Use of SNSs by the researchers in India: A comparative study of Panjab University and Kurukshetra University
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to study the purpose of using social networking sites (SNSs) among the research scholars of Panjab University (PU), Chandigarh and Kurukshetra University (KU), Kurukshetra in India.
Design/methodology/approach
The study was conducted through a questionnaire administered to the research scholars in two universities in India. The questionnaire was distributed among the randomly selected research scholars of the two universities in India.
Findings
It is observed that the majority of the research scholars from both the universities are aware of the SNSs and have their accounts on them. Facebook is the most popularly accessed SNS both in PU (83 per cent) and KU (77 per cent) followed by Orkut (46 per cent) in PU and Research Gate (38 per cent) at KU. The majority of the research scholars who use SNSs for various purposes from both the universities are in the age group of 20-30 years. 46 per cent of the researchers surveyed from PU do not have any publications and only 5 per cent have more than ten publications so far, whereas 54 per cent research scholars do not have any publications to their credit in KU.
Research limitations/implications
The study is limited to two universities in India, namely PU, Chandigarh and KU, Kurukshetra. There are a total of 75 teaching departments at PU and 46 departments at KU. The present study is limited to 20 departments each of both the universities. The PU has approximately 500 research scholars and KU has approximately 450 research scholars. The representative sample was formed by taking approximately 15 per cent of respondents (i.e. 65) from 20 departments of each university. 130 questionnaires were received and analyzed for the present study.
Originality/value
The paper attempts to find out the awareness and use of SNSs among the research scholars perusing their research in different disciplines in PU, Chandigarh and KU, Kurukshetra in India. It is the first of its kind survey to find out the purpose of using the SNSs by the researchers of this region.
Keywords
Citation
Mahajan, P., Singh, H. and Kumar, A. (2013), "Use of SNSs by the researchers in India: A comparative study of Panjab University and Kurukshetra University", Library Review, Vol. 62 No. 8/9, pp. 525-546. https://doi.org/10.1108/LR-11-2012-0119
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2013, Emerald Group Publishing Limited