Article information:To cite this document: Suha AlAwadhi, Sultan M. Al-Daihani, (2018) "Marketing academic library information services using social media", Library Management, https://doi.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate social science academics’ use of social media for scholarly communication at Kuwait University. Design/methodology/approach Phase One data were collected through web-based and paper responses to questionnaires. Faculty members, teachers and teaching assistants in the social science faculty were invited to participate. Forty-six of the 100 invited participants responded. Phase Two comprised interviews with 10 respondents. Findings Social connection platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook, received the highest mean score for use (M = 4.35), followed by mobile apps, such as WhatsApp (M = 4.24), and multimedia platforms such as Instagram and YouTube (M = 3.59). Moderate to low use was recorded for academic social media. ResearchGate recorded the highest use (M = 3.09), followed by academia.edu (M = 2.93). “Keeping in touch” was the most frequently reported activity (M = 4.04). Two-thirds of respondents used social media for informal scholarly communication with people they knew. “Lack of university encouragement” received the highest score (M = 3.54) as a factor inhibiting use and almost half the respondents (47.2 per cent) cited “lack of time” as a barrier. Practical implications Improving academics’ understanding of the uses of social media might increase their visibility and improve their research and other scholarly activities. Study findings support the development of relevant training programs that include a focus on integrating social media into research activities and the dissemination of research findings. Originality/value This study contributes to the limited literature on this topic in Kuwait and the Arabian Gulf region.

This study explores the factors that affect students' adoption of Twitter as an information source. It relies on a modified technology acceptance model (TAM). Data were gathered using a survey of 400 social sciences students from Kuwait University. Structural equation modeling was employed to examine the proposed relationships of six factors-perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, perceived enjoyment, social influence, behavioral intention, and actual use-on Twitter usage as an information source. The findings show that perceived enjoyment and social influence are stronger predictors of behavioral intention than perceived usefulness. Conversely, perceived ease of use was not significant antecedents of behavioral intention. The study also found that perceived ease of use influences only by perceived enjoyment. As expected, behavioral intention was an important antecedent of actual use. This study was limited to students of the College of Social Sciences at Kuwait University. Additional studies on the use of social media as an information source are recommended. This study is beneficial for higher educational institutions and academic libraries eager to understand the factors that motivate student adoption of Twitter as an information source for educational purposes.

Purpose – This research aims to analyze academic libraries’ Twitter content and present a categorization framework for the study of their tweets. Design/methodology/approach – The research adopted a statistical descriptive analysis in addition to a content analysis of the tweets. Consequently, many categories and subcategories were created to classify the tweets according to different aspects. A total of 17 academic library accounts were examined. Findings – The findings show that academic libraries used Twitter as a multifaceted tool. “News and announcements” received the highest score as the type of information most often posted on Twitter by libraries, followed by “library collections” and “library services”. The subcategories that received the highest scores were “library marketing and news”, “answers and referrals” and “books”. Academic libraries showed a penchant for posting links more often than other content. Other results show different patterns of communication and interaction between libraries and their Twitter followers. Practical implications – The categorization of tweets provides a framework for understanding how academic libraries use Twitter. Originality/value – As little research can be found in the library and information science literature on Twitter content analysis, this research is expected to contribute significantly. It will also support academic libraries and librarians in using Twitter more efficiently and effectively.

Information sources and services for Kuwaiti parents of disabled children need further development and improvement. Librarians and other information professionals can assist by providing parents with information appropriate to their stage in understanding the child's diagnosis and education.