A Study on the Usage Behavior of Middle-level Staff of Buddhist and Pali University on Facebook.

The use of social media has increased in the recent era compared to the past. Social media is the collection of tools and, online spaces available for communication among individuals and groups. Easy access and accessible communication facilities, flexible languages, and ability to create free accounts are the main reasons for the popularity of Facebook (FB) among nations worldwide, including Sri Lankans. The library of the Buddhist and Pali University (BPU) of Sri Lanka wants to introduce online user groups to communicate and share library-related information through FB. Currently, Wi-Fi facilities are used to communicate with academic staff and higher-level administrative staff. Hence the problem affected was that the behaviour of the non-academic middle-level staff in an online environment is not understood. The primary objective of the study is to understand the behavior of the university non-academic middle-level staff in an online environment before introducing an online communication system for them. In addition, it is necessary to be aware of 'why and how' FB is used by the staff. The survey method was used to collect data using a questionnaire from the selected sample using a mixed method. An applied research type was adhered to conduct the study. Findings revealed that the primary purpose of the use of FB by BPU middle-level staff was to look forward 'for news'. The behavioral study proved that there are efficient users of FB and they are capable of sharing, delivering, liking, commenting, criticizing, and uploading the posts. However, they are not proficient in creating many exciting posts. The main problem that seems to affect them is 'unknown friend requests.' It was found that there is a significant association between gender and purpose, and gender and posting authentic personnel information. It was recommended to create online 'library user groups' for communication purposes and to hold IT training sessions for middle-level staff to improve their knowledge and skills in IT usage for library related activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]