The Potential and Utilization of Social Media in Library and Information Centres

Abstract

The chapter discusses the significance of social media as an emerging tool in library and information management and/or service. As the trend in higher institutions of learning today gives academic libraries the mandate to develop, create, maintain, and promote institutional repositories and scholarship, the chapter perceives social media platforms as offering the opportunities to fulfill the mandate. The chapter attempts to highlight the potential of some of the social media platforms that can be utilized in the provision of library and information service and resources in today's information saturated world, examines the challenges inherent in the use of the platforms leading to ethical considerations in the use of social media, and some possible solutions. It throws up a challenge for the Libraries and Library Schools on whether or not the graduates and youth are being prepared to use information and navigate today's and tomorrow's increasingly complex information landscape. It concludes by offering some recommendations.