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/ 

An Internet Minute

It is staggering to think about the volume of content that anyone with internet connectivity can be exposed to. As a teacher and Year Coordinator I used to advise parents about monitoring their child's computer access and recommend setting up the computer (PC) in a communal living space away. 

With mobile technology and devices such as ipods, mobile phones, and tablets, it is increasingly hard for parents to constantly monitor their child, or in most cases children's, internet access. Creating a docking station for all mobile devices to be stored when not in use and restricting access time for children are positive steps parents can make. But the overwhelming positive impact will come from parents understanding the technology, functionality and security settings in conjunction with teaching cybersafety.

Hoffelder, N. (2013, March 21). Infographic: What Can Happen in an Internet Minute. Retrieved from http://www.the-digital-reader.com/2013/03/21/infographic-what-can-happen-in-an-internet-minute/#.UvGMa_aBT34

OLJ Activity - 4Cs of Social Media

Visit ASU's collection of The Library Minute videos and view five (5) of these one minute videos, then visit two (2) of the other Web 2.0 tools used as part of the ASU Library Channel suite at http://lib.asu.edu/librarychannel/.

Write a critical evaluation on ASU Libraries' use of these platforms to achieve the 4Cs of social media.

Arizona State University (ASU) Libraries have a collection of YouTube clips entitled The Library Minute. I viewed five of these, including The Library Minute: The Social Connection and explored ASU Libraries Facebook page and podcasts. I can appreciate their attempts to achieve the 4Cs of social media – collaboration, conversation, community and content creation, however, I feel they have fallen short.

The Library Channel is ASU Libraries blog sharing content pertaining to news, events and announcements. Trolling through the blog it does not appear there is much collaboration in the presentation of content published. Although it can be inferred a number of people are responsible for content creation as content covers current exhibitions, historical podcasts and YouTube clips on The Library Minute series. 

It does not appear the intended audience, ASU LIbraries' users, are participating in the conversation with them. For example, the Facebook page has only 575 likes, rather small scale for a University and the latest post from 11 days ago (7 Dec) about study tips for upcoming exams only had 3 likes and 2 shares. Hardly having a collaborative conversation with the community.

The Library Minute Series on YouTube consists of a number of brief, informative and fairly engaging clips. However, some appeared to have been created a number of years ago, thus not presenting the most current of content creation. The comments I read by viewers also did not appear to be from ASU students, thereby presenting evidence ASU Libraries are not engaging in the conversation with their community. Anali is the only 'character' in The Library Minute series. The inclusion of other ASU students in these clips will assist in collaboration and building community between the library and its users.

ASU Libraries are on Twitter and it appears they are achieving more success in achieving the 4Cs of social media using this social media platform. They have 2474 followers on twitter and have 1768 tweets. This is more of a community than the Facebook group has generated. Tweets are fairly regular, with nine tweets in the last week. It does not appear though users of the library are communicating with the library through Twitter. This conversation is very much one-way communication from the library.

McBurnie (2007) argues a library's use of a social networking tool must be purposeful. In this case I question ASU Libraries' use of social networking tools just for the sake of using another web 2.0 platform and focus on the tools that generate conversation with their community. I feel ASU Libraries should adopt Schrier (2011) principles for integrating social media into their overall strategic plan. In particular principles #1 listening and #2 participation will assist in ASU Libraries in engaging with ASU Library students in social media. 

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

Schrier, R. A. (2011). Digital librarianship and social media: the digital library as conversation facilities, D-Lib Magazine, 17(7/8) July/August 2011. Retrieved from http://dlib.org/dlib/july11/schrier/07schrier.html

Is it a blog? Is it a Wiki? Is it a Facebook group? Or maybe a microblog? That is the Question!

Blog, wiki, Facebook group or microblog?????
That is the question!

I am deciding which social networking tool will best suit my Project.

The current tool is a wordpress blog. This seems suitable. However, I was thinking a wiki may be the way to go to enable the students and parents to contribute content. But after talking with my husband (let's call him 'the client') he does not want students and parents to contribute. That would require action on his behalf and with email, phone calls and text messaging already from parents who expect an immediate response, I can see his point. So I am back to siding with a blog.

I then had the thought of a closed Facebook group. But survey results have indicated only 43.33% would be interested in being a member of a closed Facebook group. 40% indicated they were not on Facebook, and a further 16.67% were on Facebook, but not interested in being a member of a closed group. That is, only 13 out of 30 respondents (to date) would be interested in a closed Facebook group, therefore this is not an appropriate social networking tool for this community.

Now for microblogging . . . My understanding to date of microblogging is that it is best suited to the workplace. Most of the boarding parents live in rural areas and the lack of reliable and fast internet connections can have implications for them. 

So I am back to thinking the blog is the way to go!

OCLC Report (2007)

How do the concepts and findings in these sections (introduction, sections 1 & 2) of the OCLC report reflect your view of the socially networked world in 2013?  

The OCLC report discussed the point of internet users becoming information producers rather than information consumers. Taking in to account this report was published six years ago my anecdotal evidence would be this is even more so. 

News and current affairs programs now call for the public to upload video and news stories to social media which they incorporate in their news bulletins on television. Live feeds on programs such as Q and A include tweets from viewers live on the show, encouraging more banter to be tweeted in response.

The increase of reality television programs with viewer polls, tweets, and  Facebook comments creates social networking opportunities between users with shared interests. 

The report mentions MySpace which no longer seems to be used much anymore. And the omission of Twitter and Instagram are a sign the report is somewhat dated. This led me to ask where would twitter and Instagram fit between the defined social networking and social media. I believe they are aligned with social media as users primary purpose is to publish and share content.

De Rosa, C., Cantrell, J., Havens, A., Hawk, J. & Jenkins, L. (2007). Sharing privacy and trust in our networked world: A report to the OCLC membership. Dublin, Ohio: OCLC.