Awareness and use of Web 2.0 tools by librarians in university libraries in Nigeria

Purpose The study aims to investigate the level of awareness and use of Web 2.0 tools by librarians in university libraries in Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire was used to collect data from 176 librarians in 49 university libraries in Nigeria. Findings It emerged that the librarians were more familiar with social networking sites, instant messaging, media sharing sites, blogs and wikis. The popularity of these Web 2.0 tools made them the most frequently used by the librarians. Web 2.0 tools like Flickr, RSS feeds, podcasts, social bookmarking, were among the least used. The study revealed that librarians use Web 2.0 tools mostly for reference services online, library news/events, training resources, and image and video sharing. Lack of facilities such as computers with internet access, lack of skills, and lack of time were indicated as some of the barriers in the use of Web 2.0 tools by librarians in university libraries in Nigeria. Practical implications These research results can be consulted by interested librarians as they plan to implement Web 2.0 applications in their libraries. Originality/value This study draws an overall picture of Web 2.0 applications in Nigerian university libraries and attempts to provide helpful information to better understand how librarians elsewhere are utilizing Web 2.0 technologies in rendering library services.