Update: Due to the stress and madness COVID-19 has cultivated, I have decided to give myself a break and have dropped one course for this semester, halving my workload, letting me concentrate on my mental wellbeing and my work, which allows to me to pay bills and eat etc.
I hope everyone is taking care of themselves out there and reaching out for help when needed. It is ok not to be ok!
At this point in the subject think about strategies to take you from TL, the keeper and stamper of the books and the quiet space (library) (how many of our colleagues perceive TLs), to become something different. Make a set of notes using your new understandings to support your arguments and conclusions.
The Digital Promise staff article (2016) suggests that TLs in Vancouver were feeling very much like some TLs in Australia- isolated and undervalued as staff members. While that is not the case everywhere, it took a collective effort from librarian staff to change the general perception of TLs, beginning by changing their own understandings of their roles, and the outlook of district leaders. Redefining their roles, changing their responsibilities and renewing their sense of purpose resulted in crafting new roles and opportunities for these TLs and carving out a new path for the school libraries in Vancouver. Additionally, they were able to integrate technology into learning and move towards project-based learning, which is where Australian libraries are currently headed (Boyle, Collins, Kinsey, Noonan & Pocock, 2016).
I think that, allowing TLs to redefine their own roles, in collaboration with executive staff, and considering the needs of each school in context will result in greater job satisfaction and relevance of TLs within the school hierarchy (Digital Promise, 2016). From there, executive staff must promote and support the development of these new roles by allowing TLs to contribute to the school community, giving time during meetings for TL input, specifically, and encouraging other staff members to acknowledge and support TLs in their new roles- lead by example!
Under these redefined roles, TLs can develop a vision or goal/s for their space, planning and initiatives. Sharing these with staff and involving them in achieving these goals, while also supporting their teaching will build positive relationships and encourage collaborative teaching and planning (Hutchinson, 2017) to support student development. Sharing and highlighting articles to support their vision will develop a clearer understanding amongst staff and get them closer to being on the same page, making the achievement of these goals more realistic.
I think, when it comes down to it, organisation and planning are going to be key in redefining and re-establishing relevance (Digital Promise, 2016) of TLs in school as well as support from executive, with an outlook to integrate technology and collaborative teaching and planning.
In the end, I believe that TLs have no choice but to be a leader; no one is going to press initiatives, develop integrated planning, programs and design new spaces for us. If we don’t lead this change, then things will stay the same as they have always been.
Boyle, E., Collins, M., Kinsey, R., Noonan, C. & Pocock, A. (2016). Making the case for creative spaces in Australian libraries. The Australian Library Journal, 65(1), 30-40. https://primo.csu.edu.au/permalink/61CSU_INST/15aovd3/informaworld_s10_1080_00049670_2016_1125756
Digital Promise (2016). The new librarian: Leaders in the digital age. In SCIS Connections. https://www.scisdata.com/connections/issue-96/the-new-librarian-leaders-in-the-digital-age/
Hutchinson, E. (2017). Navigating the information landscape through collaboration. In SCIS Connections. https://www.scisdata.com/connections/issue-101/navigating-the-information-landscape-through-collaboration
I found the comparison of Managers and Leaders to be interesting, particularly when one is allocated the role while, the other ’emerges’. Of the four leadership theories MindTools (2016) presents, the following stood out to me.
Trait Theory
The concept of Trait Theory were interesting and I can see how many well known leaders possess similar traits, however, having a combination traits alone is not enough to be a successful leader (Mind Tools, 2016). For example, possessing assertiveness and good-decision making skills can be a positive, but, when lacking likeability and empathy, less people are likely to follow this person.
Behavioural Theories
I have known autocratic, democratic and laissez-faire leaders throughout my career and have struggled, most notably, with those who rarely check in on their staff due to laziness or preoccupation. Sadly, in my experiences, many staff either kick back and do the bare minimum under this kind of leadership or, on the other hand, take an aggressively outspoken route, trying to push their opinions and beliefs on others. This leads to discord amongst staff, miscommunications and frustration.
Notably, however, if a leader is micro-managing capable, highly skills, organised and motivated staff, it can be quite stifling and cause friction as well. I believe this type of leadership should only be employed after serious consideration of staff abilities and commitment to the project or role.
Additionally, I found Harris’s (2014) article on distributed leadership interesting. I believe I have experienced something striving toward this concept in my UK experience. All staff were required to be a part of a KLA committee that met once a fortnight. These meetings were run by a different staff member each time, using a minutes scaffold collated by the previous weeks’ chair. All staff were included in these committees (classroom teachers, librarians, support staff, specialist staff) and were invited to join the committee that interested them the most. These were then dubbed leadership teams for each KLA and they were asked to review, assess and reflect on their KLA as it was represented in schools. There was also opportunities for planning, training and team-teaching across KLA committees. This was a very enjoyable experience and though there were some complainers, as all staff were expected to be involved and to contribute, most approached the thirty minute meetings as an opportunity to engage with a select area of choice in a positive way.
Harris, A. (2014, September 29). Distributed leadership. Teacher Magazine, ACER. https://www.teachermagazine.com.au/article/distributed-leadership
MindTools. (2016). Core leadership theories. https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/leadership-theories.htm
Think about the school library. How does the library contribute to the success of the school? Consider the educational outcomes that the school is trying to provide according to the Australian Curriculum General Capabilities and Priority Areas. Add your thoughts to your notes and experiment with print or digital maps to try and put the library where you think it should be in the school structure (physical and hierarchical, i.e. communication and people).
My first step was to locate the most recent School Plan (2018-2020) and confirm that the three areas of strategic direction being targeted for the length of this plan is:
Under each of these, there have been target areas assigned for different members of the school. Below, I have considered how the library can impact on each of these areas and if it is currently contributing as much as possible towards the School Plan.
Learning: developing learning culture, wellbeing & curriculum
After a reorganisation of the library last term, introduction of new furniture and expectations, I feel that the students’ attitude towards coming to library has changed. I am seeing more enthusiasm and engagement. Additionally, the increased use of technology to share information and conduct lessons in the past few weeks has added to the development a positive learning culture and increased student wellbeing. Having been situated within the library since the start of the year, I have been able to integrate Science, STEM, information research and library skills with strong links to the NSW curriculum.
Teaching: effective classroom practice, data skills and use, professional standards & learning and developing
Since taking on the role of TL I have been required to develop behaviour management strategies specific to the library and including the use of devices and technology. This has entailed engaging with online resources, specialised study, discussion with my principal and trial and error to what works most effectively to manage student behaviour and increase work ethic in the library. With the development of cross-curricular units to be taught in the library, I have been required to refresh my understanding of certain professional standards and establish a clear and consistent collection of data to record and report student behaviours and engagement to CTs. Additionally, I have been included in ongoing professional learning and development contributing to whole school wellbeing and hosted PD days in my library space.
Leading: educational leadership, school planning and reporting, school resources & management practice and processes
This is the area in which I have just entered as I have been required to source new resources for students in the senior fiction section- our library has been overrun by mould! This was tricky as I had yet to establish specific selection criteria, other than to replace senior fiction genre physical texts that may interest the current and future cohorts in the school. AS a result, some of the texts I collected are more suitable for 7-9 aged students. On a positive, I intend to establish a Year 6 only section in my office for those extended readers using those advanced texts.
Currently, as the teacher resources have been left to fall into a complete and utter mess, I have not been able to stocktake them to determine what I have and what we need. They sit unloved in a room out the back, waiting for me to engage with them and discover what treasures have been hoarded over the years.
I am now learning about the need for management practices and processes to be implemented, in writing to pass on to future librarians. As I had no such documents, it has taken some time to settle into TL duties and get a handle on all that encompasses. It is a lot to come to grips with and this is likely the area I will be concentrating on most over the next twelve months.
Below is an example, using draw.io, thate xplains my current schools heirarchy as of present.
(Excuse the blurrrrrrr)
Currently, at my small school, in my role as TL (and only being there 2 days a week) I can often feel quite isolated from other staff as their communication system is somewhat lacking and everyone is so busy with the daily running of the school. Being a small school, everyone has multiple roles and not enough hours in the day.
Overall, I don’t think it is a terrible structure and, in a small school, it works well that everyone has additional duties, rather than dumping it on just one person. With some adjustments to communication habits, I feel like the TL could be included more equally in the everyday running of the school.
Kokemuller’s (2017) classification of a Professional organisation would probably best suit my school as some staff have been in place for more than twenty years and are struggling to update their working knowledge on curriculum and pedagogy. At the same time, other staff have different levels of knowledge and have previously been given autonomy over the teaching and learning in their classroom. As a result, some become defensive when questioned about their style, choices and documentation.
It is important that I recognise here, that my principal is working to change the structure of our organisation to become more of a hybrid of Entrepreneurial and Innovative styles. She regularly encourages staff to take on tasks that interest them and consider sharing, teaching and planning in new and different ways.
Jilliby Public School (n.d.). 2018-2020 School Plan. https://jilliby-p.schools.nsw.gov.au/about-our-school/school-planning-and-reporting.html
Kokemuller, N. (2017). Mintzberg’s five types of organizational structure. Hearst Newspapers: Small business. http://smallbusiness.chron.com/mintzbergs-five-types-organizational-structure-60119.html
Go to the CSU Library and explore the library site. How does this library change information sources to information resources? Note down 5 items in your notes.
Having searched up ‘draw.io’, the results provide numerous tips and hints as to whether or not each source will be a useful resource.
1)The search bar and detailed abilities (subject code, articles etc) allows easy access to grouped or selected information sources. This changes a collection of information into a collection related to your specific search terms and needs.
2)Source type: newspaper article, online article and so on. Allows you to determine if this type of resource is appropriate to use for your needs/task.
3) Reference information allows you to check up on its relevance and reliability. Also allows you to determine context of publishing, is it too old? This means it is an out-dated source of information.
4) Quote from text allows you to determine if the subject matter is relevant and if the writing style is appropriate for your needs/task.
5) Peer Reviewed icon- determines reliability and relevance depending on if it has or has not been used and reviewed by fellow academics.
Special section: The capitalist century. “In the Knowledge-based economy, workers will be valued for their ability to create, judge, imagine and build relationships.”
How does the content of Colvin’s article relate the school libraries? In point form, note down your thoughts on your blog.
Colvin (2000) points out that ‘humans…haven’t evolved significantly in 20,000 years’ and for a long time were using an outdated and irrelevant management model, as established by Taylor. The same could be said of libraries. For a long time, there was no forward movement within the sphere of school (and general) libraries. Despite the changes in technology, social opinion and lifestyles, libraries remained the place where books were shelved and librarians shushed people being too loud.
Colvin (2000) acknowledges that people ‘still very much need interaction, recognition, and relationships’ and that managers now need to concentrate on ‘what really attracts and motivates the best knowledge workers, the value of teams, organizing by projects, using infotech wisely, the flattening of hierarchies…’. This can seem contradictory, as he goes on to highlight the changing nature of workplaces in that people are capable of working from anwyhere at any time nowadays, and are not restricted to 9-5 office building jobs. However, good managers must continue to foster building relationships and business communities despite space and time complications.
Additionally, the suggestion that the removal of managers (and staff) who do not ‘live’ the company values is novel in that it demonstrates companies placing a higher value on operational cohesiveness, staff wellbeing and company morals, rather than money and numbers. This suggestion is in line with the increasing awareness of staff, suppliers and customers who are requiring ethical responsibility from the companies in which they engage with (McAvoy, 2016; Ebbers, 2017/2018)
In a similar way, Teacher Librarians (TLs) have always operated on a slightly different space-time level to Classroom Teachers (CTs). TLs would come at an assigned time of day to retrieve the students and take them to another space, the library. This could, and still often does, result in a disconnect from the CT cohort as, often, CTs have little idea of what it takes to run a library and what happens within that space during the hour or so that TLs have their students. Misconceptions about workload, job roles and student achievements abound when CTs consider the library space.
With the development of technology and the increased popularity of team-teaching, it is possible to integrate TLs and the library into whole-school environments with the right management. However, we cannot ‘we tinker around the edges’ (Colvin, 2000) with the redisgn of TL roles and library as a concept. We MUST think of something completely new, consider things we have not, previously.
One concept that has arisen is the removal of school libraries and the integration of skills building into CT roles. Although I don’t agree with this concept, this is the kind of radical change we need to consider- Why should TLs be relegated to one place in the school? Could there be another way to store physical copies? Can we open students awareness of digital resources further? Is it possible develop whole-school programming that integrates the use of the library in lessons other than RFF or library skills? Can teachers bring their classes to the library to teach a lesson? Can TLs and CTs team teach units in different spaces to encourage a transfer of knowledge and a development of awareness that learning does not only happen in one space?
There is not one good answer and, even when good ideas arrise, they will look different in different schools. Colvin (2000) explains that management should be considered an organism, rather than a machine, which means it can grow and adapt when necessary, rather than become stuck in the same old rotaiton of cogs and sprockets.
Colvin, G. (2000). Managing in the info era. Fortune, 141(5). http://archive.fortune.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2000/03/06/275231/index.htm?iid=sr-link1.
Ebbers, A. M. (2017/2018). Modelling the way. The Journal of Government Financial Management, (66)4, 4. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/docview/2279850707?accountid=10344
McAvoy, K. (2016, February 15). Ethical sourcing: Do consumers and companies really care? Spend Matters. https://spendmatters.com/2016/02/15/ethical-sourcing-do-consumers-and-companies-really-care/
Welcome back to all continuing students!
This semester I have taken on ETL503- Resourcing the Curirculum & ETL504- Teacher Librarian as Leader. Both of which have intense reading and group work components, but only 2 assessments each.
I am a little dubious about group work and what other elements the lecturers want from us, particularly as work is starting to pick up again but, onwards and upwards!
At time of posting, it is Week 2 in the new semester and I already feel a little overwhelmed- I have never done a case study before and have ahd to print it out to take it all in and make notes. Hopefully it is addressed 1 step at a time. Also, the first online meeting for one subject has already been bumped back so I feel like I haven’t even started on that one and I know from previous subjects that this course has a ton of readings associated.
Feeling dubious and nervous, but wish me luck!
Your evaluation of the use of social networking/media in the professional environment will demonstrate your understanding of the concepts studied this session. You should give a concise overview of the challenges and opportunities as well as the issues that may be encountered by an information professional working in this environment.
Technology has become a normalised part of society (Dijck, 2018) and although some reports suggest that SM growth seems to have plateaued in developed countries (Pouschter, Bishop & Chwe, 2018), there is no denying that SM platforms continue to impact day-to-day life. With the development of Web 2.0 and social media (SM) platforms, allowing for multi-way communication (Schwerdtfeger, 2013), professionals continue to network by sharing content, collaborating and creating a community. It is imperative that all information professionals, therefore, understand and are aware of a variety of SM platforms, uses, programs and practices, as well as the ethical, social, cultural and technical aspects of the SM environment. I will be evaluating the usefulness and challenges of Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, specifically, as Assessment 2 provided me the opportunity to utilise these in a professional sense.
The development of SM as a driving force behind commerce, communication and even education is predicted to continue to influence determination of organisation success in the future (Chen, 2019; Barnhart, 2020). Capitalising on the SM phenomenon, organisations have invested resources into developing successful SM marketing strategies and user-friendly applications, allowing for ease of user access (Adner & Kapoor, 2016) in an effort to develop connections with communities and improve audience awareness (Barnhart, 2020). By developing SM strategies and policies (Hebblewhite, 2017) and opening lines of immediate communication with their audiences (Chen, 2019) organisations have cultivated communities of ‘influencers’ who can share posts about their products and services (Influencer Marketing Hub, 2019).
The ongoing development of SM commerce has opened paths for new and developing job opportunities in fields that did not exist before, such as application developers, social influencers, social media managers (Nisar, Prabhakar & Strakova, 2019) and policy makers (Hibblewhite, 2017). Additionally, the development of analytical tools on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter have allowed organisations to collect information and track and manage performance improvements (Barnhart, 2020; Nisar et.al., 2019) and successfully connect and maintain relationships with audiences (Chen, 2019, King, 2015). Use of this tool can allow organisations to adjust their profiles to suit their branding, allowing for a cohesive ‘voice’ across all SM platforms and helping develop relationships with their targeted community (Bunker, 2017).
As the sheer amount of content posted each day continues to increase, particularly in relation to visual images on Instagram, concerns have arisen in areas such as intellectual policy and copyright licensing, resulting in the redevelopment of Creative Commons licensing to protect creators, companies and institutions online (CCA, 2013). Privacy and the disclosure of personal information has also been reviewed recently with an increased demand for notification of the use of ‘cookies’ on websites and a push to privatise the gathered information (Shankland, 2020), which is currently used to tailor advertising on most SM platforms. For example, Instagram has a disclosure policy identifying exactly what their cookies are and what they are used for. Organisations must be aware of the risks involved in not being complaint with both copyright and privacy regulations, as they are held to account by law (Big Commerce Essentials, n.d.) and ensure that all staff members are aware of procedures, limitations and policies in place to protect against accidental breach of law.
While SM has developed to easily disseminate information, the development of SM policies is vital to avoid posting incorrect information that could, potentially, lead to reputation damage, legal liability or even a loss in profits (Hebblewhite, 2017). There is an increasing awareness of ‘fake news’ in SM with academic studies invested in uncovering how to ‘undo’ fake news cognitively (De Keersmaecker & Roets, 2017) and libraries investigating how to educate their students on spotting false information (Holmes, 2018). With 28% of 18-24 year old’s using SM as their only source of news (Social Media College, 2018), it is important organisations create genuine and informed posts in order to develop trust in the community and positive relationships (King, 2015).
Although there are undoubtable risks involved in using social media for business, there is no question that it is a useful tool, coupled with inclusive, aware policy, that can help boost business sales, market awareness and act as a networking platform to connect with audience and community. With 17.9 billion people purchasing goods via e-commerce (We Are Social Ltd., 2019) last year, it is reasonable to suggest that SM, with its ongoing development of analytic tools, business accounts and tailored advertising, will play a key role in the continued growth of e-commerce in the future. As such, it is important that information professionals be aware of both the challenges and opportunities involved with SM platforms in order to best manage their organisations SM presence.
Your personal reflection will document your development as a social networker as a result of studying INF506, and the implications for your development as an information professional.
Critical reflection is recommended to assimilate new information and improve professional practice (Attard & Armour, 2006) and throughout INF506, I have had the opportunity to reflect on my understanding of social media (SM), networking and how these can be used in a professional sense. I have immerses myself in multiple SM platforms, theories and tools and have been able to link them to an educational context. On reflection, I would like to adapt my broad strokes definition of ‘social networking’ in Assessment 1 to:
‘Active engagement with Web 2.0 and social media platforms to form professional contacts, share information and develop resources.’
My expectations for this course included developing expertise in mainstream SM platforms and encountering new platforms, both of which were achieved throughout the learning modules, readings and assessments. I now know what other schools are using and which platforms work best for them as a result of discussions on the INF506 Facebook page and peer blogs on CSU Thinkspace. I have come to realise that not all SM platforms work for every organisation and trial and error is completely acceptable. Reflection on these discussions has helped begin my SM strategy planning for my school library.
I was confident in navigating Facebook and Instagram at the beginning of this course, however, I was completely unprepared for the detailed analytics involved with business accounts. Utilising Facebook for communication in the INF506 group and sharing resources was an excellent way to further familiarise myself with the platform and gather develop relationships with peers. I have learned that Facebook can be utilised for professional development, education and communication, which can then be documented to record staff and student progress. Additionally, the analytics allow monitoring of individuals access and contributions to the profile, which would be useful in determining student engagement and involvement.
I found it much easier to develop content on Instagram than any other platform as I am a highly visual person. I feel that targeting a visual audience will result in greater involvement, without relying on large amounts of text or links to follow. Instagram would be best used in an educational library environment to share new and notable books, highlight authors and promote library events to students and parents. Again, involvement with this profile could be tracked using their provided analytics.
I also developed a Twitter account for the same assessment but remain sceptical of its value in education as the statistics say most users are outside of my target demographic (We Are Social Ltd., 2019; Social Media College, 2018) and, although images and short clips can be uploaded, I did not like the layout or the fact that most posts required a link to other platforms for more information.
Developing the idea of a brand across multiple platforms throughout Assessment 2 allowed me to understand how successful SM organisations connect with audiences and develop communities (King, 2018; Bunker, 2017) that result in increased positive market exposure. The idea that each platform can present the same information in different ways was intriguing to me and I realised that, of the three platforms I had chosen to use, none were identical in their layout or purpose. All three reached different audiences who were interested in different forms of media. I was intrigued to learn that each post needed to be tailored to each specific platform to achieve maximum exposure and spent some time on discovering the best scaffold for each profile.
Finally, the most important thing I learned throughout INF506 was that the development of SM policy is vital in establishing any SM strategy. Hebblewhite (2017) discusses some of the areas of risk for organisations who do not establish policy early on, including staffing organisation, over-saturation and privacy and copyright regulations. It is clear that any omissions or accidental breaches of copyright or privacy legislation is taken very seriously, with further pushes to privatise ‘cookies’ that can tailor advertising experiences to the individual (Shankland, 2020). In an educational environment, privacy of information means the use of any SM platform must be considered carefully and policy must be developed to protect and monitor staff, students and the education organisation. It is not enough to understand privacy in a generic sense, staff in all organisations involved with SM must be aware of documents such as Creative Commons and what it means for their development of posts and interactions online.
INF506 was an eye-opening subject that has helped me to better understand social media and its uses. It is my responsibility, now, to pass this understanding, as it continues to develop, onto fellow staff members and continue my own journey to become an informed information professional.
Adner, R., & Kapoor, R. (2016). Right tech, wrong time. Harvard Business Review, 94(11), 60-67.
Attard, K. & Armour, K. (2006). Reflecting on reflection: a case study of one teacher’s early-career professional learning. Physical education and sport pedagogy, 11(3), 209-229 DOI: 10.1080/17408980600986264
Barnhart, B. (2020, January 06). The most important social media trends to know for 2020 [blog post]. Retrieved from https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-trends/
Big Commerce Essentials. (n.d.). What are online business laws? Available from https://www.bigcommerce.com.au/ecommerce-answers/what-are-online-business-laws/
Bunker, L. (2017). Picking a platform and finding a voice. In S. W. H. Young & D. Rossmann (Eds.), Using Social Media to Build Library Communities : A LITA Guide. Blue Ridge Summit, UNITED STATES: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
CCA- Creative Commons, Australia. (2013). About the licenses. Available from https://creativecommons.org.au/learn/licences/
Chen, J. (2019, January 18). 7 social media trends to watch in 2019 [blog post]. Available from https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-trends/
De keersmaecker, J., & Roets, A. (2017). ‘Fake news’: Incorrect, but hard to correct. The role of cognitive ability on the impact of false information on social impressions. Intelligence, 65(1), 107-110. doi: 10.1016/j.intell.2017.10.005
Di Gangi, P. M., Johnston, A. C., Worrell, J. L., & Thompson, S. C. (2018). What could possibly go wrong? A multi-panel Delphi study of organizational social media risk. Information Systems Frontiers, 20(5), 1097-1116. doi: 10.1007/s10796-016-9714-2
Hebblewhite, N. (2017). Implementing an effective social media policy. Governance Directions, 69(3), 167-169.
Influencer Marketing Hub (2019, February 01) What is an influencer? [blog post] Retrieved from https://influencermarketinghub.com/what-is-an-influencer/
Holmes, R. (2018, April 10). How libraries are reinventing themselves to fight fake news. [blog post] Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanholmes/2018/04/10/how-libraries-are-reinventing-themselves-to-fight-fake-news/#751cbde8fd16
King, D. L. (2015). Analytics, goals, and strategy for social media. Library Technology Reports, 51(1), 26-32.
King, D.L. (2018). Innovation & Education: Central role of libraries in our digital communities. Retrieved from https://www.davidleeking.com/innovation-education-central-role-of-libraries-in-our-digital-communities-cildc/
Nisar, T. M., Prabhakar, G., & Strakova, L. (2019). Social media information benefits, knowledge management and smart organizations. Journal of Business Research, 94, 264-272. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2018.05.005
Poushter, J., Bishop, C. & Chwe, H. (2018, June 19). Social media use continues to rise in developing countries but plateaus across developed ones. Pew Research Center. Available from https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2018/06/19/social-media-use-continues-to-rise-in-developing-countries-but-plateaus-across-developed-ones/
Schwerdtfeger, P. (2013, March 17). What is Web 2.0? What is social media? What comes next? Available from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iStkxcK6_vY&feature=youtu.be
Shankland, S. (2020, January 14). Google Chrome’s privacy changes will hit the web later this year. CNET. Retrieved from https://www.cnet.com/news/google-chromes-privacy-changes-will-hit-the-web-later-this-year/
Social Media College. (2018, May 30). Social media revolution, 2018. Available from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qpcdywb6Hw&feature=emb_title
Van Dijck, J. (2018). Introduction. In J. Van Dijck (Ed.), The Platform Society. Retrieved from Oxford Scolarship Online.
We Are Social Ltd. (2019) Digital in 2019 Australia. Available from https://wearesocial.com/au/digital-2019-australia?mc_cid=2627112634&mc_eid=632bbf90f7
‘You own a small bookshop. You would like to attract more interest from the local community. Design and develop a social networking community that would allow you to do this.’
Biv’s Bookstore is a small, locally owned store that has been in the community for over 25 years. The store has previously had no social media (SM) presence of its own and is hoping to use its SM launch to advertise its 25 year grand re-opening.
To use SM to attract more interest from and develop better connectivity with the local community to develop more interest in the store and improve sales.
To determine the stakeholders (Barbara, 2017), the PESTLE tool was chosen (Stakeholder analysis and management, n.d.) (Appendices 1.1). Three major stakeholders were identified; staff, patrons and the wider community (Appendices 1.2). While staff and patrons are the immediate stakeholders in terms of business and profit, the wider community, including neighbouring shops, council, community groups and local residents are vital stakeholders to be considered in this strategy proposal in that they provide an opportunity for further interest in the store. These parties could potentially become Blockers or Opponents if not addressed appropriately, or even Followers or Advocates depending on the success of the SM strategy (Stakeholder analysis and management, n.d.).
Each stakeholder requires different considerations for this strategy to succeed but the major factors will be communication and transparency (Chen, 2019).
It is important that store staff feel a sense of excitement or ownership over a new initiative to ensure engagement and increase chances of success (Half, n.d.). By developing a project management team, staff are given the chance to invest in the projects success as well as demonstrate and receive credit for skills previously unidentified eg photography, social media expertise etc.
For those staff not directly involved with the project, regular communication meetings will be held to share progress and expectations of store staff in promoting SM platforms (see below timeline).
Current customers will need to be made aware of the developing community and its benefits. As the large majority of current clients are elderly, staff will need to support the use of SM platforms and even devices in-store and online. While this will initially be part of all staff roles, it would be useful to have a tech-support role assigned to someone in the project team. Awareness of the new community can be promoted by word-of-mouth and by hand-outs or business cards displaying SM platform icons, usernames, hashtags and HQ code for easy access (Cole, 2016).
Target clientele (parents of young children & teen audiences)
The targeted new clientele needs to be made aware of the new community across all SM platforms. Again, use of word-of-mouth and hand-out/card strategies will work for the immediate community. Online, it will be useful to follow similar accounts (Civitello, 2018), including libraries and community groups to place Biv’s Books in viewable range of potential customers. Awareness can also be raised by following authors, illustrators and publishers whose books are stocked in Biv’s Books. Finally, by featuring books on each platform targeted for the chosen audience, using hashtags to attract attention and offering staff and client reviews of different books should increase engagement of targeted audiences.
Developing the awareness of community groups can be established by liking or following their pages online and by also speaking with organisers face-to-face and leaving business cards or hand-outs. By co-organising or supporting community events physically and online via SM platforms, community engagement should increase as many SM viewers prefer to interact with socially minded companies (Smith, 2012; Joo, Choi & Bayek, 2018). Attending community meetings and offering the use of a community space can also increase community group awareness and connections with the store.
These platforms were chosen as they are some of the most commonly used SM platforms (Williams, 2018), easily accessible and easy to use (Adner & Kapoor, 2016). While Youtube is one of the highest used SM platforms in America today (Pew Research Centre, 2019), it was not a practical choice for the business. Instead, Facebook proved to be a consistently high contender, Instagrams’ popularity has grown over the past few years (Alfonzo, 2019) and while Twitter is more widely used by academic and professional demographics (Pew Research Centre, 2018, Statista, 2019).
To ensure increased connectivity, all three platforms have been linked together on each page so readers can access, follow and enjoy each page more easily. The same photographic logo was used across the platforms as can clearly be seen in Appendices 3.1-3.3, as was the development of similar hashtags and usernames to ensure easy recognition of the brand despite varying tones (Civitello, 2018).
According to Pew Research Centre (2018), Instagram is used most commonly by 51% of people aged between 18-29 and 39% of people in high school and below to gather news and information, making it second only to Snapchat as a trusted SM platform. It is for this reason that this program is targeting teenagers and young adults to increase their interaction with the store and SM. The content will be targeted at this younger audience through posting popular teen and young adult texts with eye-catching, attractive cover designs to capitalise on the high-visual appeal of this platform.
Facebook attracts more users between the ages of 30-49 (Pew Research Centre, 2018), a demographic that is likely to already have children (Australian Institute of Families, n.d.) and so this platform has been targeted towards parents with young children. By featuring attractive children’s books with bright colours and staff reviews, offering targeted specials in this genre and connecting with community groups who specifically support various types of family units, I hope to increase the awareness and engagement of this demographic.
Twitter attracts a similar demographic to Facebook, with 42% of 30-49 year old users accessing it for news and information, but a further 35% of college students and 41% of people with advanced college degrees rely on it as a trusted information source (Pew Research Centre, 2018). As such, and assuming that this demographic is made up of academics and professionals, the targeted audience is professional adults with an interest in reading for pleasure.
While Smith (2012) suggests that Millennials prefer advertising via email, the above three platforms were chosen over email communication because they are three of largest SM platforms in the world at this point in time, meaning they are three of the most accessed applications on smart devices, allowing for immediate and easy usage. Additionally, each possesses the capability for viewers to contact the page managers directly with comments, questions or complaints without the need for email accounts or additional windows (Ogechi, n.d.).
Butow, et. Al. (2018) point out that although the above platforms are becoming more and more popular, there is a risk of oversaturation and content being lost amongst the masses. It is therefore, necessary to develop a comprehensive SM plan to ensure the success and individuality of the pages, as demonstrated below.
Cullins, Jarvey and Gardner (2018) discuss the dangers of image licensing online and that incorrectly credited or used images can result in enormous fines or account closure. As an immediate necessity, I would investigate Creative Commons and the related legislation in order to protect the store and the SM platforms (Appendices 4).
| First (1 month) | Soon (2-3 months) |
| · Project summary:
§ Identify aim § Identify stakeholders- stakeholder analysis § Determine project leader/s and support staff § Investigate publishing permissions and processes · Research book shops on various platforms and compare what works and what doesn’t · Develop holding statements to use across all platforms eg Closed due to… · Review platform analytics at end of month · Develop written timeline for SM development · Determine tone, theme and content for EACH platform · Determine linking element for branding across platforms; logo/colouring/layout/hashtag? · Create a content calendar-new release dates, sale dates or promotions/events · Experiment with content during this time to determine style/s receiving most activity |
· Review analytic data from each platform at the end of each month
· Review and add to written timeline for SM development · Begin to develop detailed content strategy with aim in mind- new-look store, relaunch and 25 year anniversary content · Add to content calendar · Connect with community groups on SM to discuss partnership events- invite to 25 year relaunch |
| Later (6-9 months) | Eventually (10-12 months and onwards) |
| · Continue to review analytic data at the end of each month and record any high-achieving posts
· Adapt content strategy depending on audience response · Review SM timeline and add/adapt depending on achievements/setbacks · Invite the community to offer suggestions on new stock/interested topics/who they would like to see more of in the store · Invite community members and staff to contribute book reviews and stories about the 25 years prior (memories). |
· Approach local authors to offer reading space for promotions- livestream portions or collect questions from the public for author to answer
· Encourage staff to provide reviews on books within the store-livestream/photos/tweets |
Butow, Herman and Walker (2018) provide a detailed explanation on how to establish Instagram as a driving force behind business. By applying these concepts to SM as a whole, I aim to establish a professional, accessible and attractive SM presence across multiple platforms.
In an effort to keep the platform content simple and consistent, I chose to post the same content across all platforms to begin with. This was done by manually posting on Twitter then setting up the same post on my phone for Instagram, which also linked to the BivsBooks Facebook account. By posting to Facebook and Instagram at the same time, I was able to reduce the time spent on developing and sharing content. I did not like the Share option for Twitter on the other platforms as it is only sharing a link and does not include images or videos.
The ‘Business’ style profile of Facebook was chosen to separate the page from the ‘Standard’ pages used as personal pages. Additionally, it allows for readers to view and contribute reviews, events and community connections in clearly defined sections of the page, rather than trying to crowd them all together.
For inspiration on content, I researched similar accounts across all three platforms and collected data on the types of posts each account used, their varying sizes and analysed the more successful methods of communication, e.g. posts with images versus posts with links (Appendices 2). I was able to determine which methods already in use would be suitable for experimentation on the chosen platforms (see commentary in red, Appendices 2). I also researched academic articles on social media marketing and found that posts with images and invitations to respond to posts increases the interaction rate of a page while posts with a higher number of hashtags were accessed more often (Lies & Fuss, 2019). As a result, I adjusted the content on the platforms to reflect their target audiences, e.g. Facebook is targeting parents of young children (Appendices 3.1b) while Instagram directly targets a teen audience (Appendices 3.3a).
By tying the SM launch with the 25 year relaunch and redesign of the store, there rises opportunity for complete rebranding, which is something that can be utilised across all platforms, including SM. By ensuring a consistent flow of information across all platforms, the store provides viewers with a familiar, recognisable brand, no matter the context (Civitello, 2018) and personalised content at targeted audiences should increase the interact of those audiences with the corresponding platforms (Smith, 2012). Additionally, by linking the rebranding with the grand opening, the business is provided with an interest piece or event to gain further interest from the local community (Appendices 3.1a & 3.2a).
Studies have found that sharing or posting about community events (Joo, Choi & Bayek, 2018), posting positive emotional messages on social media (Lies & Fuss, 2019) and purchases that support or help others (Smith, 2012) elicit the most engagement from users. As part of the content calendar, I intend to schedule regular uplifting images or messages and announcements about community involved events (Appendices 3.1b). This also provides an opportunity for further connections to develop between the store and targeted local community groups.
Civitello (2018) suggests examining and specifically determining who you ‘follow’ on SM as this can influence your audiences likelihood of following similar or the same groups, and vice-cersa for audiences of other accounts. Appendices 3.1c and 3.3b demonstrate the types of accounts Bivs_Books has followed in an effort to create links with the online community. Appendices 3.1b demonstrates two posts that make contact with the community in different ways; the first offers a discount in-store in return for SM likes, follows and attention, the second brings to the attention of the audience an issue in the community and an avenue for donation, from which the page does not profit at all, except for in gaining traffic.
Creating a Professional Facebook page was quite simple, as I could do it directly from my personal profile. Unfortunately, Instagram proved to be more difficult. I was required to create a new Instagram account, after much searching, then convert it to a Professional Account and attach it to my Instagram App as a secondary account. Additionally, Instagram offers to connect the new Professional Account to Facebook but each time I tried this, when I went to Facebook, the attached page appeared as an error. After much perseverance, I was able to link the two.
Like Instagram, I was required to create a new account on Twitter and then link it to my original account. The difficulty here is that I also had to create a new email account as mine was already linked with an account and cannot hold more than one account. One way around that is to enter your mobile number, so long as it is not already linked to your personal account. Also, I investigated becoming ‘verified’ on Twitter as it seems that most genuine businesses have the little blue badge, however, a notice on Twitters Help pages says they are no longer accepting any new applications, I suspect due to an overwhelming number of current applications.
In trying to create a branding across all platforms, I had difficulty in lining up the Usernames across platforms as ‘BivsBooks’ was taken on Twitter and ‘Bivs_Books’ was disallowed on Facebook due to the underscore. As such, I settled on ‘Bivs_Books’ for Twitter and Instagram while the Facebook page is recognised as ‘BivsBooks’.
As seen in the Timeline, there are multiple opportunities for evaluation of SM platforms and content strategies via analytic analysis to support and enrich the business (Half, n.d.). Utilising the analytical tools on each platform, regular assessment by owner, project leader/s and project team will determine the success rate of each platform in a) increasing community group engagement and involvement and b) how well it has engaged with its targeted audience, e.g. the number of followers attracted in certain demographics. Eventually, SM platforms will also be assessed as a whole in how they are impacting sales and foot traffic.
Adner, R. & Kapoor, R. (2016) Right tech, wrong time. Harvard Business Review, 94(11), 60-67. Retrieved from: http://ezproxy.csu.edu.au/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=118866680&site=ehost-live
Alfonzo, P. (2019) Chapter 4. Instagram in the library. Library Technology Reports, 55(2), 33-44. Retrieved from: https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/docview/2186951579?accountid=10344
Barbara, A. (2017) Getting started. In The no-nonsense guide to project management. 49-70. Fecat. dio: 10.29085/9781783302055.003
Butow, E., Herman, J. & Walker, C. (2018) Instagram for business for dummies. Retrieved from: https://learning.oreilly.com/library/view/instagram-for-business/9781119439813/03_9781119439813-intro.xhtml
Chen, J. (2019) 7 social media trends to watch in 2019 [blog post]. Retrieved from https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-trends/
Civitello, A. (2018) Seven steps to smarter social. Public Libraries, 57(3), 11-12. Retrieved from: http://ezproxy.csu.edu.au/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lih&AN=130352885&site=ehost-live
Cole, L. (2016) Bibliotech as the re-imagined public library: Where will it find you? Paper presented at: IFLAWLIC2016-Columbus,OH, Connections. Collaboration. Community. in Session 213- Metropolitan Libraries.
Cullins, A., Jarvey, N. & Gardner, C. (2018) Who owns that Instagram pic? Hollywood Reporter, 424(6), 42-42 Retrieved from: http://ezproxy.csu.edu.au/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=127898883&site=ehost-live
Half, R. (n.d.) Employee engagement strategies. Retrieved from: https://www.roberthalf.com.au/management-advice/team/employee-engagement
Joo, S., Choi, N. & Baek, T. H. (2018) Library marketing via social media: the relationships between Facebook content and user engagement in public libraries. Online Information Review. Retrieved from: https://www-emerald-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/insight/content/doi/10.1108/OIR-10-2017-0288/full/html
Lies, J. & Fuss, S. (2019) Factors influencing the success of social media posts: A quantative analysis of over 60 million Facebook posts. Journal of digital and social media marketing, 7(2), 137-147. Retrieved from: https://www-ingentaconnect-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/content/hsp/jdsmm/2019/00000007/00000002/art00006
Ogechi, A. (n.d.) Contemporary issues in social media marketing. Social Media Marketing. Retrieved from: https://www-taylorfrancis-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/books/e/9781315563312/chapters/10.4324/9781315563312-21
Pew research centre (2019). Social media fact sheet. Retrieved from: https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/social-media/
Smith, K. T. (2012) Longitudinal study of digital marketing strategies targeting Millennials. Journal of consumer marketing, 29(2). Retrieved from: https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/07363761211206339/full/html
Stakeholder analysis and management. (n.d.). Stakeholder analysis toolkit. Retrieved from: https://www2.mmu.ac.uk/media/mmuacuk/content/documents/bit/Stakeholder-analysis-toolkit-v3.pdf
Statista. (2019) Global social networks ranked by number of users 2019. Retrieved from https://www.statista.com.statistics/272014/global-social-networks-ranked-by-numbers-of-users/
Williams, M. L. (2018) The adoption of Web 2.0 technologies in academic libraries: A comparative exploration. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science. https://doi-org.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/10.1177/0961000618788725
OLJ Task 18: Thoughts for the future
Choose one of the resources above and write a 400 word analysis that addresses the following issues:
What is the potential for the future of an organisation you are familiar with?
What impact might the future have on us as information professionals?
Article: Innovation and education: Central role of libraries in our digital communities. D.L. King (2018).
King (2018) noted that Centennials, a population that has never been without the internet, are beginning to enter the workforce while, behind them, a new generation are entering schools with an even more ingrained knowledge of technology and the internet. King (2018) also notes that as part of the ‘4th industrial revolution’ the development of handheld devices and compatible software is on the rise and implies that these are a foundation step towards something more in technology, with 85% of jobs in 2030 having not been invented yet. As such, education must adapt in order to prepare students to become informed global citizens (Foley, 2017) for a future that is as yet undetermined (O’Connell, 2013).
Potential:
Impact on information professionals in education:
Christensen, L., Shyyan, V. & Johnstone, C. (2014). Universal design considerations for technology-based, large-scale, next-generation assessments. Perspectives on language and literacy, 40(1), 23-31. Retrieved from https://primo.csu.edu.au/permalink/61CSU_INST/cbhpm/proquest1514905016
Cook, H. (2018) School library shelf life under threat in cyber era. The Age, Melbourne. Available from https://www.theage.com.au/
Combes, B. (2019). Information- change and issues: Barbara Combes. ETL401-Introduction to teacher librarianship- 201960. Retrieved from https://interact2.csu.edu.au/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_42381_1&content_id=_2899453_1
Craver, K. W. (2002) Creating cyber libraries: an instructional guide for school library media specialists. Available from https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/00330330310500775/full/html
Foley, R. (2017) Spread of fake news prompts literacy efforts in schools. St Louis Post- Dispatch. Available at https://www.pbs.org/newshour/education/spread-of-fake-news-prompts-literacy-efforts-in-schools
King, D.L. (2018). Innovation & Education: Central role of libraries in our digital communities. Retrieved from https://www.davidleeking.com/innovation-education-central-role-of-libraries-in-our-digital-communities-cildc/
Lee, M. (2013). Digital normalisation, school evolution and BYOT positioning in the school library. Retrieved from https://www.asla.org.au/resources/Documents/Website%20Documents/ACCESS/Access-Commentaries/access-27-4-commentary.pdf
NESA- NSW Government Educations Standards Authority. (n.d.). Digital technologies and ICT resources. Retrieved from https://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/k-10/learning-areas/technologies/coding-across-the-curriculum
O’Connell, J. (2013) RDA for school libraries: the next generation of cataloguing. ACCESS. Available from https://www.asla.org.au/resources/Documents/Website%20Documents/ACCESS/Access-Commentaries/access-27-3-commentary.pdf
Plotinsky, M. (Oct 10, 2019). Creating a classroom culture of shared ownership. Edutopia. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/article/creating-classroom-culture-shared-ownership
Social Media College. (n.d.) The social media revolution. https://youtu.be/1qpcdywb6Hw
OLJ Task 13: Information trends
Watch the video and identify five (5) examples of ‘shifts’ or trends that can have an impact on how individuals behave as a digital citizens. Then outline (in around 400 words) how you believe these behaviours can impact on the need for, and development of, information policy in organisations to address these behaviours. You may wish to explore these from either a user/customer perspective or employee/employer perspective, or a combination of both, and you may wish to consider this task within the specific context of your own library and/or organisation, or you can address this task in general terms.
1) 28% of 18-24s use social media as their main source of news
2) 54% of Facebook users only use their mobile to access the platform
3) 88% of Facebook ad revenue and 86% of Twitter ad revenue comes from mobile ads
4) 95 million photos and videos are posted on Instagram every day
5) 3 billion snaps are sent out each day
How can these behaviours impact on the need for, and development of, information policy in organisations to address these behaviours?
Di Gangi, Johnston, Worrell & Thompson (2018) discuss what can go wrong in social media and, from the above list, two things that stand out to me are the risk of over-sharing on social media in an effort to compete with the enormous amounts of content being produced each day and unreliable user-generated content.
As the sheer amount of content posted each day continues to increase, it is important that organisations do not become obsessed with producing meaningless posts to ‘keep up’ with others. Instead, it is important that social media is making positive, lasting impacts on the community and contributing to goals and targets as part of the social media strategy (King, 2015). Developing policy on the type of content and the brand of the organisation is vital to developing a cohesive social media strategy (Rathore, 2017).
Di Gangi, et.al. (2018) warn against the risk of decreased productivity of staff due to preoccupation with social media platforms in the name of work. To prevent this, information policy should include guidelines as to how long and how many posts should be published over a time period and who should be involved to ensure continued staff efficiency in other areas and reduce staff distraction. Additionally, specifying who is involved (manager, committee members etc.) allows for monitoring of post content to ensure that the organisation and brand is being represented in the best light (Di Gangi, et. al., 2018; Rathore, 2017).
With such a high percentage of 18-24s utilising social media as their main source of news there is a risk that unmonitored posts may contain incorrect information, which is then distributed and circulated as fact. This could lead to reputation damage for various parties and infringement of copyright and other laws (Di Gangi, et.al., 2018; Meese & Hagedorn, 2019). As such, the development of factual accuracy in information policies is essential to preventing the spreading of misinformation. For example, implementing fact checking and publishing procedures prior to posting can prevent miswritten facts and avoid implying offence.
Knowing that such a large percentage of revenue is driven by mobile phone usage and advertisement, and that a large number of social media users only use their mobiles to access different platforms, content must be developed to be suitable, specifically, for mobile devices (Rathore, 2017; Adner & Kapoor, 2016). It should be considered on an individual basis, whether or not organisations require paid social media advertising. Bunker (2017), explains in her case study that the ‘Seed Library’ did not utilise paid advertising, but instead relied upon existing and developing networking connections across social media and in the local community with successful outcomes.
Adner, R., & Kapoor, R. (2016). Right tech, wrong time. Harvard Business Review, 94(11), 60-67.
Bunker, L. (2017). Picking a platform and finding a voice. In S. W. H. Young & D. Rossmann (Eds.), Using Social Media to Build Library Communities : A LITA Guide. Blue Ridge Summit, UNITED STATES: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
Di Gangi, P. M., Johnston, A. C., Worrell, J. L., & Thompson, S. C. (2018). What could possibly go wrong? A multi-panel Delphi study of organizational social media risk. Information Systems Frontiers, 20(5), 1097-1116. doi: 10.1007/s10796-016-9714-2
King, D. L. (2015). Analytics, goals, and strategy for social media. Library Technology Reports, 51(1), 26-32.
Meese, J., & Hagedorn, J. (2019). Mundane content on social media: Creation, circulation, and the copyright problem. Social Media + Society, 5(2). doi:10.1177/2056305119839190
Rathore, S. (2017, August 22). 7 Key steps in creating an effective social media marketing strategy. [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://www.socialmediatoday.com/social-business/7-key-steps-creating-effective-social-media-marketing-strategy