Social media/social networking

- a feature of Web 2.0, a shift in the way information moves on the Internet from earlier incarnations, which were provider-centered where users could access content but do little to create it on their own without setting up their own web site
- in contrast, web 2.0 is all about user-generated content; social media sites, for example, don’t so much offer content for users as a forum for users to interact with each other and share content they offer the site
- networking/interaction between users (sharing based)
- examples: facebook, youtube, twitter, instant messaging, blogs & rss feeds,
- ease of sharing is a key feature (e.g., Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook has often talked about “frictionless sharing”)
- concerns: privacy, profiting off users’ information, etc.
http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/Why-Americans-Use-Social-Media.aspx

Social media (library uses)

- advocacy
- access (distance mediated by digital interface)
- reference support
- digital media
- communities of learning and communities of practice
- patron-based service and collection development
- greater (or at least more of it) interaction between patrons and librarians

Facebook and YouTube were the most popular ones for the class

Facebook (library uses)

- creating a presence in a forum that many people frequent
- news feed allows updates to be sent out easily and in integrated fashion (with users’ other news feed items)
- wall can allow for conversations between patrons
- events feature allows for invitation/calendar reminders
- ads to increase “likes”
- spamming/flaming issues on wall

Facebook (library examples)
- St. Kate’s Library
https://www.facebook.com/librarynews
- Saint Paul Public Libraries
- Green Library
http://chrisbourg.wordpress.com/2011/08/22/update-on-our-library-facebook-page/

YouTube (library uses)

- video tutorials on library services
- videos about information
- advocacy/about videos (show people what happens at library, esp. fun events)
- digitized information (films, etc.)
- fosters community (friend/commenting features)
- taps into an already-popular video sharing platform (don’t have to seek out viewers as much and has potential to reach more viewers through search and networking features)

YouTube (library examples)
- St. Kate’s library, why do we seek information?
http://libguides.stkate.edu/researchtools / http://www.youtube.com/user/stkatesrefdesk#p/u /
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6N03q21nIKQ&feature=player_embedded
- Library of Congress digitization of early film
http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/youtube.html
- St. Paul Public Libraries
http://www.youtube.com/stpaulpubliclibrary

QR codes

“QR code” stands for “Quick Response code,” and it refers to the 2-dimensional matrix code (think of it as the new barcode, which consisted of black bars on a white background to encode number information). QR codes can encode a greater range of information, and it has gained widespread use in many industries and markets as a way of presenting web site addresses, business card information, and plain text. Those of you with smartphones can scan the code with a QR code program that will then give you the encoded information or redirect you to the web site. It’s a new kind of access point to information, and you’ve probably noticed a lot of them in magazine advertisements, billboards, and on other public spaces.

Contra Costa County public libraries use these codes for ads on buses, for instance, to advertise free audiobook downloads.

http://guides.ccclib.org/content.php?pid=105914&sid=797175#4774453

And the UC Irvine science library places QR codes in the mathematics section of the stacks to direct smartphone users to ebooks of Springer texts available in their collection.

http://libguides.lib.uci.edu/content.php?pid=35871&sid=1279288

It’s a great way to think about connection physical spaces with digital technology and to think about how library patrons move about not just the library but public spaces outside.

References

Bourg, C. (2011, August 22). Update on our library Facebook page [Web log post]. Feral Librarian. Retrieved from http://chrisbourg.wordpress.com/2011/08/22/update-on-our-library-facebook-page/

Contra Costa Library. (2011, October 7). Snap & go. Retrieved from http://guides.ccclib.org/content.php?pid=105914&sid=797175#4774453

Hendrix, D, Chiarella, D, Hasman, L, Murphy, S, & Zafron ML. (2009). Use of Facebook in academic health sciences libraries. Journal of the Medical Library Association, 97(1), 44-47. doi:10.3163/1536-5050.97.1.008

O’Connell, J. (2011). Revolutionising libraries with social media. Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/heyjudeonline/revolutionising-libraries-with-social-media

Smith, A. (2011, November 15). Why Americans use social media. Pew Internet & American Life Project. Retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/Why-Americans-Use-Social-Media.aspx

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