Social Software Social Software in in
Academic LibrariesAcademic Libraries
Ellyssa KroskiNew York Public Library
March 28, 2008
What is Social Software?
• New Web 2.0 tools which are:– Social– Participatory– Collaborative– Easy to Use– Community Environments
What is Social Software?
• Social Software Tools enable people to:– Create– Contribute– Connect– Converse– Vote– Share
Why Social Software?
• Exploding Growth– MySpace has over 200 million users– Facebook has over 67 million users half of
which sign in daily– Over 75 million blogs– Wikipedia has over 5 million articles written in
over 200 languages– People view over 100 million videos daily on
YouTube– Flicrk has over 2 billion photos
Why Social Software?• Mainstream Adoption
– 85% of college students have a Facebook account
– Americans spend an average of 14 hours per week on the Web
– 85% of young broadband users have watched online video
– 51% of American teens have uploaded photos to the Web
– 55% of American teens have a social networking profile
– Over half of all visitors to MySpace and over 40% to Facebook are over 35 years old
The Social Tools of Web 2.0
Social Networking
SubjectGuides
Answers
Second Life
Microblogging
IM
Blogs
Social Bookmarking
Media Sharing
Wikis
Social Software
Wikis• Easy Web publishing• No HTML required• Collaborative online
spaces• Great tools for:
– Team projects– Knowledge bases– Remote collaboration– FAQs– Course instruction– Encyclopedias– Intranets
How are Academic Libraries Using
Wikis?
Wikis as Intranets
“The wiki allows us to keep staff content centrally located, consistently organized, and — most importantly —
easily editable by anyone willing to learn a few basics.”
Erin GeorgeAssociate to the University Librarian
University of Minnesota Libraries
Wikis as Training Tools
Wikis as Library Web Sites
“It has enabled all thelibrarians at USCA to share the
responsibility of updating pages. I really believe that it has created a sense of ownership and a commitment to the
website among those who contribute.”
Jane H. TutenLibrary Director
USC Aiken Library
Wikis as Subject Guides
“The Biz Wiki allows me to create and manage dynamic content at anytime and
anywhere, allowing me to address popular questions quickly, while promoting the use
of business resources.”
Chad F. BoeningerReference & Instruction Technology Coordinator
Ohio University Libraries
Wikis as Resource Reviews Collections
Wikis for Event Planning
Wikis for Best Practices
Social Bookmarking Tools• An online space to save
“favorites” or bookmarks
• Discovery tools
• Categorization by tags
• Portable & searchable
• Great tools for:– Resource collections
– Subject guides
– Reading lists
How are Academic Libraries
Using
Social Bookmarking?
Social Bookmarks in Subject Guides
Social Bookmarks in Subject Guides
“Using a del.icio.us account along with FeedDigest has made it much easier for
our librarians to automatically keep a web site up to date.”
Nicole HennigWeb ManagerMIT Libraries
Social Bookmarking Communities
Social Bookmarking for Class Reading Lists
Social Bookmarking for Class Reading Lists
Social Bookmarking for Staff Resources
“It is a catch-all space for stuff I find interesting and want to share in a no-
hassle way. Much better than emailing everyone every time I find something nifty.”
Lisa SepaTechnical Services Librarian
Maui Community College Library
Social Bookmarks as Recommended Resources
Social Bookmarking for Event Tracking
Social Bookmarking for Event Tracking
Media Sharing• Organize and share
photo & video collections online
• Easy Upload
• Great tools for:– Training
– Marketing & Promotion
– Teaching
– Digital collections management
– Online exhibits
– Tours
How are Academic Libraries
Using
Media Sharing?
Media Sharing for Historical Collections
Media Sharing for Spotlighting Library Staff
Media Sharing for Library Tours
“YouTube has really helped us market ourselves to the campus community. Some people say, "YouTube, really?"
but the undergrads get it.”
Nick BakerReference and
Web Services LibrarianWilliams College Libraries
Media Sharing for Research Recommendations
Media Sharing for Instruction
Media Sharing for Instruction
Media Sharing for Promotion
Media Sharing for Promotion
Social Networks• Online social hubs
• “Third Places”
• Environments to find like-minded people
• Great tools for:– Portals
– Networking
– Marketing
– Outreach
– Branding
How are Academic Libraries
Using
Social Networking?
Social Networks as Library Portals
“MySpace has been an a great avenue for connecting with other
libraries around the country and world and for sharing marketing ideas.”
Meg BurgerLearning Commons Coordinator
University LibraryUniversity of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign
Social Networks for Promotion
Social Networks as Extensions of the Library Website
Social Networks for Outreach
Social Networks for Catalog Search
Social Networks for Database Search
Social Networks for Professional Networking
Social Networks for Keeping Up
Blogs• Online journals or
websites• Articles posted in
chronological order• No HTML necessary• Great tools for:
– Breaking news– Staff communication– Subject resources– Course materials– Media reviews– Publishing
How are Academic Libraries
Using
Blogs?
Blogs as Library News Vehicles
“The KSL News Blog generates comments with surprising swiftness–
from our campus, and beyond, we are reaching people in different ways.”
Karen Oye, M.L.S.Head of Customer Services
Kelvin Smith Library Case Western Reserve University
Blogs as Subject Resources
Blogs to Support Library Instruction
Blogs for Staff Communication
Blogs for Accessibility
"My blog and myFacebook profile allow me to
communicate in new ways with our students and faculty and in ways that
they themselves communicate"
Jeff TrzeciakUniversity Librarian
McMaster University
IM• Real-time online text
chat
• No technical skills required
• Great tools for:– Virtual reference
– Staff communication
– Remote meetings
– Collaboration
How are Academic Libraries
Using
IM?
IM for Virtual Reference
IM + Voice for Virtual Reference
“In providing services via Skype we're continuing to expand the range of
access options available to our users, many of whom already rely on the web
calling client for much of their communication.”
Char BoothReference & Instruction Librarian
Ohio University Libraries
IM + Text for Virtual Reference
"Since expanding the AskAULibrary service from AIM to all major IM
providers through Meebo, our statistics have doubled."
Melissa Becher Coordinator of AskAULibraryAmerican University Library
Microblogging
• Online text communication tool
• Short messages of up to 140 characters
• Great tools for:– Event announcements
– News updates
– Making Web resource recommendations
– Promotion
How are Academic Libraries
Using
Microblogging?
Microblogging and Promotion
Microblogging and Promotion
Microblogging as a Library Portal
Second Life
• Virtual World
• 3-D MMORPG
• Created by inhabitants
• Great tool for:– Remote education
– Training
– Virtual events
– Conferencing
– Marketing & Promotion
How are Academic Libraries
Using
Second Life?
Second Life for Subject Guides
Second Life for Virtual Reference
Second Life for Education
“We noticed that students find the most pleasure – and thus motivation to learn - by being challenged with constructionist activities in Second Life. They have a blast building our campus and running
events on it.”Jeremy Kemp
Assistant Director for Second Life Campus
San Jose State University SLIS
Second Life for Database Searching
Second Life for Exhibits
Second Life for Conferences
Answers Communities
• Social Q&A
• Wisdom of Crowds
• Great tools for:– Virtual Reference
– Outreach
– Promotion
How are Academic Libraries
Using
Answers Communities?
Answers as Promotion
Subject Guides Tools
• Social Tools to create interactive subject guides
• Multimedia & Multiformat
• Great tools for:– Subject guides
– Pathfinders
– How-to guides
How are Academic Libraries
Using
Subject Guides?
Subject Guides as Research Guides
Subject Guides as Research Guides
"The best thing about LibGuides @ BC may be how liberating it's been for
librarians, carrying many into the world of Library 2.0 not kicking and screaming but excited and energized by the opportunity at last to shape and manage their online presence and interaction with students."
Ken LissLibrarian
Boston CollegeUniversity Libraries
Subject Guides as Reading Lists
Social Software in Academic Libraries
• Enhance library services
• Outreach• Marketing &
Promotion• Training• Instruction
• Asset management• Staying Current• Communication• Collaboration• Networking • Community Building• “Going where the
users are”
Social Software DIY Tips• Jump right in• Start to learn what's possible with these
tools• Learning for personal use will lead to ideas
for professional applications.• Set up some social software accounts,
most of them are free!
Additional Resources• Library Emerging Tech Labs
– Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) — MIT Libraries’ Betas
– University of Michigan — MLibrary Labs– University of Minnesota —
Digital Library Development Lab– University of Pennsylvania — PennLabs– University of Virginia — Library Lab– Vanderbilt University — Test Pilot
Ellyssa [email protected]
Blogs:iLibrarian
http://oedb.org/blogs/ilibrarianInfoTangle
http://infotangle.blogsome.comhttp://www.slideshare.net/ellyssa