Prototypical Academic Library

P r o t o t y p i c a l A c a d e m i cP r o t o t y p i c a l A c a d e m i cP r o t o t y p i c a l A c a d e m i cP r o t o t y p i c a l A c a d e m i c L i b r a r y L i b r a r y L i b r a r y L i b r a r y ( P A L ) ( P A L ) ( P A L ) ( P A L )

Developing a social media training program at the Prototypical

Academic Library (PAL)

PAL social media committee:

Bryan Carnes

Roen Janyk

Erin Rickbeil

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Developing a social media training program at the Prototypical

Academic Library (PAL): needs assessment and staff analysis

Introduction

The Prototypical Academic Library (PAL) has a collection of over 35,000 print books,

200 journal, magazine, and newspaper subscriptions, 500 music CDs, 1,500 popular and

educational films on DVD and 450 databases available to approximately 14,000 students, staff,

and faculty. The Prototypical Academic Library (PAL) consists of one campus, offers traditional

and distance learning environments, and prides itself on meeting students’ educational and

learning needs. Recently, library staff has been faced with some barriers to information literacy

in the digital age as few have developed technological skills or experience using social media

and Web 2.0 tools. In order to remain relevant, useful and an integral point in student and

faculty’s core functions, the PAL must find new ways to train their staff to meet the needs and

connect with its users in the physical and virtual environments.

Library Survey

To gauge the feelings, comfort levels and knowledge of staff regarding social media, the

decision was to conduct a survey. The survey was designed to gather a rough idea of the feelings

and skill-set about social media. It was determined that a new training program encompassing

some of the more popular social media tools would be developed for the library staff. The

training program was not designed to target a specific group; therefore, the survey is a cursory

examination of staff’s general knowledge, use and comfort level with social media in general,

with some sections focusing on specific tools. The survey is designed to gauge staff interest level

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in a social media training plan and whether they believe that the use of social media will help the

library connect with students.

The online survey was created using the free tool SurveyMonkey

(http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/FCLJ66S). All PAL staff were invited to participate in the

survey, and a 95% response rate was achieved. The results indicated that in both their personal

and professional lives staff did not use many social media tools, however, they were familiar

with some of them. Social Networking Sites (SNSs) were the most common type of social media

used, with 55% of respondents indicating that they have used an SNS within the past month. No

staff members indicated they used wikis or social bookmarking tools on a regular basis, and the

staff responded that in their professional life, 40% used blogs.

Overall, the results of the survey indicated the majority of staff have basic or introductory

levels of knowledge about social media but do not feel comfortable using the tools. When asked

about how much knowledge they had about social media 25% indicated they knew a fair amount

to a lot about social media tools and 10% said they did not have any knowledge at all. Twenty-

five (25%) of respondents said they did not have a high level of knowledge about social media

but they do recognize some of the tools. The most significant response was that 40% feels they

know something about social media and its tools. Staff felt they had the most knowledge about

SNSs, blogs and media-sharing.

With regard to comfort level using social media, the results were similar. Ten (10%) of

staff indicated they do not use social media and are not comfortable with tools. Thirty (30%)

indicated they use 3-5 types of tools and are comfortable using specific tools. 45% of staff

responded that they use only 1 or 2 types of tools, but are comfortable using those tools. Staff felt

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the most comfortable using SNSs and media sharing and the least comfortable using social

bookmarking and micro-blogging tools.

Eighty-three (83%) of staff indicated that they would like to see a social media training

program, and would use a training manual at the PAL. Staff indicated, however, that they would

prefer an online training program with several in-person meetings. The staff responded that they

were most interested in learning about blogs, media sharing, bookmarking wikis, and instant

messaging. The survey showed that library staff feels the use of social media would enhance the

relationship between the library and users. Seventy-four (74%) feel that social media might be

very or extremely successful in enhancing library/user relations. Only 16% feel that social media

would not be successful or only minimally.

After completing the survey, staff participated in departmental focus groups on social

media, tools and expressing their comfort levels. Department heads communicated the results to

one another in a meeting. The discussion from this meeting reflected the results obtained from

the survey which indicated many that library staff felt unprepared for advances in social media

technologies; they did not have high levels of knowledge about social media tools or how to use

them, were concerned about the pace of technological growth and older staff felt they had less

experience using social media tools. Finally, some staff were not sure these tools would be useful

in connecting with patrons. Many staff communicated a desire to learn more about social media

because they felt it may help improve the library’s relationship with its users, but the staff felt

overwhelmed by trying to learn how to use social media on their own. Overall, department heads

felt that staff were interested in learning about social media and needed to receive a professional

development training program to help them gain more familiarity and comfort with it.

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Developing a social media training program

After analyzing the steps taken by other post-secondary institutions to introduce social

media and Web 2.0 technologies to libraries and classrooms around the world, it was decided

that a social media handbook and a social media training program for library staff would reflect

both the trends in the field and the needs of the PAL. A social media implementation and training

committee (SMITC) was formed comprised of librarians, library technicians, faculty and staff

who volunteered to participate in the project.

The SMITC examined other universities, colleges, schools, and public libraries’ usage of

social media tools, and decided which tools would be used for both external and internal use.

Some tools might be beneficial for communicating and connecting with staff internally, while

others for connecting with students and faculty externally. Training modules were discussed by

taking into account the tools used by other institutions, the value for internal and external use, the

ease of use for staff and the knowledge of those teaching the courses.

In the social media handbook, eight modules were created to introduce social media tools

and technologies to staff such as blogs, instant messaging, media-sharing, micro-blogging, social

bookmarking/cataloguing, SNSs and wikis. Each module will have an overview of what the tool

is, how it functions, how the user interacts with it and a basic ‘how to get started’ lesson.

Examples of how other libraries are using the tool will be provided, as well as an informative

video to provide alternate learning styles for individuals. The training plan can be used with the

PowerPoint for more examples. One module will be presented each week for library staff, with

the educational series lasting 8 weeks. Library staff familiar with some tools but not others will

be able to sign-up for specific topics during certain weeks. Training sessions will last two to

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three hours in length, and will occur in an asynchronous virtual or online environment. Training

for each module will be provided by those staff specializing or comfortable with each topic. The

Digital Services Librarian, Reference Librarian and Systems Librarian will be in charge of

instructional lessons, and will work closely with two library technicians and other staff on the

SMITC to create module presentation materials.

At the end of each 8-week cycle members who participated in each module will be given

the opportunity to fill out a survey and provide feedback about the modules. This survey will be

available via SurveyMonkey.com and also by paper; it will consist of five basic questions about

whether the learning objectives were met. Questions will include whether library staff learned

new skills and opportunities for learners to provide comments and suggestions for improvement.

Conclusion

As our program develops further, it is our hope that other library staff and eventually

members of other university faculties can participate in its development. Initially, the social

media training program will only be available to librarians and library technicians during the first

offering of the learning series. The social media training manual will be posted on the library

web site and will be made available to the whole library and university community.

As the social media training program progresses over time, it will require some ongoing

analysis and evaluation to stay current. A librarian must be in-charge to oversee changes and

updates that will need to be introduced as specific social media tools change and new ones are

introduced. In time, more modules may need to be developed for improving the program. The

ongoing goal of this project is to ensure that the PAL maintains its presence on the social web

and that liaison librarians continue to develop their knowledge about the benefits of social media

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for learners. The liaison librarians may find ways of using social media that are specifically

related to the subject areas they represent. For example, Twitter lists, Facebook groups and

subject-related blogs and wikis.

The PAL should continue to promote itself in the digital era and remain relevant to its

users by using many of the tools they use. The PAL librarians see themselves as central in the

area of social media and want to promote their roles as information investigators and

disseminators (Rethlefsen, Engard, Chang, & Haytko, 2006). To achieve our goals, we must

ensure that library staff members are not merely using the same tools but engaging as full

partners with the conversations and knowledge-sharing of the social revolution of web 2.0.

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