Social Media in the Library

Your Public Face on the Web

The world, like it or not, is becoming more social on the Internet. Even young children have begun using social media. Having a presence on the Web is important for any institution. Besides having a functioning, attractive Web site, it's a good idea to connect with your patrons through social media tools, like Facebook, blogs, or Twitter. Some of these are easy to use (you might use them already for your personal life), though it does take precious time. And if these forms of communication are set up, but then neglected, your patrons will definitely notice. At the same time, you don't necessarily need to constantly update your pages. Use them to alert your patrons of new programs, changes in services or operations, and special events. And the good news is, you can use some of the same information in your various social media tools.

For some examples of how the San Diego County Library system uses these tools, check the following links:

La Mesa Teen Library Page blog: http://lmteens.wordpress.com/

San Diego County Library Hot Right Now Twitter page: http://twitter.com/hotrightnowsdcl

San Diego County Library Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/sdcountylibrary

ALERT! ALERT! Someone's Talking About You

Web 2.0 tools can be used not only to post news updates about the library, they can also be used to find out what people are saying about the library. You can set up a system to alert you when your library is mentioned on Twitter, Facebook, or elsewhere on the Web. Aaron Tay blogs about using Google alerts: http://musingsaboutlibrarianship.blogspot.com/2010/03/scanning-mentions-of-library-twitter.html.

In a later post, he provides examples of how he's used this in his own institution, the National University of Singapore: http://musingsaboutlibrarianship.blogspot.com/2010/06/why-libraries-should-proactively-scan.html.

One benefit is that you can see comments, both negative and positive, or cries for help that you might not receive directly. You can then respond if you choose. Also, he sometimes discovered crucial information this way, quicker than he would otherwise. For example, when the library had a series of problems with its network server, he often found out about it through Google alerts first.

Using Google alerts like this is probably most useful for large libraries. On the other hand, it might not hurt for almost any library to try it out. Smaller libraries will have fewer alerts to sift through, so it probably won't be much of a burden. And since it's not an advertised service, no one will know if you suspend it.

Keep in Touch with Your Peers





A potentially useful resource is the Library 2.0 Web site, http://www.library20.org/, where you can connect with other library workers to discuss and learn about Web 2.0 tools and how to apply them to the library setting.