Introduction
The academic world is starting to see collaborative research more frequently, and as technology has become more deeply embedded in the classroom, it has taken on new dimensions. According to Straus and Layton (2002), cooperation is an effective and tried-and-true method for reaching agreements, resolving conflicts, and facilitating decision-making processes. According to Abbas (2016), the goals of scholarly collaboration are to: promote the exchange of ideas and knowledge; provide intellectual companionship to combat intellectual isolation; cross-fertilize ideas to produce fresh insights or perspectives; and potentially increase the visibility of the work by having each collaborator disseminate the findings informally or formally. Information and communication technology is creating new avenues for collaborative study in this digital age. Collaboration tools, which have already revolutionized the information services industry and libraries, are being utilized by librarians as well as other professionals.
Characteristics of Collaboration Tools
Any tool that allows interaction on a shared resource has the potential to be a collaboration tool. An effective collaboration is the increase the likelihood that a tool can attract a critical mass of users. A natural interface with interactions based on existing communication norms is particularly valuable. Taking a cue from traditional face-to-face interaction, many collaboration tools have tried to emulate nontechnology-mediated interactions.
- Collaboration tools permits the building of virtual applications, drawing data and functionality from a number of different source.
- Video, audio or simple text etc. is the most important feature of a collaboration tool that facilitates communication and interaction between participants.
- The traditional web is one- sided with a flow of content form provider to viewers, it allows the user to actively participate online by means of blogging, sharing file or equivalent.
Collaboration Tools Platforms Vs library
When a library needs its users to collaborate frequently, it may require a dedicated set of collaboration tools which are
Wikis: Wikis are typically powered by wiki software and are often created collaboratively, by multiple users. Wikis are easy-to-create, editable web pages that allow multiple individuals if granted permission by the wiki owner to edit the content.
Social Interaction (Facebook, LIS Links etc.): Social interaction tools like Facebook and LinkedIn ask. LIS Links, video sharing site YouTube etc. have made a strong impact among internet users around the world. Facebook which is one of the very popular social networking sites now encourages people to connect with others.
Blog: All blogs short for web logs have a similar format where the newest posts appear first, but they can span the gamut of topics, styles and content.
RSS Feed: RSS is a family of XML file formats for web syndication used by news websites and weblogs. RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is light weight XML format which is used for publishing frequently updated content such as blog entries, news headlines, and podcasts in a standardized format.
Podcast: The word podcast comes from the amalgamation of the words iPod and broadcast. However, the “pod” is a bit of a misnomer as podcasts can also be played on computers and mp3 players. This tool is used to exchange and share audio programmers among patrons over the Internet.
Impact of Collaboration Tools Concepts on the Academic Library
It is very clear that libraries have a very pioneering role to play in the web technologies implementation. Ranganathan also said ‘library is a growing organism’; Libraries are gradually embracing the new technologies including collaboration tools for organizing, collecting and sharing the information to its users. Earlier, the libraries have connected with other libraries for offering interlibrary lending as well as the resource sharing. Now the resources which are in digital format and can be accessed from anywhere other than the library collections. Therefore, libraries are prepared to adopt the related technologies and this is being done by the help of libraries using the various web tools and attempts to provide and use the digital sources to and from outsiders. According to Katz (2008), modern computing has created new opportunities for libraries to face by opening the global access to information irrespective of the location.
Conclusion
Libraries in particular, academic libraries, have the function of being knowledge resources and knowledge promoters. With the invention of collaborative tools, it changed the places into the remote location along with the information. This kind of technologies meets the library mission to partner and share areas where the librarians can communicate with users. It will definitely enhance the quality of library services in as much as the requirement of the user community is concerned. It will also be able to transform the various functions and services of the library with ease. Thus, to librarians and information managers, this is a new concept that must be embraced and incorporated in the libraries.
References
Katz, S. (2008). The digital library: A brief overview. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 40(1), 1-10. doi: 10.1177/0961000607084184
Straus, D. & Layton, T. (2002). How to make collaboration work: powerful ways to build consensus, solve problems and make decisions. San Fanciso: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
Abbas, K. D. (2016). Patterns of scholarly collaboration among academics in Nigerian universities: knowledge sharing or knowledge hoarding? Journal of Balkan Libraries Union, 4 (2), 28 – 34. DOI: 10.16918/bluj.54557.
Abdulkawiyyu Mustapha is a Library Executive at Skyline University Nigeria (SUN).