http://www.vla.org/wordpress/?p=935
This resource is a list entitled "100 Ways To Use Twitter In Your Library." I found it on the Virginia Library Association Blog, but apparently it originally came from acceleratedbachelordegree.org. The list starts out with a basic introduction to Twitter and then gives tips in the categories of Reference, Discussion, Announcements & Updates, and Colleagues & Friends.
Some of the tips strike me as a little obvious, like number 12, "Don’t let the account go silent for extended periods: This will show that you have mutual interest in providing a connection for many of your followers." Others come across as a bit patronizing, like number 15, "Be sure to use the current twitter terminology: Remember the verb form is 'to tweet,' not 'to twitter.' If you use the wrong terms, you might as well put a sign on your website that says ROOKIE!" But on the whole, there are certainly enough very good suggestions on this list to make it a useful resource. Some interesting ideas I haven't really seen suggested elsewhere include "Get feedback on potential policy changes: Thinking about extending library hours? Get some opinions from some of your patrons;" "Use Twitter to point out highlights on library websites;" and "Search Twitter daily for mention of the library." Of course, it's important to remember that this list only offers suggestions, not any kind of requirements for Twitter use, and libraries should feel free to pick and choose among them. If anyone tried to do everything on this list in one Twitter feed, it would certainly overwhelm both the followers and the person responsible for tweeting.
I do think the list-makers are cheating a bit by filling up about two-thirds of this list with the names of interesting library-related Twitter feeds, Twitter tools, and vendors using Twitter. These aren't really "ways to use Twitter" as such, although they can still be helpful information for libraries using to Twitter to know. The list includes many interesting Twitter tools I'm not sure I'd heard of before; I think Tweet Later, for instance, could be an excellent timesaver for libraries tweeting event reminders. And before seeing this list, I hadn't really even thought about the possibility that library vendors are using Twitter, but it seems that at least about twenty-five of them are. I think this could potentially be a great new way for library staff and vendors to keep interacting, hopefully improving the customer service experience for everyone involved.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Further Observations
After continuing to follow several libraries and library-related Twitter feeds, I still feel that many libraries may not yet be using Twitter at its full potential. In many cases, libraries are using Twitter to post announcements and news, but I'm not seeing a great deal of evidence of sustained interactions with patrons via Twitter. Of course, this doesn't entirely mean that Twitter isn't "working" for libraries, but it certainly makes it hard to gauge the results of Twitter as an outreach effort.
I think the most active (as judged by frequency of tweets) public library I'm following is the Homewood Public Library in Homewood, Alabama, a suburb of Birmingham. Judging from their website, they also seem to have a strong online presence in other ways: blogs, YouTube, and so on. It seems that in some cases, a particular web-savvy librarian or group of librarians will latch on to tools like Twitter and really try to make the most of them.
Some of the other Twitter feeds I'm following, those that are not directly affiliated with a single library, are also very interesting. I suspect that as it is currently being used, Twitter may be more effective as a professional development tool for librarians than as an outreach or public service tool for libraries. For instance, several different library publications, as well as several branches of the ALA, tweet links to library-related news stories. This can certainly be a very convenient way for librarians and other interested parties to keep up with news in the field, and I've noticed surprisingly little overlap among the stories posted by different sources. The greatest number of tweets coming across my Twitter page are from two library job listing feeds, GetLibraryJobs and Libgig_Jobs. For the librarian or library student who is an active Twitter user, these represent a wonderful way to stay informed about the job market without having to set aside time to visit job-posting websites.
I think the most active (as judged by frequency of tweets) public library I'm following is the Homewood Public Library in Homewood, Alabama, a suburb of Birmingham. Judging from their website, they also seem to have a strong online presence in other ways: blogs, YouTube, and so on. It seems that in some cases, a particular web-savvy librarian or group of librarians will latch on to tools like Twitter and really try to make the most of them.
Some of the other Twitter feeds I'm following, those that are not directly affiliated with a single library, are also very interesting. I suspect that as it is currently being used, Twitter may be more effective as a professional development tool for librarians than as an outreach or public service tool for libraries. For instance, several different library publications, as well as several branches of the ALA, tweet links to library-related news stories. This can certainly be a very convenient way for librarians and other interested parties to keep up with news in the field, and I've noticed surprisingly little overlap among the stories posted by different sources. The greatest number of tweets coming across my Twitter page are from two library job listing feeds, GetLibraryJobs and Libgig_Jobs. For the librarian or library student who is an active Twitter user, these represent a wonderful way to stay informed about the job market without having to set aside time to visit job-posting websites.
Resource Review #2
http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/viewArticle/2317/2063
"Social networks that matter: Twitter under the microscope" by Bernardo A. Huberman, Daniel M. Romero, and Fang Wu; First Monday, Volume 14, Number 1 - 5 January 2009
This resource is not directly related to libraries using Twitter. However, I still think it's very interesting and useful for this project. In this article from the online journal First Monday, the authors present the results of their study of over 300,000 Twitter users. The study found that the majority of Twitter users have far more followers and followees on the site than actual "friends" -- defined in the study as people who have communicated directly with each other via Twitter at least twice. Thus, the idea that a list of Twitter followers or followees can accurately represent a person's social network is untrue. A much more important and much smaller network underlies the "official" network, and is composed of the people who actually interact with each other via the service on a regular basis. As the article's Introduction puts it, "users faced with many daily tasks and large number of social links default to interacting with those few that matter and that reciprocate their attention."
Of course, these authors are primarily discussing social networking in terms of relationships between individuals, not between individuals and organizations. So why do I think this study is relevant to libraries using Twitter? The concept of a smaller network of truly important links underlying the larger social network still applies here. The number of Twitter followers a library has could be much less meaningful than the number of people who actually use Twitter to communicate or interact with the library. The library's actual "friends" may be a much smaller group than its Twitter followers.
I do not believe the results of this study would suggest that Twitter cannot be a useful tool for libraries, but rather that libraries cannot assume their list of followers tells the whole story. Paying attention to who really interacts with a library via Twitter could help the library staff identify some of the patrons who are truly invested in the library and who could be its strongest supporters. Thus it seems to me that it's very important for libraries who use Twitter not to simply use it as an announcement service and ignore it between postings of their own tweets, but to pay attention to their followers and be prompt in replying to any tweets directed at the library.
"Social networks that matter: Twitter under the microscope" by Bernardo A. Huberman, Daniel M. Romero, and Fang Wu; First Monday, Volume 14, Number 1 - 5 January 2009
This resource is not directly related to libraries using Twitter. However, I still think it's very interesting and useful for this project. In this article from the online journal First Monday, the authors present the results of their study of over 300,000 Twitter users. The study found that the majority of Twitter users have far more followers and followees on the site than actual "friends" -- defined in the study as people who have communicated directly with each other via Twitter at least twice. Thus, the idea that a list of Twitter followers or followees can accurately represent a person's social network is untrue. A much more important and much smaller network underlies the "official" network, and is composed of the people who actually interact with each other via the service on a regular basis. As the article's Introduction puts it, "users faced with many daily tasks and large number of social links default to interacting with those few that matter and that reciprocate their attention."
Of course, these authors are primarily discussing social networking in terms of relationships between individuals, not between individuals and organizations. So why do I think this study is relevant to libraries using Twitter? The concept of a smaller network of truly important links underlying the larger social network still applies here. The number of Twitter followers a library has could be much less meaningful than the number of people who actually use Twitter to communicate or interact with the library. The library's actual "friends" may be a much smaller group than its Twitter followers.
I do not believe the results of this study would suggest that Twitter cannot be a useful tool for libraries, but rather that libraries cannot assume their list of followers tells the whole story. Paying attention to who really interacts with a library via Twitter could help the library staff identify some of the patrons who are truly invested in the library and who could be its strongest supporters. Thus it seems to me that it's very important for libraries who use Twitter not to simply use it as an announcement service and ignore it between postings of their own tweets, but to pay attention to their followers and be prompt in replying to any tweets directed at the library.
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