Providing library information services through wechat: A study of project 985 university libraries in China

Jie Huang, Jinchi Guo

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

The application of the popular mobile social media platform We-Chat in library and information services in China was examined. Thirty-two out of a total of thirty-nine university libraries of Project 985 had established official WeChat accounts by the end of 2015. The study explores the use of WeChat from six aspects, including basic profile information of an account and interactivity of WeChat public account. Through analysis of the data and comparison with the results of previous research, the study indicates that the library WeChat platforms have improved in many respects, including official account authentication and self-service through WeChat, since the beginning of WeChat application at university libraries in November 2012. Although the library WeChat accounts have become a more effective tool in general, improvements are still needed to provide maximum benefit to library users in an effort to empower users, especially younger ones.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)101-118
Number of pages18
JournalLibrary Trends
Volume66
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 1 2017

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Library and Information Sciences

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