Foreword
Communications technology continues to connect and change the world. This can be desired and leveraged in many useful ways. Libraries using the web have evolved from static informational and contact style pages to more dynamic and interactive sites. It could be argued that social media have been one of the greatest advancements in this evolution. For the last decade, we have debated, explored and implemented various social tools. I am lucky to have written and spoken about these topics around the world.
I have also been lucky to engage with some very smart and forward-thinking individuals, including Jenny Levine, the Shifted Librarian; Michael Casey, originator of the Library 2.0 service philosophy; and Troy Swanson who managed the Moraine Valley Library’s social media and website. I met Troy at Internet Librarian 2006, and we had an intense and enlightening discussion about tying emerging technological tools to mission statements and the goals of the institution.
Consider the following statements related to Moraine Valley Library’s use of podcasts which I posted on Tame the Web back in 2006:
They fulfill the library’s mission by “providing information literacy instruction and support across the curriculum” and “collaborating with faculty and others to develop innovative services and programs.”
They enhance the classroom experience by providing expert views on challenging and timely subjects.
They provide an opportunity for students and community members to participate in library events even though they may not be able to visit the events in person.
I appreciate the emphasis on moving away from place-based thinking about library programs and services. Offering access to events via a recording, shared and disseminated via podcast feeds and present on the library blog may seem quaint now, but this foundational practice paved the way for many other innovations with Web 2.0.
The book you are holding is a reflection and critical analysis of the use of social media in libraries that rises above and beyond the typical tool-of-the-month style tomes and provides something much more important: a detailed analysis of the whys of social media and the hows of getting staff and library users involved. The viewpoints shared here by Troy align with my own research as well. My dissertation focused on early librarian bloggers and the sense of community they found within the burgeoning blogosphere. Connecting, sharing and finding a clear path through a new landscape of social connections were definitely part of the pragmatic biblioblogger’s experience. Recently, my examination of library staff use of social tools as part of Learning 2.0 programs in Australia further supports the idea that with experience and exploration comes confidence and willingness to participate in the greater community.
Let the technology fall away and what is left is a guide to facilitating and encouraging conversations—a way to tell a story. “Storytelling is a powerful tool,” Troy writes, “and social media represent a way to extend our own stories.” Moving the story beyond the physical place of the library so it exists online to be accessed and enhanced with multiple voices should be the goal of every information organization.
Troy has synthesized and collected his own ongoing critical thinking and extensive experience with this work.
Troy explores a number of questions: how should one involve staff in sharing the library’s story? Should individual librarians connect with individual users? How can social media guidelines guide the use of the tools in an evolving and unrestricted manner?
He also addresses the challenges that occur as libraries shift some focus to emerging technologies. Many of these challenges are people-focused, rather than issues with the technologies themselves. “The challenge around effective social media implementation is to get library staff to see social media as an integral part of their jobs so that they choose to participate.” This challenge can be solved with transparency and a clearly defined, yet evolving mission: “If people are fearful of participation or do not see the value of participation, they will not participate.”
Troy writes, “Libraries that have not dabbled in social media may wonder where they should start. The answer may sound straight out of 2004, but it remains true: start a good blog. Blogs remain the most flexible social media tool.” I’ve written extensively about blogging and published my own research on the perceptions and experience of the LIS blogger. I wholeheartedly agree that the blog as platform can be a powerful content management system for telling your library’s story. Combine that tool and the others explored in this work with Dr Swanson’s insights and critically-focused big-picture thinking, and you have a solid path toward engaging your community and encouraging the heart of the user.