Special Topics Paper - Readers Advisory and Social Media

Why Use Social Media for RA

Saricks emphasizes that conversation (communication) is an extremely important part of RA. “The readers’ advisory interview is a conversation about books.” (Saricks, 2009, p.5) Social media can be defined, “…as a group of Internet based applications that allow the exchange of user generated content.” (Anwyll & Chawner, 2013, p.18) Why should these be combined?

To begin with, it is a fact that a large percentage of our society participates in social media. According to their webinar, Mickelsen and Stover have the statistics at the following numbers:

71% of internet-using adults are using Facebook

42% are using multiple platforms

18% are using Twitter

17% are using Instagram

(Mickelsen & Stover, 2014)

These statistics clearly show that users communicate through social media. “In this digital information age, it is increasingly important for public libraries to adopt new technologies to deliver services such as RA to reach users who have become accustomed to interacting with other people through digital channels.” (Anwyll & Chawner, 2013, p.18) In other words, social media, for better or worse, has become a comfortable way for people to communicate and good RA involves communication as Saricks said. A communication expert had this to say about the relevancy of social media, "...social media likely will continue to become increasingly integrated into the normal human experience like most of the communication technologies that preceded it." (Keller, 2013, p.10) So, if the reality is that social media is here to stay as a form of communication, then we, as librarians, need to communicate with our patrons this way. The writer of an article called Are You Reaching Library Customers Where They Are? Wrote about one particular library director’s opinion: "Citing some major paradigm shifts in the digital landscape, including library users’ mobile phone behaviors, she encouraged libraries to fight the urge to stick to the status quo. She described this process as “changing the game” With 51% of users accessing information on a digital device and 80% of Internet users owning a smartphone, libraries are missing out if they’re not harnessing mobile apps and technology to reach users." (Maxey, 2016)

The traditional aims of RA are, “to increase reading choice and the enjoyment of reading.” (Anwyll & Chawner, 2013, p.18) Will using social media increase reading choice and the enjoyment of reading? In a conducted study a librarian stated that social media should be used to contact patrons and made it clear that contact would increase with this type of communication. Contact would increase with patrons, “particularly those who are not everyday library users.” One librarian in the study stated that, “it was important to be seen to be reaching out to a different customer type, that will not come to the library or who is using the online catalog/resources.” “It allows us to provide the opportunity to undertake RA services outside library walls. As the number of people who have mobile devices increases, extending library services to non-traditional virtual spaces is increasingly important.” (Anwyll & Chawner, 2013, p.114)

While most libraries have a great deal of RA information online, on their websites, blogs, etc. this does not offer communication – two-way communication between librarian and patron. A librarian in the conducted RA and social media study said, “The ability to have two-way communication with library patrons through Twitter and Facebook was one of the key reasons these social media services were used.” (Anwyll & Chawner, 2013, p.114) “This type of engagement is a significant aspect of RA, so capturing those comments or tweets and replying to them with relevant information shows how RA and social media can be combined effectively.” (Anwyll & Chawner, 2013, p.114)

Positives of Using Social Media with RA

As mentioned, most libraries are already used to offering RA services in the online world even if they have not stepped over to social media. Most library website are, “a hub for a wider range of RA features such as read-alikes, annotated lists, staff written reviews and discussion forums.” (Anwyll & Chawner, 2013, p.19)

It is also true that “Book-oriented social networking sites are often recommended as good resources for RA.” (Anwyll & Chawner, 2013, p.19) Book-oriented social networking sources are sites like Library Thing and GoodReads. One expert concluded that, “this type of service provided opportunities for readers to be more involved in discussions about books and reading.” “This aspect appears to be an important difference between RA services that use digital services and the traditional face-to-face approach.” (Anwyll & Chawner, 2013, p.19) If this quote is referring to specific book oriented sites like GoodReads, how much more involved would the discussion be on social media that is not just book oriented? This would expose patrons who are on the social media for other reasons to literature and book discussions. Invariably if the discussions are on non-book sites those who do not ordinarily or maybe never participate in book discussions will have the chance to do so. They will at least have exposure to what it looks like. Another aspect of being more involved is also found in the personal nature of the format. People often feel less inhibited to speak their mind on social media. Many participates can join in the discussion as well.

Speaking of the interaction aspect, one librarian in the study commented, “What works most is the interaction on Twitter …” “If librarians responded within a short timeframe the conversation often continued. The interactive question and answer type approach was not limited to Twitter, but also took place through Facebook wall posts…” “The ability to have two-way communication with library patrons through Twitter and Facebook was one of the key reasons these social media services were used.” (Anwyll & Chawner, 2013, p.114-115)

The researchers discovered that, "…interviewees acknowledged the positive effects of offering RA in the online environment.” One interviewee (librarian) commented, "Of all the uses of social media in the library, using it for the purposes of reader advisory would be one of the best ways of getting information out." (Anwyll & Chawner, 2013, p.117)

Another positive for the librarian is response time. Responding on social media relieves some of the pressure that is present in face-to-face RA. "Providing readers’ advisory virtually allows your library to enrich the services for your patrons. The virtual interaction allows librarians more time to review a request. They are less pressured to provide a quick answer on the spot. Patrons receive quality recommendations in the comfort of their home or when they're on the go." (Pundsack, 2014)

Maybe social media RA is new and different in some regards but, “While the tools for successful Readers Advisory continue to diversify and evolve, the foundation of personal connection remains the same." (Morris, 2013)

A final positive is, " Posting conversations on Facebook about books allows the library to “crowd-source" suggestions and create lists for others to use." (Pundsack, 2014) So, combining social media and RA expands knowledge by combining the knowledge of many and sharing it more broadly.

Types of Social Media

Twitter - Many libraries already have blogs. Twitter can be considered real time, microblogging. So, for those already familiar with blogging, Twitter would be just a small new step to take. “Microblogging involves posting short status updates…” “One of the most popular microblogging sites is Twitter, which provides “real time” updates from people anywhere in the world.” (Anwyll & Chawner, 2013, p.18) For example, a librarian could Tweet, “Tweet us 3 book titles you liked and we will tweet you three similar ones right back.” This real-time aspect would be the new step for many librarians. The following comments describe how important a speedy real-time response is to Twitter users, so response time would have to be scheduled.

“Thanks to Twitter, businesses are closer to consumers than ever before. Tweets have become a popular way for consumers to vocalize their questions, praise, or complaints -- all in plain view of anyone who can find the conversation online. But customers don't just expect you to read their tweets about you -- they also expect you to reply. According to charts published on Search Engine Watch, 70% of surveyed Twitter users expect a response from brands they reach out to on Twitter. Of those users, 53% want that response in under an hour. It's important to have a solid strategy for responding to tweets so you can keep your customers happy and drive engagement on Twitter. (Kolowich, 2015)

As this information shows, social media requires a fast response – a communication – unlike a website or blog. This is a positive because it becomes more of the conversation that Saricks describes. But, it is going to require time. Will social media take too much time? One researcher, “…identified four main advantages of using Twitter: “it is free, easy to use, it takes little staff time and information travels fast.” Here we see an opinion that it takes little staff time, so perhaps it is worth the effort.

Facebook- Researchers in a study, “…described a six hour experiment carried out by Multnomah County Library which asked readers to tell them (on Facebook) the last five titles they’d read, so that RA staff could offer suggestions for their next book. Roughly one hundred readers participated and feedback was very positive.” (Anwyll & Chawner, 2013, p.18)

“Facebook facilitates immediate interactive moments, and it also provides weekly user statistics that are emailed directly to the librarians.” “This made it easy for the librarians who used Facebook to access the impact of their posting and links.” (Anwyll & Chawner, 2013, p.114)

YouTube- While YouTube is not social media exactly, it is worth mentioning that it does allow librarians to use more imaginative ways to do RA. For example, “…creating video “book trailers” and using a multimedia approach to RA.” (Anwyll & Chawner, 2013, p.18) Posting YouTube RA videos would expose books to a wider audience. This is a huge plus and just may create new interest and new readers.

Tumblr - Tumblr is another option. Tumblr is, "…a microblogging platform and social media site that supports multimedia content." (Wetta, 2014) According to Wetta, Tumblr is popular with a younger audience and, "…users spend longer per visit on the site compared to other social media." Wetta says that Tumblr can be used to ,"…start a conversation with your community." (2014)

Some advantages of Tumblr include: it is a "flexible platform" and "…has a unique feature that separates it from other social media platforms...users can ask questions anonymously, which isn't an option on Facebook or Twitter." (Wetta, 2014) Because the asker’s name is not included, librarian responses can be shared with anyone. The same response can be shared with many people who are looking for the same sort of book.

Instagram – Instagram is an online mobile photo-sharing app. It is like visual tweeting. "Instagram users are the youngest of all social media users and this platform is growing the quickest." Instagram would be excellent for sharing book covers.

These are several of the major social media choices. Although there are so many choices, "It's best not to put all your efforts into one platform. At the same time though, don't do so much you can't maintain them all - or just simply duplicate content across all your social media channels.” (Wetta, 2014)

Good Practices

Links- One piece of advice concerning good practice was to always include a link to the library. This is an excellent idea. “…public libraries Twitter accounts could link to events, blog posts, and particular titles in their collection. …if a tweet is about something the library owns, it will include a link to the item in our catalogue. This allows a library patron who reads a tweet that interests them to go directly into the library’s catalog and reserve the item.” (Anwyll & Chawner, 2013, p.19) Specific ideas for posts that could have links included, “…recommending a book, a product, or service that the library’s followers might be interested in.” “Interviewees thought their users responded best when there were links in social media posts. Most users love links, they prefer the immediacy they provide.” (Anwyll & Chawner, 2013, p.114) Providing links, “…may stimulate interest and interaction.” (Anwyll & Chawner, 2013, p.117)

Content of Social Media Posting - “A few of the interviewees explained that they deliberately choose resources that are quirky or really different to attract attention from their audience.” New books, reviews, new resources, recommended reading for teens, are among typical posts, however, “one interviewee acknowledged that RA involves more than listing and promoting new books – the librarian must also mention RA by author, reviews, recommendations, and spotlights on genres.” (Anwyll & Chawner, 2013, p.116)

One interviewee explained her process… “If I find a book that looks interesting, I’ll just type in the title, give the link to the catalogue, write a bit about it and give it a hash tag to say it is coming soon…” (Anwyll & Chawner, 2013, p.116)

Using promotional language is also a good practice that is recommended, “Use promotional language, use a hook, encourage readers to click on a link, show book covers…” (Anwyll & Chawner, 2013, p.117)

“They explained that their choice of language was deliberate, and intended to have an effect.” “Examples of this include, “Check this out!” or using quotes from reviewers’ words, using book covers and images, having a hook… something that makes them want to click on it. (Anwyll & Chawner, 2013, p.117)

Turn the tables - ask patrons to be the Readers' Advisor with questions like, “What books would you recommend to someone who has never read fantasy but wants to give it a try?” (Brown, 2012) "...successful readers advisory via social media is largely dependent upon libraries creating an opportunity for patrons to provide their own input and perspective, and drive the conversation based on what matters to them. Social media may allow the conversation to move beyond books as well, and can be used to crowd source community input on collections or programs. Generating these public conversations may present new opportunities for partnership for libraries, in addition to new avenues for patron engagement." (Morris, 2013)

Participation and quick responses - So there is a lot more to postings than just asking questions, Susan Brown says participation is key."...don't just ask the question, remember to participate as well. On social media, participation is the goal and asking questions is one of the easiest ways to achieve this." “Social media users expect quick response. We try to keep response time under 30 minutes"(Brown, 2012)

Divide and assign workload- “…if possible divide each social media into teams - have a leader for each to send out reminders of who's posting what and when.” (Brown, 2012)

Involving more library staff – “Involve more library staff, so they know how to use these platforms.” (Anwyll & Chawner, 2013, p.118)

Have guidelines and style guides - "organizations create guidelines to ensure everyone is consistent in what they post and follows a similar structure.” (Anwyll & Chawner, 2013, p.115)

Have in-house guidelines- such as, "recommendations for how frequently posts should be written and updated..." so that too much info isn't being released because that would overwhelm people. (Anwyll & Chawner, 2013, p.116)

Some Possible Negatives

Restrictions- One researcher noted that, “…local government often imposed security related barriers to the implementation of social media within libraries. Because of these barriers, libraries tended to give up at the first hurdle and focus on more traditional methods of interacting with their users.” Others found that, “only members of the library’s web services team could contribute content to or update sections…as there were restrictions on access to the edit tools.” Another possible negative concern is relying on a free external service, “…an externally hosted service may change its terms of use, or modify its site without warning.” (Anwyll & Chawner, 2013, p.18) Only authorized staff being allowed to post and the library’s firewall were oft-mentioned restrictions.

The library board may have restrictions as well. "Our council has very specific stipulations on what we can and cannot post." (Anwyll & Chawner, 2013, p.115) The board may have to be convinced. In this case staff will have to, "…successfully demonstrate that social media is not merely for "recreation and socializing" but is a key communication toll." (Anwyll & Chawner, 2013, p.116)

Security - When librarians were interviewed, “They considered the security and privacy issues surrounding Facebook to have been a barrier to earlier adoption.” (Anwyll & Chawner, 2013, p.18)

Staff limitations -Lack of staff knowledge and experience was an often-mentioned negative. Having sufficient staff time and insufficient staff input were other staff concerns. (Anwyll & Chawner, 2013, p.117)

Size of library- Small libraries may have fewer resources and staff. (Anwyll & Chawner, 2013, p.117)

How the Effects of RA with Social Media can be Evaluated

How can the effects of RA with social media be evaluated? There does not appear to be widespread information on the effects of using social media for RA. “However, several people have noted that recommending a book on a social media site raises its profile with potential readers. …A librarian at Ann Arbor District Library who tracked reader involvement through following the holds activity of the books she had written (blog) posts about, noted that one item went from one to fifteen requests. Many similar effects were noted, “…finding that some librarians saw their book recommendations followed by a reserve when posted in a “tweet.” (Anwyll & Chawner, 2013, p.18)

Official research can be done to evaluate, including interviews. Much of the information here came from research that was conducted in New Zealand. Staff in twenty-one libraries were asked for an interview. Fifteen librarians agreed to be interviewed. Since the sample was so small it is just a snapshot for comparison, but it provides useful information like, “The most common social media tool used by interviewees was Facebook…” “Other social media tools used by interviewees included Twitter…” “Other social media tools used by more than one library were Flickr, YouTube…” (Anwyll & Chawner, 2013, p.18)

“In some cases, the implementation process for using social media with RA began with a small-scale trial. This allowed library management to see how the tools were being used and for what purpose before making a formal commitment to adopt them.” (Anwyll & Chawner, 2013, p.116)

At any rate, both formal and informal means of evaluation can be used. Some excellent informal evaluation was done by merely noting “likes.” "Seven of the interviewees identified the number of followers they were gaining on twitter and their blogs and how many patrons liked their Facebook page as a key measure of success." “Any engagement via these channels is seen as a success." So, noting the amount of interaction between patrons and staff and patrons with each other as well as feedback is excellent evaluation that can make a difference. "We have had customer feedback via twitter and we've been able to act on it and show we listened." Using a service to track is also a possibility: “1/3 of the interviewees used bit.ly for links in their posts - bit.ly provides tracking statistics that identify how many links were followed . (Anwyll & Chawner, 2013, p.116)

Example Libraries to Check Out

Lawrence Public Library - Every Sunday they ask “What are you reading?” on Facebook and they comment back to patrons.

The Lawrence Public Library recommends asking lots of bookish questions, “What books are on your bedside table right now?” and “If you had to read one book ten times, what book would you read?” They suggest books by saying, “Tell us a book you read recently and enjoyed and we'll suggest another one or two from our collections.” (Brown,2012)

Seattle Public Library - "As more and more people access library services remotely, library staff can employ an array of tools to maintain that meaningful connection with their patrons and provide personalized readers services, both inside and outside of the library." (Morris, 2013)

"... the Seattle Public Library has successfully coordinated social media campaigns to enhance reader services. Posting conversations on Facebook about books allows the library to "crowd source" suggestions and create lists for others to use. They have hosted weekly chats to generate discussion and highlight areas of the collection.” (Morris, 2013)

Plano Public Library -The Plano Public Library hosts “Tuesday Titles” each week. Tuesday Titles is a live Facebook discussion between staff and patrons about reading recommendations. (Morris, 2013)

Darien Library in Connecticut has “Darien Read”s on Tumblr.

Cuyahoga Public has “Night Owls” on Facebook every Thursday night as a special time to talk books.

Conclusion

“…social media services provide a wealth of opportunities for RA librarians to reach out to their communities. Using social media for RA seems to be a win-win combination, since it allows RA librarians to interact directly with interested readers.” (Anwyll & Chawner, 2013, p.18) With the help of social media, “…the next good read is only one click away.” (Anwyll & Chawner, 2013, p.118)

References

Anwyll, R., & Chawner, B. (2013). Social media and readers’ advisory: a win-win combination?. Reference and User

Services Quarterly, v.53 (1), pp.18-22.

Anwyll, R., & Chawner, B. (2013). Social media and readers' advisory new zealand experiences. Reference and User

Services Quarterly, v.53 (2), pp.113-118.

Brown, S. (2012). Creating a social space for readers. Retrieved from https://www.ebscohost.com/novelist/novelist- special/ra-4-fb-creating-a-social-space-for-readers

Keller, M. (2013). Social media and interpersonal communication. Social Work Today, v.13(3), p.10.

Retrieved from http://www.socialworktoday.com/archive/051313p10.shtml

Saricks, J. (2009). The readers’ advisory guide to genre fiction. Chicago: American Library Association.

Mickelsen, A., & Stover, K. (2014). Readers advisory for a new age-social media and tech tools [Webinar].

Retrieved from http://librarylinknj.org/sites/default/files/RA%20for%20a%20New%20Age%20edited.pdf

Maxey, R. (2016). Are you reaching library customers where they are? Retrieved from http://ideas.demco.com/blog/are- you-reaching-library-customers-where-they-are/

Pundsack, K. (2014). Moving readers' advisory online. Retrieved from http://publiclibrariesonline.org/2014/09/moving- readers-advisory-online/

Morris, L. (2013). Readers advisory: fresh approach, same core service. Retrieved from http://www.webjunction.org/news/webjunction/readers-advisory-fresh-approach-same-core-service.html

Kolowich, L. (2015). How to respond to people on twitter: a simple guide for businesses. Retrieved from

https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/twitter-customer-service#sm.00000uv78cddp5fflqrgindm2gdvu

Wetta, M. (2014). Using tumblr for readers' advisory. Retrieved from https://www.slideshare.net/wmolly/using-tumblr-for-readers-advisory