Managing Your Library ' s Social Media Channels

The rapid emergence of social media and social networking has caught many information managers unprepared. Not only is there a learning curve needed to find out what tools are available and how they are used, but the even more important question of what is the best way to use them on behalf of a library or archive. Here, in what was originally one of American Library Association’s (ALA’s) excellent Library Technology Reports, King describes how he thinks it should be done, using his experience in the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library (USA) as a base for many of his suggestions.

In the first chapter, King explains why he thinks libraries should use social media. His reasons are: listening, making connections, getting responses, taking advantage of mobile technologies and extending reach. The next chapter gives us a standard description of the most common social media platforms, including YouTube. An interesting aspect of this is the examples of how many of the channels are being used by libraries. In the third chapter things really get going, for here we read about how to connect and communicate with customers. The basic rule, apparently, is “content is king”, and in addition the author provides ten tips, hints and tricks for making the library’s social media offerings into something the customers want to engage with. These are not necessarily original but they are practical and based upon real world experience.

In the two remaining chapters lie some of the originality of this short book. Chapter Four is on the subject of teams, an essential part of making social media work in most organisations. This covers matters such as getting the right mix of people in the team, scheduling and ensuring consistency. In the following chapter, King covers a range of important topics not always dealt with by other writers on social media. What are the goals of using social media channels? How can we use analytics to measure usage and possible impact? The use of analytics is described for each of the major social media platforms, and in some cases, problems of using the data are explained. Analytic tools can provide a variety of data, so it is necessary to understand how it can be understood and used. If there is anything missing here, it is the place of social media within a wider communications strategy, but that does not spoil a useful book, especially for those who are just getting started with social media in a library.