Working together with social media tools...or not

Barriers to internal collaboration may include a lack of institutional support, employees’ fear of losing a competitive advantage by sharing information, and employees’ lack of technical savvy (or confidence in their knowledge).  Will Kelly (2009) cites all of these barriers—he also notes that use of collaborative tools is most effective in organizations with flexible work schedules—not a common feature of libraries with set open hours!  Prior experience with poorly handled group projects may put off some people, who may fear that they will end up doing more work and others will do less, or that they will spend more time trying to organize the group than in actually doing the work.  Finally, many people may be reluctant to add a new task or tool to their existing work load, especially if they do not have a clear vision of how the new tool might allow them to do a better job or improve their daily lives.  In order for collaboration to be successful, it must seem worth the effort to the people involved.  

One of the exciting things about social media projects is that many of them seem worth the effort to volunteer contributors, each of whom adds as much or as little to the project as s/he desires.  When this model is successful, it can be amazing and energizing—but many proposed projects fail for lack of sufficient interest or effort.  In an organization of employees, we can’t depend on new collaborative tools being adopted “spontaneously”.  Hutch Carpenter (2009) suggests that collaborative tools are most readily adopted when there is a specific and necessary purpose, or “defined use case” for the tool.  He also suggests that managers offer employees both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation for participating in collaborative projects.  His suggestions include using storytelling to convey a vision of the results of the proposed project, offering incentives such as recognition and rewards, using “executive reminders”, and deleting the old method that the new tool is intended to replace. 

His suggestions seem like helpful ways to make the collaborative project seem worth the effort to employees.  First, be sure that the project is for something that truly needs to be done.  Second, offer a clear vision of what the project is intended to accomplish, and how that will benefit the organization and the individuals who work there.  Third, entice and push people to participate.  If necessary, remove alternatives.  Finally, I would suggest that managers ask for employee feedback—is the collaborative project as useful as intended?  Could it be modified to work better?  What would make it more useful, convenient, or productive?  Demonstrating effective use of one collaborative tool for one particular project and asking for employee input on how to do it better will go a long way toward reducing barriers to further collaboration.

Carpenter, H. (2009). "Enterprise 2.0: Culture is as Culture Does." I'm Not Actually a Geek.

Kelly, W. (2009). "Corporate Culture, Not Technology, Drives Online Collaboration." Web Worker Daily.

Nibbling at delicious information

I enjoyed exploring the searching and sorting options in Delicious.  It was fun to look at the history of links bookmarked, and to check out the bookmarks of other people who bookmarked one of the same sites I did.  I found a person whose name I recognized, and enjoyed looking over his bookmarks.  I had some sense of his interests from communications on an email list, and it was interesting to see what else was revealed by his choices on Delicious. 

As with other social networking tools, one of the trickiest parts of using a social bookmarking site is filtering the available information.  I can see using this method of browsing linkages to find other interesting bookmarks under at least two circumstances:

·         When I’m in the mood to poke around and enjoy browsing.  If I’m in a hurry to find particular information, sorting through the bookmarks of others would likely be very frustrating. 

·         When I want to find other people who seem to have similar interests.  Again I’d need to be in an exploratory mood.  If I found someone with a high proportion of bookmarks that interested me, I could either add that person (or organization) to my network or subscribe to their RSS feeds, so I could check out their bookmarks in the future.  Right now, the most useful people in my network are my fellow students, since their current interests align so closely with mine!

For either of these uses, I’ll need to spend quite a bit more time on the social aspects of bookmarking, rather than just saving my own discoveries for later use.  I might also give a little more thought to how I tag and describe the bookmarks I save, so that they’re more useful for other people.  I have been thinking of my own needs when tagging—so, for instance, I often don’t use the tag ‘library’ or ‘libraries’, since so many of my interests relate to libraries.  Because of their high frequency, those are not especially useful tags for my own collection (at least right now).  Yet I depend on other people using those tags, so I can narrow down my searches on Delicious.  Oops.  In the spirit of contributing to the community, I guess I’ll go back and beef up my tagging…

Note for classmates and instructor:  Since the instructions for exercise 5 listed a couple of different options for tagging our bookmarks for the exercise, I settled on using 'exercise5' in addition to the '246bell' I've been using for all class-related bookmarks in Delicious.

Which wiki?

After examining several library wikis, I found that the Antioch New England Graduate School's Library Training Wiki struck me as the most effective example.  This wiki presents information for the use of front desk staff members who need to know how to do everything from handling Wi-Fi problems to watering the library plants.  The wiki seems to have some display problems (some pages are too wide on my browser, but others fit neatly on the screen; text sometimes overlaps header lines), but the content is useful and updated regularly. 

This wiki meets at least three of the criteria listed in Johnston’s (2007) article about the circumstances under which wikis are most effective:

1.      Best for groups who know each other already.

2.      Better with clear outcome in mind

3.      Better for documenting consensus than documenting dissenting opinions

I think there are at least two other reasons for this wiki’s success:

1.      The users are contributing to the success and ease of their work and of their co-workers (present and future), both by what they learn as they write and by having a written document for future reference.  This gives workers a personal and visible reward for participating.

2.      Workers are required to participate (see the About page of the wiki).  This may not always be an advantage—in fact, some may argue that it violates the free spirit of wiki collaboration—but it does short-circuit the reluctance of many people to try something new.  Some people may hold back for fear of failure—requiring participation means that failure comes from not trying out the wiki rather than from trying and somehow not getting it “right”.

Group projects such as wikis depend on participants taking ownership of the site content, and usually rely on relatively few participants who are very active and many lurkers and occasional contributors.  Given the small number of people using this library wiki, it makes sense to require everyone to participate. 

Johnston, B. (2007). “When to Use a Wiki.” Online Community Report.

Sharing information and services online: Hennepin County Library's use of social media

The Hennepin County Library (HCL) in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is a large library system of 41 libraries serving more than one million patrons (Peterson and McGlinn, 2008).  HCL is very active in its use of social media, and is doing an excellent job.  HCL has accounts on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Flickr, and YouTube.  They offer an extensive list of RSS feeds, including feeds for library news, events and classes, booklists, subject guides, custom catalog searches, and individual library account information.  The library website includes some interactive features, among them requesting users’ comments on the website and allowing readers’ comments on titles in the catalog.

The readers’ comments are hosted on the readers’ advisory site Bookspace.  Bookspace is an online community of readers that the HCL launched in 2007 to replace their readers’ advisory pages (Peterson & McGlinn, 2008).  In addition to writing comments, users are encouraged to create lists of their favorite books on whatever topic appeals to them and to create their own profiles.  Reader profile pages include all of the readers’ comments and booklists, as well as a thumbnail photo and brief bio submitted by the user.  This online community has been very successful, generating 12,000 reader comments in its first year of operation (Peterson & McGlinn, 2008).  About 90 readers, including HCL librarians, have created profiles on the site. 

Bookspace includes a readers’ advisory blog, and there are several other blogs embedded in the library’s website.  These include the Teens Speak blog, a reference and research blog, and a blog called Freedom Ticket, which offers resources to people recently released from correctional facilities.  In the spirit of personalizing the library experience, readers can change the display colors to any of seven choices on the teen page.  The HCL website also demonstrates HCL’s commitment to training patrons in the use of social media.  The library offers classes on social networking, and provides information on RSS feeds for new users.

HCL’s Facebook page provides news updates, basic information about the library, a few photographs, a page of tweets from HCL’s Twitter account, and a link for catalog searching.  The MySpace page looks as though is not updated nearly as often as Facebook, but offers some useful links for teens.  The YouTube account seems to be used exclusively by children’s librarians, with videos of fingerplays and rhymes for young children, a series on Newbery medal winners, and promotion of the summer reading program.  The Flickr account stores photos of library branches, and a few photos of library programs. 

HCL does a good job of linking communication from one social media site to another.  Their home page includes icons for all five of the social media sites where they have accounts.  HCL uses Facebook and Twitter to promote their new YouTube videos, for example.  These notifications are effective—on February 25, HCL uploaded 12 fingerplay videos to YouTube; on March 7, they released notices on Facebook and Twitter linking to one of the videos.  The linked video had been viewed 73 times by the afternoon of March 7—three to five times more often than 10 of the other 11 videos.  Three days later, the linked video had been viewed 155 times; the other 11 videos uploaded on the same day had been viewed between 15 and 58 times.

HCL also does a good job of noticing and responding to patron comments.  For example, a staff member from HCL made a prompt reply to one patron’s request on Facebook.  In another example, on March 5, a patron complained about the lack of needed materials, and HCL responded with a link to their purchase suggestion page.  Here’s the Twitter conversation:

@hclib Why don't you have any scholarly works on elder futhark? Letting me down for the first time, yo.

@patron tell us more about what are looking for http://t.co/dviB0ll - we listen!

@hclib Wow, somebody's burning the midnight twitter oil.

@hclib And also, I found what I needed through interlibrary loan. You're still the best library I've ever known!

@patron thank you for making our Saturday night!

Although HCL’s use of social media is generally outstanding, it is not perfect.  HCL does sometimes miss an opportunity to continue the conversation with a patron posting on Facebook.  The MySpace page is woefully out of date (the welcome note at the top of the page wishes everyone a ‘Happy 2010’ and there’s a link to ‘Best books of 2007’).  At least one of the links on the RSS subscription page (‘News and search tips for using the Hennepin County Library catalog’) yields only an error message.  The Flickr account for HCL is rather mundane, with seven photos of patrons at library events and 80-some photos of library buildings.  (The Plymouth Library, however—one of the branch libraries—has a display of patron comments about their newly constructed building.  The comments were written on a whiteboard in the library, and then photographed and uploaded to Flickr.  This is a much livelier use of the photo-sharing site.)

HCL has built a strong and consistent brand online by providing quality materials and service and actively responding to patron comments, especially through their home website, Bookspace, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter.  They offer a consistent image throughout their social media accounts (except MySpace), using one of three variations of their logo on each account.

   

This newly-promoted social media consultant recommends that HCL

1.      Expand their current use of social media sites.  For example, the Flickr site could include more photos of library events—with links to these photos from after-event announcements on Facebook and Twitter.  This provides a little thrill for patrons who attended the events and lets others know what they missed—all the more incentive to attend the next event.  Librarians outside children’s services might consider using the YouTube account—posting book trailers produced by teens or adults, for example.

2.      Increase linking between tools.  HCL could include more photographs on their Facebook page and link to their Flickr account for those interested in more photos.

3.      Expand the promotion of ongoing library resources as well as events and new creations.  For instance, in conjunction with the Facebook/Twitter updates about new fingerplay videos on YouTube, HCL could include notes featuring the Early Literacy section of Bookspace. 

4.      Add new resources bit by bit rather than in a clump.  Using the 12 new fingerplay videos as an example again, HCL could upload one video every other day over a three-week period instead of putting them all on YouTube in one day.  This would encourage viewers to subscribe to the HCL YouTube account or visit regularly.

5.      Consider whether they wish to continue with the MySpace page.  I recommend that HCL either update the page or retire it.  They should consult patrons and librarians in this decision.  If they decide to update the page, they may wish to recruit young adult service librarians and their teen advisory group to help.

6.      Set goals for expanding their user base…

a.       …among users of social media, by becoming more active in online communities.  HCL could support local non-profit organizations, authors, and performers by ‘liking’ their Facebook pages.  They might generate starter lists of Twitterers on various topics or find useful lists created by others to share with their Twitter followers.  Assisting in the flow of information this way helps online patrons and increases the library’s visibility.

b.      …among patrons who do not yet use social media, by inviting them to join the online community.  HCL could offer more classes on social networking, and promote their various tools inside their libraries (as they may already do).

HCL has the advantage of having a web services staff to guide their online presence (Peterson and McGlinn, 2008), unlike many libraries, but this does not mean that they have the time to do everything they would like to online.  I look forward to future developments at HCL, knowing that it’s much easier to sit back and watch what a library has created and imagine tweaking things here and there than to actually do the work.  It has been very interesting to review the work of an imaginative and energetic staff and their involved patrons—my thanks to Hennepin County Library for the privilege they didn’t even know they were bestowing upon me!

Peterson, G. and McGlinn, S. H. (2008). Building a community of readers: Bookspace. Computers in Libraries 28(4), 6-8, 10-11, 52.

Online library spaces and faces

I think libraries should seriously consider using social networking sites such as MySpace and/or Facebook to create an online presence.  Library patrons who are not only aware of and eager for library events and other services but also diligent about checking the library website will discover information about upcoming events, learn about special services, and search for new title purchases on their own.  The other 99% of library patrons will find out about library services by chance—a flyer about a historical society lecture might catch their attention on the way out of the library, a newspaper article might remind them that they’ve been meaning to take their children to storytime, or a friend might invite them to go to movie night together.  For those patrons who use social networking sites—61% of online adults, according to the Pew Internet and American Life Project—the library can be the ‘friend’ who reminds them of movie night, story time, or the latest thriller arriving on the library shelf.

Before taking on a project like this, though, the library staff needs to consider the following questions:

1.      Do you have the staff time to commit to the project?  ‘Social networking’ is a verb, not a noun.  The library’s page needs to be active to be useful.

2.      What social networking sites do your current or potential library patrons use?  If some patrons you hope to reach use MySpace and others use Facebook, for example, will you create two library pages, or choose one site?  Which one, and why?  Quantcast.com estimates that use of MySpace is declining and use of Facebook is increasing.  On the other hand, the same estimates suggest that Latinos use MySpace more than Facebook.  If you’re trying to reach a particular demographic, you need to know where they are.

3.      What are the policies of the site you’re planning to use regarding users’ privacy and intellectual property rights?  Be sure you’re satisfied with the terms of service before signing on.

4.      Does your library already have a social media policy?  Will it need updating to cover your new activities?  If you don’t have a social media policy, consider creating one.  You might use this Policy Tool for Social Media.

5.      What other tools does your library use to communicate with patrons?  Will a social networking account reinforce or complement those other forms of communication, or might it be unnecessary duplication of effort?  How will you coordinate use of different communication methods to best effect?

6.      How will your page be useful to your patrons?  As Meredith Farkas notes in Social Software in Libraries, there’s a big difference between “being where our patrons are and being useful to our patrons where they are” (Farkas, 2007, p. 122).  Will you providing news, sharing stories, asking for suggestions and other feedback, and/or providing a portal to library services (catalog searches or chat with a reference librarian, for example)?  Do you know what your patrons would like you to provide?

7.      What objectives do you hope to accomplish with your new social networking page?  How will you assess the success of your social networking efforts? 

The pace of change in online communities is rapid.  Any decision a library makes about which tools to use will need to be re-evaluated on a regular basis. 

Farkas, M. G. (2007). Social software in libraries. Medford, NJ: Information Today.