Abstract

This article reports on a study for which the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) served as a theoretical framework. The purpose of the qualitative exploration was to gain an understanding of students’ perceptions of the adoption of social media, namely Facebook and Twitter, in an academic library setting. The study applied the constructs as described by the UTAUT, namely, performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence and facilitating conditions, to explore students’ perceived behavioural intentions to use social media. A sample of 30 students were selected from two universities, one in Belgium (University of Antwerp) and one in South Africa (University of Limpopo), to gain better insight of the students’ perceptions regarding the adoption and use of social media, in particular Facebook and Twitter, by the academic libraries at these two universities. The study showed that the adoption of social media is positively influenced by effort expectancy, performance expectancy and social influence. A major challenge reported by most respondents at the University of Limpopo was poor internet access and the non-adoption of Facebook and Twitter, whilst respondents at the University of Antwerp had mixed feelings about the adoption of Facebook and Twitter for scholarly communication.

摘要

本文报告了一项以接受和使用技术的统一理论 (UTAUT) 作为理论框架的研究。定性探索的目的是了解学生对在学术图书馆环境中采用社交媒体（即 Facebook 和 Twitter）的看法。该研究应用了 UTAUT 描述的结构，即绩效预期、努力预期、社会影响和便利条件，以探索学生使用社交媒体的感知行为意图。从两所大学中抽取了 30 名学生作为样本，其中一所位于比利时（安特卫普大学），另一所位于南非（林波波大学），以更好地了解学生对采用和使用社交媒体的看法，特别是脸书和推特，由这两所大学的学术图书馆提供。研究表明，社交媒体的采用受到努力预期、绩效预期和社会影响的积极影响。林波波大学的大多数受访者报告的一个主要挑战是互联网接入不良以及不采用 Facebook 和 Twitter，而安特卫普大学的受访者对采用 Facebook 和 Twitter 进行学术交流的看法不一。