OLJ Activity - Making Web 2.0 Work for Your Organisation

Select three (3) libraries of your choice that use social networking to meet their goals.

Develop a comparative table which documents how each of the libraries use social networking tools to support information service provision, educational programs, conduct business etc.

	State Library of NSW	South Carolina State Library	New York Public Library
Facebook	5921 likes every few days	1396 likes everyday prolific	123 557 likes everyday prolific
Twitter	5174 followers 3588 tweets	4262 followers 5640 tweets	309 K followers 13.7K tweets
Flickr	1903 photos	8270 photos	2525 photos
blog	yes – 6 blogs	no	yes – countless
Instagram	510 followers 172 posts	no	24 689 followers 318 posts
podcasting	yes	yes	yes
IM	no (email with up to 7 day reply)	yes	yes
RSS feed	yes	yes	yes
mobile access to OPAC	no	no	no
Google +	no	yes	yes
YouTube	no	no	yes
vimeo	124 videos	no	87 videos
Historypin	1017 pins 10 tours 30 collections	no	287 pins 1 collection
pinterest	83 boards 1738 pins	30 boards 402 pins	31 boards 2031 pins
enewsletters	yes	yes	yes
Goodreads	no	yes	yes
LinkedIn	no	yes	yes
tumblr	no	no	232 notes
Four square	no	no	yes

Based on this comparison (and in no more than 350 words) develop your own list of “Reasons why libraries should be on social media”, and draw upon aspects of these three libraries to illustrate each point.

Reasons why libraries should be on social media

Communication 
Social media is an avenue of communication for many people and in particular young people. Burkhardt (2009) argues young people use IM, Facebook and SMS in preference to email. It is evident both the New York Public Library (NYPL) and South Carolina State Library (SCSL) use Facebook and Twitter to communicate with their uses. Both their use of Facebook and Twitter is prolific with a number of posts and tweets everyday.

YouTube is a social networking (SN) tool used by NYPL. Wee (2010) recognises Facebook, Twitter and YouTube as good SN tools for customer communication. SCSL and NYPL also offer an IM option which is more tailored to young people than the State Library of NSW which has an email option with up to 7 days for a reply. This is hardly an effective avenue for communication with its users.

Responding to Feedback
An important aspect of customer service is to be responsive to users' concerns or praise (Burkhardt, 2009). Twitter and Facebook are effective SN tools for responding to user feedback. Burkhardt (2009) recognises it is no longer possible to control what is said about the library but the Library can influence the message that comes across. Timely and thoughtful responses will assist in this. McBurnie (2007) suggests libraries should treat messages via social media as they would emails. 

Marketing
Social media provides another avenue for advertising (Burkhardt, 2009). Farkas (2007) suggests to go where library users are and to put links to the library website there. An example of the NYPL doing this is by use of its own YouTube channel. YouTube is the second largest search engine (Elliott, 2013) and by producing content on YouTube the NYPL is marketing itself to potential users.

The use of Twitter and Facebook by SCSL and NYPL also assist in marketing themselves to potential users. Wee (2010) recognises Facebook, Twitter and YouTube as good SN tools for brand exposure. McBurnie (2007) argues building and projecting a consistent online identity assists in projecting the image of an active, well-informed and progressive organisation.

Building Relationships
The use of IM by SCSL and NYPL builds relationships by immediately communicating and responding to users queries. The use of blogs by State Library of NSW (SLNSW) and NYPL tailored to specific audiences fosters relationships between the library and its users. The delivery of relevant content and the use of comments strengthens these relationships. Prompt responses to Facebook and Twitter posts also assist in building relationships.

Understanding Users Better
Farkas (2008) argues libraries should always focus on the users they have and assessments are critical in making the library reflect the needs and wants of the patrons. Social media is an effective tool to assess the needs and wants of the community. It could be argued the creation and customisation of blogs by SLNSW and NYPL demonstrates an understanding of users by providing tailored content to specific users. All three libraries use podcasting, which provides an easy to find link for users on information services or educational programs.

Burkhardt, A. (2009, August 25). Four Reasons Libraries Should be on Social Media [Web Log Post]. Retrieved from http://andyburkhardt.com/2009/08/25/four-reasons-libraries-should-be-on-social-media/ 

Elliott, A. (2013, August 7). The Second Largest Search Engine [INFOGRAPHIC]. Retrieved from http://socialmediatoday.com/socialbarrel/1650226/second-largest-search-engine-infographic 

Farkas, M. (2008, January 24). The Essence of Library 2.0? [Web Log Post]. Retrieved from http://meredith.wolfwater.com/wordpress/2008/01/24/the-essence-of-library-20/

Farkas, M. (2007, November 7). Building Academic Library 2.0 [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?=q_uOKFhoznl   

McBurnie, J. (2007, October 1). Your Online Identity: Key to Marketing and Being Found [Web Blog Post]. Retrieved from http://web.freepint.com/go/blog/2510

Wee, W. (2010, March 5). INFOGRAPHIC: Guide to the Socail Media Marketing Landscape [Web Blog Post]. Retrieved from http://techinasia.com/infographic-guide-to-the-social-media-mrketing-landscape/