Social Media as a Tool Connecting with Library Users in Disasters: A Case Study of the 2015 Catastrophic Flooding in South Carolina

Liu, Jingjing; Tu-Keefner, Feili; Zamir, Hassan; Hastings, Samantha Kelly

doi:10.1080/0194262x.2017.1358128

Cited by 17 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…During times of emergency or disaster, meanwhile, libraries can make crucial interventions in and contributions to assistance efforts. There is considerable literature on these interventions and contributions (Beales, 2003; Bishop and Veil, 2013; Chancellor, 2017, 2019; Dickerson, 2007; Featherstone, 2012; Featherstone et al , 2008; Featherstone et al , 2012; Fleischer and Heppner, 2009; Green and Teper, 2008; Han, 2019; Jaeger et al , 2006; Kosciejew, 2019; Liu et al , 2017; Prestamo, 2018; Pilston, 2004; Rattan, 2013; Robertson, 2014; Stewart, 2014; Wong and Green, 2007; Young, 2018; Zach, 2011). Libraries can play multiple roles in emergency or disaster situations, including as “institutional supporters, collection managers, information disseminators, internal planners, community supporters, government partners, educators and trainers and information community builders” (Featherstone et al , 2008).…”

Section: Libraries’ Interventions In Public Health Emergencies and Disastersmentioning

confidence: 99%

The coronavirus pandemic, libraries and information: a thematic analysis of initial international responses to COVID-19

Kosciejew

2020

GKMC

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Purpose This study aims to present and discuss the international library and information community’s initial responses to the coronavirus pandemic. It chronicles official statements from various library and information associations as they were released in real-time, thereby providing a contemporary and historical snapshot of the early stages of this global health crisis. The aim is to both historically and thematically contextualize these initial responses to help establish a foundation upon which to anchor, build, extend and analyze approaches to the pandemic as it unfolded (and indeed as it continues to unfold at the time of this writing in June 2020). Design/methodology/approach Drawing upon a qualitative documentary analysis of statements on COVID-19 released by various international library and information associations, this study provides a thematic analysis of these contemporary policies. Specifically, this thematic analysis was carried out to identify and illuminate major themes appearing within the statements. Further, a comparative thematic analysis was then undertaken to compare the themes across all statements to discover and determine convergences or divergences in content and coverage. Findings The formal statements released by these organizations feature and share many similar themes in their initial responses to COVID-19, including support for/solidarity with libraries; information provision; maintaining services; digital migration of services; workplace arrangements/concerns; contextual contingencies of libraries (diversity of kinds, circumstances and challenges); health concerns and proper/good hygiene; countering dis/misinformation; external collaborations with public health agencies; and partnerships with industry including publishers. Research limitations/implications Although this study’s purview is admittedly limited in size and scope – involving six, albeit major, library and information associations from mainly English speaking countries – it can be used as a foundation for further studies into how libraries and information centres in other English and non-English speaking countries responded to the coronavirus pandemic. Practical implications This study can help inform current, alternative, contingency or other future library responses geared towards or tailored for the coronavirus or other health-related crises. It can also be used as a baseline to track the trajectory of library responses and actions as they unfolded throughout the COVID-19 crisis. Social implications By providing the start of an account and analysis of the international library and information science (LIS) community’s initial responses, this study also contributes to the broader (ongoing) conversation about the coronavirus pandemic and intervenes in emerging historical examinations of this crisis. This study could be of interest to LIS scholars and practitioners, in addition to public health researchers, public policymakers, cultural studies academics and historians, interested in how different and intersectional efforts – in this case, the international LIS community – contributed and can contribute to this pandemic and other similar or parallel crises. Originality/value The international library and information community’s initial responses to this global health crisis are contextualized, thereby serving as a foundation upon which to anchor, build and extend other research on responses to the pandemic as it unfolded. Drawing upon a qualitative documentary analysis of these statements, this study presents and discusses the international library community’s initial responses to the coronavirus pandemic. It chronicles these statements as they were released in real-time, thereby providing a contemporary and historical snapshot of the early stages of this crisis. The aim is to both historically and thematically contextualize the international library and information community’s initial responses to help establish a foundation upon which to anchor, build, extend and update the international library community’s responses to the pandemic as it unfolded (and indeed as it continues to unfold at the time of this writing in June 2020). This foundation, it is hoped, will help illuminate their respective positions, circumstances, convergences, divergences and areas of possible (future) cooperation, coordination and collaboration.

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Section: Libraries’ Interventions In Public Health Emergencies and Disastersmentioning

confidence: 99%

The coronavirus pandemic, libraries and information: a thematic analysis of initial international responses to COVID-19

Kosciejew

2020

GKMC

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“…Social media is a real-time communication means, contributing to people staying connected and spreading information quickly. As such, social media was a common platform among public library users, to stay informed and to find information during a difficult time (Liu et al , 2017). With this, researchers began to pay attention to the role of social media and its impact on public library services in responses to disasters or emergencies.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Public library Twitter use during the early period of the COVID-19 lockdown in the United States

Choi

Kim

2021

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Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore the Twitter use of public libraries during the early period of lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic to evaluate the focus of Twitter communication. Design/methodology/approach A total of 57 active, public library Twitter accounts were used for data collection and analysis. The tweets examined were a combination of original tweets (n = 1,465) and retweets (n = 516) posted from other Twitter accounts on the public libraries’ Twitter feeds. A content analysis scheme was developed to analyse topical aspects of the tweets. Findings The most frequent tweets were about library events, programmes and activities. However, there was a relatively low focus on sharing community information and addressing information related to the pandemic. The study suggests that public libraries could use Twitter to provide library resources and services to their patrons, whilst also acting as a virtual community centre safely keeping patrons engaged in the face of a global pandemic. By doing so, Twitter could be used as an integral part of promoting the mission of public libraries. Research limitations/implications The study examined a limited number of public libraries’ Twitter posts. Whilst the study carried out a random sampling of 10% of public libraries from the five states that had the highest COVID-19 cases in the month of April 2020, the study only examined tweets of 57 public libraries being active in posting. Thus, the findings of the study are not for generalizing. Practical implications The content scheme includes content types regarding library services and community information. The content category scheme is general to reflect themes of content during a normal time and any emergency. Thus, this framework could be helpful for the content development of public libraries in planning social media use. Originality/value The study used a new content analysis framework to examine both original tweets and retweets for information sharing of library services and community information. The approach of content analysis is distinctive to examine libraries’ communication trends on social media not only in normal times but also in times of crisis as well. The study also incorporated additional measures to assess Twitter practices including hashtags.

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“…Previous studies (Zach 2011;Liu et al 2017;Siragusa 2017;Tu-Keefner et al 2017;Han 2019) have focused exclusively on information provision. Moreover, "[d]espite libraries providing much needed services and resources to community members after natural disasters, their use of social media platforms as a tool remains overlooked" (Han 2019, p. 45).…”

Section: Public Libraries' Social Media Use During Disastersmentioning

confidence: 99%

whole new world

Kooy

2021

CAIS/ACSI

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This poster will present the results of a thematic analysis of the contents of the Vancouver Public Library’s (VPL) Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube feeds throughout the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic (February 1st to June 30th, 2020) to better understand what types of crisis-related services and information they are providing to the public. This data will also be compared to Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube content from the same time period in 2019 to investigate whether the pandemic has changed VPL’s social media presence in any significant way.

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Social Media as a Tool Connecting with Library Users in Disasters: A Case Study of the 2015 Catastrophic Flooding in South Carolina

Cited by 17 publications

References 15 publications

The coronavirus pandemic, libraries and information: a thematic analysis of initial international responses to COVID-19

The coronavirus pandemic, libraries and information: a thematic analysis of initial international responses to COVID-19

Public library Twitter use during the early period of the COVID-19 lockdown in the United States

whole new world

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