The Impact of Social Media on Library Services (Part 2: Opportunities)

The challenge posed by social media in the shift of intellectual arbitration from the Librarian to the users requires Librarians to become more flexible in how they present information. Wigell-Rynanen, B. states that;

“Libraries are expected to mediate relevant information and knowledge and to create quality online services in a constantly growing flood of web-contents of extremely varying quality.”
Wigell-Rynanen, B.

Hirst, T. suggests that by taking on the role of take on a role of an “influential friends” in a particular topic area, Librarians could reestablish their role as subject librarians;

“if librarians become Facebook friends of their patrons, and start ‘Liking’ high quality resources they find on the web, might they start influencing the results that are presented to their patrons on particular searches?”Hirst, T. (27.10.10)

This can be seen in practice by the large number of Library Services (LIS) that have Delicious accounts. As Bradley, P notes;

“The information professional then begins to play the part of a filter for their users, by locating and highlighting the best material they can find.”
Bradley, P (2008: p90).

Before embarking on time-consuming folksonomy exercises LIS need to evaluate the risk of websites like Delicious ceasing to exist. When the future of Delicious was called into question in early 2011 it appears a lot of LIS ceased to update their bookmarks and there are a noticeable lack of LIS websites now featuring tag clouds.

A more sustainable approach may be for LIS to post articles on Wikipedia and edit existing entries. Wikipedia allows LIS to draw down from their collections, whilst also contributing to the development of the site. Whilst it may seem odd that in doing this the Librarian is developing a website external to their own, through their efforts the Librarian can leverage Wikipedia’s users back to the LIS site, through embedded links and citations in the content that they post.

Sunderland Public Libraries make particularly effective use of social media with the Their Past Your Future project. Drawing together pictures from the Library’s Flickr site, historical information and survivors’ stories the Library has created a Google Map ‘mash-up’ to illustrate the bomb damage inflicted on Sunderland during World War II. The resulting mash-up is a creative way to use social media to increase access to the Library’s resources, whilst also enabling users to comment and add to the project.

In response to the growing user demand for immediate access to current information and resources some LIS have started to provide down-loadable and streaming digital resources. The New York Public E- Library is a good example of how a LIS can combine digital resources with social media. Users are easily able to share information on resources via Facebook and Twitter, whilst rating posting in the LIS site.

It is important for LIS to recognise that file compatibility issues still need to be addressed by the suppliers of digital resources. For example, ebooks supplied by OverDrive won’t work on the Amazon Kindle. Major copyright issues also surround LIS use of digital media and it is also worth noting that LIS tend to subscribe to packages of digital media, rather than own the media outright. This could have a significant impact on any LIS attempting to grow a ‘long-tail’ on its catalogue.

While all these issues are tangential to social media, the credibility of the LIS within social media communities rests on their ability to provide a consistent service. Care therefore needs to be taken before embedding social media within new and potentially unstable resources.

A less controversial and more direct application of social media to the issue of access is the use of Instant Messaging systems (IM), such as Yahoo! Messenger#, to operate virtual enquiry desks. Bradley, P. points out that IM services, like that offered by Flint Public Library establish a constant presence on the user’s computer or mobile Internet device. As Bradley also points out, though, the use of IM is a real cultural challenge for LIS and requires a reasonable level of confidence amongst staff in effectively using the technology.

The advent of social media technology has had a significant impact on public LIS ability to achieve their core, social, business goals. Levitt, T states that;
“The purpose of a business is to create and keep customers.”
Kennedy, C (1991: p143)

If we take this to be the primary goal of all public LIS it seems reasonable to suggest that social media hasn’t changed the goal of LIS websites, in so far as they support LIS overarching aims. Social media has, however, dramatically enhanced the effectiveness of LIS websites in achieving this goal by changing the content and structure of the websites.

The change social media has enable in LIS content can clearly be seen by using The Internet Archive - Wayback Machine on my own Library’s website. The original website in January 2000 was composed mainly of read-only text, which focused on telling users what they could get from the Library. Despite a major redesign in 2003 the emphasis was still on ‘push marketing’, the LIS telling the user what they thought they needed to know. In 2005 a discussion forum and blog were introduced, which started a change in the LIS’s relationship with its on-line users, to one of two-way communication and discussion.

As our original definition of ‘social media’ implied, social media is fundamentally about building and developing online communities and relationships. Social media has enabled LIS to create ways for users to develop a relationship with their libraries, making it possible for LIS to engage users in a more complete experience when they visit the website, which in turn supports the fundamental goal of creating and keeping customers.

Just as the content of public library websites has become more flexible and dynamic, the structure of many LIS sites has also changed to accommodate social media. As sites like Your Library - Edinburgh demonstrate content is now pulled in and moved around the site in response to user needs. While core service information is still organised hierarchically on many site, there is an increasing move to break the hierarchy and ‘surface information’ to the Home Page when appropriate. Indeed, it is necessary to ask where the boundaries of LIS websites now lie, as Librarians contribute to external sites like Wikipedia and LIS Facebook Pages, Twitter feeds and Youtube channels blur the concept of a central, distinct LIS website.

While the technological development of social media has undermined public LIS's role as arbiters of information, it has also opened opportunities for libraries to develop deeper and more fruitful social relationship with their users. Whilst the development of social media on LIS websites could be cynically interpreted as a technological move to remain relevant, it could also be seen as a positive social move to develop a service that communicates more effectively with its users. As Charnigo, L. & Barnett-Ellis, P. conclude;

“What role the library will serve in these environments might largely depend on whether librarians are proactive and experi¬mental with this type of technology or whether they simply dismiss it as pure recreation.”
Charnigo, L. & Barnett-Ellis, P. (01.03.07)