Use of Social Networking Sites for
Library & Information Services
T. S. Kumbar
Librarian
IIT Gandhinagar
tskumbar@iitgn.ac.in
22nd November, 2012
Outline
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Introduction
Web 1.0 to Web 2.0
Web 2.0 Tools
Social Media
Social Networking Sites (SNS)
Use of SNS for Library & Information Services
Issues, Concerns, Challenges
Future Developments
Summing up
Introduction
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Web enables- access to information, create content,
disseminate ideas/info effectively
Impact of web technologies on library services
Shift from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0
Implications for libraries & Library 2.0
Web 2.0 tools based library services
Relevance of libraries lies in making them a platform
for conversation, collaboration & sharing both in
physical & virtual space
Libraries around the world & in India are catching up
with this paradigm shift
Shift from Web 1.0 to Web 2.0
Web 2.0
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The phrase Web 2.0 was created by O'Reilly
Media to refer to second generation of Internetbased services including tools that let people
collaborate & share information online, such as
social networking sites, wikis, communication
tools & folksonomies
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Refers to ideas and techniques behind web-based
services which encourage user interaction,
communication, and collaboration
Web 2.0 in Brief and Benefits
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User-Centered
Personalized content
Collaborative
Social - Conversation/Community
Interactive- Participatory, not passive
Content-rich, multi-media-rich
De-centralized (control)
Portable- available anywhere, anytime
Many-to-many and/or few-to-few communication
Networking opportunities galore
Convenient
a "meme map" of Web 2.0
Social Media
Harnessing Web 2.0 Technologies & Tools
Social Media…
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Social media employ web- and mobile-based
technologies to support interactive dialogue and
introduce substantial and pervasive changes to
communication between organizations,
communities, and individuals
When the technologies are in place, social media
is ubiquitously accessible, and enabled by
scalable communication techniques.
In the year 2012, social media became one of the
most powerful sources for news updates through
platforms such as Twitter and Facebook.
Social Media
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Social media encompas many technologies
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Internet forums
Weblogs , Micro blogging
Wikis
Social networking
Podcasts , vodcasting
Photographs or pictures
Media/Video sharing, social gaming
Social bookmarking, tagging
Slide sharing tools
Instant Messaging, chats, RSS, Mashups
Personal portals,
Virtual worlds, and many others
Classification of Social Media
(Kaplan and Haenlein)
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Collaborative projects (e.g Wikipedia)
Blogs and micro blogs (e,g Twitter)
Content communities (e.g YouTube),
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Social networking sites (e,g Facebook)
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Virtual game worlds (e.g.,World of Warcraft),
Virtual social worlds (e.g. Second Life)
Social Networking Sites
Social Network Sites…
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Social network sites are great ways to get & stay in
touch with friends, family, and associates who
spread across the world
SNS are defined as web based services, that allow
individuals to,
 Construct a public or semi-public profile within a
bounded system
 Articulate a list of other users with whom they
share a connection
 View and traverse their list of connections and
those made by others within the system
More than 140 active social networking websites
Social Network Sites
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Blogs are in some way regarded as a social
networking tools because blogs support the
formation of social connection through blog-roll
activities
Wikis, chat rooms, instant messengers, message
boards and social bookmarking are also social
networking tools since participation technologies
are used to facilitate members’ interaction
SNS core funcations: allow socialization, generate
participation, facilitate decisions
Social Network Sites- Types
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General
 MySpace, Facebook, Google+, Orkut, Bebo, QQ
Friendster, many more
Professional, academic, research
 LinkedIn, Ning, ResearchGate, Academia.edu
Subject specific
 Library2.0, ALA Connect
Internal - ALA Connect
External - Facebook
SNS User base (According to ComScore (Nov 2011)
Worldwide
Unique Visitors
Percentage
Facebook.com
792,999,000
55.1%
Twitter.com
167,903,000
11.7%
94,823,000
6.6%
Google+
250,000,000
17.7%
MySpace
61,037,000
4.2%
Others
255,539,000
17.8%
Total
1,438,877,000
100 %
LinkedIn.com
Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_networking_service
Social Network Sites & Libraries
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The way users interact, share information, seek
information has now undergone a big change
Provide new exciting form of development
Be aware of developments & adapt to changing
environment
Enables libraries to place them in current environment
Potential for reaching out to users where they are
present
Create professional image & impact
Enables libraries to add social elements
Remain valuable & relevant to users
Need to take fully informed decisions to make its full
potential
Potential Use of SN Sites for Library
Services …
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Announce library programs, events
Respond to Reference questions
Ask a librarian
Teach basic search tools
New resource alerts
Send brief updates to patrons
Facilitate collaboration & communication with
users
Link to library website, e-resources, databases
Link to the online catalogue
Promote new library collections
Provide library tours
Potential Use of SN Sites for Library
Services
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Promoting of Library Resources & Services
Relationship Building
Subject guides
Library instruction, orientation, tutorials
Acquisition suggestions
Publicity & public relations
Online book clubs
Outreach services – off campus services
Readers advisory
Library photo & video sharing
FAQs
Connection with other libraries & librarians
Library of Congress on Facebook
Maharshi Dayanand College Library
New York University Libraries
MIT Libraries
University of Michigan Library
University of Washington Libraries
MySpace for librarians
Denver Public Library
New York Public Library
American Library Association
British Library
British Library
New York Public Library
American Library Chennai
New York Public Library
ResearchGate
Planning for SNS Use by Library…
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Planning is vital for implementing
 Think before- benefits & drawbacks
 Planning help us anticipate any problem and
craft library presence that will meet future
needs of users
Choose a social network site
 Go where your users are
 Take a poll or conduct a survey
 Reason for conducting poll & Educate users
 Look at the features offered
 Identify subject specific, profession, region
Planning for SNS Use by Library
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Initiate the process & get it approved
 Management, staff
Encourage staff & user environment
Prepare policies- social media policies
Think of the services you can offer
Create profiles & services that interest users
Keep up with the changes
Plan to Market & Promote Effectively
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Need to reach out to as many as possible
Integrate with library marketing plan
Develop marketing plan
 Know your users
 Know your library
Update Library Brand Identity
Combine push & pull marketing techniques
Create social marketing campaign
 User-centric, offer value, feel & experience,
interactive, memorable, shareable, keeping it
up
Best Practices to Follow
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Follow friendly etiquette
 Let users choose libraries & librarians as
friends
Use proper tone, language and content
Blend professional with personal
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Use separate account for library & personal
Take care of privacy issues
Engage in reactive services
 Engage students to seek services
Engage in proactive services
 Ubiquitous librarian
 Offer services never seen before
Assess-Impact, Participation & Success
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Assessment is must
Money, time, effort, other resources spent
Identify tools & techniques to assess
Use quantitative & qualitative measures
 Monitor usage statistics
 Take surveys
 Hold focus group discussions
 Informal communications
 Initiate studies & other methods
Set the goals & achieve them
Issues, Concerns, Challenges…
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Many feel libraries do not have a role in social
networking
Libraries are places for learning & information
Requires time & resources
Not very heavily used
Students may not be eager to communicate with
library staff on Facebook, Google+ etc.
Getting users to treat librarians as friends- a
challenge
These sites can be only compliment
Users may not like the presence of library on SN
Issues, Concerns, Challenges
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Hard to maintain regular posting & updates
No guarantee of how long these tools will remain
More useful for librarians than libraries
Focus more providing online services using library
website
Need to do a proper study & then step in
Mastering & keeping with technology
Engaging users (staff and students) in using
social networking tools
Achieving an informal yet presentable tone of
communication with students
Future Developments
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Increase in global social connections
Providing more services
Access to core features
Integrating other social tools
SNS will be around for some time to come
New SNS in new form may come
More people connected with SNS
Libraries will have to make use of this
opportunity
To sum up…
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SN sites are beneficial in
 promoting library services
 interacting with users
 communicating within internal staff
Benefits are more than the cost involved
Provide new platform to reach out users
Important to see users response before introducing
These SN sites are evolving rapidly & will get better
day-by-day
Important for libraries to seek new avenues &
therefore consider benefits of using these tools
Face the challenges & place library in centre place of
these technological developments
Selected References…
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Ayiah, E.M. and Kumar, C.H. (2011) Social networking: A
tool to use for effective service delivery to clients by
African libraries. Retrieve from
http://conference.ifla.org/past/ifla77/183-ayiah-en.pdf
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Chu, S.K.W. & Du, H. (2012). Social networking tools for
academic libraries. Journal of Librarianship & Information
Science.
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Dickson, A. & Holley, R. (2010). Social networking in
academic libraries: the possibilities and the concerns, New
Library World,111 (11/12), pp.468 – 479
Selected References…
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Gerolimos, M. (2011). Academic libraries on Facebook:
An analysis of users' comments. D-Lib Magazine,
17(11/12). Retrieved from
http://www.dlib.org/dlib/november11/gerolimos/11gerol
imos.html
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Khan, S. A. & Bhatti, R. (2012). Application of social
media in marketing of library and information services: A
case study from Pakistan. Webology 9 (11).
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Landis, C. (2010). A social networking primer for
librarians. New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers.
Selected References
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Olasina, G. (2011). The use of web 2.0 tools and
social networking sites by librarians, Information
professionals and other professionals in workplaces in
Nigeria, Pacific Northwest Library Association, PNLA
Quarterly, 75 (3) pp. 11-43.
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Rod-Welch, L. (2012). Incorporation and visibility of
reference and social networking tools on ARL member
libraries' websites, Reference Services Review, 40 (1),
pp.138 – 171.
Thank you!