This document summarizes a presentation given by Allan Cho on social media in academic libraries. It discusses how social media tools can be used to engage with students, who are predominantly digital natives. It provides examples of social media initiatives at UBC Library, including a blog, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube channel. It also describes challenges, such as ensuring intellectual property and copyright compliance when using these tools. The presentation concludes by inviting questions and feedback on using social media in academic libraries.

1. Social Media in Academic Libraries:
Social Media in the Workplace, Current Trends
and Work Practices
By Allan Cho
(Special Libraries Association Annual
General Meeting, November 24, 2009)
Program Services Librarian
Irving K. Barber Learning Centre,
UBC Library

2. Agenda in 15 Minutes
 1. Generation Y, Digital Natives,
Millennials
 2. What works, What doesn’t?
 3. UBC Initiatives in Social Media
 4. Opportunities & Challenges
 5. Intellectual Property & Copyright

3. Irving K. Barber Learning Centre
 Main audience:
students,
faculty &
community
 Core collection
- Programs &
Services

4. Target Audience @ UBC Library: Students (Population:
30,000+)
 Born in the late 1980’s & 1990’s
 Used to texting, and IM and new media used
through websites like YouTube and social
networking sites like Facebook, Myspace, and
Twitter
 Referred to as Millennials or “Generation Y”

5. Most Popular Social Media Tools For College
Students
(1) Youtube
(2) World of Warcraft
(3) Facebook

6. Informal vs. Formal Social Media
 Rate My Professor.com vs. UBC evaluations
 Xanga vs. UBC Wordpress
 Facebook vs. Email

7. Digital Outreach Tools
 IKBLC Blog
 Twitter
 Facebook
 Flickr
 Youtube Partners
 RSS
 Drupal (CMS)

8. What didn’t work? iTunes U
 Mac vs. PC dilemma
 Web as a platform (i.e.
UBC library stations do
not have iTunes installed)
 Slow to download
 Clunky interface

9. Youtube Partners

10. Initiative #1: Tools For Outreach &
Teaching (TOTS)
Aim:
 Each sessions include technology
and speakers that highlight some
of their applications of these
tools. A "sandbox" environment,
followed by a discussion of their
value for teaching and outreach.
Topics Included:
 Wikis
 Social networking tools - Instant
Messaging - Blogs for Subject
and Branch liaison
 RSS feeds
 Customized search engines
 Podcasting
 Micrblogging - Twitter

11. Initiative #2: Library Journal Club
2009 annual Horizon
Report.
Topics for one session:
One Year or Less: Cloud
Computing
Two to Three Years:
Geo-tagging
Two to Three Years: The
Personal Web

12. Initiative#3: M-Libraries
Conference @ UBC
 Explored and shared
work carried out in
libraries around the
world to deliver
services and resources
to users 'on the move,'
 A growing plethora of
mobile and hand-held
devices.

13. (New Course) LIBR 559M at
SLAIS
LIBR 559M (3 cr.)
Social Media for Information Professionals
 This course examines social media (i.e.
blogs, bookmarking, mashups, wikis, and
social networking sites), its concomitant
trends (i.e. web 2.0, library 2.0) and how
web 2.0 principles can be applied to the
delivery of information services in the digital
age.

14. Using Twitter for Outreach

15. Intellectual Property & Copyright
 Who owns what?
 Policies and consent forms for webcasts
 Lawrence Lessig – Remix!

16. Questions & Feedback?
Allan Cho
Program Services Librarian
allan.cho@ubc.ca
www.allanslibrary.com
Twitter: @allancho