Purpose This paper aims to investigate teacher students’ perceptions, intentions, experiences, attitudes, opinions and barriers concerning social media use and impact of social media on their learning process. Design/methodology/approach A stratified sampling technique was applied to draw the sample, and 242 teacher students were selected as a sample from three higher educational institutions in Gombe State, Nigeria. A questionnaire survey method was used to collect the data. Data analysis was by means of simple and inferential statistics. Findings The students widely used mobile phones to access social media, and social media was extremely popular for education, entertainment and communication among them. Educational and informational communities were also preferred by students to other social media communities. The study further revealed that effective social media usage among students enhanced their different types of skills including learning. Unstable electricity connections, security and privacy issues, internet costs and unreliable internet connections were recorded as some barriers concerning students’ social media use. Originality/value The outcome of this study will be a unique contribution because the pertinent literature provides little evidence or research highlights concerning teacher students’ social media use. Even more, the results of the present study may be a useful resource for university administrators, education policymakers and innovative teachers in universities – especially in developing countries and particularly Nigeria – when considering integration of modern techniques and technologies with university teaching and learning.

PurposeThe present study was carried out with the intention of examining what type of instruction applications and help tools have been used to serve clientele via academic library websites and web pages, and how Sri Lankan academic libraries instruct and help users via their library websites and web pages.Design/methodology/approachA sample study comprised only 14 academic library websites and web pages out of 223, which were accessible and necessarily presented instruction applications and help tools. Two coding sheets were prepared separately for instruction and help to include classified data, and then the frequency counted from each category by browsing the sample recorded in the coders for analysis.FindingsThe results confirmed that the quality of academic library websites in Sri Lanka in providing online instruction and help was dependent on different variables. The development of above online services remains in its infancy. Most important instruction applications and help tools have not been utilized by the majority of websites in academic libraries. Inaccessibility of such services via the library web reflects not only their malfunction in online instruction and help, but also onsite services of some areas in academic libraries.Research limitations/implicationsNonexistence of websites or web pages and lack of enough information in library websites caused the exclusion of most of the libraries in the country from inclusion in the sample; this in turn affected this study by limiting it to academic libraries only.Practical implicationsThe majority of recommendations originated from the study can be generalized for both web and online service development of any type of library in Sri Lanka.Originality/valueThe deficiency of research on library websites in Sri Lanka provides no clear image regarding the existing situation of online library services. Thus this study contributes towards addressing this gap in the literature and features distinctiveness within the available literature.

Purpose – The purpose of this research paper is to look at the overall instructional performance of academic librarians in Sri Lanka and shed light on the challenges and potential problems facing the implementation of quality information literacy (IL) in university libraries. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected by means of a questionnaire, which was sent to all professional academic librarians working in Sri Lankan university libraries. The results were analyzed using frequency and percentage distributions. Findings – The results reveal that the organizational structures of academic libraries do not clearly acknowledge the academic librarians’ role in library instruction. Though most academic libraries had formal instruction policies, the majority had not appointed instruction coordinators. Academic librarians were not satisfied with the assessment of their teaching by library administrators, even though most of them had teaching experience. Most of the user education programs which they practiced were not up-to-date. Academic librarians’ interest and positive attitudes with regard to library instruction, particularly for IL was the other significant factor explored by the study. Research limitations/implications – The study focuses only on academic librarians. The exclusion of other university stakeholders such as teaching staff, students, administrators and others from the study poses a significant limitation. Originality/value – The results of this study can be generalized to academic libraries in Sri Lanka and to academic libraries in other developing countries.

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to evaluate academics' information-seeking behavior, information needs, and their attitudes and perceptions towards the library system in Sri Lankan universities. Design/methodology/approach -The population of the study consisted of management and commerce academics selected from three universities. The sample included 50 percent from the population and stratified random sampling technique was employed for the sample selection. Data gathering was done by means of questionnaire survey and the received raw data were analyzed accordingly. Findings -The study found that the majority of academics were more interested in research than teaching. They had good library skills for finding information and accessing services. Most of them were unable to keep in touch with current information due to insufficiency of current resources. The attitudes of the academics towards the library staff were rather unsatisfactory. The interlibrary loan service was not effectively utilized due to academics' unawareness. Most academics were not informed when new publications had arrived, though the library requested their recommendation while acquiring new materials.Research limitations/implications -This study focused on only one discipline selected from multidisciplinary universities in Sri Lanka. This limitation affects in generalizing results within the university system in the country. Originality/value -It was found that there had been no previous study which had studied informationseeking behavior of business, management or commerce scholars in Sri Lanka. Hence, this study features distinctiveness within the available literature in the context of Sri Lanka.

The rapid development of information and communication technology (ICT), particularly internet, and the increasing development of user education forms and methods, such as new information literacy initiatives have resulted in significant changes in academic libraries. With these unprecedented changes, academic librarians in Sri Lanka have to deal with instructional processes more effectively and efficiently. The primary concern of this paper is to understand the concept 'user education' in the local context and its present practices in university libraries. Even more, this study intends to understand problems encountered, challenges being faced and potential new opportunities available on user education in university libraries in Sri Lanka. The total outcome of this paper is beneficial for researchers, policy makers, university authorities and academic librarians in Sri Lanka to understand the real situation which exists behind instructional activities of university libraries and to design, develop, implement policies and make strategies on pertinent subject.