INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON TRADITIONAL SOURCING OF INFORMATION AMONG MASTERS INFORMATION MANAGEMEN STUDENTS ABU, ZARIA

Introduction

1. 1. Background of the Study

Information is an important and an indispensable attribute of any academic setting. It makes for efficiency in any academic environment. Both faculty and students need to use information daily basis in their different academic pursuit. For decades, faculty and students have actively adopted the library and its resources as their main information source. Alemna, (2010) states that for centuries, traditional sources have functioned as repositories of information and knowledge that have provided the important underpinnings for socio- economic, political and cultural development in any civilization. Their nexus with cultural progress has been so interwoven that it is useless to argue whether man’s cultural advancement merely produces libraries as by product.

According to Robinson (2013) simplistically, traditional sources came into being to provide a central location for hard-to-find, scarce, expensive or unique material. Scarcity of information is the platform for the modern library. In countries where information continues to be scarce, a library's function is still voluminous. In some countries where access to information is now based on access to electricity or water, the reason to have storehouses of a subset of all information is harder to articulate.

Traditional sources in such countries can grant access to more information than any user could want or need. Rangathan's rule "for every reader, his or her book," might be now redefined as "for every reader, huge amounts of free-floating content, anywhere, anytime. We now live in the information age where access to many Internet resources is just a few clicks away. The Internet is a technology, which has obtained more popularity in several countries across the world and Nigeria. The social media as a medium of communication and source of information has helped students, researchers, business information finders and information professionals to access information to promote their work and communicate efficiently. Robinson (2013) states that in 2012, seventy million American adults logged onto the Internet in a day. Over 95 percent of U.S. public libraries granted Internet access. Students, many faculty, and laypeople turn to online information sources before print or the traditional sources. As a result, library use, mainly for walk-in reference questions and preparation for school and college reports has reduced. For over 10 years, researchers have paid rapt attention to innovations in information sources and their use in the digital era. A study reports that social media are getting more known among all generations of users, including both undergraduates and postgraduates (Lenhart, Purcell, Smith &Zikuhr, 2010; Hampton, Goulet, Rainie, & Purcell, 2011; Smith, 2011). More than 70% of teens and young adults who go online use at least one social networking site such as Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn. Twitter use has increased from 8% in 2013 to 13% in 2010, whereas blog usage among young adults has declined (Lenhart, et al. 2010; Smith, 2011). While more studies are being done on social media, most of the extant research focuses on the overall trend of social media use or the use of a specific type of social media (e.g., Wikipedia (Lim, 2013; Head & Eisenberg, 2010); social networking sites (Hargittai, 2011; Counts & Fisher, 2010); blogs (Hollenbaugh, 2011); online Q&A community (Rosenbaum &Schchaf, 2010)). As social media are gaining popularity, and some of them seem to be playing a vital role as an information source, it is important to understand what kinds of social media are adopted for what purpose, and if they are used as information sources, what users do to evaluate the quality of information provided by such “non-traditional” information sources. It will be necessary to understand how students, in particular, evaluate and use non-library sources such as social media since researchers consistently report that students of various kind prefer electronic resources, especially open Web resources even for their academic assignments; and that they tend to apply criteria other than quality (e.g., accessibility) when selecting information sources. With innovations in technology, more information becomes available to the public through a wide range of channels. Users can access information not only through the traditional, printed sources, but also sources in various formats via the Internet. Research shows that users, especially postgraduates, frequently rely on open resources available on the Web (Holliday & Li, 2012; Gardner &Eng, 2014).

Recently, social media whose content is contributed by end-users (e.g., Wikipedia, blogs, YouTube) has become increasingly known as information sources, while the trustworthiness of information from such sources is often questionable and difficult to assess. Understanding what kinds of social media are frequently used as information sources and why, and also how users evaluate the quality of information from such sources is important because it can help identify challenges that users encounter when selecting non-traditional social sources to use, and offer guidelines for the source evaluation. The current study will serve as a stepping-stone for more comprehensive and systematic research on the influence of social media on traditional sourcing of information among Masters Information Management Students in ABU Zaria.

1. 1. Statement of Problem

The Internet was not meant to do away with research in the library. Although the Internet has a lot of advantages, it cannot be compared with that of the traditional sources. Information management students have adopted and continue to use the online information retrieval for their academic and research work at the expense of or without considering the importance and the quality of the traditional information centers. However, merely using the Internet was not guarantee quality and good information. Even though social media has large amount of information, the relevance, quality, and authenticity should not be neglected. The question to ask then is what is the influence of social media on traditional sourcing of information among Masters Information Management Students? Hence the study examines the influence of social media on traditional sourcing of information among Masters Information Management Students in ABU Zaria.

1. 1. Research Questions

1. What types of social media are used as complementary tools to traditional information sourcing among Masters Information Management Students in ABU Zaria?

2. What types of traditional information sourcing are used apart from the use of social media among Masters Information Management Students?

3. How do the social media facilitate sourcing of information compared to traditional method among Masters Information Management Students in ABU, Zaria.
 

1.4 Objectives of the Study

The major Objectives of the study is to examine the influence of social media on traditional sourcing of information among Master Information Management Students in ABU Zaria. Other specific objectives of the study include;

  1. To examine the types of social media that are used as complementary tools to traditional information sourcing among Masters Information Management Students in ABU Zaria.

2. To examine the types of traditional information sources that are used apart from the use of social media among Masters Information Management Students in ABU, Zaria

3.  To examine how social media facilitate sourcing of information compared to traditional sourcing among Masters Information Management Students in ABU Zaria.

1.5 Significant of the Study

Traditional news outlets like newspapers are declining in audience patronage as they have to compete with several alternate media like the social media websites, and bloggers around the globe. Recent research have provided awareness on the rise and usage of SNS and addictive nature, also recent studies has shown how social media are been used for mobilization of people for revolution purpose i.e. the occupy movement. However, not enough literature has been done on social media as news and information source. This study also will pave way for further researchers in the field of new media communication. This study would also be of immense benefit to students and scholars who are interested in developing further studies on the subject matter.

1.6 Scope and Limitations of the Study

The study is restricted to significant influence of social media on traditional sourcing among Masters Information Management Students in ABU Zaria.

1.7 Operational Definition of Terms

Information: Information is a property of data resulting from or produced by a process that produced data.

Internet: It is a data communication system that interconnects computer system at various sites. A network may be composed of any combinations of LANs, WANs, or MANs. A International system of networks that connects computers around the world via the TCP/IP protocol.

Information Technology: The application of computers and other technology to the acquisition, organization, storage, retrieval and dissemination of information.

Social media information sources: Information sources from social media sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram.

Social media: Social media is the collective of online communications channels dedicated to community-based input, interaction, content-sharing and collaboration. Applications dedicated to forums, microblogging, social networking, social bookmarking, and wikis are among the different types of social media (Whatis, 2012).

Traditional information sources: these are information sources that are not social media, for example, print media such as brochures and prospectuses; broadcast media such as radio and television; road shows & exhibitions; friends, family, high school counselors, and websites.