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, i
f 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].
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
