiosity was the major reason why librarians use social networking sites. The sites were also used mostly for social discussion by more than 120 respondents and for keeping up with professional friends by nearly 110 respondents. 90 respondents used them to find answers to work-related questions. Among the social networking sites investigated, Twitter was found to be the most useful for professional information as indicated by 68% of the respondents. In another study, Hendrix, et al., (2009) investigated health libraries’ use of Facebook. 72 librarians responded to the survey: 12,5% maintained a Facebook page. Libraries used Facebook mainly to market the library, push out announcements to library users, post photos, provide chat reference, and have a presence in the social network. Charningo and Barnett-Ellis (2007) surveyed 126 academic librarians about their knowledge of and attitude toward Facebook and found that while librarians were overwhelmingly aware of Facebook, most were not involved. Related studies on online social networking were carried out by school librarians. Dickinson (2010) reports the findings of a survey carried out on school librarians’ use of online social networks, findings revealed that 25% of the 559 respondents do not use them at all. Another 48% of respondents report using social networking sites for personal use only. In a similar study, Whelan (2009) reports the result of a survey on social networking and content sharing among educators, findings from the study revealed that school librarians are most positive about the value of online social networking in education.

Gender difference in online social networks Gender is understood as a social phenomenon with a fundamental social and structural ordering of men and women in the society (Wiklund, 1998). In the opinion of Thelwall (2008), the two genders have somewhat different approaches to social networking. This view has been validated by a number of researchers in available literature. Pingdom (2009) carried out a study on males versus female users in social networks using the following websites: Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, Twitter, Slashdot, Reddit, Digg, Delicious, StumbleUpon, FriendFeed, Last.fm, Friendster, LiveJournal, Hi5, Imeem, Ning, Xanga, Classmates.com, Bebo. The findings of the study revealed that Twitter and Facebook have almost the same male-female ratio; Twitter (59%), Facebook (57%). However, the average ratio for all the 19 sites was 47% for male and 53% for female which implies that women are more likely to use social networks than men. Chartier (2008) also reports the findings of a study by Rapleaf (a social web search company) carried out with the objective of finding out how men and women approach social networks using a population of over 30 million users across sites like Bebo, Facebook, Friendster, Hi5, LiveJournal, MySpace, Flickr, etc. Findings from the study revealed that women are more on social networking sites than men, as they

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Ozean Journal of Social Sciences 4(2), 2011 constitute 53.57% of the population while men constitute only 46.43%. On what men and women are doing on social networks, Goudreau (2010) claims that women use social networks to make connections and share items from their personal lives while men use them as means to gather information and increase their status.

Problems associated with networking online While numerous researchers have noted the advantages of using online social networks, others have equally drawn attention to the problems associated with it. Facebook (2010) claims a membership of 500 million active users (Users who have returned to their profile at least once in a month). This gives an indication of the quantity of information that can be processed and occasionally abused by other parties in social networking sites. According to Gross and Acquisti (2005), three groups of stakeholders can access participants’ personal information in an online social network and they include: the hosting site, the network, and third parties. Gross and Acquisti (2005), note that the hosting site may use and extend the information in different ways but warns that when personal information is accessed by malicious third parties, additional risks associated with privacy become real. Real privacy risks are believed to arise when users disclose identifiable information about themselves online to people who they do not know or normally (that is, offline, in real life) would not trust (Brooks, 2007). This of course could lead to stalking or identity theft, where members of an online social network claim information belonging to someone else such as social security number or bank account as theirs and using such information for personal or professional gain (Govani and Pashley, 2005). Another form of problem identified with online social networks is phishing (Jagatic, et al., 2005). They defined phishing as a form of deception in which an attacker attempts to fraudulently acquire sensitive information from a victim by impersonating a trustworthy entity. Nigeria has some factors that militate against the use of Information Communication Technology (ICT) generally. According to Gbaje, (2007) the erratic nature of electricity supply in the country will not support the successful implementation of the new information trends like social networking in libraries in this age of modernization. Ashcroft and Watts (2005) reveal that lack of skilled human resources to install and manage technology and networks constitute a problem to utilization of ICT skills, this is prevalent in developing countries and Nigeria is not an exception. Another major problem militating against the new information trend is the laisser-faire attitude of information professionals towards modernization in libraries. They feel that they should be trained. Womboh and Abba (2008), express that information professionals have to fend for themselves if they want to join the modernization train. Otherwise the train will leave them behind and obviously it will put them out of their jobs. While some librarians are ready to explore and exploit the new information skills such as social network, there is still some phobia of practicing this by many others and it makes them consider themselves as unfit to move with the new trend of modernization in librarianship. All these in effect mellow down the activities of the Nigeria university libraries in utilizing even the already acquired knowledge from various trainings. Other researchers such as Perkins (2008); Violino (2008) and the European Network and Information Security Agency (2007) summarize some other risk associated with online social networks as: addictive behaviour which if not managed could result in decline in employee productivity; networking spam which is the propagation of unsolicited messages; risk of corporate espionage (a situation whereby organizations expose their intellectual property and other primary information to the outside world with negative result); exposure to malware whereby viruses, worms and other spy ware are introduced to the organization’s ICT infrastructure and bandwidth and storage consumption through the exchange of pictures, videos, music and other large files. Most of the literature reviewed looked at the awareness, attitude and use of social networking sites among librarians. The role of social networking sites in advancing professionalism in librarianship is yet to be researched into. There is also a dearth of literature on the use of social networks by librarians in Nigeria. It is in the light of this, that the present study investigates the role of online social networking in advancing the library profession in Nigeria.

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Ozean Journal of Social Sciences 4(2), 2011

METHODOLOGY

The descriptive research design was adopted for the study. The population consists of 45 librarians currently employed in the six private university libraries in Ogun State, Nigeria. Enumerative sampling technique was used as all members of the population were selected for the study. A questionnaire tagged “Collective Intelligence and Online Social Networks Questionnaire (CIOSN)” was used for data collection. The questionnaire was divided into two parts. Part A sought for demographic information of the respondents while part B sought for information associated with online social networks. Descriptive statistics using frequencies and percentages were used for data analysis.

Presentation of findings Forty five (45) copies of the questionnaire were distributed, out of which, 40 were retrieved giving a response rate of 89%.

Gender of respondents Out of the 40 respondents who successfully filled and returned the questionnaire, 23 (57.5%) were male while 17 (42.5%) were female.

Fig 1: Gender of respondents 70,00% 60,00% 50,00% 40,00% 30,00% 20,00% 10,00% 0,00% Male

Female

Awareness of online social networks Fig 1 shows the gender of respondents. Out of the 40 respondents who filled and returned the questionnaire, 39 (97.5%) affirmed that they are aware of Facebook; 23 (57.5%) are aware of Twitter while only 15 (37.5%) out of the 40 respondents are aware of LinkedIn.

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Ozean Journal of Social Sciences 4(2), 2011 Fig 2: Awareness of online social networks 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Facebook

LinkedIn

Twitter

Fig 2 shows that Facebook is the most popular among the three online social networks among university librarians in Nigeria.

Use of online social networks Among the three social networks (Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn) Facebook was the most used social network as affirmed by 36 (90%) of the 40 respondents. 13 (32.5%) of the 40 respondents use LinkedIn even though only 15 (37.5%) are aware of its existence thereby implying that most people who are aware of LinkedIn use it. Although 23(57.5%) of the 40 respondents are aware of Twitter, only 9 (22.5%) use it, making it the least used social network.

Fig 3: Use of online social networks

100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Facebook

LinkedIn

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Twitter

Ozean Journal of Social Sciences 4(2), 2011

Gender difference in use Table 1: Gender difference in use of onlne social networks Facebook

Twitter

Male

Female

Male

22 (96%)

14 (82%)

6 (26%)

LinkedIn Female 3 (18%)

Male 4 (17%)

Female 9 (53%)

The figures in Table 1 shows gender difference in use of online social networks. Among the 23 male respondents in the study, 22 (96%) indicated that they use Facebook, 6 (26%) make use of Twitter while 4 (17%) utilize LinkedIn. On the female side, out of the 17 respondents in the study, 14 (82%) use Facebook, 3 (18%) use Twitter, while 9 (53%) use LinkedIn. This indicates that Facebook and Twitter are used more by males while the females have more presence in LinkedIn.

Reasons for not using social networks Only 3 (8%) of the 40 respondents confirmed that they do not use any of the online social networks. 2 (67%) of the 3 respondents who do not use any online social network affirmed that they do not use them because they do not know much about online social networks. All 3 respondents who don’t use any online social network (100%) attested that they consider online social networking a waste of time, while 2 (67%) indicated that they are worried about privacy issues.

Areas where knowledge gained from collective intelligence from online social networks are most helpful Respondents were asked to indicate areas where they consider knowledge gathered from online social networks (Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn) most helpful.

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Table 2: Areas of help Areas of help

To

a

large

To a moderate

To

a

little

Not at all

extent

extent

extent

Learn something new

20 (54%)

11 (30%)

5 (13.5%)

2 (5%)

Identify experts in different areas of

18 (49%)

6 (16%)

6 (16%)

9 (24%)

Inspire ideas for research

17 (46%)

7 (19%)

4 (11%)

7 (19%)

Share your research activities with others

16 (43%)

5 (14%)

4 (11%)

7 (19%)

Find information to solve work problem

13 (35%)

12 (32.5%)

3 (8%)

7 (19%)

Contribute to the research activities of others

14 (38%)

11 (30%)

9 (24%)

7 (19%)

Find people to collaborate with on a given

13 (35%)

11 (30%)

5 (13%)

8 (22%)

Inspire ideas for new library services

13 (35%)

9 (24%)

4 (11%)

8 (22%)

Find solutions to a research problem

11 (30%)

13 (35%)

5 (13%)

9 (24%)

Find resources for research

10 (27%)

9 (24%)

7 (19%)

11 (30%)

Come up with ideas to modify an existing

10 (27%)

14 (38%)

6 (16%)

10 (27%)

librarianship

project

service in the library

* The figures may not add up to 100 where spaces where left blank by some respondents.

Based on the finding, majority of the respondents 31(84%) learn something new from online social networks to a large and moderate extent, whereas 7 (18.5%) learn little or nothing new. Using Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, 24 (65%) are also able to identify experts in different areas of librarianship as against 15 (40%) who are able to do so to a little extent or not at all. Most of the respondents are also able to share their research activities with others as indicated by 21 (57%) who agreed to a large and moderate extent against 11 (30%) who agreed only to a little extent or not at all. On the aspect of getting help to solve work problem, 25 (67.5%) affirmed that they get help with information to solve work problem whereas 10 (27%) stated otherwise. 24 (65%) of the respondents are able to find people to collaborate with on projects while 13 (35%) are either able to do so to a little extent or not at all. While 24 (65%) of the respondents can find solutions to research problems using online social networks, 14(37%) find it difficult to do so. 20 (54%) confirmed that they get help finding resources for research to a large and moderate extent whereas 18 (49%) confirmed otherwise. 24 (65%) get help coming up with ideas to modify an existing service in the library, while 16 (43%) affirmed that they get little or no help.

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Ozean Journal of Social Sciences 4(2), 2011

Effectiveness of social networks in advancing the library profession In order to have a fair idea of how online social networks help in advancing the library profession, respondents who use specific networks were asked to rate the network’s effectiveness in advancing library profession.

Table 3: Advancement of library profession Social websites

To a large extent

To a moderate extent

To a little extent

Not at all

Facebook

12 (33%)

15 (42%)

6 (117%)

3 (8%)

Twitter

-

5 (56%)

4 (44%)

-

LinkedIn

4 (31%)

5 (39%)

2 (15%)

2 (15%)

From the findings, Facebook and LinkedIn were seen as being more effective in advancing the library profession as attested to by 36 and 13 respondents who use them respectively. Out of the 9 respondents who use Twitter only 5 (56%) agreed that it is effective in advancing the library profession to a moderate extent. 27 (75%) of those who use Facebook agreed to a large and moderate extent that it is effective in advancing library profession. On the other hand, 9 (70%) of the respondents who use LinkedIn feel that it advances the library profession to a large and moderate extent.

DISCUSSION

Based on the findings, it was revealed that majority of the librarians in university libraries in Ogun State, Nigeria, are mostly aware of Facebook, followed by Twitter and LinkedIn. Facebook was found to be the most used of the three online social networks in this study which is not surprising as most people are aware of it unlike the other social networks, which implies that awareness leads to use. This, however, is in disagreement with the finding of Charningo and Barnett-Ellis (2007) whose study found out that though librarians are overwhelmingly aware of Facebook, most are not involved. Although the reason for this could be that Facebook was relatively new in 2007 when their study was carried out and many librarians might have been skeptical of it then unlike the present time. Findings also indicated that 22 (96%) of the male respondents use Facebook, 14 (82%) of the female respondents also indicated same. While 6 (26%) of the male respondents use Twitter, 3 (18%) of the female respondents do likewise. In the case of LinkedIn, the social network had more female than male presence with 9 (53%) of the female respondents using LinkedIn as against 4 (17%) of the male respondents. This indicates that a high number of male vs. female on Facebook, and a relatively low number of male Vs female on Twitter. This finding agrees with the finding of Pingdom (2009) which revealed that Twitter and Facebook have almost the same male-female ratio. The problems associated with non use of online social networks was linked to lack of knowledge of social networks, consideration of online social networking as a waste of time and worries about privacy issues. This confirms the findings of Gross and Acquisti (2005), Govani and Pashley (2005). On the average, online social networks were found to be useful to librarians in all areas listed out in the questionnaire, although the extent of help differed. Majority of the respondents 31(84%) actually affirmed learning something new from online social networks to a large and moderate extent although the specific areas of new knowledge acquisition was not stated as it was not within the scope of this study.

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Ozean Journal of Social Sciences 4(2), 2011 Using Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn majority of the respondents are also able to identify experts in different areas of librarianship, share their research activities with others, find solutions to work problems etc. This is in agreement with the finding of Cook and Wiebrands (2010) which revealed that 90 out of 110 respondents in their study used social networks to find solution to work related problems. The area where librarians got the least help from online social networks was in getting help finding resources for research. While only 20 (54%) confirmed that get help with finding resources for research to a large and moderate extent, 11 (49%) feel that they get little or no help in that aspect. From the findings, Facebook was seen as the most effective for advancing the library profession, followed by LinkedIn while Twitter received the lowest rating. The basis for this may not be isolated from the fact that judgment was based on awareness and use. Since majority of the librarians are aware of Facebook and actually use it more, it is not surprising that they rate it higher above the other social networks in advancing the library profession. The fact that they consider Facebook as a mechanism for advancing the library profession is however, in line with the opinion of Creese, Cribb and Spicer (2008) who argue that establishing a Facebook presence would provide opportunities for librarians to further their knowledge of the profession. Considering the findings, the study recommends that more awareness needs to be created for online social networks. Librarians who are already in these networks can promote their use by extending friend invitation to their colleagues as this would motivate them to join. Likewise, the benefits derived from harvesting the collective intelligence in online social networks should be shared with colleagues in order to encourage those who see participation in online social networks as a waste of time. Librarians in online social networks should also endeavour to make them more professionally oriented by engaging their use in the sharing of work experience and challenges. This would no doubt boost the extent to which value is derived from online social networks for the purpose of advancing librarianship worldwide. Justification for accepting this article for publication This study will no doubt increase the awareness of online social networks among Librarians thereby opening up more communication lines between Librarians and Information Professionals all over the world. It will also lead to a better understanding of the use of online social networks by librarians thereby revealing their usefulness or otherwise which would aid managerial decisions on issues concerning them in university libraries.

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Ozean Journal of Social Sciences 4(2), 2011 Chartier, D. (2008). Study: men more likely to use social networking for business. Retrieved November 21, 2010 from: http://arstechnica.com/old/content/2008/05/study-men-more-likely-to-use-social-networking-forbusiness.ars Cook, S. & Wiebrands, C. (2010). Keeping up: strategic use of online social networks for librarian current awareness. Retrieved November 17, 2010 from: http://www.vala.org.au/vala2010/papers2010/VALA2010_78_Cook_Final.pdf Creese, J., Cribb, J., & Spicer, J. (2008). Social networking: never mind the students, what about us? Use of social networking softwares for professional networking and development for library staff. Retrieved May 5, 2010 from: http://www.alia.org.au/groups/quill/papers/creese.paper.pdf Cullen, R., Adeyoyin, S., Olorunsola, R., & Idada, D. A. (2004). Issues facing academic libraries in Nigeria. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 30 (4) 330- 332. Dickinson, G. K. (2010). How do you use social networking tools? Library Media Connection, 28 (5) 45-45. Dyer, J. H., Green, H. B, & Christensen, C. M. (2009), “Five “discovery skills” separate true innovators from the rest of us”, Harvard Business Review December 2009, pp 61-67. European Network and Information Security Agency (2007). Security issues and recommendations for online social networks. Retrieved September 22, from: http://www.enisa.europa.eu/doc/pdf/deliverables/enisa_pp_social_networks.pdf Evans,

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