Managing Social Media in Libraries. Finding Collaboration, Coordination, and Focus

181 Pages·2012·9.348 MB·English

by  Troy Swanson (Auth.)

Managing Social Media in Libraries
CHANDOS
SOCIAL MEDIA SERIES
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Managing Social Media
in Libraries
Finding collaboration, coordination
and focus
T A. S
ROY WANSON
Oxford Cambridge New Delhi
Chandos Publishing
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Oxford OX28 4BN
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E-mail: [email protected]
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Chandos Publishing is an imprint of Woodhead Publishing Limited
Woodhead Publishing Limited
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First published in 2012
ISBN: 978-1-84334-711-8 (print)
ISBN: 978-1-78063-377-0 (online)
Chandos Social Media Series ISSN: 2050-6813 (print) and ISSN: 2050-6821 (online)
© T. A. Swanson, 2012
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
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List of figures
2.1 Presidio of San Francisco Coast Guard Station 17
3.1 Skokie Public Library using Facebook to
connect to patrons 39
4.1 Video embedded in a blog 52
4.2 Podcasts in iTunes 61
4.3 Buddhist monks creating a sand Mandala
in the Moraine Valley Community
College Library 70
5.1 Fullerton Public Library’s use of Pinterest
to highlight new additions to its collection 103
5.2 News channel structure 106
5.3 Open structure 107
5.4 Departmental structure 108
5.5 Structure to manage multiple sites 109
7.1 The Undergrad Library at the University of
Illinois at Urbana Champaign engages
students through Twitter 146
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List of abbreviations
DOS: disk operating system
GPS: global positioning system
HTML: hypertext markup language
ILS: integrated library system
IT: information technology
MARC: machine readable cataloging
MP3: MPEG Audio Layer III
OPAC: online public access catalog
PDF: Portable Document Format
PR: public relations
RSS: RDF Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication
VoIP: Voice over Internet Protocol
WYSIWYG: what you see is what you get
XML: Extensible Markup Language
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Acknowledgements
As with anything in life, nothing is a solo endeavor, and this
book is no different, so I must acknowledge and thank all
the people who made this work possible.
First, I must start with my family. Thanks to Kim, Skylar,
Parker and Lainey. During a stressful year when we
welcomed Lainey into our lives, you put up with me working
on this book. Your support made this possible.
I want to send a very special thank you to the people who
read my manuscript as it was in process. I especially want to
thank Marea Kahn who read the first drafts of each chapter
and gave me very valuable input and direction. Your input
was instrumental in shaping this text.
Back in 2003, I had never heard of a blog until Jenny Levine
(@shifted) introduced me to them. Then she hosted our first
blogs for us. The very talented Larry Sloma led our
implementation, and Michael Stephens showed us how blogs
can connect people. Jenny, Michael and Larry helped our library
move into social media before we understood it. Thanks!
I want to thank Carolyn, Vandella, Larry, Emily, Lori and
Julie, all of whom were in my cohort from the 2004
SYNERGY: The Illinois Library Leadership Initiative. They
helped me to understand my career path and ultimately to
recommit to community college libraries. This led to my
PhD and some of the foundational research that became this
book. Professional and personal development is a team
sport, and I have had a great team.
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Managing Social Media in Libraries
Finally, thanks to all of you who believe that libraries are
more than books, articles and quiet spaces. We know that
libraries are powerful and transformative organizations.
Our challenge is to demonstrate our value and change our
world. It is my hope that this text is a small step in the right
direction.
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Foreword
Communications technology continues to connect and
change the world. This can be desired and leveraged in many
useful ways. Libraries using the web have evolved from
static informational and contact style pages to more dynamic
and interactive sites. It could be argued that social media
have been one of the greatest advancements in this evolution.
For the last decade, we have debated, explored and
implemented various social tools. I am lucky to have written
and spoken about these topics around the world.
I have also been lucky to engage with some very smart and
forward-thinking individuals, including Jenny Levine, the
Shifted Librarian; Michael Casey, originator of the Library
2.0 service philosophy; and Troy Swanson who managed the
Moraine Valley Library’s social media and website. I met
Troy at Internet Librarian 2006, and we had an intense and
enlightening discussion about tying emerging technological
tools to mission statements and the goals of the institution.
Consider the following statements related to Moraine
Valley Library’s use of podcasts which I posted on Tame the
Web back in 2006:
(cid:131) They fulfill the library’s mission by “providing information
literacy instruction and support across the curriculum”
and “collaborating with faculty and others to develop
innovative services and programs.”
(cid:131) They enhance the classroom experience by providing
expert views on challenging and timely subjects.
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Managing Social Media in Libraries
(cid:131) They provide an opportunity for students and community
members to participate in library events even though they
may not be able to visit the events in person.
I appreciate the emphasis on moving away from place-based
thinking about library programs and services. Offering
access to events via a recording, shared and disseminated via
podcast feeds and present on the library blog may seem
quaint now, but this foundational practice paved the way for
many other innovations with Web 2.0.
The book you are holding is a reflection and critical
analysis of the use of social media in libraries that rises
above and beyond the typical tool-of-the-month style tomes
and provides something much more important: a detailed
analysis of the whys of social media and the hows of getting
staff and library users involved. The viewpoints shared here
by Troy align with my own research as well. My dissertation
focused on early librarian bloggers and the sense of
community they found within the burgeoning blogosphere.
Connecting, sharing and finding a clear path through a new
landscape of social connections were definitely part of
the pragmatic biblioblogger’s experience. Recently, my
examination of library staff use of social tools as part of
Learning 2.0 programs in Australia further supports the idea
that with experience and exploration comes confidence and
willingness to participate in the greater community.
Let the technology fall away and what is left is a guide to
facilitating and encouraging conversations—a way to tell a
story. “Storytelling is a powerful tool,” Troy writes, “and
social media represent a way to extend our own stories.”
Moving the story beyond the physical place of the library so
it exists online to be accessed and enhanced with multiple
voices should be the goal of every information organization.
Troy has synthesized and collected his own ongoing
critical thinking and extensive experience with this work.
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