Social media adoption, policy and development:

Exploring the way forward for academic libraries

Daniel Hooker, MLIS Student Supervised by Dean Giustini, UBC Biomedical Branch Librarian

Submitted to Dr. Mary Sue Stephenson

In completion of the requirements for LIBR 594: Directed Study

School of Library, Archival and Information Studies (SLAIS)

University of British Columbia

1 December 2009

Table of Contents

Introduction ............................................................................. 3

Literature review....................................................................... 7

Background ........................................................................................7

Social media in higher learning .........................................................9

Academic library 2.0 ........................................................................14

Strategic planning.............................................................................19

Social media library policy ..................................................... 22

Policy recommendations ..................................................................24

Conclusion and recommendations ....................................... 26

References............................................................................... 28

Appendices ............................................................................. 33

Appendix A: Directed Study Schedule, Fall 2009 ..........................33

Appendix B: Selected Search Concepts and Sources......................35

Appendix C: Works Consulted .......................................................37

Appendix D: Selected CARL Strategic Plans ..................................42

Appendix E: Example Social Media Policy .....................................44

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Introduction

In this paper, I outline activities undertaken during my 2009 directed study project

with Dean Giustini, a SLAIS adjunct faculty and a reference librarian at the UBC Biomedical

Branch Library. The purpose of this investigation into social media was to examine the role

of institutional strategies, policies and guidelines that support social media and lead its use

in academic libraries. To orient myself to this research topic, I began by locating freely

available primary materials on academic library websites and by retrieving presentation

slides and relevant grey literature from search engines, social media of various types and

online abstracting and indexing services and databases. In an effort to examine as many

papers and ideas as possible, I searched for topics using a combination of keywords and

thesaurus descriptors such as blogs, wikis, RSS feeds, Twitter, social software, web 2.0,

library 2.0, university 2.0, post-secondary education, strategic planning, policy development,

and social media in higher education. Some of my primary search concepts are detailed in

Appendix B.

During the fall 2009 term1, I completed the following activities: 1) literature reviews in

multiple academic databases such as Academic Search Complete, ERIC, Google Scholar, LISA,

LISTA; OAIster, Web of Science, to name a few; 2) environmental scans of web documents

on academic library websites and blogs in Canada (and select examples in the United States)

and 3) reviews of social media guidelines, ‘appropriate use’ policies and strategic planning

documents that mention web 2.0 or social media specifically (see Appendix B). In addition, I

1 For a complete fall 2009 schedule of activities for my directed study, see appendix A.

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enrolled as an auditor in a new online course about social media offered through SLAIS

entitled LIBR559M “Social media for information professionals”. As a student librarian

immersed in evaluating social media, I worked closely this term with the instructor and my

peers in exploring and interrogating a range of topics and modules in the course. Dean

demanded high quality work and sustained effort from all of us in the course, and my role as

an auditing student was no exception. Additionally, in October, I was also able to co-author a

paper on social cataloguing with Allan Cho and Giustini which was subsequently accepted for

publication by the Journal of the Canadian Health Libraries Association2. The most important

activity this term was accumulating and reading the literature of social media in the

academic environment, and taking time to reflect on its history and recent developments.

Overall, the scholarly literature of social media in library and information science (LIS)

reveals an impressive range of applications that are regularly used in the teaching and

learning activities of academic librarians. Beyond the isolated use of blogs, wikis,

synchronous chat tools and social bookmarking, a number of successful social media projects

and initiatives in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom can be examined

where they are adequately publicized (and, to a lesser extent, projects originating in

Canadian academic libraries). Individualized reports of success and scattered reports

originating in Canadian academic libraries prompted further investigation about the

circumstances that led to those programs best practices. Some evidence was found to

support the assertion that ‘library 2.0’ projects in Canadian academic libraries are

undertaken in ‘hot spots’ of innovation and in environments where there are varying levels

2 The accepted paper is entitled “Social cataloguing: an introduction for health librarians” and will be published in early 2010.

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of interest and support. Often, it seems that in addition to an academic librarian’s regular

duties, social media experimentation was undertaken due to personal initiative or skills set,

and often they enjoy little in the way of institutional support. The perceived lack of

administrative resources provided to academic librarians seems to be exacerbated by

common barriers such as the inordinate amount of time needed to learn social media or the

inherent cultural resistance to social media (some tools are blocked at OPACs and on library

staff computer builds, for example)3. In addition, due to my experience this semester with

Giustini (personal communication, October 2009) it has become clearer to me that direct

conflicts between an academic librarian’s desire to use new services and the inevitable clash

that occurs with a library’s information technology (IT) department are quite common and

that this invariably results in initiatives being abandoned – or shelved for a period of time.

In the past few years, social media’s rise in academic communities has been steady,

but this year has proven to be unique so far for a number of reasons (Armstrong, 2008;

Weller, 2009). For example, bloggers are beginning to consider what kinds of policies are

needed to support the use of social media in library organizations (Kroski, 2009). Not

surprisingly, academic libraries are still very much in an experimental phase in their use of

social tools particularly folksonomies, social cataloguing sites and microblogging tools like

Twitter. Universities, too, are in an exploratory period in applying social media to their

recruitment, teaching and development efforts. Throughout the academic world, though,

3 The social media drivers and barriers that exist in Canadian academic libraries will be part of Giustini’s CARL/ABRC survey

research that he plans to conduct in 2010.

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social media is beginning to make a considerable impact on higher education and, as a

result, on the delivery of information services in academic libraries.

As social media is used to reach out to academic constituencies, and to build cross-

disciplinary collaborative relationships, the lack of social media policies and usage guidelines

is set to emerge as a critical problem (Armstrong, 2008). Given Dean’s experience within a

large institutional academic library, it became clear from our discussions about these issues

(personal communication, October 2009) that there are driving forces in the external

environment that compete with the seemingly insurmountable barriers within organizations

when social media is used creatively. Occasionally, it must be said, the rigid administrative

hierarchies and conservative library cultures do little but compound the problem of using

social media innovatively. While individual ‘social’ librarians are forging new paths in their

deliver of library services, many do so at the expense of their own personal time and talent.

Whereas some academic librarians are successfully creating programs for their users, others

have to wait for institutional cultures to change before social media’s affordances can be

fully identified. As new social media emerge as potential catalysts for innovation, academic

librarians face a number of pressures about how to respond to new tools in new ways.

In this directed study, I had the increasing sense that the acceptance of social media in

academic libraries has now reached a critical point where it is difficult to ignore. Social media

has built enough popular awareness and worked its way into academic activities such that it

cannot be ignored as a passing fad. The effective evaluation and management of social

media should be a key consideration in all academic libraries given the prominence and

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potential of the tools in managing our users’ information behaviours, and our own. What

seems clear is that most academic librarians are increasingly required to interpret the values

of web 2.0 or ‘academic library 2.0’ within their own libraries’ cultural context. How can we

engage users in a dialogue? How can we meet them in digital spaces such as Facebook,

Twitter and Google? Many academic librarians feel that they should be responding to these

needs but find it hard to do so when institutions remain unconvinced of social media’s place

in the academy (Thomson, 2007) and in key documents such as strategic planning and library

policy.

Literature review

Background

In 2009, the LIS literature is replete with discussions of web 2.0 and library 2.0 (Weller,

2009). Between the advocates and critics of social media, the bibliography is characterized

by the emphasis on the attributes of specific social tools or programs; more often than not,

their accompanying affordances for teaching and learning are typically outlined. However, a

less obvious theme is how academic librarians can assess these tools properly within their

own libraries and how they might meet the specific needs of their local users. Given the

demands of assessment on any innovative library program, and the extent to which faculty

and students drive change within the academic library, a number of formidable challenges

lie ahead for academic librarians. Both Giustini and I believe that, because of the rapid

expansion of the social media sector, academic librarians may have no alternative in the

near future but to concede the value of some specific tools. In the past decade, numerous

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articles have shown that librarians, while inclined to try out new technologies to deliver

library services, are uncertain or even anxious about what they might need to know or how

to use new technologies within the existing framework of legacy library systems (if they can

at all). Therefore, academic librarians are often expected to seek evidence or proof that

technologies are “useful” before implementing social media in their programming. However,

what many academic librarians discover is that the empirical research on social media is still

in a nascent stage and more investigation is needed before direction can be found from the

literature. We fear that academic library users will move on to other ways of interacting

while at the university or begin to see the Library as ‘out of touch’.

An additional challenge faced by academic librarians is measuring the impact of digital

tools on the development of information behaviours (e.g. Gordhamer, 2009). Can social

tools actually promote desirable behaviours or do they in fact set back librarians’ media and

information literacy efforts? Academic research is not simply a matter of searching on the

Internet or networking with scholars on Twitter and Facebook. Some researchers, in fact,

suggest that social media has considerable potential to impact how users communicate and

find information (e.g. Zhao & Rosson, 2009) not to mention how they collaborate and solve

problems. Likewise, the web also may have a tendency to fragment readers’ attention and

willingness to engage in thorough or extended reading (Carr, 2008) – surely this point alone

is why social software is seen to be disruptive by most university faculty. Building on these

observations, the notion of using social media in higher education has nonetheless been

breached and a variety of inroads have been made (Weller, 2009). But the question about

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whether social media can be deployed to promote desirable research skills is a salient (and

likely to be a recurring) one.

The adoption of popular search engines such as Google, Google scholar and Yahoo is,

to some extent, illustrative; these tools followed similar trajectories in terms of their use by

and eventual acceptance in academic libraries (Ford & O’Hara, 2008; Walters, 2009).

However, finding a rightful place for social media and its acceptance in academia is one of

main reasons for this directed study. Given a continued lack of usage guidelines or

strategies, social media has the potential to disrupt academic libraries and their services. As

social media is used for learning more generally, academic librarians need to be aware of the

challenges that they introduce and work to meet the emerging needs of post-secondary

students (many of whom are accustomed to social tools). At the very least, academic

librarians should be devoting some of their time each week to explore the emerging digital

landscape to see what students themselves are doing.

Social media in higher learning

The debate about Web 2.0 and its role in higher education (Grosseck, 2009) has been

around since Tim O’Reilly initially defined it (O'Reilly, 2005). Since then, of course, much has

happened on the web; the rise of “digital natives” (McHale, 2005), “millennials” (Raines,

2002) and even the “net generation” (Bullen, 2009; Oblinger & Oblinger, 2005) has been

extensively discussed. These students were born in the post-Web era and are increasingly

familiar with online environments that involve two-way interaction. The literature that

discusses these learners and their unique expectations has also emerged as a topic of

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research for educators and librarians alike; and, how to target them directly in the delivery

of programs and services is a perennial subject in the literature. Although generalizing too

broadly about these learners is problematic (Bennett et al., 2008; Wesch, 2008), it can be

said that the expectations of web-based learning and online access to educational resources

have deeply changed what students want from their university experiences. This is a result

of the growing relevance of the Web in learners’ digital lives and because of the fact that

many learners arrive for their undergraduate education with considerable awareness of the

Internet and its potential for social collaboration and networking (Tapscott, 2008).

Because of the growing awareness of digital learners, a theoretical discussion has

developed slowly among educational technologists. One topic that is debated fiercely by

educators is how to use the Web as a supplementary learning space and, more specifically,

how to use it to promote collaborative, social learning. For example, Eijkman (2008)

envisions a “non-foundational network-centric learning space” realized through social media

tools. Williams and Chinn (2009) discuss an active learning theory model for increasing

engagement of “net generation” students through the use of social media, and Huang &

Behara (2007) note the potential for experiential learning for students using social media in

MBA courses. Additionally, Beard & Dale (2008) describe the development of information

literacy skills through the academic library that incorporate social media and web-based

collaborative appliances. Practically speaking, Maloney (2007) writes that “what we can see

in the Web's evolution is a renewed focus on innovation, creation, and collaboration, and an

emphasis on collective knowledge over static information delivery, knowledge management

over content management, and social interaction over isolated surfing.” Outlining the

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collaborative and social benefits of these technologies for academic librarians is a first step

to promote the untapped potential of social media in library programs and services, and it

seems as though there is a leadership opportunity for academic librarians to make the

connection between changes in pedagogies and the use of social media to promote more

active forms of learning.

Recently, at the highest levels of higher education, there has been discussion about

social media and its impact on research practices and academic collaboration (Weller, 2009)

which is a further way to embed social media into to the mission of academic libraries. For

example, Greenhow et al. (2009) state “Web 2.0 has… expanded the academic’s ability to

cultivate social and professional connections and to potentially build and maintain larger

networks for catalyzing interdisciplinary collaborations, multisite research, and inter-

institutional partnerships.” Academic inquiry is grounded in a culture of experimentation and

collaboration and social media provides unparalleled opportunities to engage with other

scholars and researchers worldwide. Further, the authors suggest that “academics can

choose to ignore the current culture or attempt to build an online network of resources,

colleagues, and authorship. Only by doing the latter is it possible to distinguish

authoritatively between the hype and the potential of Web 2.0 technologies.” Separating

out the facts from fiction will be crucial to the successful application of social media to

scholarly information practices. As web 2.0 is introduced more generally into academic life,

social media will become increasingly ubiquitous, especially with the recent rise of web-

enabled mobile devices. At the very least, academics who seek engagement with others in

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these digital spaces will appreciate the affordances of the tools and be able to discern

potential applications for their work.

The introduction of information technologies introduces many challenges, not only for

academic librarians but for faculty and students university-wide. Freire (2008), for example,

takes a practical look at the challenges of adoption of Web 2.0 in university settings. He

advocates for the adoption of new technologies at the university and notes that “applying

methods for collaborative and active learning are essential approaches to attain these

objectives, and the web 2.0 could be an instrumental and strategic tool in their

development” (Anderson, 2007 cited in Freire, 2008). Freire states that adopting these social

technologies presents some political problems in addition to the purely technological,

notably that as the university confronts “important technological, managerial and human

barriers …an adaptive strategy is needed that could be designed from previous experiences

of educational, research and business organizations.” Though the affordances of social

media can be shown easily in theory, bureaucratic obstacles and poor institutional

awareness will continue to be constraints for academic librarians.

To date, the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) has produced some of the

most important foundational documents about social media in academic contexts. An

important and perhaps seminal review of eleven UK universities (Franklin & van Harmelen,

2007) illustrates some trends that should be of interest to academic communities in North

America. For example, the authors found that only one academic institution in the UK had a

set of guidelines in place to guide the use of social media and blogging tools. They argue that

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institutions should respond to web 2.0 at a broader strategic level as well as through the use

of specific policies. Another JISC study published in 2009 (Committee of Inquiry into the

Changing Learner Experience) showed a close integration between social media and today's

learners in institutions of higher learning. Increasingly, the tools that form part of web 2.0

are used in conjunction with teaching students and faculty. They argue that more research is

needed to support changes in technology and to promote correct behaviours that are

needed to use social media responsibly. The authors say that “higher education has a key

role in helping students refine, extend and articulate the diverse range of skills they have

developed through their experience of Web 2.0 technologies. It not only can, but should,

fulfill this role, and it should do so through a partnership with students to develop

approaches to learning and teaching.” This statement is a clear call to seek a practical way

forward and as universities worldwide undertake initiatives to meet the information literacy

needs of learners, it will be increasingly important for academic libraries to devise strategies

to promote social media and to ensure its effective use by the academy.

As academic libraries continue to cultivate scholarly information practices and the

values inherent in web 2.0, they should be ready to apply social tools to their service delivery

models. This means that librarians must learn how to educate users in a media-saturated

age and how to assess media in the 21st

century. (This is one of the reasons, I understand,

SLAIS approached Giustini (2009) about creating a course on social media because of its

importance for information professionals.) In the following section, I highlight a number of

other trends that are germane to the academic library and those in higher education as a

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way to examine newer ways to access information in the digital age – which, of course, is a

central role of academic libraries around the world.

Academic library 2.0

Given the enthusiasm for Library 2.0 (Chad & Miller, 2005), it is surprising that

academic libraries fall behind their public library counterparts in dealing with the

governance of social media. Governments and businesses have begun their planning in an

effort to establish rules of social media usage because they so often seem to blur personal

and professional boundaries. Conversely, academic libraries are somewhat reluctant, it

would seem, in their overall approach to navigating these boundaries. Despite pockets of

innovation they do not exhibit any where near the same level of interest or curiosity in

dealing with issues relating to digital identity or online reputation management. In fact,

despite some very well-documented surveys of academic libraries’ use of social media, some

initiatives are undertaken with little or no awareness of how social tools are implicated in

public relations and risk management. Social media usage brings risk for businesses and

organizations in both the private and public sectors. Compounding this problem is the lack of

quantifiable evaluation and assessment methods for social media programs. However, the

issues surrounding information behaviour and practice in the university have now reached a

point where academic libraries must take a more proactive role to ensure the ongoing

integrity of their university’s web presence.

Though the concept of “Library 2.0” has been well-debated in the blogosphere, there

has been significantly less debate around its academic counterpart - “Academic Library 2.0”.

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Academic libraries are united in their desire to use technology wisely but seem less inclined

to mention the need to master social media as part of an emerging set of technical

competencies. This reflects a number of difficulties such as the integration of new tools into

library information technology infrastructure; a general lack of IT support for tools ‘in the

cloud’; and, despite the ubiquity of social media usage in society as a whole, the lack of an

articulated model that would account for the resources academic librarians need to

implement to be effective or innovative. Somehow, the academic discourse has remained

muted and out of touch by comparison with what is happening in public libraries, business

and government – but it must be said that this is slowly changing

Back in 2006, for example, Michael Habib devised a conceptual model for Web 2.0 in

the academic library for his Master’s thesis in library and information science. In fact, he

used the Library 2.0 framework to define a specific niche for academic libraries that would

see the blending of traditional functions with a renewed emphasis on social tools (based on

the rise of digitally literate learners and faculty in the 21st

century). Habib stakes out a

position for the academic library that would blend together physical and digital spaces as

well as merge library data with collective intelligence, cloud computing and Web 2.0 tools.

Habib's work provides the basis for a new model that outlines the requirements of academic

libraries but is now several years out of date. Indeed many of Habib’s arguments cannot

account for technologies that have emerged since their writing. For example, Twitter

(http://twitter.com/) was just being released at the time of Habib’s research (Malik, 2006).

LibraryThing (http://www.librarything.com/) is another example of a social networking tool

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that has gained considerable momentum and academic library attention since 2006

(LibraryThing, n.d.).

Building on concepts of Academic Library 2.0, Liu (2008) more recently examined many

Association of Research Libraries (ARL) homepages to explore integration of social media.

She found that most information on “academic library homepages still focuses on library

functions, requires numerous pathways for access… [and] few current academic library Web

sites offer opportunities for users to create and share user-generated content.” User

interaction and participation should be a core value of social media for academic librarians.

Liu, in fact, recommends a series of conceptual designs for increasing user-inclusion and

engagement but cautions that her recommendations are merely “what users might want”.

Liu successfully incorporates Library 2.0 concepts into an academic library context but her

paper is limited to library home pages. Xu et al. (2009) conducted a similar review of New

York state universities’ use of social media but do not use their findings to create a new

conceptual model for academic libraries beyond a rearranging of familiar concepts.

Social networking sites (SNS) were among the first social media to be recontextualized

for academic libraries. For example, Charnigo & Barnett-Ellis (2007) conducted a survey to

gauge academic librarians' awareness of Facebook because at that time it was only available

for university students. Since that time, Facebook has been opened to the public, and a rapid

growth of older users has become noticeable (Kirkpatrick, 2009). A repetition of this study

would be useful today in order to account for Facebook’s increased publicity in the past year

and their shifting demographics.

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Chu & Meulemans (2008) also examine SNS and describe the challenges and potential

benefits of establishing a library presence on two services, MySpace and Facebook. The

authors examine the two different networks but repeatedly conflate the two services as a

kind of hybrid entity “MySpace/Facebook.” This method does not account for research that

reveals two very distinct networks in Myspace and Facebook (e.g. boyd, 2007), and makes it

difficult to draw usable conclusions from their results.

In terms of raising awareness of social media in an academic library, Gross & Leslie

(2008) describe the process of familiarizing academic library staff with social media following

their implementation of a “Learning 2.0” program based on Blowers (2006). Gross & Leslie

describe their program and report that staff liked the concept; however, their article does

not attempt to conceptualize a broader model or argue for implementing guidelines for the

use of social media in libraries more generally. It must be said that raising awareness of

social media is only the first step in encouraging its implementation and assessment in the

academic library.

The difficulties of articulating a generic Library 2.0 model are most convincingly

demonstrated by a study conducted at Kent State University undergraduates and their

familiarity with web 2.0 tools (Burhanna, Seeholzer & Salem Jr., 2009). In the study, students

shared their perceptions about how the university library could use social media to meet

their informational needs. Interestingly, the authors started with the erroneous assumption

that digital natives possess heightened awareness of social media. However, they found

surprising differences between their users and those paragons of technology discussed in

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the literature. Bullen et al. (2009) found similar results about college students at the British

Columbia Institute for Technology. It may in fact be possible that these two studies are

merely exceptions to the rule but it serves as a useful reminder that technological initiatives

should always be undertaken first by doing a proper analysis of local users.

In a general sense, measuring technological skills in users is a big challenge in

developing effective library programs. Adapting to changes in the delivery of content is

another challenge with respect to social media within institutional culture. Joint (2009)

describes a range of difficulties of successfully implementing web 2.0 initiatives in academic

libraries in terms of copyright concerns and inadequate computing skills. However, moving

from more traditional methods of user engagement to participatory web 2.0 models has

measurable benefits for information professionals. Kalfatovic et al. (2009) describes the

Smithsonian Institution’s decision to provide photographs from their digital collections via a

collaborative Flickr space they call ‘The Commons’. Initially, they thought that providing

photographs on Flickr would create an increase of use of the Smithsonian’s website but little

traffic was ultimately seen in that direction. The collaborative space on Flickr, however,

provided the Smithsonian with a space outside its homepage in which to connect with users

and to discover that “each additional consumer of the products of the Commons adds to the

commensurable experience of each and all users.” The communal interaction and

collaboration among Flickr users and the institutions in the Commons project increased

value and engagement for all but required a major shift in the Smithsonian’s self-concept

and comfort in using alternative social spaces.

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The continual shifts in the digital landscape in the past few years have created

disruptions of various kinds for academic libraries. One disruption is the changing sense of

place that inevitably occurs when academic libraries use social spaces to deliver services to

their users. Many library programs using social media are reported in the literature but, for

example, it is not always clear to users what the benefits of searching a catalogue by ‘tag

cloud’ or other social cataloguing feature could be. Due to the deviations in how information

is presented in these new spaces, which also typically occur outside traditional library sites,

users and librarians alike may feel a sense of dislocation from their usual library experience.

Clearly, this is where institutional branding is important; services need to be provided to

entice users in social media spaces but balanced against the need to make users aware of

the digital assets of the library. Innovative services delivery using social media in academic

libraries should still mean that users feel connected to their libraries when they find

themselves in external digital locations. To bring program planning and institutional

guidance closer together, I examined a growing body of strategic planning documents to

understand how the needs of users, libraries and institutions can be aligned with the

objectives of the university as a whole.

Strategic planning

The use of social media in higher education is now well-established in the professional

literature. What is still up for debate is whether academic librarians and their institutions will

accept the shifts in attitudes brought on by social media or whether the associated tools will

be viewed as inconsistent with institutional goals. Institutional and professional cultures are

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difficult to change, and my intention with this directed study is not to require a shift in

institutional approaches towards social media. McNichol (2005), however, says that the lack

of a culture of “outcomes assessment” in UK academic libraries is creating a number of

difficulties. For example, academic librarians make the assumption that university libraries

are central to higher education but do not work to justify their relevance in the event of

shifting institutional needs. Without a more concerted effort to move the academic library

model toward emerging web technologies and practices, academic librarians risk losing their

central place within the modern university.

Some planning literature has identified additional concerns with organizational

resistance to change. O'Connor and Au (2009) argue “for the future library to survive and

prosper, the continuous alignment of its strategic direction with the demands of the

environment is vital, especially when the speed of changes is rapid, and the scope,

extensive.” The popularity and pervasiveness of social media qualifies as rapid and extensive

change. Korte and Chermack (2007) state that “recognizing the power of underlying

assumptions and systematically challenging these assumptions is critical to foster an

adaptive, vital organization” and, moreover, developing detailed plans to prove or disprove

the effectiveness traditional institutional views is one effective way of doing so.

In some of the most recent literature, the emergence of social media on the web is

indeed driving a change in strategic planning efforts. Allard (2009) drafts a model of “World

2.0” that advocates for library managers to understand the implications of social media for

strategic planning. Close to home, a librarian at the Vancouver Public Library, Cahill (2009)

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discusses the development of a digital branch at VPL and explains in detail how strategic

plans is driving their support for web 2.0 activities. Foundations for social media policies

have been written into the job descriptions for two web librarian positions, for example,

which were created as a result of their strategic initiatives.

In the United States, other specific strategic planning initiatives in libraries include the

creation of a working group called SPLAT (Special Projects Library Action Team) to support

collaborative online initiatives in Idaho libraries (Cordova et al., 2009). This model, similar to

the approach discussed by Gross and Leslie (2008) above, encourages staff experimentation

which is then followed by written reflection. Reed and Signorelli (2008) recognize the

importance of staff training in their study where “library staff and library users find

themselves immersed in a Web 2.0 world and need assistance in learning, using, and coping

with new technology”. Unfortunately, they do not mention the importance of establishing

manuals and documentation that will help libraries cope with how to use these technologies.

In Canada, one of the more successful strategic planning efforts regarding social media

and technological literacy originated at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario4. The

University Librarian at McMaster, Jeffrey Trzeciak (2008), describes the “transformation” of

McMaster University Library from “a very traditional academic library to innovative, user-

centred partner in teaching, learning and research.” He notes that “we moved from a model

based on transaction-based services to one based on pedagogy and learning services.” The

re-positioning of the academic library within the learning community as a place that values

4 For a list of other Canadian Association of Research Library planning documents, see Appendix D.

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the educational experience embodies the collaborative spirit of Web 2.0. Its focus on

innovative practice and technological developments has made McMaster Library a leader in

technologies and raised its profile within the academic library community in Canada.

Unfortunately, institutions must always prioritize and evaluate new and existing

programs. In the face of shrinking budgets, librarians do not always have the support

necessary to balance their existing job duties with the rapidly proliferating technologies on

the web. However, as digital information spaces and behaviours shift as a result of online

interaction, academic library strategies must also shift and adapt.

Social media library policy

The urgent need for establishing social media guidelines and policy stems from stories

of misuse and perceived problems associated with so-called illegal and even nefarious online

activities. For example, in late 2009, a Prince Edward Island teen threatened on Facebook to

shoot his classmates (Canadian Press, 2009). Also, in 2008, a chemistry student at Ryerson

University was expelled for establishing a Facebook study group (Morrow, 2008). This caused

a public relations problem for Ryerson and seemed to be characterized in the media as an

older generation being in direct conflict with a savvy digital and younger one. In a broader

societal sense, there have been a series of public relations nightmares for organizations both

public and private; for example, what happens when an American Domino's Pizza employee

posts a video to YouTube of himself tainting a pizza ready for delivery (Kiley, 2009)? Twitter

has seen its own backlash, notably from a FedEx email confronting a consultant about an

unflattering tweet (Shankman, 2009). The list goes on.

Hooker - 23

Despite the risks, businesses and libraries alike are beginning to see the benefits of

promoting their brands through interactive and user-focused media. However, a lack of

awareness and even confusion persists around what information is private and public in

social media and even what it means to be “social” in digital spaces. The academic library is

one of the few institutions that can teach media skills at reference desks and in information

workshops. As the risks to our users and their online identities grow in the social media age,

detailed guidelines and practices will be needed to steer students toward trouble-free web

and digital interactions during their education and into their professional careers.

Moving beyond the strategic plan and into a discussion of local policy development is a

difficult transition for most organizations to make. Policy development is dependent on

institutional priorities and whether a culture exists that promotes certain desirable attitudes

and behaviours. Without the support of the institution at large, it is difficult to imagine

responsible use of social media among students, let alone faculty or staff. It is also difficult to

establish the appropriate level of experimentation online versus strict rules-based guidance.

Given the potential for confusion, misunderstanding or lack of awareness, it is critical that

academic libraries review their computer policies and guidelines accordingly to

accommodate social media.

Although not specifically geared to academic libraries, Kroski (2009) is one of the few

librarians to mention the necessity of writing coherent policies to support social media usage

in libraries. The article she published in School Library Journal focuses on the school library

community, which seems to have its own peculiar challenges that relate to an academic

Hooker - 24

model. School libraries have their own online presence to create but young learners -- their

primary patrons – also have to be instructed about how to present themselves in digital

spaces if they wish to do so. Concern for learners is an emerging issue for academic libraries

as well because university students of all ages engage in online activities which may have an

impact at some point later in their professional lives if they are not careful (e.g.

Careerbuilder.com, 2009).

Despite the impact that social media participation has on users and institutions, Kroski

(2009) was unable to find many existing policies for school, college or public libraries. Many

existing social media policies focus on blogging alone, likely because it is the most common

tool used by libraries, and surely one of the most accepted. Some libraries Kroski identifies

establish rules for patrons, without mentioning any guidelines for the publication of content

by staff. Social media policies in the corporate realm, however, are more specific and

detailed. Corporate policy seems to stem from confusion about appropriate use (e.g. van

Grove, 2009) or due to greater adoption rates of social media in businesses such IBM, Intel

or HP. Regardless, their institutional guidelines outline social media practice and encourage

positive and constructive social media use as much as possible.

Policy recommendations

One seminal example for social media policy is IBM's Social Computing Guidelines,

which was originally drafted on a wiki in 2005 (IBM, n.d. cited in Kroski, 2009). IBM's

guidelines include a general outline of conduct and a detailed discussion of why these

Hooker - 25

policies are in place. The most salient point comes early: IBM encourages its users to

participate online to learn.

“As an innovation-based company, we believe in the importance of open exchange and

learning―between IBM and its clients, and among the many constituents of our emerging

business and societal ecosystem. The rapidly growing phenomenon of user-generated web

content―blogging, social web-applications and networking―are emerging important arenas

for that kind of engagement and learning” (IBM, n.d.).

Kroski (2009) takes this IBM document to heart in her proposal for library policies. She

says that “a social media policy doesn’t have to be long or read like a tyrannical list of rules.

But a few guidelines can go a long way toward helping people use social media wisely.” As

more and more libraries venture into social media, or continue with their existing

programming, it is critical that they consider their in-house practices at a time where library

budgets and programs are under increased scrutiny.

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has a detailed social media policy that

helps to highlight the concerns about presenting unbiased and newsworthy content by

employees while encouraging exploration. While academics may not be accountable to

taxpayers in the same way, many of the concerns at the Crown’s broadcaster, such as bias

and organizational identity, are similar in nature to a public university. The BBC lists

guidelines and scenarios of responsible usage of social media without being overly restrictive

and without discouraging innovation and experimentation. They also provide separate

guidelines for personal use (BBC, 2008b) as well as professional (BBC, 2008a). A helpful,

detailed approach one that is not needlessly restrictive should be the overall approach for

academic libraries writing their own social media guidelines. For more specific examples in

Hooker - 26

the corporate realm, there is a large database of social media policies publically available on

the web (Boudreaux, n.d.).

Conclusion and recommendations

This directed study has given me an opportunity to examine social media usage in

academic libraries and within the larger context of trends in information technologies,

higher education and lifelong learning. The timely aspect of this study is what mechanisms

can be developed to encourage academic librarians to develop a shared understanding of a

way forward while adapting to the inevitable cultural changes that have been brought about

by social media. In evaluating the literature on social media in Canadian and American

academic libraries and the programs developed within those organizations, it seems obvious

that academic librarians are at a critical juncture. Guidelines for using and integrating social

media need to written before the tools can find acceptance in academic libraries. By taking a

proactive approach to justify and codify social media practices through better planning and

policy development, the academic library can begin the process of bridging a gap between

experimental projects taken on by personally-motivated librarians and clearly outlined web

media strategies. Current literature does not fully capture the strategic potential for social

media in academic libraries, and it may now be necessary to establish best practice

frameworks and model planning documents in order to provide more innovative and

effective supports for this critical, emerging area.

As a result of undertaking this investigation, I have been able to identify a number of

projects or logical next steps (recommendations) that can be taken in conjunction with other

Hooker - 27

ideas as part of a graduated approach to responding to social media. Academic libraries

should consider the following in responding to the advent of social media within their

organizations, namely:

1) Consider an in-house training program for library staff, perhaps in partnership with

academic information technology (IT) units, about social media and how to

recognize the impact of web 2.0 in scholarly communication;

2) Consider hiring an emerging technology librarian, or seconding an available

academic librarian to a project, whose main responsibility would be to monitor

social media, disseminate its benefits and keep academic librarians apprised of key

developments;

3) Consider a committee of ‘early adopter’ academic librarians who serve as leaders

in their institutions and share best practices with faculty and students accordingly.

The challenge of adopting social media in the academic library is not new, but only

now are librarians and scholars beginning to tackle the advanced management of social

medial programming head on. Further research on new learners and information literacy will

bolster the evidence needed for librarians to begin shifting institutional culture. Additionally,

the sharing of professional practice is always recommended, no matter the channel.

However, the onus is now on the librarians, managers and institutions to prepare the way

forward for social media in the academic library. Our users are changing along with their

information practices, and the time has come to bridge the information gap between library

experimentation and established service. We can either meet our users out there to

collaborate, or wait endlessly for their return.

Hooker - 28

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Appendices

Appendix A: Directed Study Schedule, Fall 2009

Sep 08 – Sep 12 (1 week) • Project outlining and discussions

• LIBR 559M: Module 1

Sep 13 – Sep 26 (2 week) • Literature review: social media in higher education

• LIBR 559M: Modules 1/2

Sep 27 – Oct 03 (1 week) • Literature review: Social media as learning tools

• Planning meeting held with Dean

• LIBR 559M: Module 2

Oct 04 – Oct 10 (1 week) • Literature review: Social media in academic libraries

• LIBR 559M: Module 3

Oct 11 – Oct 24 (2 weeks) • Threading research, reviewing articles for narrative

description

• Planning meeting held with Dean

• Writing of Directed Study draft begins

• LIBR 559M: Modules 3/4

Oct 25 – Oct 31 (1 week) • Environmental scan: Social media policy

• 1st

Directed Study draft submitted for review

• LIBR 559M: Module 4

• “Social Cataloguing” wiki entry (LIBR 559M) and

article (JCHLA) completed

Nov 01 – Nov 07 (1 week) • Environmental scan: CARL Strategic Plans

• Addition of Strategic planning literature to draft

• Weekly planning meetings begin

• LIBR 559M: Module 5

Nov 08 – Nov 14 (1 week) • 2nd

draft of directed study completed

• Weekly planning meeting

• LIBR 559M: Module 5

Nov 15 – Nov 21 (1 week) • 3rd

draft of whole essay completed

• Weekly planning meeting

• LIBR 559M: Module 6

Hooker - 34

Nov 22 – Nov 28 (1 week) • Final draft of paper for review by Dean

• Weekly planning meeting

• LIBR 559M: Module 6

Nov 30 – Dec 2 • Final paper sent to Dr. Mary Sue Stephenson

• LIBR 559M: Final presentations: Directed study, and

TOTS session slides

• Project Completed

Hooker - 35

Appendix B: Selected Search Concepts and Sources

Social media concept mapping (Academic Search Complete)

• DE “SOCIAL computing”

• DE “SOCIAL media”

• DE “SOCIAL bookmarks”

• DE “SOCIAL networks”

• DE “SOCIAL network theory (Communication)”

• DE “WEB 2.0”

• DE “BLOGS”

• DE “WEB publishing”

• DE “WIKIS (Computer science)”

• DE “WEB analytics”

• DE “WEB sites”

• DE “BOOKMARKS (Web sites)”

• DE “ONLINE chat groups”

• DE “SCHOLARLY Web sites”

• DE “WEB portals”

• DE “LIBRARY 2.0”

• DE “INTERNET users”

Social media concept mapping (ERIC)

• DE “Electronic Publishing”

• DE “Web Sites”

• DE “Web Based Learning”

• DE “Web Based Instruction”

• DE “Computer Mediated Communication”

• DE “Online Courses”

• TX “social media”

• TX “web 2.0”

Social media concept mapping (LISTA)

• DE “WORLD Wide Web”

• DE “WEB 2.0”

• DE “BLOGS”

Hooker - 36

• DE “Web Publishing”

• DE “WEB-Based Instruction”

• DE “WIKIS (Computer Science)

• DE “LIBRARY Web Sites”

• DE “SOCIAL Bookmarks”

• DE “SOCIAL Computing”

• DE “SOCIAL Informatics”

• DE “Library 2.0”

• DE “ACADEMIC libraries -- Effect of technological innovations on”

Academic Library concept mapping (Academic Search Complete/LISTA)

• DE “ACADEMIC libraries”

• DE “ACADEMIC libraries – Departmental libraries”

• DE “AFRICAN American academic libraries”

• DE “BIBLE college libraries”

• DE “COMMUNITY college libraries”

• DE “FRATERNITY libraries”

• DE “JUNIOR college libraries”

• DE “NURSING school libraries”

• DE “PHARMACY school libraries”

• DE “PRIVATE school libraries”

• DE “TEACHERS college libraries”

• DE “TECHNICAL college libraries”

• DE “THEOLOGICAL seminary libraries”

• DE “UNDERGRADUATE libraries”

Professional Development concept mapping (ERIC)

• DE “Professional Development”

• DE “Professional Training”

• DE “Staff Development”

• DE “Faculty Development”

• DE “Teacher Improvement”

• DE “Professional Continuing Education”

• DE “Professional Education”

Hooker - 37

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Appendix D: Selected Canadian Association of Research Libraries

(CARL) Strategic Plans

Dalhousie University Libraries

• http://www.library.dal.ca/About/Documents

McGill University Library and Collections

• http://www.mcgill.ca/library/library-about/general/

McMaster University Library

• http://library.mcmaster.ca/mission

University of Alberta Libraries

• http://www.library.ualberta.ca/aboutus/strategicplan/

University of British Columbia Library

• http://www.library.ubc.ca/home/planning/

University of Calgary Libraries and Cultural Resources

• http://lcr.ucalgary.ca/publications

University of Manitoba Libraries

• http://www.umanitoba.ca/libraries/publications/

University of Ottawa Library

• http://www.biblio.uottawa.ca/content-page.php?g=en&s=biblio&c=abt-

strategiq

University of Regina Library

• http://www.uregina.ca/library/about/mission.shtml

University of Saskatchewan Library

• http://library.usask.ca/aboutLibrary

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University of Toronto Libraries

• http://discover.library.utoronto.ca/general-information/about-the-

library/mission-statement

University of Victoria Libraries

• http://library.uvic.ca/site/about/ulo.html

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Appendix E: Example Social Media Policy

Blogging

Blogging is a very public way of sharing your ideas. Remember that you are

representing the institution, especially if you are using the institutional blogging platform. If

it is a personal blog, make a clear statement that the views expressed on your blog are your

own and are not associated with your employer. Blog posts are generally best if kept

somewhere between 400-600 words, and contain links to appropriate content to heighten

interactivity with readers. Make sure when configuring your blog to make the RSS feed easily

available, and to provide clear links back to the library home page.

Twitter

Twitter is one of the most popular, rising social media tools in 2009. However, it has its

own challenges. For example, if your tweets are public remember that they are “broadcast”

when composing tweets. Remember that much of Twitter's value lies in your ability to share

information and to be publicly findable. Twitter's value comes from a good balance of

professional resource sharing and a reasonable dose of personality. Avoid mechanical linking

with only titles, and always strive to add value to your network. Express opinions politely,

and participate in constructive conversation.

If you have a personal Twitter account, it is OK to advocate and share library resources

with your network, but ensure that you have stated that this account represents your views,

and not the library's. If you manage a library Twitter account, use your best judgment to

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ensure that you are sharing library specific resources on the feed, and to keep things

relevant or connected to your department when possible.

Facebook

With the ability to use Facebook as a library's homepage, it is easy to establish a non-

invasive presence on this service. Pages can be created to represent different library

departments but ensure that a page you create does not overlap with another pages. Seek a

fan base, and provide regular new links and wall posts, but avoid sending too many updates

that will be broadcast to everyone's News Feed. Again, use your best judgment, and think

about how much you would like to see coming from your library on Facebook.

Other services

Experiment with other services that you deem necessary or are interested in gauging

value for your department. If the service turns out to be useful, seek to establish a best use

case for your team, draft use guidelines for other staff, and involve other team members and

supervisors as appropriate. If the service is deemed to be not useful for you or your library's

purpose, seek to delete your account. Remember that an unused or outdated profile sends a

negative message to our users.

General social media etiquette: When establishing a library service within a service's

community, seek out other librarians that use the service to connect with, and glean best

practices from. Critically evaluate the service, and seek to formulate a list of the service's

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benefits. This need not be a formal list, but be prepared to share reasons that you think a

particular social media tool is worth your time.

Monitoring

If you are participating in social media, be sure to periodically search popular search

engines and social media sites (e.g. Google, Twitter Search, Delicious) for mentions of your

library's name or services. Respond to posts as necessary. Remember social media are about

being social! Don't be afraid to comment or participate in discussions, but do keep in mind

who you are speaking for or about when online. Use your conversational instincts. Don't say

anything online you wouldn't say out loud to a group of your peers and supervisors.