Jones, M.J. and Harvey, M. (2019) Library 2.0: the effectiveness of social media as a marketing tool for libraries in educational institutions. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 51 (1). pp. 3-19. ISSN 0961-0006
Abstract
In an attempt to market their services and connect with potential users, and particularly young people, many libraries are opening accounts on social media platforms. Research suggests a contradiction between the advice relating to marketing and that regarding the use of social media in libraries, with the former emphasising the importance of the user at the centre of all considerations and the latter placing library staff as central to decisions. In this work we attempt to re-address this imbalance by surveying the current state of library activity on Twitter and, by means of questionnaires, investigate the experiences and motivations of librarians (n=58) in using social media and whether students (n=498) are willing to engage with the library in this manner and why. Our findings confirm that libraries in the sector are indeed struggling to foster interest in their social media activities and go some way to understanding why this is so, leading to a number of conclusions and recommendations for practitioners.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2020 The Author(s). This is an author-produced version of a paper subsequently published in Journal of Librarianship and Information Science. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. Article available under the terms of the CC-BY-NC-ND licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). |
Keywords: | Library 2.0; marketing; social media |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Information School (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 22 Oct 2020 15:15 |
Last Modified: | 22 Apr 2021 16:08 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | SAGE Publications |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1177/0961000616668959 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:167079 |