Reflections on the class

In spite of the discomfort of being  out of my comfort zone and the number of Tums I have ingested, I would take this class again (but not for a grade!) to really absorb all the knowledge we have been exposed to instead of woofing it down in large chunks.

While my wallet loved a class with no textbooks, my peace of mind did not.  A Joomla guide would be a good thing to have on hand.  We can always sell it back to our classmates who take this class next!

Lastly, many thanks to my group members Amy Ellison and Amy Willard.  You were joys to work with. A+ studies buddies and I encourage other classmates to get you on their teams.

Project 4 paper

Libraries 2.0: Technology and Connectivity in Four Libraries

Amy Ellison, Carol Waggoner-Angleton, & Amy Willard

Valdosta State University

Libraries 2.0: Technology and Connectivity in Four Libraries

As libraries move forward with technological changes, they must also move according to societal needs and demands. Emerging Web 2.0 technologies address both technical and social requirements, as connectivity requirements increase not only for hardware and software, but also for the realm of social networking. For this examination of libraries using both web and library 2.0 technologies, we interviewed four libraries: Ingram Library at the University of West Georgia, Forsyth County Public Library, Aiken Technical College and South Carolina Political Collections, University of South Carolina. Overall, we found that while these libraries differ in approach, they all aspire to achieve connectivity for--and communication with--their patrons.

Ingram Library at the University of West Georgia employs blogging (including an RSS feed), Facebook, and Twitter feeds to reach their patrons. The library additionally offers a “Live Chat Help” component so that patrons might request instant virtual assistance. In some cases, such as Twitter and Facebook, the library did not require research since the popular demand for those social services was so apparent; similarly, blogging became another obvious social extension for the facility(Carol Goodson, personal communication, May 29, 2012). Goodson estimated that they have more than tripled the numbers of student involvement in scheduled library activities, simply as a result of using the technology of their patrons. “Live Chat Help” remains the most often used virtual program, with an average of 30-50 assistance requests per day, although this number greatly increases during the midterm and final weeks of the semester.

Academic libraries are not the only ones benefiting from social media sites, and Donna Fowler (personal communication, May 30, 2012), programming specialist for the Forsyth County Public Library (FCPL), knows firsthand about the impact of these services. Presenting programs and special events, as well as assisting with technological upgrades at the library, has helped her bridge the gap between understanding how patrons interact with the facility in a physical and virtual way. Since FCPL’s Facebook page was created in early 2012, patrons have mentioned how convenient it is being reminded of programs on the newsfeed of a site they frequently utilize rather than having to refer to an outside source. There are only 600 or so members of the library’s group on the social media site, but the numbers are growing as the page is regularly updated and increasingly includes links to popular and newsworthy articles. Fowler mentions that the facility’s blog, created just a few months ago in conjunction with the launch of the library’s new website, still seems to be a “work in progress” because the facility is still deciding what direction they want the blog to take. To improve, librarians are researching what other libraries offer their communities on their blogs, analyzing and incorporating patron feedback in relation to the service, and training staff to update the blog and keep the information current and appealing.       

Forsyth County is not alone; in fact, some academic libraries greatly struggle to employ web 2.0 to its fullest extent. South Carolina Political Collections, for example, does not use all of the social media outlets at its disposal. While policies allow Twitter and YouTube, SCPC solely posts information about upcoming events and collections developments through their blog site (http://library.sc.edu/communications/socialMedia.html, accessed May 29, 2012). Facebook alerts followers about new blog posts rather than duplicating content (Dorothy Walker, personal interview, May 31, 2012). Similarly, Aiken Technical College Library participates in social media technology with a Meebo Me widget that provides instant messaging service between the library and users. While ATC uses a blog, Facebook and Twitter to connect with students, and the library supports these efforts by the prominent placement of icons on its homepage, there is no indication that the library itself has plans to deploy these tools (Newkirk Barnes, personal interview May 31, 2012).

For strictly informational purposes, some libraries are creating collections of information for quick public access. Ingram Library elected to create closed staff-created LibGuides, but makes certain to involve subject-specific faculty and graduate students in building these resources. Since the website is powered by Springshare, a fairly user-friendly and extremely library-oriented Content Management System (CMS), publishing and reviewing the content takes very little effort. While there was a slight learning curve, the information was extremely simple to input and edit and the staff is encouraged to freely build resources and contribute to the guide (Goodson, 2012). Most staff members seem happy to use the website, and the library has received positive feedback from departments and individual students.

Earlier this year, Forsyth County Public Library launched a new website, which included a Content Management System aimed at increasing staff productivity and efficiency, as well as made the facility’s page more accessible and user-friendly for patrons. The CMS does not have a specific name because it was created by a committee composed of IT, programming, and administration participants to fit the facility’s needs, and therefore is not powered by an external site. Fowler (2012) mentioned there has been some confusion over maintenance responsibilities or material being accidentally deleted, but the positive aspects of the CMS decidedly outweigh any negative factors. The greatest benefit is that patrons can now self-register for programs online and librarians handling the events can maintain those records, streamlining a great deal of the necessary work. In addition, with more library employees controlling the website, strained IT staff now has a greater amount of time to focus on other endeavors.     

For other libraries, social networking represents their attempt to overcome information control issues and appear more technologically connected, and they have not yet attempted CMS or Wiki projects. SCPC began their blog in 2008 to obtain direct control of their outreach content and address difficulties in updating the webpage and avoiding a long chain of command in order to institute content changes on their webpage. Aiken Technical College Library deployed the Meebo Me widget after consultation between the Learning Resources Director and the Public Services Director. Although the widget has a more streamlined web appearance and a natural learning curve, staff constraints only allow the service to be live two hours a day.

However, the common theme between 2.0 libraries, no matter their level of usage, resides within their focus on outreach. Ingram Library employs 2.0 technology in order to better connect with the Millennial student population. They recognize the desire for instant research assistance and believe that students will more readily seek virtual assistance than in-person guidance due to library anxiety. Students appear more willing to ask for help online, and they are definitely more likely to attend an event if the details are accessible through social networking sites. The ability to connect to both students and faculty on the patrons’ terms far outweighs the resource expenditure, particularly since maintaining a virtual presence typically requires very little time.

Forsyth County Public Library also uses online outreach to draw in patrons, and Fowler (2012) attributes much of the success of in-library programs to their publicity on the facility’s Facebook page. Instead of children and teens simply reading a flier with a basic description of upcoming events, they can now view photos of recent programs, including images of peers participating and crafts that are created, and decide whether they want to sign up for the next session. These pictures greatly boosted the youths’ enjoyment as well as made parents more comfortable leaving their children at the library because they can actually see what each session entails. A single click on FCPL’s Facebook page can take patrons to the library website, where they can register online for any of these programs.

SCPC uses their blog as their primary outreach tool, posting news on upcoming events, collection development, donor acknowledgements and archival issues. Not only does the blog provide SCPC news to patrons, donors and the other University Libraries, it also allows staff to teach students the importance of public relations in archival management (Walker 2012). While Facebook is primarily used for the notification of blog content updates, it has the advantage of reaching a different demographic and eliciting discussion on items the SCPC brings to their followers. In the same light, the ATC Library looks at their Meebo Me widget as a way to be more approachable to students’ questions--especially their distance education students. They also feel that their demographic finds the Meebo widget friendlier than a “formal” email (Barnes 2012).

All four libraries attempt to meet their mission and vision statements by employing Web 2.0 and Library 2.0 technologies. While the wording of these statements differs, all outline the desire to provide a range of services to meet the increasingly diverse and technologically driven needs of their patrons. Ingram Library specifically attempts to become an important point of contact and resources for students, both on-campus and off, just as Forsyth County Public Library provides service on the patrons’ terms. Even emerging 2.0 libraries such as South Carolina Political Collections and Aiken Technical College Library also desire to be accessible to patrons, although they still work to discover how to best integrate such technologies into established librarianship. Each of these 2.0-oriented libraries recognizes, to some degree, the necessity of meeting the needs of their patrons through technology, interconnectivity, and both physical and virtual outreach.

Appendix

Group Interview Questions

1.      What kinds of virtual presence does your library maintain?

2.      What system do you find most integral to your library's mission?

3.      What was the motivation or rationale for starting this social media project?

4.      Was this a project intuitively started by an individual, designed by a committee or  assigned by a senior administrator?

5.      Did the library follow a hunch or conduct market research?

6.      Were several different tools for this service evaluated, or was this tool recommended by peers or colleagues?

7.      Is this a first-time project or a replacement for a project? If it is a replacement, why move to another service?

8.      Which departments receive the most benefit from this project?

9.      Who is your average user?

10.  Do you keep user statistics on the service? If so, what type of statistics do you collect?

11.  What services have been affected by these statistics?

12.  How do you assign workflow to keep the services updated?

13.  Why does this particular workflow best achieve the service or project?