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Tuesday October 20, 2009
Info 5590
Nancy Edgar, Angela Friesen and Michael Steeleworthy
Resource List for Social Software and Libraries: A Systems Perspective
Cohen, D. J. (2008, August 8). Creating Scholarly Tools and Resources for the Digital Ecosystem: Building
Connections in the Zotero Project. First Monday, 13(8). Retrieved October 4, 2009, from
http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/viewArticle/2233/2017.
This article explains Zotero, the browser‐embedded citation system as a complement to
social media and Web 2.0 practices. Its author, Daniel Cohen, is a lead developer of the
Zotero project and believes that the open‐source citation manager is in accord with basic
social media principles that espouse dialogue over monologue on the Internet. Cohen’s
article espouses social media as an exercise in community‐building and community‐
gathering on the Internet, and argues that Zotero can help scholars improve their body of
research through such means. Although Cohen’s bias gives short shrift to the underlying
difficulties that occur when implementing Zotero across an entire academic network, it is
nonetheless inviting for the reader to consider the browser extension might be used as a
vital part of her own research.
Farkas, M.G. (2007). Social software in libraries: building collaboration, communication,
and community online. Medford, NJ: Information Today, Inc.
Holding to the hypothesis that social media are not only a natural effect in web
development but also an agent in the growth of the Internet, Farkas analyzes social media
available to librarians and considers how they may best be used to bring people together in

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dialogue. Although some topics, such as podcasting and blogging, are only as useful as they
are current, others speak directly to the problems that one encounters when introducing
new systems into information environments. Chapter 14, for instance, instills the need for
the professional to analyze her community of users (both staff and patrons), while Chapter
16 considers how the library’s and society’s current hard and soft systems can be reconciled
against the demands of social software and social networks.
Fernandez, J. (2009, September/October). A SWOT analysis for social media in libraries. Online, 33(5),
35‐7. Retrieved October 1, 2009 from
http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/hww/jumpstart.jhtml?recid=0bc05f7a67b1790e29dfa231af18
2b44149634f778f729a799c204f598e5d09689b0492d89b07256&fmt=P
Analyzing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of social media in libraries,
Fernandez concludes that social media allow for interactive communication and help
cultivate user loyalty. While Fernandez ably analyzes the organization (i.e. libraries), he
overlooks some of the external conditions that might help or hinder library objectives, which
is traditionally a component of the SWOT analysis. Overall, this article provides a good
overview of social media in libraries and would prove useful for librarians new to Web 2.0
technologies.
Fichter, D., & Wisniewski, J. (2008). Social media metrics: making the case for making the effort. Online,
32(6), 54‐7. Retrieved October 1, 2009 from
http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/hww/jumpstart.jhtml?recid=0bc05f7a67b1790e29dfa231af18
2b442a4b38b6bdd815a1a09c8ed40e7e9360364939e7f17d9944&fmt=P
Fichter and Wisniewski discuss the difficulties of gauging successful social media presence
and conclude that qualitative measures can be as important as quantitative ones. The
authors provide useful examples of both types of measurements, and the chart on page 56

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succinctly summarizes many of their arguments. The article will prove useful for libraries
looking to become better versed in the culture of assessment.
George Mason University Center for New Media and History. (2009). Zotero. Retrieved
from http://www.zotero.org/
Zotero, the open‐source citation manager that plugs in to the Firefox web browser, allows
scholars to not only maintain control and access to the citations they collect, but also to
connect with other researchers in the field. Zotero’s homepage links users to browsable
communities of scholars so that people may find like‐minded researchers and also to share
knowledge in their discipline. The support pages explain how to use the programme as well
as its underlying ideology that based on open‐access, open‐source and web‐mediated
dialogue. Unfortunately, although the Zotero’s web designers have worked hard to direct
their site to a general audience, it still speaks predominantly to only a certain segment of
academe that would not only understand the problems that may arise from using
proprietary citation management software, but also be willing to try an alternative method.
Interactive web applications. (2007). Retrieved from the American Library Association
interactive web applications wiki: http://wikis.ala.org/iwa/index.php/Main_Page
This wiki has been assembled by the American Library Association as a resource to help
guide understanding of online collaboration and learning. The site is especially relevant to
librarians who interact with young adults and children. Note that much of the information is
geared towards US librarians, with a focus on American legislation such as the Deleting
Online Predators Act (DOPA). The wiki includes information on intellectual freedom, how
libraries are using online tools to serve their patrons, safety and privacy issues, and more.
Kroski, E. (2009, October 1). Should your library have a social media policy? School Library Journal.

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Retrieved October 4, 2009, from http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6699104.html
Though published in School Library Journal, this article is also relevant to librarians and
information professionals outside of the school system. A well‐written, engaging guide to
why social media policies are a good idea and what they should include, this article also
features links to “Scandals and Success Stories,” corporate social media policies, and library
social media policies.
Kroski, E. (2009, August 6). Stacking the tech: The Library of Congress talks digital initiatives. Library
Journal. Retrieved October 1, 2009 from
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6675049.html
Kroski interviews Michelle Springer, Sally McCallum and Bill LeFurgy, librarians responsible
for many of the Library of Congress’s recent digital initiatives. The article provides a good
overview of the successful use of social media in a library setting but also examines the
Simple Knowledge Organization System (SKOS) project as well as cloud storage capabilities
in libraries. The article will prove useful to those librarians interested in maintaining a
position at the forefront of digital innovation.
McDonald, R. H., & Thomas, C. (2006). Disconnects between library culture and millennial generation
values. Educause Quarterly, 29(4), 4‐6. Retrieved October 2, 2009, from
http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE+Quarterly/EDUCAUSEQuarterlyMagazineVolum/Disconn
ectsBetweenLibraryCultu/157420
This article addresses the growing rift between research libraries and their users, and puts
forward the idea that library policies must adapt to meet user wants and needs,
reconsidering values that put privacy and intellectual property concerns above all else. This
rift is discussed in relation to technologies, policies, and opportunities. Aside from expertly

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presenting the problem, this article adeptly puts forward specific questions librarians should
consider, along with concrete, practical suggestions.
Mitchell, E. T., & Smith, S. S. (2009). Bringing information literacy into the social sphere: A case study
using social software to teach information literacy at WFU. Journal of Web Librarianship, 3(3),
183‐197. doi: 10.1080/19322900903113381.
In this article, Mitchell and Smith evaluate proprietary and open‐source social media as
learning tools in an academic environment. The article tracks the use of Facebook groups
and wiki projects as a replacement for academic content management systems and found
that while students liked to use familiar social media as a means to communicate with peers
as well as to help disseminate knowledge, they preferred to avoid such social media to
communicate with instructors or to receive official grades. Furthermore, while students
appreciated using social media like Facebook because of their familiarity with such systems
they often found that the lack of a common look and feel across so many platforms made it
difficult to always use such tools. The case study argues that such mixed results suggest that
social software may yet find a legitimate place in the classroom, but first must be accepted
by the individuals who must use it on a regular basis.
Social Media Governance. (n.d.). Policy Database. Retrieved from
http://socialmediagovernance.com/policies.php
This online database includes links to over 100 social media policies from organizations such
as the American Red Cross, the BBC, Harvard Law School, Microsoft, and the US Air Force,
among many others. Though none of the policies are geared specifically toward libraries,
this is an excellent resource for librarians and other information professionals to see what
can and should (and perhaps should not) go into a policy document. Social media policy is
one area in which the corporate world has advanced further than libraries, so librarians

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should take advantage of the wide availability of corporate documents, which can be
adapted to reflect differing organizational needs.