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This chapter focuses on how social media tools can be used to enhance collaboration in higher education and the benefits and challenges that this can bring. We investigate how two social media tools, social bookmarking, and microblogging, can be utilized to foster collaboration and determine why this is important in contemporary higher education. Case studies of social media use at Bournemouth University show how social bookmarking and microblogging have already yielded benefits.The case studies are grounded in the challenges facing higher education in 2010. We explore how social media has been used in the context of a need to enhance academic excellence and drive efficiencies in the face of funding constraints and changing demographics.

The case studies illustrate, first, how social bookmarking has been used to foster group cohesion, reflective practice, and evaluative skills in students, as well as being used at an institutional level to drive professional and administrative efficiencies; and second, how microblogging has made a difference in promoting reflective learning, group cohesion, and professional awareness in students and how this style of social networking has contributed to enhancing academic and professional networks.

Whilst the tools, uses, and stakeholders vary, the case studies show how social media has enabled collaboration between, students, academics, librarians, learning technologists, and even professional groups beyond the institution. We conclude that, when used appropriately, social media can facilitate the collaboration that will be essential to overcome the challenges facing higher education.

The aim of this study is to provide a theoretical extension to the private‐collective model of information sharing along with an empirical test with users of a social bookmarking website.

The paper includes a survey of 112 users of an actual bookmarking site recruited through an online research panel firm. The survey consisted of scales adapted from the literature as well as scales developed by the authors.

The results indicate that contributions to a social bookmarking site are a combination of intentional and unintentional contributions. A significant predictor of intentional public contributions of bookmarks is an egoistic motivation to see one as competent by contributing valuable information. However, there is also a significant but negative relationship between altruism and public contribution whereby users concerned with the needs of others limit their public contributions.

The sample consists of users of a particular social bookmarking site (Yahoo!'s MyWeb). Therefore, the results may not be generalizable to other social bookmarking websites, different types of social networks, or other contexts lacking the public/private option for contributions. Second, since the data comes from a cross‐sectional survey, as opposed to a longitudinal study, the causal relations posited in the model and substantiated with the statistical analyses can only be inferred based on the authors’ theoretical development. Third, although the size of the sample (112 respondents) is appropriate for PLS analysis it may have been insufficient to detect other significant relationships.

Administrators of social bookmarking sites should incorporate incentive and feedback mechanisms to inform contributors whether they contributions have been used (for example, with times viewed) and/or deemed useful (with numeric or qualitative ratings).

The results suggest that both selfish motivations associated with the need to feel competent (egoism), as well as selfless concerns for the needs of other users (altruism) drive intentional contributions to the public repository in social bookmarking systems. These two counterbalancing forces indicate that a mix of egoism and altruism is crucial for the long‐term sustainability of social web sites based on information sharing.

This study provides theoretical explanations and empirical evidence of egoism and altruism as significant explanations for cooperation in private‐collective models, such as the ones represented by social bookmarking systems.

This chapter addresses the needs of ongoing educational reform and presents the merits of social bookmarking as a technology integration option for pre-service teachers. Delicious, a social bookmarking tool, was introduced as a Web 2.0 tool that assists in tracking websites that hold the potential to contribute toward the meaningful learning of students. Delicious and other social bookmarking tools give 24/7 access to tagged websites from any computer anywhere in the world as long as Internet access is available. Numerous emerging technologies are making their way into the classrooms. As such, K-12 schools and post-secondary institutions of higher learning bear the responsibility for preparing all students to successfully use them to compete in this global economy. During fall 2009 and spring 2010 semesters, the authors piloted use of Delicious in seven mandatory teacher education technology-based courses. Specific instructions were provided for selecting interactive, user-friendly websites with content that would complement lesson plan content and thereby contribute toward greater learning potential. A total of 106 graduate and undergraduate pre-service teachers located, standardized, and began sharing their tagged Delicious bookmarks as part of a major course project for integrating technology into a classroom. The websites were documented within full and abbreviated lesson plans that detailed the rationale for use of each technology resource/tool. Approximately 300 websites that met specifically defined criteria were located by the pre-service teachers who also benefited from the merits of collaboration and sharing through social bookmarking with Delicious. They simultaneously experienced how ready-access to quality technology resources/tools could positively impact the learning opportunities of their K-12 students. Access to the Delicious database collection is available by contacting the authors.

Purpose – As researchers need partners to collaborate with, this study aims to provide author recommendation for academic researchers for potential collaboration, conference planning, and compilation of scientific working groups with the help of social information. Hereby the chapter analyzes and compares different similarity metrics in information and computer science.

Methodology/approach – The study uses data from the multidiscipline information services Web of Science and Scopus as well as the social bookmarking service CiteULike to measure author similarity and recommend researchers to unique target researchers. The similarity approach is based on author co-citation, bibliographic coupling of authors and collaborative filtering methods. The developed clusters and graphs are then evaluated by these target researchers.

Findings – The analysis shows, for example, that different methods for social recommendation complement each other and that the researchers evaluated user- and tag-based data from a social bookmarking system positively.

Research limitations/implications – The present study, providing author recommendation for six target physicists, is supposed to be a starting point for further approaches on social academic author recommendation.

Practical implications – The chapter investigates in recommendation methods and similarity algorithm models as basis for an implementation of a social recommendation system for researchers in academics and knowledge-intensive organizations.

Originality/value of chapter – The comparison of different similarity measurements and the user evaluation provide new insights into the construction of social data mining and the investigation of personalized recommendation.

With really simple syndication (RSS), library users can have information delivered to them automatically, instead of spending large amount of time searching databases, web sites and blogs for new literature in their subject fields. The availability of social bookmarking tools gives researchers new ways to discover, share and store information for their research. This paper aims to provide information on how academic librarians can use RSS feeds and social bookmarking tools as mechanisms of current awareness and resource discovery.

The paper focuses on the ways of keeping current using RSS feeds and social bookmarking tools.

RSS feeds and social bookmarking tools help manage information and save time as well as increase access to new information.

The paper showcases how academic librarians at the University of Canterbury Library teach students to stay current by using RSS feeds and social bookmarking for current awareness and resource discovery.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the notion of social search as a new concept, drawing upon the patterns of web search behaviour. It aims to: define social search; present a taxonomy of social search; and propose a user‐centred social search method.

A mixed method approach was adopted to investigate and conceptualise the notion of social search. A review of literature on social search was carried out to identify the key trends and topics. A model of online collaboration was adopted to delineate the types and categories of social search. Four use case scenarios were developed to provide a more pragmatic approach to the understanding of social search.

The developed taxonomy of social search reveals important similarities and differences between many social search systems. This analysis reveals a gap in social search approaches. A practical method was identified that allows users to directly leverage social search without special features built into search engines.

For feasibility reasons, Google was used as an example of a search system that can be used for carrying out social searches.

The paper provides several practical implications for web searchers as well as web designers. In particular, some recommendations are provided for the design of search engines, digital libraries and browser add‐ons.

The study demonstrates the value and power of “collective intelligence” in web search. It shows how general web searches can be enhanced through using socially enhanced web‐based tools such as social bookmarking systems, social tagging services and social media sites.

This is the first study that provides a granular analysis of the notion of social search and puts forward a taxonomy of social search. The use cases developed and reported are created based on real search topics, and show the value and validity of the approach taken.

The purpose of this paper is to report on a comparative and analytical examination of ten social tagging systems' interfaces and their features and functionalities. The specific objective of the study was to examine the ways in which the user interfaces of social tagging systems encourage and provide users with features to assign, explore, browse and make use of tags during their interaction with social tagging sites.

The user interface features and functionalities of ten social tagging sites (six social bookmarking and four social media sharing sites) are examined. A categorisation of tag‐related features is developed for analysis. The sites are selected based on such criteria as popularity, variety of site type, and inclusion of tagging features and content type.

The findings of this study show that there is an emerging interface design paradigm with respect to social tagging sites that reflects a particular focus on exploratory search and browsing features and services. Some of the key areas discussed are: user tagging features; exploratory and tag browsing features; and interface layout.

The findings of this study of the user interface features of social tagging sites provide a comprehensive picture of the possible and potential features that can be incorporated into new social tagging systems. Based on the evidence found in the examined social tagging interfaces, recommendations are made on the design of tag posting, tag use, tag browsing, tag lists and tag clouds. The design recommendations offer ideas for the development of more sophisticated exploratory and interactive user interfaces for social tagging systems.

This is the first paper that reports on a comparative and exploratory examination of social tagging user interface features and functionalities.

This study aims to explore the extent of Web 2.0 adoption by libraries of top universities in Africa. It focuses on identifying the extent of utilization, types of Web 2.0 technologies adopted and how these technologies are used.

The content analysis method was used. Data was collected by analyzing library websites of 82 top universities in Sub-Saharan Africa. Also, a combination of literature review and document analysis was applied.

About half of the libraries in the study adopted one or more Web 2.0 applications. Social networks were the most widely adopted while social bookmarking and tagging were the least used applications. Web 2.0 utilization in African academic libraries was still in early stages.

This study is mainly based on analysis of library websites. Web 2.0 platforms that were password protected and accessible through intranet were not studied. Therefore, studies that are based on feedback of librarians and patrons are warranted to further investigate Web 2.0 utilization in African libraries.

Web 2.0 plays a key role in facilitating information sharing, collaboration, and communication between librarians and patrons, and among librarians. It is essential for African libraries to integrate these technologies into library services to enhance the quality of services.

This is likely the first study about Web 2.0 applications in African academic libraries. It is a useful source for implementing web-based technologies in libraries.

The study aims to investigate the level of awareness and use of Web 2.0 tools by librarians in university libraries in Nigeria.

A questionnaire was used to collect data from 176 librarians in 49 university libraries in Nigeria.

It emerged that the librarians were more familiar with social networking sites, instant messaging, media sharing sites, blogs and wikis. The popularity of these Web 2.0 tools made them the most frequently used by the librarians. Web 2.0 tools like Flickr, RSS feeds, podcasts, social bookmarking, were among the least used. The study revealed that librarians use Web 2.0 tools mostly for reference services online, library news/events, training resources, and image and video sharing. Lack of facilities such as computers with internet access, lack of skills, and lack of time were indicated as some of the barriers in the use of Web 2.0 tools by librarians in university libraries in Nigeria.

These research results can be consulted by interested librarians as they plan to implement Web 2.0 applications in their libraries.

This study draws an overall picture of Web 2.0 applications in Nigerian university libraries and attempts to provide helpful information to better understand how librarians elsewhere are utilizing Web 2.0 technologies in rendering library services.

The goal of this paper is to examine the use of the major social networking tools in academic libraries in the USA. As college students are heavy users of social networking, such efforts provide academic libraries with outreach possibilities to students who do not use the physical library. The paper also seeks to examine the concerns about their use both from students and within the academic library.

The paper summarizes findings from articles published since 2006 found in the Library Literature and Information Full Text database. The first author also examined librarian blogs and library accounts in various social networking sites.

Social networking can be an effective method of student outreach in academic libraries if libraries take care to respect student privacy and to provide equal coverage for all subject areas.

Most information about social networking is anecdotal with very little statistical analysis of its effectiveness. The popularity of the various social networking sites can change quickly.

Academic libraries should consider using social networking as an outreach effort but take care to avoid the potential negative consequences.

This paper provides a snapshot on the use of social networking in academic libraries through a thorough review of the available literature and an examination of the libraries' presence on the most popular social networking sites. It also provides help for academic libraries wishing to implement social networking.