In recent years libraries have begun to recognize and embrace social media as a valuable form of communication, and a new area of examination has subsequently developed that attempts to qualify that value.* Many of these studies represent a preliminary examination of social networking and social media within the context of the academic library, though few studies move beyond practical descriptions of social media as a tool for marketing and promoting library collections and services. The present paper extends recent research related to social media usage in academic libraries by offering a deeper focus on the nature and value of converting members of online communities into active library users. By using and analyzing social media services as more than broadcast platforms for promotion, social media offers a value for libraries and higher education in the form of online community conversions.
In examining social media data and activity, the authors discuss the strongest indicators of library user conversion behavior and present findings related to the conversion value of online community engagement. Discussion involves relevant tools and strategies for building online communities via social media, with a central analysis of the effects and value of community growth and engagement for the Montana State University library. Over the previous 12-month period the library at Montana State University has dedicated resources to building, engaging, and measuring community through the application of social media, namely Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Foursquare, and Instagram. In this paper, the analysis of quantitative data from web analytics and social media management tools is combined with the analysis of qualitative data from undergraduate student focus groups to explore online communities in an academic context.
Online communities can be developed, tracked, and analyzed through analytics and insight tools such as ThinkUp and Google Analytics, and contextualized with focus groups and social media content analysis. The authors examine quantitative and qualitative data to identify a three-stage conversion process that tracks users first from online community activity, then to online and offline library usage, and finally to library and university championing. This research represents a new perspective on the value of social networks formed through social media, and offers an instructive case study for academic and non-academic libraries, organizations of higher education, and other cultural institutions.
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Noa Aharony (2010): "Twitter Use in Libraries: An Exploratory Analysis", Journal of Web Librarianship, 4:4, 333-350. DOI: 10.1080/19322909.2010.487766
Sue Bennett, Andrea Bishop, Barney Dalgarno, Jenny Waycott, Gregor Kennedy (2012): "Implementing Web 2.0 technologies in higher education: A collective case study", Computers & Education, 59, 524-534. DOI: 10.1016/j.compedu.2011.12.022
Jonathan Bodnar & Ameet Doshi (2011): "Asking the Right Questions: A Critique of Facebook, Social Media, and Libraries", Public Services Quarterly, 7:3-4, 102-110. DOI: 10.1080/15228959.2011.623594
Christopher Chan (2012),"Marketing the academic library with online social network advertising", Library Management, 33:8, 479 - 489. DOI: 10.1108/01435121211279849
Nancy Davis Kho (2011): "Social Media in Libraries: Keys to Deeper Engagement", Information Today, 28:6, 1-32.
Seungahn Nah & Gregory D Saxton (2013): "Modeling the adoption and use of social media by nonprofit organizations", New Media & Society, 15:2, 294-313. DOI:10.1177/1461444812452411
Nancy Kim Phillips (2011): "Academic Library Use of Facebook: Building Relationships with Students", The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 37:6, 512–522. DOI:10.1016/j.acalib.2011.07.008.
Manorama Tripathi & Sunil Kumar (2010): "Use of Web 2.0 tools in academic libraries: A reconnaissance of the international landscape", The International Information & Library Review, 42, 195-207. DOI: 10.1016/j.iilr.2010.07.005
