Are You On Facebook?
A comprehensive guide
By Kerry Bruce
LIS 5313 – Web 2.0 Article
Media Component

Social Networking for Libraries
 You have to be where
your patrons are!
 Social Network sites
combine the abilities
to:
 Create profiles;
 Acquire friends (your
network); and
 Explore the
connections between
you and other people

Sites to take note of…
 MySpace –  Flickr – www.flickr.com
www.myspace.com  To share images and
 The largest of the online video
social networks, with  Twitter – www.twitter.com
more than 100 million
users  A microblog, answering
the question: “what are
 Facebook – you doing?”
www.facebook.com  LiveJournal –
 The fastest growing, and www.livejournal.com
most associated with
colleges & universities  A journaling/blogging tool
where you can share your
 LinkedIn – thoughts with your friends
www.linkedin.com or the world
 For business networking

Facebook – a history
 Founded by Harvard
student Mark Zuckerberg
in 2004, for Harvard
students
 Opened to other colleges
and universities as
demanded
 Membership open to high
school networks in 2005
 Membership open to all
since 2007

Librarians Invade Facebook
 Librarians and
Journalists form two of
the largest networks on
Facebook
 Professionals 25 and
up are the fastest
growing demographic
 Build a network
through your
colleagues

Facebook for Librarians and Libraries
 And estimated 85% of undergraduates have
Facebook profiles
 Librarians can build personal networks while
promoting their library through Groups and fan
pages
 Market your library’s web services or offer them
directly with Facebook Applications
 Visit the Group “Librarians and Facebook” to
discuss Library 2.0 activities with more than
7,000 librarians
 http://www.facebook.com/reqs.php#/group.php?gid=2210901

Your Guide to Getting Your Library on
Facebook
 Create a personal
profile
 Include a picture
 Update your status
 Upload some images
 Find your friends and
colleagues
 “Friend” any students
you know
 Join a group or two
 Update often – use the
feed as advertising!

Group Pages for student workers
 MSU libraries (Powers, et. al., 2007) began their
presence on Facebook as a tool for their student
workers
 Group pages were created for student workers
in each department to communicate with library
staff and each other
 Students were encouraged to contribute content
and edit the group page, to make it their own
 It was found that students were more likely to
communicate works concerns/comments on
Facebook than email, and their was greater
response to work related-discussion, etc.

Going where your patrons are…
 Creating a fan page:
 Show them the library
(literally)
 Include updated hours
 Include links to
important pages on the
library’s website
 Add services using
Facebook Apps –
upload WorldCat,
JSTOR, or create your
own

Facebook Applications
 Flickr’s app. allows users
to display images from
their Flickr accounts as a
mashup
 JSTOR’s app. allows
searching directly from
Facebook
 WorldCat’s app. allows
users to search libraries in
their area and beyond
 “CiteMe” by WorldCat
creates citations of books
looked up in user’
 And many more…

Create Your Own App…
(Facebook Platform)
 Facebook allows outside
developers (including you) to create
applications for your page
 Many libraries create search tools
for their own catalogs within their
fan pages
 The Olin Library @ Rollins College
fan page includes a Meebo widget
that the library’s electronic resource
librarian created to embed in
Facebook

Final Thoughts…
 “The focus is shifting away from the
traditional library as place and toward a
more ubiquitous presence, striving to meet
users where they are” (Mathews, 2007,
pg. 82)
Like a good profile, a good librarian never
remains static!

References Consulted
 Cooper, J.D. (2008). Facebook applications for the library
community. The Alabama Librarian, 58(1), pp. 8-11.
 Mathews, B.S. (2007). Online Social Networking. In N. Courney
(Ed.) Library 2.0 and Beyond: Innovative Technologies and
Tomorrow’s Users (pp. 75-90). Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.
 Miller, S.E. and Jensen, L.A. (2007). Connecting and
communicating with students on Facebook. Computers in Libraries,
27(8), pp. 18-22.
 Powers, A.C., Schmidt, J., and Hill, C. (2007). Why can’t we be
friends? The MSU libraries find friends on Facebook. Mississippi
Libraries 72(1), pp. 3-5.

Images
 The Library at Trinity College by winkyintheuk
 Lykkeoft viser Facebook by Jacob Botter
 Facebook by Alessio85
 The independent guide to Facebook by Moe_
Music
Wired but Disconnected by duckett (ccmixter)