Abstract
Currently, Web 2.0 applications are an essential tool for students. It is an easy-to-use interactive and multi-purpose digital platform that can be used to make any information global efficiently in a short time. Due to modern technological discovery, sharing knowledge and interaction globally has become an easy task. Web 2.0 applications provide easy communication tools for students. This helps the student in searching, collecting, and disseminating information, leading to better communication between groups. The trend of interaction, knowledge sharing, social networking, and blog writing has significantly increased the use of the Internet among college students. Many academic libraries have started using these Web applications to provide better and up-to-date services to their users. Presently, the use of Web 2.0 applications to deliver its services to users in academic libraries, particularly in engineering college libraries, has started growing. However, studies show that the academic use of these devices is still decreasing at the college level. The knowledge, attitude, and preferences of Web 2.0 applications among engineering college students lead to better and effective use of these Web tools in libraries. The main objective of this study is to identify and determine the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of engineering college students on Web 2.0 applications. The survey method has been used to collect primary data. A self-administered questionnaire has been used to collect primary data from 900 undergraduate engineering students, who have been selected by purposive sampling methods. Out of the total questionnaires distributed, 87% (783) of the questionnaires were filled. A simple percentage calculation chart method under descriptive statistics was used to analyse the primary data collected. Research results show that most students have considerable knowledge of specific Web 2.0 applications such as Gmail, Google drive, social networking, social bookmarking, blogs, wikis, RSS feeds, and Grammarly. This study shows that women use Web 2.0 applications more than men. Most students learn about Web 2.0 applications through friends and colleagues. It also shows that most students have a good understanding of Web 2.0 applications and use these applications to interact and share information. In short, it was found that Web 2.0 applications are the best user-friendly tool for students to learn and share scholarly information with each other.
Keywords: Web 2.0 Applications, Web Technology, Social Networking, Engineering Students, Academic Library
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