Social media application in digital libraries

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the applications of social media in digital libraries and identify related problems. Design/methodology/approach – A total of ten institutions were selected from the following cultural institution types – public libraries, academic libraries, museums, government, and international organisations – to represent a variety of digital libraries developed or sponsored by different types of organisations. The social media applications were examined with regard to the following aspects: types of social media, placement of social media, updating social media, types of interactions, and types of functions. Findings – This study presents the types of social media applications in the selected digital libraries and further characterises their placements, update frequency, types of interactions between digital librarians and users, as well as various types of roles they played. In the process of analysis the authors also identified problems related to lack of standards, creating two-way communication channels, and the lack of education functions. Research limitations/implications – Further research needs to expand the selection of institutions and digital libraries to have more representative sampling, in particular institutions that are outside North America and Europe. It is also important to perform in-depth content analysis of social media to identify patterns and functions that social media perform. Moreover the authors will compare specific social media tools, such as Twitter, Facebook, etc., across institutions. In order to explore fully the reason why certain social media tools are implemented in digital libraries, it is important to survey or interview digital librarians of digital libraries in different types of cultural institutions. In addition users can be interviewed to solicit their perspectives about their usage of social media in digital libraries. Originality/value – This study not only examines the current status and problems of social media application in digital libraries but also offers suggestions on making good use of social media to connect users and digital libraries.

Marketing academic library information services using social media

“…Although the findings showed a low usage of social media in the academic libraries, the respondents indicated the importance of such tools and their preference for using Twitter, followed by Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. This finding corresponded with Yi et al (2013), Ramsey and Vecchione (2014), Stvilia and Gibradze (2014), Xie and Stevenson (2014) and Al-Daihani and AlAwadhi (2015) that Twitter was one of the most popular social media platforms for library marketing and engagement as it was seen as valuable in connecting the library with users and the community to share information, promote services and events, and reach users and non-users (Forrestal, 2010), thereby achieving the study's first objective.…”

“…Siddike et al (2015) investigated the perceptions of academic librarians toward the use of word-of-mouth (WOM) through social networking sites in marketing library services, and found that librarians had positive perceptions about the use of WOM as a marketing tool to promote library services, create awareness and build relationships with customers through social networking sites, and Facebook in particular. Twitter has been found to be the most popular social media platform for library marketing and engagement (Yi et al, 2013;Ramsey and Vecchione, 2014;Stvilia and Gibradze, 2014;Xie and Stevenson, 2014;Al-Daihani and AlAwadhi, 2015). Stvilia and Gibradze (2014) confirmed that most academic library tweets were related to building and maintaining connections with library users and informing library users about news, events, workshops, exhibitions and facilities and to promote the library collections and services.…”

“…Further, as technological developments have led to the increased use of internet services, academic libraries have begun to embrace social media to better engage with various community groups outside the physical library walls to ensure that resources and services are more accessible and user friendly (Harrison et al, 2017). Xie and Stevenson (2014) investigated the use of social media in the digital libraries of ten cultural institutions and found that Facebook and Twitter were the most popular social media applications, and that social media was important within the institutions for providing information, marketing and promotions, connecting with users and sharing information. Yi et al (2013) examined the marketing activities in Australian academic libraries and found that classroom instruction and advertisements were the most effective marketing techniques, followed by one-to-one conversations and training sessions, the library website and social media.…”

Functions of Twitter in Digital Libraries

“…“Twitter was becoming an important communication tool among certain groups we [CDL] serve … Twitter appeared to offer an opportunity to get CDL's news and ideas out to a wider audience” (Starr, , p. 24). Xie & Stevenson () investigated the types of social media applications including Twitter in DLs, and further characterizes their placements, update frequency, types of interactions between digital librarians and users, various types of roles they played as well as related problems.…”

Extraction of social networks in modern digital library environment

“…meanings) content, active participation, interconnection, interrelation and all meanings concerning human beings negotiations. (Xie, Iris, Stevenson, 2014). The best public, business types of the medianetwork examples are fast integrated to the virtual world such as Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and other online systems.…”