HOW TWEET IT IS:
New Media in the Music Library
Twitter.com/mpalillinois
Kirstin Dougan
Music and Performing Arts Library
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
MWMLA October 23, 2010
Bloomington-Normal, IL
"Twitter, in other words, is precisely what
you want it to be. It can be a business
tool, a teenage time-killer, a research
assistant, a news source — whatever. “
David Pogue, New York Times
 “Young
adults lead the way when it
comes to using Twitter or status updating.
One-third of online 18-29 year-olds post
or read status updates.” (Pew)
 “The median age of a Twitter user is 31
…Facebook, however, is graying a bit: the
median age for this social network site is
now 33, up from 26 in May 2008.” (Pew)
 Hashtags
 FollowFriday
(#ff)
 Favorite-ing tweets to “save” them
 What
do you want to accomplish?
 How will this fit into the larger marketing
plan of your Library (big “L”)?
 Who will monitor and how often?
 What tools will you use?
 Decide whether to monitor follows or not
 Have
an informative profile
 How often should you tweet?
 Rather than just saying thank you when
someone RTs you, RT something of theirs
 Use direct messages where appropriate
1. Connection to experts
2. Pool of information
3. Real time awareness of News
4. Real time updates in technology and library issues
5. Connection with patrons
6. Professional development for free!
7. Contact with local organizations and groups
8. I’m always learning
9. Keeps me in touch with the larger world
10. Sharing and borrowing
--Bobbi Newman
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Amanda Lenhart, Kristen Purcell, Aaron Smith and Kathryn Zickuhr, “Social Media &
Mobile Internet Use Among Teens and Young Adults,” Pew Internet & American Life
Project, February 3, 2010 http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Social-Media-andYoung-Adults.aspx (accessed 10/15/2010)
Greenwalt, Toby, “Twitter 101 Useful Tools and Resources,”
http://www.theanalogdivide.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/twitter-mls.pdf
(accessed 10/15.2010)
Newman, Bobbi, “10 Ways Twitter Will Make You a Better Employee, Better at Your
Job and Benefit Your Library,“ Librarian By Day (10/15/2010)
http://librarianbyday.net/2010/10/15/10-ways-twitter-will-make-you-a-betteremployee-better-at-your-job-and-benefit-your-library (accessed 10/15/2010)
Pogue, David., “Twitter, it’s what you make it,” New York Times (2/11/09)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/12/technology/personaltech/12pogue.html?_r=
2 (accessed 10/19/10)
Topping, Alexandra, “Twitter Power: how social networking is revolutionising the
music business,” The Guardian, 5 September 2010 (accessed 10/15/2010)