Social Networking Sites and Reference Services

Stephen FrancoeurBaruch CollegeNew York, NY

stephen_francoeur@baruch.cuny.edu

Presentation at ALA Midwinter, Philadelphia, PAJanuary 12, 2008

Social Networking Sites

Social Media Sites

Social Network Aggregators

Photo by Phil Hollenback

Some web sites offer a welter of ways to connect.

Photo by Jessamyn West

Some don’t.

Current Library Uses

• Promoting of Library Resources & Services

• Relationship Building• Searching Library Resources• Reference Services

Communicating in Facebook and MySpace

• Direct messages• Bulletin boards• Wall posts or Comments• IM

– Screen name links– MeeboMe

Libraries in MySpace and Facebook

• Links to digital reference services• MeeboMe widget in Facebook• Listed as ref communication channel

on library web site

MeeboMe widget on Facebook page for Merrill-Cazier Library at Utah State University.

Facebook as communication channel on library web site.

Twitter feed of recently asked reference questions at Nebraska Library Commission.

Librarian Pages

• Academic librarians in FB mostly• Same communication tools that

library pages feature• Librarian profile pages on library web

sites

My profile page in Facebook.

Iris Jastram’s profile page on the library web site at Carleton College.

A librarian’s Facebook page is promoted on personal page on the library web site.

New Uses for Reference Answers

• Post screencasts on video sharing sites

• Post screen shots on image sharing sites

• User may then share link with others• Librarians can re-use content

Do We Belong?

• Do users want us there?• Do they expect us there?• Do they think of social networking

sites for information needs?

Do We Want Do Reference There?

• Questions asked publicly• Servers not under our control• Enhanced interpersonal relationship

for digital reference interaction

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Breeding, Marshal. “Librarians Face Online Social Networks.” Computers in Libraries 27.8 (2007): 30-32.

De Rosa, Cathy, et al. Sharing, Privacy and Trust in Our Networked World: A Report to the OCLC Membership. Dublin, Ohio: OCLC, 2007.

Deschamps, Ryan. “Facebook and Rapport.” The Other Librarian 10 September 2007. 3 January 2008. <http://otherlibrarian.wordpress.com/2007/09/10/facebook-and-rapport/>.

Doctorow, Cory. “How Your Creepy Ex-Co-Workers Will Kill Facebook.” InformationWeek 26 November 2007. 3 January 2008. <http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=204203573>.

“Libraries and Social Networking: The Thoughts of Nine Experts about Our Increasingly Online Lives.” NextSpace September 2007. 3 January 2008. <http://www.oclc.org/nextspace/007/1.htm>.

Lawson, Dawn. “Taking the Library to Users: Experimenting with Facebook as an Outreach Tool.” Library 2.0 Initiatives in Academic Libraries. Ed. Laura B. Cohen. Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries, 2007.

Mack, Daniel, Amy Behler, Beth Roberts, and Emily Rimland. “Reaching Students with Facebook: Data and Best Practices.” E-JASL: The Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship 8.2 (2007). 9 January 2008. <http://southernlibrarianship.icaap.org/content/v08n02/mack_d01.html>.

Mathews, Brian. “Do You Facebook? Networking with Students Online.” College and Research Libraries News 67 (2006): 306-307.

Miller, Sarah Elizabeth and Lauren A. Jensen. “Connecting and Communicating with Students on Facebook.” Computers in Libraries 27.8 (2007): 18-22.

Schroeder, Stan. “20 Ways To Aggregate Your Social Networking Profiles.” Mashable. 17 July 2007. 7 January 2008. <http://mashable.com/2007/07/17/social-network-aggregators/>.