Part A

Social networking and social media play a very important role for Information Professionals, “as a modern librarian’s task is to be able to use and distribute information in many formats other than print, he or she must be able to use all media, including digital media and social media” (Vanwynsberghe, Vanderlinde, Georges, & Verdegem, 2015, p. 284).  It is therefore important that information professionals have strong understandings of Web 2.0 and the skills needed to use it effectively as well as have an understanding of their organisations’ policies in order to ensure it is being used appropriately.

A range of skills are vital for an information professional to do their job effectively, especially in a Web 2.0 world.  Firstly, their ability to understand how social media works and its benefits are extremely important.  This not only allows them to interact with their clients/students but it also allows them to market their library effectively, as social media platforms provide libraries the opportunity to develop further relationships with those in the community through making their library more noticeable through showing what is available (Singh, 2014, p. 106).  Web 2.0 has changed the way people use the internet as content was once presented to its users and it was simply one way.  It now enables a range of communication benefits such as wikis, blogs, email, social media and video conferencing (Small, 2016, pp. 77-78).  Web 2.0 has provided opportunities for libraries to connect with their patrons via social media sites which not only provides information but also a communication pathway.

Arizona State University Library is connected to many social media platforms in order to inform patrons and stay connected with them.  Social media is an ideal way to connect with clients as, “social media has become ubiquitous in the daily and personal lives of students and teachers alike” (Cuevas & Kohle, 2015, p. 15).  The Arizona State University Library has Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts to name just a few which provides information and allows for feedback and questions.  Arizona State University Library has short, humorous and captivating ways of disseminating information through what they call The Library Minute videos.  This university displays excellent use of social media to connect with patrons before they have even entered the library door.  Social media now provides anyone with a smart phone, tablet or computer the opportunity to be presented with information, seek information and communicate with others.

In conjunction with this, any organisation using social media, needs to have information policies in order to ensure social media and the internet is being used correctly in the work place.  In relation to the academic field, “it is imperative for students to know and understand the social media policies at their college or university; likewise, it is crucial for higher education institutions to examine what their students know about their policies and to educate students on appropriate social media use” (O’Connor, Schmidt, & Drouin, 2016, p. 619).  It is important that all people using social media and the internet which includes staff and students understand what is and is not acceptable in that environment.  Social media and the use of the internet is now a part of life for the majority of people in a personal and business sense and the benefits are endless, as “social media empowers individuals and communities to communicate and disseminate information cheaply and instantly on the web, with a potentially global reach” (Arnaboldi & Coget, 2016, p.48).  The more up to date and relevant organisations are to ensure its positive use, the more beneficial it will continue to be.

Information professionals also need to be extremely flexible and willing to learn new skills as the industry is constantly changing and “information organizations face significant challenges such as technological development, collection and space management, competition with the proliferation of information sources found on the internet, publishing industry changes, and increasing budget pressures (Yi, 2015, p. 19).”  Information managers need to be knowledgeable about the latest technologies in order to assist their patrons/students in an effective way so that people have an understanding of how to use their databases and website as well as being able to communicate with them through social media and The Arizona State University Library is an excellent example of this.

In summary, it is evident how beneficial social networking and Web 2.0 are for information professionals.  This is why it is vital that information professionals continue to stay updated and relevant with their skills in order to use social networking to benefit their libraries and those in their community.

Part B

This subject was quite ‘eye opening’ for me as I always felt I had a strong understanding of what social media and social networking was, however I discovered that my understanding of these platforms were on a basic level and there was much more to strengthen them than I had realised.  I am currently on maternity leave so I have not had the opportunity to apply the knowledge I have gained from this subject however I do have an assortment of ideas which I know I can implement once back in the workplace.  The three main platforms I have focussed on are Facebook, Twitter and blogs.

Facebook is a social networking platform I now feel much more positive about since studying this subject.  I initially used it in a basic way to stay in contact with friends, however, I can now see how effective it can be in the library environment for students and colleagues and communicating in a closed group, as done throughout this subject.  One study even states, “It has been proven that use of Facebook in education has positive effects on the knowledge of students” (Lambic, 2016, p. 319).  The benefits of such closed groups is the sharing of information, ensuring that everyone has the same understandings, asking questions and responding to questions from others and making others feel part of something important and less isolated when working towards a goal as a group.  An example of this being used in an academic environment is setting up a page related to a particular topic all students are studying such as ‘Children’s Literature,’ and promoting a range of reading which students can also add to, sections for discussion of assignment topics and sections with videos related to the subject.

Since beginning this course and delving into Facebook further, I have also discovered the ability to ‘follow’ organisations to assist with my understandings and interest in general such as the New York Public Library, Australian School Library Association and the National Library of Australia.  Following organisations such as Scienceworks or the National Gallery of Victoria could be of great benefit for staff and students in order to assist with research tasks and gaining a stronger understanding of the related topic.

Twitter is a platform I had not used before beginning this subject, however I found it to be an extremely useful tool that can be used in the workplace.  The brevity of Twitter is what engaged me and made me think that the succinct nature grabs one’s attention and one study suggested “the 140 characters limit prevented long-winded comments and encouraged concise expression” (Tang & Hew, 2017, p. 110).  I immediately thought this would be a great tool to use with students and parents as it enables the opportunity to disseminate information in a variety of mediums quickly which can also be retweeted to gain the attention of even more people.  For example, a tweet could be put out by the librarian discussing the focus for the week with students staying safe while on the internet including a quick video clip, the more a tweet like this is retweeted the more people are hopefully going to see it and have a better understanding of what the library is trying to achieve.

When beginning this subject, I thought it was a great opportunity to learn more about blogging and how that works in a Web 2.0 world. Through our online learning journal task, I really thought this would be an exciting platform for staff and students in schools as it is such an easy way to disseminate information in an attractive way as “using tools such as videos, wikis, blogs, and social media can transform learning and capture the interest of students” (Budhai & Taddei, 2015, p. 18).  There are a range of opportunities to apply this in schools for someone who is coordinating a unit of study, an example being, ‘Studies of Asia.’  On this page there could be links to online resources, physical resources, ideas for classroom activities, videos, excursion and incursion ideas.  Staff can also respond to this information and give feedback or ask questions.  After completing the social networking project, it became evident that it is extremely important to ensure there is marketing and advertising related to this before beginning so that more people are excited about it and therefore become involved.

I always felt that social media and social networking were more closely related to dissemination of information rather than exchange of dialogue.  I have since discovered that when there is this exchange it makes the platform much richer and more interesting.  There are many exciting social networking platforms out there for information professionals to implement in their workplace for colleagues and students but the key is to find the right platform/s for that particular group.

References

Arnaboldi, M. & Coget, J.F. (2016). Social media and business: We’ve been asking the wrong question. Organizational Dynamics, 45(1), 47-54.

doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orgdyn.2015.12.006

Budhai, S.S. & Taddei, L.M. (2015).  Teaching the 4cs with technology: How do I use 21^st century tools to teach 21^st century skills.  Retrieved from http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/ehost/ebookviewer/ebook/bmxlYmtfXzEwOTIzNDFfX0FO0?sid=978a7c38-91a0-49f8-97f8-b0600bde07ca@sessionmgr4008&vid=0&format=EB&rid=1

Cuevas, A. & Kohle, F. (2015). Social media: Changing the way we teach and changing the way we learn.  In J.P. Sahlin (Ed.) Social media and the transformation of interaction in society (pp. 15-23).  Retrieved from IGI Global infosci books.

Lambic, D. (2016). Correlation between Facebook use for educational purposes and academic performance of students.  Computers in human behavior, 61, 313-320.

doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.03.052

O’Connor, K.W., Schmidt, G.B., & Drouin, M. (2016). Suspended because of social media? Students’ knowledge and opinions of university social media policies and practices. Computers in human behavior, 65, 619-626.

doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.06.001

Singh, R. (2011). How tangible is your library in the digital environment?  Implications of social media marketing in reinventing communities library experiences.  In D. Gupta & R. Savard (Eds.), Marketing libraries in a web 2.0 world (pp. 97-108). Retrieved from ProQuest Ebook Central.

Small, R.V. (2016). Creating a collaborative culture in a digital learning environment. In M.A. Mardis (Ed.), Librarians and educators collaborating for success: the international perspective (pp. 69-81).  Retrieved from ProQuest Ebook Central.

Tang, Y. & Hew, K.F. (2017). Using Twitter for education: Beneficial or simply a waste of time? Computers and Education, 106, 97-118.

doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2016.12.004

Vanwynsberghe, H., Vanderlinde, R., Georges, A., & Verdegem, P. (2015). The librarian 2.0: Identifying a typology of librarians’ social media literacy. Journal of librarianship and information science, 47(4), 283-293.

doi: 10.1177/0961000613520027

Yi, Z. (2015).  The factors influencing American academic library directors’ approaches to setting goals for change in the information age. Chinese Librarianship: an international electronic journal, 39, 19-29.  Retrieved from http://www.iclc.us/cliej/cl39yi.pdf