Beyond Blogs: the Role of Social Networks

A centre of expertise in digital information management

www.ukoln.ac.uk

Beyond blogs: the role of social networks Ann ChapmanUKOLNUniversity of BathBath, UK

UKOLN is supported by:This work is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 licence (but note caveat)

This talk is aboutThe potential of social networking services such as Facebook

This talk is aboutThe potential of social networking services such as Facebook

Twitter:http://twitter.com/ukolnculture/

Email:[email protected]

Resources bookmarked using ‘ili2010-workshop' tag


www.ukoln.ac.uk

Social Networking is

What?• Online service, platform or site• Mostly web based

Who for?• Groups of people who share interests

and/or activities

Some examples• Facebook, Bebo, LinkedIn, MySpace

2


www.ukoln.ac.uk

3

How they work

Typically they:• Use category places (such as former

school-year or classmates)• Are a means to connect with friends

(usually with self-description pages)• Use a recommendation system linked to

trust


www.ukoln.ac.uk

4

What users do

Users typically• Create profiles of personal information• Upload pictures• Post blog entries (status updates)• Compile / share lists of contacts• Can set privacy controls, e.g.

• Who can view their profile• Who can contact them• Who can add them to their list of contacts


www.ukoln.ac.uk

5

Who are the users?

Individuals• Network with family, friends• Age influences choice

• Bebo – youngest• MySpace – secondary school age• Facebook – adults (the largest service)

Organisations• Increasingly common• Advertise products / services• Universities• Archives, libraries and museums


www.ukoln.ac.uk

Some examples

The following slides look at some examples of libraries using Facebook• Some in the UK, some in USA• Varying approaches• Use different optional features


www.ukoln.ac.uk

British Library on Facebook

What they are using• Wall – news and comments• Info – web site URL, overview, mission• Events – a page for each event• Photos – 13 BL albums plus photos by

others• Boxes – discussions, reviews, videos• Videos – 10 BL plus some by others


www.ukoln.ac.uk

8

http://www.facebook.com/britishlibrary


www.ukoln.ac.uk

9

Univ. Portsmouth Library on Facebook

What they are using

• Wall – news and comments• Info – postal address, phone no, web site URL,

travel directions (bus and rail)• Welcome• Induction – virtual tour, powerpoint, details of F2F

workshops• Photos – 3 UoP albums, 57 photos by others• Library Links – to areas of the UoP Library web

site


www.ukoln.ac.uk

http://www.facebook.com/uoplibrary


www.ukoln.ac.uk

11

Portsmouth (OH) Public Library on Facebook

What they are using• Wall

• news and comments• Staff Highlight Day feature on individual staff

• Info – location , phone, opening hours• Photos – 22 albums plus 68 photos by

others• Discussions – currently all book reviews• Events – none featured on day accessed


www.ukoln.ac.uk

12

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Portsmouth-OH/Portsmouth-Public-Library/323090453437


www.ukoln.ac.uk

13

Portsmouth (OH) Public Library on Facebook - 2

Staff Highlight Day1. Name Kandace2. What is your job title? Branch Clerk3. How long have you been at PPL? Almost 2 years4. When did you know that you wanted to be a librarian? After

starting my position here at PPL.5. What is your favourite part of your job? I really enjoy every

aspect of my job. 6. What are your favourite experiences at PPL? Seeing the kids

that we have come to our programs enjoying the time and effort we put into it and discovering that reading can be fun.

7. Why do you think libraries are important? They are an excellent source of knowledge and entertainment.

8. Tell us a little about one of your favourite programs or projects. I really enjoyed the Fear Factor program that was presented at Lucasville last year for Young Adults. They had to eat some pretty gross things. I certainly couldn’t have done it.


www.ukoln.ac.uk

14

London Library on Facebook

“The world’s largest independent lending library”

What they are using• Wall – news and comments• Info – location, phone, opening hours,

background• Photos• Discussions – only 2 posts• Links • Notes – nothing posted


www.ukoln.ac.uk

15

http://www.facebook.com/pages/London-United-Kingdom/The-London-Library/198017356050?ref=mf


www.ukoln.ac.uk

16

Manchester Public Library on Facebook

What they are using• Wall – news and comments• Info – email address, website URL,

background• Welcome – includes tabbed links to parts

of web site• Events• Photos – 13 ML albums• Notes – mix of news and other info


www.ukoln.ac.uk

17

http://www.facebook.com/manchesterlibraries


www.ukoln.ac.uk

18

Bristol (VA) Public Library on Facebook

US public library

What they are using• Wall – news and comments• Info – location, phone, opening hours,

website URL, twitter account, background• Photos – 49 BPL albums• Discussions • Twitter – feed from Twitter account• News – sign up to an RSS feed


www.ukoln.ac.uk

19

http://www.facebook.com/bristolpubliclibrary


www.ukoln.ac.uk

20

Advantages of using Facebook

Using Facebook means• Another place to put information about

your organisation• Potentially reach a new audience• Not tied to corporate image restrictions• You choose which features to use (wall,

info, photos, etc.)• Opportunity to engage in discussion with

users and potential users


www.ukoln.ac.uk

21

Commitment

It’s not just creating a Facebook account• Posting to the Wall (regular)• Adding photos (occasional)• Updating Info (as needed)• Starting discussion (needs promotion to

get users involved)• Monitoring discussion

So• Who is going to do this?• Solo or team effort


www.ukoln.ac.uk

22

Making things easier

Not on Facebook yourself?• Have a look at the About pages

http://www.facebook.com/facebook• About/Resources – Facebook pages link

Using other services• Import your twitter feed• Export status updates to your twitter feed


www.ukoln.ac.uk

What you need to do

Decide on and implement• Strategy

• Target audience• Tone / feel• Privacy (re discussions)

• Policy• What’s acceptable in discussion• Using FB for campaigns

• Who is responsible (don’t forget holiday and illness cover)


www.ukoln.ac.uk

Questions

Any questions?

24

Name: Ann Chapman Address: UKOLN, University of Bath, BATH, UKEmail: [email protected] site: http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/Blog: http://blogs.ukoln.ac.uk/cultural-heritage/

Name: Ann Chapman Address: UKOLN, University of Bath, BATH, UKEmail: [email protected] site: http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/Blog: http://blogs.ukoln.ac.uk/cultural-heritage/

http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/cultural-heritage/events/ili-2010-workshop/

Beyond Blogs: the Role of Social Networks

Technology

Transcript of Beyond Blogs: the Role of Social Networks