Library & Information Science Research 32 (2010) 203211

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Library & Information Science Research

A study of Web 2.0 applications in library websites

Alton Y.K. Chua , Dion H Goh
Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University, 31 Nanyang Link WKWSCI Building, Singapore 637718, Singapore

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Available online 13 May 2010

a b s t r a c t
Web 2.0 represents an emerging suite of applications that hold immense potential in enriching
communication, enabling collaboration and fostering innovation. However, little work has been done
hitherto to research Web 2.0 applications in library websites. This paper addresses the following three
research questions: (a) To what extent are Web 2.0 applications prevalent in libraries?; (b) In what ways
have Web 2.0 applications been used in libraries?; and (c) Does the presence of Web 2.0 applications
enhance the quality of library websites? Divided equally between public and academic, 120 libraries'
websites from North America, Europe and Asia were sampled and analyzed using a three-step content
analysis method. The ndings suggest that the order of popularity of Web 2.0 applications implemented in
libraries is: blogs, RSS, instant messaging, social networking services, wikis, and social tagging applications.
Also, libraries have recognized how different Web 2.0 applications can be used complementarily to increase
the level of user engagement. Finally, the presence of Web 2.0 applications was found to be associated with
the overall quality, and in particular, service quality of library websites. This paper concludes by highlighting
implications for both librarians and scholars interested to delve deeper into the implementation of Web 2.0
applications.
2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
As hubs for information creation and ow, libraries have
traditionally played an integral role in promoting literacy and
supporting education in societies. However, with the advent of the
digital age, the raison d'tre of libraries has been challenged (Gibbons,
2007). The ubiquitous nature of the Internet offers unparalleled
convenience for users in comparison to location-bound libraries.
Furthermore, even as library resources such as books, magazines,
journals and monographs are increasingly delivered in electronic
formats, merely having a Web presence is no guarantee for libraries to
appeal to users. In fact, a survey conducted among online users in
Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States shows that the use
of library websites had reduced from 30% in 2005 to 20% in 2007
against the backdrop of signicant increases in use of search engines,
e-mail, and blogs across the same time period (De Rosa, Cantrell,
Havens, Hawk, & Jenkins, 2007).
To move in tandem with the rapidly expanding universe of digital
information resources, libraries all over the world are striving to offer
high-quality online experiences on their websites. Meanwhile, a
number of libraries, particularly those in the United States, are shifting
their perceptions of users from mere information consumers to
producers and architects of information. Riding on the wave of Web

Corresponding author.
E-mail address: altonchua@yahoo.com (A.Y.K. Chua).
0740-8188/$ see front matter 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.lisr.2010.01.002

2.0, the thrust is to engage users in not only developing library

services but also building a community (Liu, 2008).
1.1. Problem statement
Web 2.0 represents an emerging suite of applications that are
interactive, context-rich, and easy to use (O'Reilly, 2007). The
explosion of user-generated content on the Internet points to the
immense potential of Web 2.0 in enriching communication, enabling
collaboration, and fostering innovation in an unprecedented scale.
Despite calls to delve deeper into the implications of Web 2.0
applications for information professionals (for example, Bawden,
2007), little work has been done hitherto to examine the extent to
which Web 2.0 has been implemented in libraries globally (Chua, Goh,
& Lee, 2008). Also, how Web 2.0 applications have been used to
support library services remains largely unexplored. Moreover, from a
user's perspective the relationship between the presence of Web 2.0
applications and the perceived quality of library websites has yet to be
established. For these reasons, this paper seeks to address the
following three research questions:
1. To what extent are Web 2.0 applications prevalent in libraries?
2. In what ways have Web 2.0 applications been used in libraries?
3. Does the presence of Web 2.0 applications enhance the quality of
library websites?
This research is one of the earliest works to shed light on the
current level of adoption and use of Web 2.0 applications and the

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A.Y.K. Chua, D.H. Goh / Library & Information Science Research 32 (2010) 203211

correlation between Web 2.0 applications and the quality of library

websites. Decision makers and Web designers of libraries may
benchmark their own efforts in deploying Web 2.0 applications by
referencing this study. The numerous exemplars cited here offer ideas
on how Web 2.0 applications could be used. Put differently, the results
of this work can better help inform library stakeholders about the
types of Web 2.0 applications currently used in libraries as well as the
perceived value users place on them. Consequently, library stakeholders may better appreciate how Web 2.0 applications can be
harnessed to improve the overall quality of their websites. Such an
understanding would enable libraries to better plan, manage and
procure resources to support their Web 2.0 efforts. This would include
IT infrastructure as well as the human resources needed to drive these
initiatives. Further, by identifying suitable Web 2.0 applications,
appropriate policies for their use may also be crafted.
2. Literature review
2.1. Web 2.0 applications
While Web 2.0 is still ill dened, consensus on its broad
characteristics has emerged. They include openness of data, mass
participation, small interoperable applications, and user control
(Miller, 2005). Web 2.0 can be seen as a shift both in technology and
usage paradigms. The key technological properties of Web 2.0 include
a focus on data-based services rather than on software, the provision of
a large number of small channels to consumers rather than small
numbers of big ones, and an inherent scalability (Clarke, 2008). A
distinct departure from the traditional providerconsumer model,
Web 2.0 has reformed the usage on the Web so that any user is able to
consume, create, and control content at little or no cost and with great
ease (Lai & Turban, 2008). When implemented in libraries, Web 2.0 has
the potential to promote participatory networking where librarians
and users can communicate, collaborate, and cocreate content.
The technologies that underlie Web 2.0 include server software,
messaging protocols, content syndication, various client applications,
and standards-based browsers. As the technical infrastructure of the
Web stabilizes, it becomes possible to create new applications by
modifying existing applications or integrating smaller ones. This
enables different genres of Web 2.0 applications to be spawned
rapidly. One classication scheme of Web 2.0 applications species
the following seven categories (McDermott, 2007): publishing platforms such as blogs and podcasts that allow users to disseminate their
content; social networking services such as MySpace and Facebook
that help forge social relationships among users; democratized
content networks such as Digg and Wikipedia that enable users to
add, edit, or rate content; virtual networking platforms such as Second
Life that offer an environment within which users live, interact, and
transact with each other; information aggregators such as Tech.
Memorandum that collect headlines on a single topic from a collection
of Internet sources; edited social news platforms such as Spin Thicket
that allow users to read, submit, and comment on news stories;
content distribution services such as del.icio.us or Scrapblog that
enable users to create, share, tag, and search for content. Another
classication scheme organizes Web 2.0 applications on the basis of
their intended functions, albeit in an overlapping manner. They
include information sharing, in which users exchange content such as
documents and video; grassroots mobilization, which facilitates
bottom-up participation in spreading news and opinions; and
community building, in which users socialize and meet new friends
as well as create new services such as the digital marketplace where
buyers and sellers are drawn together (de Kool & van Wamelen,
2008).
The above classication schemes, while insightful, are generic in
nature and have not been designed specically for library services. For
this reason, a classication of Web 2.0 applications appropriate for the

context of libraries is proposed. Recognizing the informationintensive services of libraries, this classication is rooted in the classic
dimensions of information work, namely information acquisition,
information dissemination, information organization, and information sharing (Clausen, 1999). It also builds on an earlier work that
organizes different Web 2.0 applications pertinent to libraries (Chua
et al., 2008). Additionally, informed by frameworks for portal
evaluation (Goh, Chua, Luyt, & Lee, 2008; Lee, Goh, & Chua, 2007),
this classication is intended to be parsimonious and also ensures that
no single Web 2.0 application overshadows another due to biases.
The gathering of information from sources external to libraries is
important. Examples of Web 2.0 applications that support this kind of
information acquisition are blogs and wikis. A blog comprises a
hierarchy of text, images, and media objects arranged chronologically.
Due to their low-cost implementation and ease of use, the number of
blogs has exploded in recent years. By giving library users a voice,
blogs facilitate conversation between librarians and users (Goodfellow & Graham, 2007). Suggestions and feedback, for instance, can
be culled from blogs. A wiki is a collection of Web pages that allows
people to add and edit content collectively. Unlike blogs, wikis are
thematically organized and can be used in libraries as policy manuals,
resource listings and training resources (Macgregor & McCulloch,
2005). For example, in academic libraries, wikis can be used by faculty
members and instructors to develop subject guides.
Information dissemination can refer to the distribution of
information by libraries to their users. Rich Site Summary (RSS),
known also as Really Simple Syndication, is a Web 2.0 application
that supports information dissemination. Through RSS, users can be
kept informed of the changes made to Web content including blogs
and podcasts without having to revisit the website. Librarians can also
use RSS feeds to update users on new items in a collection, services
provided, and content in subscription databases (Maness, 2006). In
this way, RSS serves as a form of advertisement to push library
information to users who would not have otherwise learned about
and used the new resources provided by libraries.
Information organization can refer to the representation of content
to facilitate subsequent search and retrieval. Applications such as
social tagging services support information organization by allowing
users to annotate websites using freely assigned keywords known as
tags so that these websites can be easily accessed in the future
(Gibbons, 2007). These tags may further be shared by others in a
social tagging system, which in turn can increase socialization among
a group of like-minded users (Goh, Chua, Lee, & Razikin, 2009). Thus,
an important use for social tagging in libraries is to facilitate
information search as well as build a sense of community around
the libraries' collections.
Information sharing can refer to the bilateral ow of information
between libraries and their users. Applications that support information sharing include instant messaging and social networking
services. Libraries, for example, can use instant messaging to provide
chat-reference services so that users can ask questions and receive
responses directly from librarians during specied contact timings
(Gibbons, 2007). Libraries can also leverage on free social networking
services such as Facebook, MySpace, and Frapper to build online social
networks. With aggregated features found in other Web 2.0 applications such as messaging, blogging, video streaming, and social tagging,
librarians can connect with users, raise awareness about library
services, and broaden their contact base. In summary, Table 1 contains
a classication of Web 2.0 applications that support the roles of
libraries. It also lays the theoretical foundation to address research
questions 1 and 2.
2.2. Websites' quality
With the exponential increase in the number of websites on the
Internet over the last decade, much research attention has been

A.Y.K. Chua, D.H. Goh / Library & Information Science Research 32 (2010) 203211
Table 1
A classication of Web 2.0 applications for libraries.
Information
work

Description

Examples of Web 2.0

applications

Information
acquisition
Information
dissemination
Information
organization

Gathering of information from

sources external to libraries
Distribution of information by
libraries to users
Representation of content to
facilitate subsequent search and
retrieval
Bilateral ow of information
between libraries and users

Blogs
Wikis
RSS

Information
sharing

Social tagging services

Instant messaging
Social networking services

trained on evaluating their quality. For example, Webb and Webb

(2004) developed a framework comprising service quality and
information quality to specify factors affecting consumers' perceptions of e-commerce websites. WebQual (Barnes & Vidgen, 2002)
is used to assess the quality of e-commerce websites. The instrument
species three categories of quality, namely, usability, information
quality and service interaction quality. Along a similar vein, e-ServQual
is used to measure e-service quality delivered by online retailers
(Zeithaml, Parasuraman, & Malhotra, 2002). It comprises four dimensions in its core scale: efciency, reliability, fulllment, and privacy. As a
departure from frameworks largely intended for the e-commerce
industry, LibQual+ has been developed to serve the particular
requirements of libraries. It measures perceptions of users on library
service quality in areas such as information access, library as place,
personal control, and service affect (Sessions, Schenck, & Shrimplin,
2002). Guided by the above models, a quality framework is proposed for
evaluating library websites. Keeping the principle of parsimony in view,
the framework covers three aspects of quality: system quality,
information quality, and service quality.
System quality is a measure of the functionality of websites. It
comprises four dimensions: usability, responsiveness (Delone &
McLean, 2003), ease of access (Lee et al., 2007) and privacy (Moraga,
Calero, & Piattini, 2006; Friedman, Kahn, & Howe, 2000). Usability is
affected by the way websites are organized, labeled, and navigated to
support browsing and searching (Nielsen, 2000; Rosenfeld & Morville,
2002). It refers to the ease with which users can use the website easily
and quickly. To understand more deeply about usability issues, Web
analyticsin which server log data is examinedcould be used to
uncover Web trafc patterns and users' information seeking behavior.
Responsiveness refers to the speed of retrieving and downloading
information from websites. Users' decision to revisit a given website is
in part affected by previous experience with the speed of download
(Helander, 2000). Ease of access refers to the extent to which websites
can be easily located using common search engines. To this end,
indicators such as search engine rankings could be used. Privacy
involves the protection of personal information against leakage and
the implementation of measures to prevent identity fraud (Friedman
et al., 2000).
Information quality is dened as the measure of the value the
information provides to a user (Halaris, Magoutas, Papadomichelaki,
& Mentzas, 2007). At an aggregated level, information quality can be
conceived in terms of four dimensions: soundness, dependability,
usefulness, and ease of use (Kahn, Strong, & Wang, 2002; Blooma,
Chua, & Goh, 2008). Soundness refers to the extent to which
information is error free, complete, and consistently represented.
Dependable information is current, secure, and given in a timely
manner. Usefulness concerns the understandability and appropriate
amount of information provided. Ease of use of information has to do
with its accessibility and ease of manipulation (Strong, Lee, & Wang,
1997; Kahn et al., 2002). Information quality is particularly important
in the evaluation of library websites since library services are largely
information-intensive.

205

Service quality can be conceived as the assessment of users'

expectations against actual library services. Aspects of service quality
pertinent to libraries include physical layout; ambience and equipment; reliability of librarians (whether they perform promised
services dependably and accurately); responsiveness of librarians
(whether they provide prompt assistance); assurance from librarians
(whether they inspire trust and condence); and empathy shown by
librarians (whether they offer individualized attention to library
users) (Nitecki & Hernon, 2000; Quinn, 1997). In the context of
evaluating library websites, service quality entails not only system
quality and information quality dimensions (Zeithaml et al., 2002) but
also four other dimensions: empathy, interactivity, playfulness, and
esthetic appeal. Empathy is the individualized information and
attention given to users. It includes a sense of connectedness as well
as the provision of reciprocal communication channels such as e-mail,
chats, and mailing lists (Chen & Yen, 2004). Interactivity is the extent
to which users can exercise control (Hoffman & Novak, 1996) and
engage in information exchange (Bretz, 1984; Goh et al., 2008) with a
website. The level of interactivity has been found to correlate
positively with users' overall attitude towards a website (Teo, Oh,
Liu, & Wei, 2003). Playfulness stems from devices that appeal to users
by offering fun and enjoyment (Chen & Yen, 2004). Examples of these
devices include online quizzes, software downloads and questionand-answer exercises. Esthetic appeal refers to the use of fonts, colors,
layout, and graphics on the website to draw users. If a given website is
deemed unattractive, users are unlikely to remain there for long
regardless of the quality of content or the website's ease of search
(Cao, Zhang & Seydel, 2005). To effectively meet the different
information needs and mounting expectation of users, library
websites have to maintain a high service quality.
Summarized in Table 2 is a quality evaluation framework for
library websites. This framework is used in conjunction with ndings
from the research question 1 to address research question 3.
3. Procedures
3.1. Selection of library websites
Divided equally between public and academic, a total of 120
library websites from North America, Europe and Asia were sampled,
as shown in Table 3. These three regions were chosen because of the
availability of a large number of library websites. Websites that were
not available in English were excluded.
To select the websites, a list of public libraries was rst compiled
from Libweb1, Hennen's 2006 American Public Library Ratings
(HAPLR) report2, the European Library3, and the Libraries of Asia
Pacic Directory4. Thereafter, 20 public libraries from each region
were randomly selected and their websites were admitted for
analysis.
Similarly, a list of universities was compiled from QS World
University Rankings 20075 and The Times Higher World University
Ranking 20076. Given that universities from the United States and
Britain tend to dominate the top ranks, stratied sampling method
was used to identify 20 well-ranked universities from each region,
each of which was further cross-checked with the following lists: (a)
America's Best Colleges 20087, (b) Top 100 Europe Universities 20078,

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

http://lists.webjunction.org/libweb.
http://www.haplr-index.com/ALProofHAPLR_2006.pdf.
http://www.theeuropeanlibrary.org.
http://www.nla.gov.au/lap.
http://www.topuniversities.com.
http://www.thes.co.uk.
http://www.colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com.
http://www.webometrics.info.

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A.Y.K. Chua, D.H. Goh / Library & Information Science Research 32 (2010) 203211

Table 2
The quality evaluation framework for library websites.
Aspects of
quality

Dimensions

System
quality

Usability

Description

The ease with which users

can use the website easily
and quickly
Responsiveness The speed of accessing
and downloading
information from the
website
Ease of access
The ease with which
websites can be located
using search engines
Privacy
The protection against
personal information
leakage, and the
prevention of identity
fraud
Information Soundness
The extent to which
quality
information is error free
and consistently
represented in the
website
Dependability
The extent to which
information on the
website is current, secure,
and timely
Usefulness
The understandability
and appropriate amount
of information on the
website
Ease of use
The accessibility and ease
of manipulation of
information on the
website
Service
Empathy
The sense of
quality
connectedness as well as
the availability of
reciprocal
communication channels
between users and the
website
Interactivity
The extent to which users
can exercise control and
engage in information
exchange with a website
Playfulness
The presence of devices
on the website that
attract users by offering
enjoyment
Visual aspects
The use of fonts, colors,
layout, and graphics on
the website

References
Delone and McLean
(2003)

Lee et al. (2007)

Moraga et al., (2006)

Friedman et al. (2000)

Kahn et al. (2002)

Chen & Yen (2004)

Hoffman & Novak,

(1996); Bretz (1984)

Chen & Yen (2004)

Moraga et al. (2006)

and (c) Top 100 Asia Pacic Universities9. Websites of these

universities were then admitted for analysis.

keywords such as blogs, wiki, and tagging were entered to

retrieve Web pages that may not have been linked to the home page.
To augment website-specic search, popular search engines including
Google, Yahoo!, and MSN were used. The libraries' names were
included in the search terms. Searches were also conducted on major
social networking sites such as FaceBook, MySpace, and Friendster to
locate the user accounts which bore the libraries' names.
As shown in Table 1, the coding scheme covered four dimensions
of information-related work, which are further divided into six
variables, namely RSS (Rich Site Summary), blogs (B), wikis (W),
social tagging (ST), instant messaging (IM), and social networking
services (SN). All six variables were binary-coded either as yes or no
to denote the presence or absence of the respective Web 2.0
applications.
Where a website was coded yes for any of the variables, the coders
conducted a second step of analysis to understand how the particular
Web 2.0 application found was used. They noted details including the
target users, the content delivered via the Web 2.0 application, and
the intent of the Web 2.0 application in relation to library services.
The third step of the analysis involved appraising the websites
against the quality evaluation framework comprising system quality,
information quality, service quality and visibility quality developed in
Table 2. All three coders familiarized themselves with the quality
evaluation framework and sought to establish a common frame of
understanding for all the quality dimensions. Thereafter, they
independently rated the 30 websites for each of the 12 quality
dimensions on a ve-point Likert-scale indicating the extent to which
a coder agreed with whether a given quality dimension was
observable (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree).
Given that multiple coders were involved in this study, ndings
obtained from the 30 pilot websites were checked for intercoder
reliability. Specically, Cohen's kappa was used to establish the
reliability of the coding for the presence of Web 2.0 applications as
well as the ratings for the quality dimensions. The pair-wise
intercoder reliability values were found to fall in the ranges of 0.74
0.95 and 0.710.78 respectively, indicating a strong nonchance
agreement. The coders also checked the reliability of the ndings on
the use of Web 2.0 applications, which were qualitative in nature. The
coders took turns to share their ndings on each website. Where there
were differences in opinions, the website in question was accessed
immediately to allow for a convergence of their ndings.
Once the coders were familiar with the analytic procedure, the
remaining 90 websites were divided equally among the coders who
repeated the three-step content analysis of (a) checking for the
presence of Web 2.0 applications on each website, (b) understanding
how an available Web 2.0 application was used, and (c) appraising the
quality of the website.
4. Findings

3.2. Methods of data analysis

4.1. Prevalence of Web 2.0 applications

The websites selected were analyzed during a four-month period

between January 2009 and April 2009 using a three-step content
analysis (Krippendorff, 2003) by three graduate research assistants
who held qualications in library science and were familiar with Web
2.0 applications. First, after being trained in the techniques of data
collection and analysis in this study, the three graduate assistants
(henceforth known simply as coders) independently trawled for the
various Web 2.0 applications among a pilot set of 30 websites
randomly selected out of the original 120. Content on the websites as
well as hypertext links such as library services, news, and new titles
were accessed to check for the availability of Web 2.0 applications.
Where dedicated search functions were available on the websites,

As shown in Table 4, the ndings reveal that all three categories of

Web 2.0 applications, namely those that support information
acquisition, dissemination, organization, and sharing, have been
adopted in libraries across the three regions, albeit in varying degrees
of prevalence. In terms of specic applications, blogs are the most
popular (68/120 = 56.6%), followed by RSS (60/120 = 50%), and instant
messaging (56/120 = 46.6%). Applications less widely used are social
networking services (24/120 = 20%), wikis (20/120 = 16.6%), and
social tagging (20/120 = 16.6%).
Libraries in North America were found to embrace all three
categories of Web 2.0 applications most consistently. In particular,
applications that support information acquisition, information dissemination, and information sharing have been widely adopted in
North America compared to the other regions. European libraries

http://www.arwu.org.

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207

Table 3
Public and academic libraries selected.
North America

Baltimore County Public Library

Berkeley Public Library
Brooklyn Public Library
Cincinnati And Hamilton County Public Library
Cuyahoga County Public Library
Denver Public Library
Everett Public Library
Hennepin County Library
Howard County Library
Kenton County Public Library
Madison Public Library
Montgomery County Public Libraries
Multnomah County Library
Pikes Peak Library District
Saint Joseph County Public Library
Salt Lake County Library System
Santa Clara County Library
Santa Cruz Public Library
Seattle Public Library
Troy Public Library
California Institute of Technology
Columbia University
Cornell University
Duke University
Harvard University
Indiana University
Johns Hopkins University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
New York University
Princeton University
Stanford University
Syracuse University
University of Arizona
University of California, Berkeley
University of California, LA
University of Chicago
University of Michigan
University of Pennsylvania
University of Washington
Yale University

Europe

Asia

Blackpool Public Library

Bibliotheque nationale de France
German National Library
Moray Library
National Library of Estonia
National Library of Greece
National Library of Ireland
National Library of Latvia
National Library of Lithuania
National Library of Serbia
National Library of Sweden
National Library of the Czech Republic
National Library of the Netherlands
National Szechenyi Library (Hungary)
Newcastle City Centre Library
Russian State Library
Southampton City Libraries
Stirling Public Library
The British Library
The National Library of Finland
Central European University
Imperial College London
INSEAD, Paris
King's College London
Lancaster University
London School of Economics
Trinity College Dublin
University College London
University of Bath
University of Birmingham
University of Bristol
University of Cambridge
University of Copenhagen
University of Edinburgh
University of Geneva
University of Manchester
University of Oslo
University of Oxford
University of Strathclyde
University of St. Andrew

marginally lag their Asian counterparts in adopting information

acquisition applications but were almost comparable in terms of other
applications.
Chi-square analyses show the differences in prevalence of Web 2.0
applications among the three regions to be statistically signicant for
blogs [2(2, N = 120) = 6.58, Cramer's V = .234, p b .05], RSS [2(2,
N = 120) = 9.8, Cramer's V = .286, p b .05], social tagging [2(2,
N = 120) = 8.04, Cramer's V = .259, p b .05], instant messaging [2(2,
N = 120) = 40.2, Cramer's V = .579, p b .001], and social networking
services [2(2, N = 120) = 19.06, Cramer's V = .399, p b .001]. From
the Cramer's V statistics, it can be seen that the two Web 2.0
applications that show strong associations with the regions are
instant messaging and social networking services, both of which

Blue Mountains City Library

Central Hawke's Bay District Libraries
Christchurch City Libraries
Dunedin public Libraries
Hong Kong Public Libraries
Monash Public Library
National Central Library (Taiwan)
National Library & Documentation Centre (Sri Lanka)
National Library Board (Singapore)
National Library of Australia
National Library of Bhutan
National Library of Cambodia
National Library of China
National Library of India
National Library of New Zealand
National Library of Pakistan
National Library of Philippines
National Library of Korea
Sarawak State Library
Tokyo Metropolitan Library
Australian National University
Chinese University of Hong Kong
HK University of Science & Technology
Indian Institute of Technology, Madras
Kyoto University
Monash University
Nanyang Technological University
National University of Singapore
Tsinghua University
University of Auckland
University of Hong Kong
University of Malaya
University of Melbourne
University of New South Wales
University of Sydney
University of Tokyo
University of Queensland
University of Adelaide
University of Canterbury
Victoria University of Wellington

belong to information sharing applications. Only the prevalence of

wikis was not found to be statistically signicant [2(2, N = 120) =
3.36, Cramer's V = .167, p = .186]. The remainder of the Web 2.0
applications showed moderate to moderately strong associations with
the regions. Thus, libraries from different regions embrace Web 2.0
applications to different extents. Specically, North American libraries
tend to be more attuned to heavier users, through the use of
information sharing applications in particular, than those in Europe
and Asia.
Table 5 presents the results tabulated by library type. On the
whole, the differences in the prevalence of Web 2.0 applications
between public and academic libraries are less conspicuous than
those among the regions. Even though academic libraries were found
to outnumber public libraries in the prevalence of almost all Web 2.0
applications, Chi-square analyses show no statistical signicance
between the two library types for blogs [2(1, N = 120) = .543,

Table 4
Number of websites featuring Web 2.0 applications by region.
Region

North America
Europe
Asia
Total (N = 120)

Information
acquisition

Information
Information Information
dissemination organization sharing

Table 5
Number of websites featuring Web 2.0 applications by library type.

RSS

ST

IM

SNS

29
18
21
68

10
4
6
20

28
17
15
60

12
3
5
20

35
11
10
56

17
4
3
24

B = blog; W = wiki; RSS = Rich Site Summary; ST = social tagging; IM = instant

messaging; SNS = social networking service.

Type

Information
acquisition
B

Public
32
Academic
36
Total (N = 120) 68

Information
Information Information
dissemination organization sharing
W

RSS

10 25
10 35
20 60

ST

IM

SNS

7
13
20

26
30
56

11
13
24

208

A.Y.K. Chua, D.H. Goh / Library & Information Science Research 32 (2010) 203211

Cramer's V = .067, p = .461], wikis [2(1, N = 120)= 0, Cramer's V = 0,

p = 1], RSS [2(1, N = 120) = 3.33, Cramer's V = .167, p = .068], social
tagging [2(1, N = 120) = 2.16, Cramer's V = .134, p = .142], instant
messaging [2(1, N = 120) = .536, Cramer's V = .067, p = .464], and
social networking services [2(1, N = 120) = .208, Cramer's V = .042,
p = .648]. This means that academic libraries and public libraries share a
similar prevalence of Web 2.0 applications on their websites.
4.2. Use of Web 2.0 applications
Blogs are commonly used to generate interest in subject-specic
topics as well as to engage users. For example, Copenhagen University
Library uses blogs to introduce new books organized by disciplines
such as health science, humanities, and theology. Hennepin County
Library in the United States encourages participation amongst users
by offering dedicated blogs for demographically similar users. For
instance, it has a Teen Speak Section that attracts teenage bloggers.
The blogs hosted by National Library Board of Singapore are intended
for users to share photographs on local themes such as Singapore
landmarks and festivals. Blogs also give websites a human voice and
endear library personnel to users. For example, Everett Public Library
in North America hosts its library director blog on its homepage. In her
blog, the director writes about her personal life and informs users of
current developments in the library.
Libraries use wikis in their websites to cull resources thematically
from users. For instance, in North America, Saint Joseph County Public
Library develops subject guides through its own wikis while Salt Lake
County Library and Hennepin County Library do so by providing links
to external subject-based wikis. Syracuse University Library uses
wikis to build resources that support race and law research in the
campus. Nonetheless, not all wikis are intended for subject-matterrelated content. In the University of Hong Kong Libraries, wikis are
used to archive past questions on a range of topics such as library
services and book renewal procedures posted by users. Central
Hawke's Bay District Libraries in New Zealand use wikis to solicit
feedback from users to improve library services.
Libraries that adopt RSS mostly use it to communicate news and
events, updates of resources, or collections on their websites. Denver
Public Library, for example, offers RSS feeds to the latest U.S. and
world news. The Australian National University Library's RSS feeds are
linked to the library's electronic resources and alert users whenever
papers or journals of interest emerge. The Cornell University Library
uses RSS as a conduit to its LibCast, which features audiovisual
recordings and updates on exhibitions and events. In some cases, RSS
feeds have been incorporated into library blogs to update readers on
the latest postings. For example, the University of Bath uses RSS feeds
in its New Science Blog to update users on news about resources and
services specic to subjects in the Faculty of Science. RSS feeds are also
used to manage user feedback. At the University of Auckland, users
can subscribe to RSS feeds that notify them of any suggestions and
comments on library services. In this way, they need not submit
entries that have already been posted. Likewise, library staff who
subscribe to such RSS feeds can be promptly alerted to users'
feedback.
With the exception of the University of Pennsylvania Library,
which develops its own social tagging tool known as Penn Tags,
libraries that promote social tagging provide a link to websites such as

Connotea, del.icio.us, and Digg. Following the link, users may register
with these social tagging sites that enable them to save, organize, and
share any references addressable by a URL. Libraries at Duke
University and Stanford University offer instructions on how to get
started with social tagging. Some libraries have been found to use
librarian-dened tags as part of their catalog to facilitate search and
discovery. For example, the Santa Cruz Public Library implements
AquaBrowser, an interface that enables users to search through its
collection using free-form texts, and thereafter allowing them to click
on the dynamically generated tag cloud to explore new titles
available. To better support better visualization of content, tag clouds
can also be commonly found alongside blogs in libraries such as the
Blue Mountain Library in Australia, Central Hawke's Bay District
Libraries and the Dunedin Public Libraries in New Zealand.
Libraries adopt instant messaging to handle users' enquiries
synchronously during predened timeslots. Common tools including
Yahoo! Instant Messenger, MSN Messenger, ICQ, and Skype are used
in the Princeton University Library and the National Szechenyi Library
(Hungary), while custom-built applications such as ChatRef and
AskNow are used in Harvard University Libraries and the National
Library of Australia, respectively. Public libraries in North America
including the Multnomah County Library, the Cincinnati and Hamilton
County Public Library, and the Santa Clara County Library make
interesting use of instant messaging. They offer free after-class online
tutoring services to any user holding a library card. Usually available
from the afternoon to night, these services are meant to help users
with their homework.
Libraries use social networking services such as Facebook and
MySpace as an alternate channel of communication as well as to forge
personalized connections with their users. Hennepin County Library,
for example, has a user account in Facebook that features a searchable
catalog and displays messages posted by both librarians and users.
Other libraries including Indiana University Libraries, the British
Library, the University of Adelaide Library use their Facebook accounts
to share pictures and video clips of past library events. The Denver
Public Library's account on MySpace, called Denver eVolver, is visually
captivating. Targeted at teenage users, Denver eVolver delves into
topics of interest to teenagers such as music/movie reviews and
homework help.
4.3. Relationships between Web 2.0 applications and website quality
Scores for system quality, information quality, and service quality
were calculated by averaging the scores from their related dimensions, yielding a minimum value of one and maximum value of ve.
The overall quality was derived by summing the scores of the three
aspects of quality.
Table 6 shows the means and standard deviations of the quality of
library websites organized by region and type. The ANOVA results
show no statistically signicant difference in website quality between
those of public and academic libraries (F = 3.93, p = .05, df 118).
Nonetheless, the ANOVA results show the differences in website
quality to be statistically signicant by region (F = 16.605, p b .001, df
117). Posthoc tests using the Tukey statistic reveal signicant
differences between North America and Europe (mean difference = 1.78; p b .001) and North America and Asia (mean difference = 1.63, p b .001). However the difference between Europe and

Table 6
Means and standard deviations of quality of library websites.
Public

Academic

System quality (a) Info quality (b) Service quality (c) Quality (a + b + c) System quality (a) Info quality (b) Service quality (c) Quality (a + b + c)
North America 3.33 .42
Europe
3.18 .47
Asia
3.28 .53

3.14 .62
2.97 .58
3.09 .65

2.9 .61
2.55 .63
2.88 .81

9.37 1.29
8.7 1.33
9.25 1.68

3.4 .47
3.18 .45
3.28 .42

3.17 .61
2.93 .59
3.07 .59

3.07 .77
2.53 .54
2.8 .48

9.64 1.53
8.64 1.23
9.15 1.06

A.Y.K. Chua, D.H. Goh / Library & Information Science Research 32 (2010) 203211

Asia was not statistically signicant (mean difference = .15, p = .9). In

other words, websites of public and academic libraries share
comparable quality. Websites of North American libraries tend to be
of a higher quality compared to those of European and Asian libraries,
while websites of European and Asian libraries are of comparable
quality.
To examine whether the presence of Web 2.0 applications
enhances the quality of library websites, multiple regression was
used. A total of four regression models were constructed, all of which
comprised B, W, RSS, ST, IM, and SNS as the independent variables
while the dependent variables were Quality (Q), System Quality
(SysQ), Information Quality (InfoQ, and Service Quality (SvcQ)
respectively.
As shown in Table 7, the combined effect of all six independent
variables (B, W, RSS, ST, IM and SNS) account for 70.5% of the
variability of the dependent variable Q (R2 = .705). At a more granular
level as illustrated in Models 2, 3, and 4, the independent variables
have the strongest inuence on SvcQ (R2 = .728), followed by SysQ
(R2 = .453) and InfoQ (R2 = .339).
There is also statistical evidence to support the existence of a
relationship between the presence of Web 2.0 applications and the
quality of the website, in terms of Q [F(6,113) = 44.926, p b .001], SysQ
[F(6,113) = 15.588, p b .001], InfoQ [F(6,113) = 9.657, p b .001], and
SvcQ [F(6,113) = 50.442, p b .001]. In other words, on a given library
website, the presence of Web 2.0 applications appear to have an
inuence on its overall quality.
As shown in Model 1 in Table 7, all independent variables were
found to have a statistically signicant relationship with the
dependent variable Q (p b .05). However, at a more granular level as
illustrated in Models 2 and 3, only the relationship between the
independent variables (ST, IM, and SNS) and the dependent variable
(SysQ), and those between the independent variables (IM and SNS)

Table 7
Regression coefcients.
Model

1a

2b

3c

4d

a
b
c
d

Constant
B
W
RSS
ST
IM
SNS
Constant
B
W
RSS
ST
IM
SNS
Constant
B
W
RSS
ST
IM
SNS
Constant
B
W
RSS
ST
IM
SNS

Unstandardized
coefcients
B

Std error

7.484
.560
.910
.453
1.121
.883
1.614
2.897
.017
.198
.140
.413
.262
.309
2.689
.180
.190
.009
.184
.216
.564
1.898
.363
.521
.321
.525
.405
.741

.152
.197
.246
.206
.251
.194
.247
.063
.082
.102
.086
.104
.081
.103
.082
.107
.133
.112
.136
.105
.134
.074
.096
.120
.100
.122
.095
.120

Dependent variable: Q.
Dependent variable: SysQ.
Dependent variable: InfoQ.
Dependent variable: SvcQ.

Standardized
coefcients

.162
.198
.132
.243
.257
.376
.016
.141
.134
.293
.249
.235
.143
.114
.007
.110
.173
.363
.206
.222
.184
.224
.231
.340

Sig.

R
Square

49.365
2.846
3.699
2.201
4.469
4.543
6.542
45.946
.205
1.939
1.641
3.955
3.242
3.008
32.710
1.688
1.428
.079
1.350
2.050
4.217
25.662
3.784
4.343
3.200
4.288
4.270
6.159

.000
.005
.000
.030
.000
.000
.000
.000
.838
.055
.104
.000
.002
.003
.000
.094
.156
.937
.180
.043
.000
.000
.000
.000
.002
.000
.000
.000

.705

.453

.339

.728

209

and the dependent variable (InfoQ), were statistically signicant

(p b .05). Model 4 shows the relationship of all independent variables
with the dependent variable (SvcQ) to be statistically signicant
(p b .05). Thus, on a given library website individual Web 2.0
applications appear to have an inuence on its overall quality (Q),
as well as its service quality (SvcQ). However, only ST, IM, and SNS
(information organization and information sharing Web 2.0 applications) have an inuence on system quality (SysQ) while IM and SNS
(information sharing Web 2.0 applications) have an inuence on
information quality (InfoQ).
The strength of associations of the independent variables in Model 1
in descending order is as follows: SNS (.376), IM (.257), ST (.243), W
(.198), B (.162), and RSS (.132). As a general trend across Models 2, 3 and
4, three independent variables (SNS, IM, and ST) appeared to have
stronger associations compared to the other three (W, B, and RSS). In
other words, amongst the various Web 2.0 applications, those belonging
to information organization and information sharing appear to have a
stronger inuence on the overall quality compared to those belonging to
information acquisition and information dissemination.
5. Discussion
The data collected from this study yielded three main ndings.
First, different regions and library types embrace Web 2.0 applications
differently. In particular, the order of popularity of Web 2.0
applications implemented in libraries is as follows: blogs, RSS, instant
messaging, social networking services, wikis, and social tagging
applications. More specically, libraries in North America lead
signicantly in all Web 2.0 applications compared to their European
and Asian counterparts. In particular, they seem more adept in
embracing information sharing applications, namely, instant messaging and social networking services, than libraries in the other two
regions. One possible reason could be the disparate Internet
penetration rates among the regions. As of 2007, the Internet
penetration rate in North American stood at 69.7% while those in
Europe and Asia lagged at 38.9% and 10.7% respectively (http://www.
internetworldstats.com/stats.htm). The results may well reect the
responsiveness among North American libraries to meet the needs
and expectations of the populace. Conversely, Asian libraries, which
remain at the poorer end of the global digital divide at this stage, may
nd embracing the Web a luxury rather than a necessity. Another
possible reason could be that it is usually expensive for libraries in
non-English speaking regions to provide the Web services in English.
Thus, the English version of Web 2.0 applications in Europe and Asia
may be limited compared to those in their respective native
languages.
Analyzing between library types, academic libraries show slightly
higher adoption rates of all Web 2.0 applications compared to public
libraries, although the differences are not statistically signicant. The
presence of sizeable cohorts of students in academic libraries who
share similar interests and disciplinary areas may have necessitated a
more prevalent adoption of Web 2.0 applications. These students may
also be more technologically procient, and therefore more willing to
use such applications. Users of public libraries, on the other hand, are
conceivably more heterogeneous even though fragmentary pockets of
like-minded users may exist. This suggests the need for promotional
and training campaigns in public libraries to ensure that users are
aware of and use Web 2.0 applications effectively. Still, the efforts of
public libraries to use Web 2.0 applications to meet the needs of their
users are laudable.
Second, our results show that while the underlying function of all
Web 2.0 applications points towards supporting users' interests and
enhancing their experience with library services, the manner in which
individual applications can be used is limited by the imaginations of
librarians and decision makers. A case in point is the interesting
extension of the use of instant messaging. In addition to providing

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A.Y.K. Chua, D.H. Goh / Library & Information Science Research 32 (2010) 203211

users synchronous access to librarians on library-related matters such

as reference services, a number of public libraries in North America
offer online tutoring services via instant messaging to help students
with their homework.
Moreover, rather than treating each Web 2.0 application as being
distinct, libraries' applications complement each other to increase the
level of user engagement. In particular, it is common to nd blogs used
in conjunction with RSS feeds so that users can be notied whenever
new posts related to a particular topic of interest emerge. An example
of concerted provision of multiple Web 2.0 applications including
blogs, instant messaging, and links to social networking services can
be found in the teen's section of the Kenton County Public Library's
website in North America. Such aggregated deployment of Web 2.0
applications should be considered by libraries; doing so may serve the
needs of users better than piecemeal application deployment, which
typically lacks focus in terms of service provision.
Third, the presence of Web 2.0 applications was found to have an
inuence on the overall quality of library websites. In particular, of the
three aspects of quality the association was strongest with service
quality. The participatory nature and ease of use of Web 2.0
applications, which offer interactive opportunities among likeminded users as well as between users and librarians, could have
contributed positively to service quality dimensions including
empathy, interactivity, playfulness, and the visual aspects. In other
words, users may derive a sense of being engaged while visiting
library websites that feature Web 2.0 applications. An implication
would be for libraries to use Web 2.0 applications as a deliberate
means to create cognitive and social connections between users and
librarians, thereby generating greater levels of patronage and possibly
boosting library membership.
Nonetheless, the association between the presence of Web 2.0
applications and information quality was found to be the weakest. In
other words, while Web 2.0 applications appear to be a hallmark of
quality library websites, their value lies more offering enhanced
online experience than providing high-quality content. Content
hosted on library websites comprises a combination of institutional
information as well as user-generated content. The use of Web 2.0
applications cannot supplant librarians' role of ensuring high-quality
institutional information on library websites. Librarians would still
have to exercise due diligence in providing information that is sound,
dependable, useful and easy to use (Kahn et al., 2002). Furthermore,
given that the openness of Web 2.0 applications means that any user
is able to create and consume content quickly and conveniently (Lai &
Turban, 2008), libraries that use Web 2.0 applications might need to
develop ways to weed out inappropriate or inaccurate content
through approaches such as moderation and peer-policing (Huang
& Chuang, 2006).
6. Conclusion
The era of information digitalization seems to have heightened
users' expectations on libraries. It no longer seems sufcient for
libraries to post static Web pages or simply feature electronic
transaction capabilities for their library services on their websites.
Rather, libraries are expected to support multilateral ows of
information amongst users and librarians. Recognizing the need to
engage users and harness user-generated content, libraries have
begun incorporating Web 2.0 applications in their websites. Given the
current lack of scholarly attention on the use of Web 2.0 applications
in libraries globally, this paper focuses on (a) the prevalence of Web
2.0 applications, (b) the ways Web 2.0 applications have been used
and (c) whether the presence of Web 2.0 applications enhances the
quality of library websites.
In examining six common Web 2.0 applications and 120 library
websites, the study found that libraries in North America lead
signicantly in the adoption of Web 2.0 applications compared to

their European and Asian counterparts. Across all libraries, the order
of popularity of Web 2.0 applications implementation is as follows:
blogs, RSS, instant messaging, social networking services, wikis, and
social tagging applications. The difference between public and
academic libraries in implementing Web 2.0 applications is not
statistically signicant.
Blogs are commonly used to generate interest in subject-specic
topics while wikis are used to cull resources thematically from users.
Libraries adopt RSS to communicate news and events, updates of
resources or collections. Social tagging is used to facilitate search and
discovery while instant messaging is used to handle users' enquiries
during predened timeslots. Libraries use social networking services
to forge personalized connections with users.
In addition, the presence of Web 2.0 applications was found to
correlate to the overall quality of library websites. Of the three aspects
of quality, the strength of correlation is strongest to service quality,
followed by system quality and information quality. This suggests that
libraries can best harness Web 2.0 applications to facilitate communication and information dissemination between librarians and their
users. In particular, libraries may wish to explore the use of Web 2.0
applications that support information organization and information
sharing. Connecting with users via Facebook, allowing users to chat
with librarians synchronously or supporting the use of social tagging
tools, for example, may help to improve the perceived quality of a
library's website.
There are three main limitations in our study. The selection of
libraries from North America, Europe and Asia was limited to those
whose websites were available in English. Future work can look into
examining libraries' websites in other languages and from other
regions. Moreover, a sample of only six Web 2.0 applications was
chosen for analysis. Our study can be expanded to include applications
such as mobile services and a slew of other emerging Web 2.0
applications such as Ning, Twitter, Pageakes, and Diigo. Finally, the
scope of data collection was limited to what was publicly available on
the Internet. The inuence of Web 2.0 on users' behavior, for example,
was not studied. Also, the binary coding of the Web 2.0 applications
meant that the effectiveness and extent of use of each application
could not be quantitatively captured. Researchers interested in this
work can delve into how the implementation of Web 2.0 applications
has changed human dimensions such as perceptions, needs, and
behaviors of users and librarians. Applications that contribute to OPAC
usability and how they can improve the exploitation of library
holdings are also research-worthy efforts.
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