Use of WhatsApp for Effective Delivery of Library and Information Services.

Information communication technology playing a major role in transmitting idea, thought and information between one to another. Social networking websites are a good example of communication network and it is a social structure that lets the user interact and work collaboratively with other users. WhatsApp is a free instant messenger application that allows users to send text messages and multimedia files. In this paper, an online survey was conducted to measure usability of WhatsApp for service delivery in the libraries and information centres. A random sample was selected from social networking sites from all over India and an online questionnaire was used to gather information from respondents. Findings indicated that respondents showed a positive attitude toward getting services over WhatsApp. Most of the respondents believe that use of WhatsApp can improve alert services (CAS, virtual reference, notifications) and libraries can utilise their potential for providing better user services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]