Innovative Applications of Social Software in Reaching Out to Engineering Students
Sasha Gurke, Senior Vice-President and Co-Founder of Knovel Corporation, Email: sgurke@knovel.com
Jay Bhatt, Engineering Librarian, Drexel University, Email: bhattjj@drexel.edu
Josh Roberts, Assistant Librarian for Engineering, Drexel University, Email: jcr382@drexel.edu
Drexel Engineering Background So…How Do We Approach Them? Using ‘Notes’ Application to Import Feeds from
Engineering Blogs
• Meet them where they already are… Facebook and Bookmarks from del.icio.us
other social sites
• All major disciplines, with an emphasis on new,
interdisciplinary programs • “Facebook is a social utility that connects people with
friends and others who work, study and live around them.”
• Undergraduate research is encouraged – Facebook’s website
• Students ask their friends for information there
Drexel Engineering
• Programs are growing rapidly – 40% increase • Organizations such as Drexel Student IEEE use Information
in doctoral students in last 5 years Facebook Awareness
Campaign Group
• More users than ever before… • Vendors including E-Book provider Knovel have a
presence
• Librarians can be informal information providers via
Facebook
Survey of How do you most How would you prefer How did you learn to
often find information to keep yourself find information you
Engineering about new resources up-to-date with new needed for research
Survey of Engineering Students Survey of Engineering Students;
Students available from the information projects? Conclusions
(n=122) library? Have social networking sites helped you to become aware of the
Knovel’s Facebook availability of electronic resources, e-books, or any other library
Face-to-face consultation
page allows reaching
15.6% 13.9% 29.5%
with a librarian resources? • Friends and colleagues are a major way students find
out to the users, Email consultation with a 26.2% 37.7% 18.9% information
librarian
keeping them
IM chat consultation with a • When this study was carried out Facebook was not
up-to-date with the
2.5% 11.5% 4.9%
librarian
“I wasn’t aware that the University libraries had any form of integration widely promoted on campus; increasing awareness is our
latest news about the From friends and colleagues 44.3% 31.1% 45.9% with any social networking services nor that they had postings about next step
library resources on these services.”
product.
From postings on social
sites such as Facebook
4.9% 19.7% 3.3%
“I have just connected on Facebook so have not had time to see how it will • Despite not being heavily used, the emphasis on friends
affect my awareness.” as information sources indicates great potential for social
From postings in course 17.2%
management software such 24.6% 40.2% networking sites as library outreach
as Blackboard “Haven’t seen anyone talking about research work on Facebook.”
From postings in the
Library’s website and blogs 42.6% 56.6% 35.2% “I didn’t know it was available for that purpose.”