social networking sites and libraries

Social Networking Sites for

Caribbean Library Services

Presenter: Mark-Shane Scale

Presenter:Mark-Shane Scale, Librarian/Lecturer

Department of Library and Information Studies

University of the West Indies, Mona Campus

What are Social Networking Sites?

Otherwise known as social networking software

boyd & Ellison define social network sites as

“web-based services that allow individuals to

(1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system,

(2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and

(3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system.”

Online Social Networking - Broad perspective or definition

boyd and Ellison -

"Networking" emphasizes relationship initiation, often between strangers.”

SNS “allow individuals to meet strangers, but rather that they enable users to articulate and make visible their social networks.”

Importance of SNS to the 21st Century Library Service

http://wikis.ala.org/iwa/index.php/Main_Page

"The online environment has become an important and growing part of economic,

cultural, civic, and social life, and the use of new Internet-based applications for

collaboration and learning - including "social networking" sites - is becoming increasingly

prevalent."

Stone, Brad. “Microsoft Buys Stake in Facebook” New York Time. 25 Oct. 2007.<http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/25/technology/25facebook.html>.

“Facebook boosters say social social networking represents the networking represents the future of online activity.future of online activity.”

Ellen Keith in Topper, Elisa F. “Social networking in libraries.”

New Library World108.7/8, (2007):378-380.

“ I think that social networking can

encompass anything that reaches out to

our patrons in ways that acknowledges

them as partners in search for

information…”

Topper

SNS: in marketing library services

Stone, Brad. “Microsoft Buys Stake in Facebook” New York Time. 25 Oct. 2007.<http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/25/technology/25facebook.html>.

“ Advertisers are attracted to these sites

because they offer an opportunity to offer an opportunity to aim ads at particular users who are aim ads at particular users who are likely to be interested in their product likely to be interested in their product or serviceor service.”

Glen Drury

“ From the success of social networking sites to the explosion in user-generated content, we have seen a dramatic shift in how consumers interact with the internet.”

“ The rise of social media as an influential marketing channel has, however, caught many in the industry off guard. …”

Glen Drury

“ changes in the internet landscape have created new opportunities to engage with customers in ways not possible through offline channels.”

Glen Drury

According to Drury, Social media

Is the term that describes:

“ online resources that people use to share 'content': video, photos, images, text, ideas, insight, humour, opinion, gossip, news... These resources include blogs, vlogs, social networks, message boards, podcasts, public bookmarking and wikis.”

With SNS libraries can provide collections 

&services that include

modern technologies & media, including social media!

Social Software & Media

http://www.simonwhatley.co.uk/online-social-networks-everywhere-yet-nowhere

Popular examples of social media applications

• Flickr (online photosharing);

• Wikipedia (reference);

• Facebook and MySpace (networking);

• del.icio.us (bookmarking) and

• You tube (video sharing).

UNESCO/IFLA UNESCO/IFLA Public Library ManifestoPublic Library Manifesto (1994)(1994)

""AllAll age groupsage groups must find material relevant to must find material relevant to their needs. their needs. Collections and services have to Collections and services have to

include all types of appropriate media and include all types of appropriate media and modern technologies as well as traditional modern technologies as well as traditional

materials...materials...Material must reflect current trends Material must reflect current trends and the evolution of society, as well as the and the evolution of society, as well as the

memory of human endeavour and imagination. "memory of human endeavour and imagination. "

SNS and Social Media in Reference

Francoeur, Stephen. “Social Networking Sites and Reference Services.” <http://www.slideshare.net/stephenfrancoeur/social-networking-sites-and-reference-services>.

SNS can provide

Ellen Keith in Topper, Elisa F. “Social networking in libraries.”

New Library World108.7/8, (2007):378-380.

“ academic libraries are recognizing that we

need to meet our “millennial” students

where they are, rather than waiting for

them to come to us… Our thinking behind

this is to reach users in their preferred

methods of communication”

Using SNS

• Libraries can provide Reference Services– Outside of the wall of the library– Where younger patrons hang out or

congregate(Farkas 109)

Farkas, Meredith G. Social Software in Libraries: Building Collaboration, Communication and Community Online. Medford, New Jersey: Information Today, 2007.

Hammond, Jason. “Facing Off with Facebook: Email for the 21st Century.” Feliciter

53.3 (2007): 154.

  Facebook is the ‘Email for

the 21st century”.  

Like one's phone or email and instant messaging, Facebook allows one to stay in contact with colleagues, friends and even allows for the opportunity to meet new persons.

Networked reference“ We will know we’ve succeeded when we

stop using the phrase digital reference. …What’s really going on, though, is just what reference librarians have been doing since the beginning, developing services that make good sense for their communities in the environment of the day ” (Janes 199).

Janes, Joseph. Introduction to Reference Work in the Digital Age. Neal-Schuman, 2003.

… after a careful assessment of what exactly digital reference technology can afford and what social impact such affordances could bring…suggestion will be made that digital reference digital reference should be employed as a means to provide should be employed as a means to provide reference service reference service as long as the service is designed to play to the strengths of the to play to the strengths of the technologytechnology. As such, it is recommended that libraries pursue digital reference service that is local, professional, and with privacy constraints.

Sen-Roy, Mita. "The Social Life of Digital Reference: What the Technology

Affords." The Reference Librarian 85 (2004): 127-37.

IFLA Digital Reference Guidelines

“ The online environment is uniquely suited to consortial models of work and to the development of shared resources. Libraries in different countries may have different traditions of public service, which both affect their current reference practices and their patrons' expectations. ”

IFLA Digital Reference Guidelines

“ But it is also important to recognize that new technologies will enable librarians to

redefine the scope of their public services. ”

Defining a user base:

“ Before establishing a digital reference service, it is important to clarify one's target clientele. Consider how the use of the technology may effect and/or expand an institution's user base. ”

- IFLA Digital Reference Guidelines

Defining a user base:

“Physical location is of less importance when an institution has an online presence. In addition to the Library's traditional users, new and different types of users may choose to take advantage of online services.”

- IFLA Digital Reference Guidelines

Conclusion:

How can SNS be used in libraries?

SNS allows for libraries to:

• Offer alternative (social) media to clients

• Offer out reach services to younger users

• gather market information and implement online marketing

Another use of SNS for libraries

to network among professional colleagues, strengthening library cooperation, collaboration and consortia.

Examples of Libraries using SNS

Chapter 7:

Librarians at the Nebraska Library Commission used Twitter to get answers for their reference questions

"Messaging in a 2.0 World." Library Technology Reports 43.5 (Sep. 2007): 62-66. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Univ. of West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica. 12 Oct. 2008 <http://search.ebscohost.com.rproxy.uwimona.edu.jm/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=26824921&site=ehost-live>.

Sample of NLC Reference questions on Twitter

1. Need names of staff members of Governor Kerrey.

2. Need the address to the Better Business Bureau in Marietta. Ga

3. Was there ever an International Wildlife Park in Grand Prairie Neb.?

4. WHAT YEAR WERE DRIVER LICENSES FIRST REQUIRED IN NE?

5. There is a Gdowski Dam in Nebraska. Who it is named for and a little history?

British Library using Social Networking

British Library using Social Networking