Social networking: Citizen engagement

Web 2.0 – hype or helpful?

NIGEL LANCASTER discusses how Web 2.0
and social networking tools can promote
libraries and their resources to a wider
audience.
(www.elftown.com), which focuses on fantasy and sci-fi and has
an estimated 185,000 registered users. LibraryThing, a site
for booklovers, boasts 400,000 users (www.librarything.com). In
an indication of the growth in popularity of such sites, News
Corp paid $580m for the parent company of MySpace in 2005
when it was just taking off and had a mere 17m members.

W eb 2.0 and social networking have been increasingly

persistent buzzwords in the technology world since Tim
O’Reilly and Dale Dougherty coined the term in 2004 (O’Reilly,
Just two years later in 2007, Facebook was valued at an
estimated $15bn (Waters, 2008). It is the UK’s number one
social network with over 8 million users (BBC, 2008).
2005). IT industry analyst Forrester recently identified seven
Web 2.0 categories (Shiels, 2008): blogs, mashups, How libraries use social networking sites
podcasting, RSS, social networking, widgets and wikis, all of A recent survey reviewed the use of mega-internet sites by
which could be included in the arsenal of public library libraries in the US and other countries, including the UK
communication. It predicted that social networking would (Primary Research Group, 2008). 23.9 per cent of the 120
attract the greatest levels of investment. In the business
libraries surveyed were from the public sector. Presence on
environment it is predicted that ‘enterprise 2.0’ will spend
social networks such as Facebook is growing. The survey
almost $5bn on social networking tools by 2013 (Shiels, 2008).
snapshot showed that 6.9 per cent of the public libraries and
In the library field today there are myriad events on the Web
17.36 per cent of the survey population already had a presence
2.0 theme. One of the key themes at the Public Library
on Facebook, with a further 27.59 per cent of respondents
Authorities Conference in October is connecting people
planning a presence. Early in 2008 East Renfrewshire Council
through such digital technologies. Library usage is moving
became the first public library service to use Facebook for
from traditional face-to-face activity to new forms of electronic
publicity purposes. Its page provides details of services, as well
interaction, enabling libraries to build closer relationships with
as a space for engaging in discussion or asking advice
existing users and to forge new virtual relationships and
(Bradley, 2008; Browne, 2008). Others such as Harrogate
communities with those who do not currently use the library
Library have followed suit (Harrogate Library Project, 2008).
service. Libraries can improve communications with
Public library presence was higher on MySpace with 31 per
customers by using Web 2.0 to foster and create new citizen
cent of the survey already having taken this step and 27.5 per
interfaces, discussion groups and online activities, following
cent planning coverage on that site. UK users include
the example of mainstream social networking sites.
Newcastle City Library, whose site includes videos, music and
Web 2.0 allows users to publish their own content on the
blogs (Newcastle City Library Service, 2008). In addition, 24.14
web and opens up a world of social networking facilities such as
per cent of public libraries have one or more YouTube accounts,
the ability to share text, video and audio outputs. The popularity
with 17.24 per cent planning to have a presence in the next
of social networking sites has grown enormously over the past
year. UK proponents include the National Library of Scotland,
decade. The website www.whatissocialnetworking.com says:
which uses it to help publicise the John Murray archive (The
“Social networking websites function like an online
Scottish Government, 2007), and Southwark Libraries, which
community of internet users. Depending on the website in
used it to promote the launch of its Latin American collection
question, many of these online community members share
(Imagen Latina Television, 2008). The survey also showed that
a common interest such as hobbies, religion, or politics.
library websites were becoming increasingly important, with
Once you are granted access to a social networking
18.3 per cent having spent some time thinking about search
website you can begin to socialise. This socialisation may
engine optimisation for the library, 8.33 per cent having spent
include reading the profile pages of other members and
considerable time and 1.67 per cent having used a consultant
possibly even contacting them… While there are a number
or freelancer to help optimise their rankings.
of social networking websites that focus on particular
interests, there are others that do not. The websites without
a main focus are often referred to as ‘traditional’ social
How libraries can integrate Web 2.0 into
networking websites and usually have open memberships. their own online presence
This means that anyone can become a member, no matter Libraries are increasingly seeking to integrate social
what their hobbies, beliefs, or views are. However, once interaction and networking into their services and to
you are inside this online community, you can begin to encourage their users to form groups around topics, authors
create your own network of friends and eliminate members or books of interest. With the development of Web 2.0 and
that do not share common interests or goals.” (What is the growth of social networks, community-created data and
Social Networking.com, 2006) many-to-many publishing, users and service providers are
starting to believe that information provision works best as an
Wikipedia lists 120 ‘major’ social networking sites, ranging interactive, two-way activity. Users expect to be able to
from ‘traditional’ sites such as MySpace (www.myspace.com) with provide and receive feedback on data; this may take the form
an estimated 110 million users (Swartz, 2008), to the of peer reviews, gaining insight from other experienced users
relatively obscure and specialist such as Elftown in the community, or even updating incorrect or outdated

6 PUBLIC LIBRARY JOURNAL Autumn 08

 “Library chiefs need to focus on increasing their
status within the local authority, as well as on
embracing new ways of working and new
technology, if they are to make the most of the
opportunities offered by Web 2.0.” Nigel Lancaster
information themselves. Such services will help to encourage
library patrons to use library websites as one of their top
online sources, rather than turning to large search engines as
the answer to their prayers.
Public library authorities can use Web 2.0 software to offer
service promotion via tools such as expert reviews, recent
searches, library-generated ratings, recommendations and tag
clouds. Jerk Sintorn, CEO of IT systems and services
company Axiell Library Group, points out, “Google brings up a
huge number of hits and the number of hits is increasing
exponentially. What Google doesn’t do is to alert users to the
most relevant or the highest quality hits. That’s where
librarians can really add value.” Most would agree that
librarians should be promoting the use of the hand-picked and
often expensive quality information sources they offer, rather
than offering instruction in use of the Google search engine,
as reported by 69 per cent of libraries in a 2008 survey
(Primary Research Group, 2008).
Related resources could be integrated into the OPAC search
or other library search engine, perhaps in the form of automatic
searching of local authority and national websites and paid-for
services. Reader development services such as book reviews,
discussion groups, ratings and suggestions could be included as
part of the library’s online presence. Local information or
‘community-owned information’, such as materials from
archives, clubs and societies, record offices and picture libraries,
could appear on the site in addition to provision in leaflet form.
Personalisation is a key part of the new online Web 2.0
‘revolution’ and users will expect the library site to offer features
such as user-generated ratings; peer reviews; tagging; debate
and discussion fora, as found on traditional social networking
sites; and ‘my library’ functions: the creation and publication of
personal libraries, which could be supplemented automatically
by items borrowed or reserved from any library. As well as
offering new facilities and improved ways of delivering services,
Web 2.0 tools will hopefully also attract new users.
In the US libraries have started to introduce such services.
Ann Arbor District Library (www.aadl.org) introduced what it
termed its ‘SOPAC’ or Social OPAC back in January 2007.
John Blyberg, Ann Arbor’s then systems administrator and
chief architect of the project, commented:
“The SOPAC represents a slew of features that I’ve wanted
to implement for quite some time now. I’m rather excited to
see if library users will respond to these tools in an OPAC
setting as much as Web 2.0 users have to commercial social
networking sites. I’m fairly confident they will… So what is the
SOPAC? It’s basically a set of social networking tools
integrated into the AADL catalog. It gives users the ability to
rate, review, comment-on, and tag items.” (Blyberg, 2007)
St Joseph County Public Library (www.libraryforlife.org/) is also a
pioneer of services delivered over the web. Its website has
included a blog since 2003 (Anderson, 2005) and now
includes features such as ‘IM a librarian’, ‘books on iPod’ and
the facility to ‘check your email’ on accounts such as AOL and
Yahoo direct from the library site. Its 2005-2007 technology
plan aimed to “discover the newest technology – that
extends, expands and enhances our services, while ensuring
equitable access to information.” (St. Joseph County Public
Library, 2005). In the UK library world, a recent report for
CILIP implies that consideration should be given to new
methods of service delivery (Conway, 2008).
Such moves are already afoot in the UK academic library field
where “library curators post their own blogs, libraries podcast,
and learners are urged to post interpretative content around
library collections and catalogue entries.” In addition, “social
bookmarking enables students to flag up online academic
resources that they found especially useful. Comments can be
added and shared with their peers – the equivalent of writing
notes in the margins of a book.” (Midgley, 2008).
Libraries at the centre of local authority
information
The move towards integrated, personalised information
operates at an organisational level, as well as at an individual
level. Local authorities want a 360° view of citizens.
Integration of information through a CRM (Customer
Relationship Management) system will allow staff to better
serve their citizens by being able to see all relevant service
and demographic information for each resident in a single
place, with the ability to cross-reference. Cross-department
co-ordination of activities becomes possible: for example,
Libraries and Social Services directorates would be aware of
an older person moving temporarily into a respite care home,
and would thus be able to reroute services accordingly. A
single account and payment interface is also possible,
making service payments more efficient for the citizen and
allowing the local authority to address social inclusion,
poverty and debt collection in an holistic manner.
The benefit of this for users is that they will be able to find all
local authority information in one place. In academic libraries,
“today’s students are used to accessing simple, single and
intuitive interfaces such as Google, Yahoo and MSN, but are less
happy struggling with what can be harder-to-use and more
‘clunky’ multiple library interfaces.” (Midgley, 2008). The same can
be said of public library users, who generally are perhaps even
less used to dealing with computer interfaces than students.
The citizen-centric philosophy within local government
means that, increasingly, citizens will be able to access both
service commissioning and personal information through a
single, person-centric local-authority web space. Users will be
able to check information on any interaction with the
authority. They will be able to move easily from task to task,
e.g. from library renewals to arranging a refuse collection,
without moving from bespoke system to bespoke system, and
without needing to log in to each individual system. Local
authorities are increasingly providing these services –
typically marketed as the ‘My Council’ function. However, the
vision is still lacking as regards information discovery and
associated social networking for local people. There is a real
Continued on page 8
PUBLIC LIBRARY JOURNAL Autumn 08 7
 “Google brings up a huge number of hits and
the number of hits is increasing exponentially.
What Google doesn’t do is to alert users to the
most relevant or the highest quality hits. That’s
where librarians can really add value.” Jerk Sintorn
Continued from page 7
opportunity for library and information services to deliver
services in this space.
DS, a specialist management systems supplier for the public
library market, has recently launched its DSArena product, which
will provide these services and complement the OpenGalaxy
library management system. David Fay, City Libraries’ Manager
for Newcastle Libraries, Information and Lifelong Learning, is
looking into the possibility of using DSArena:
“We already use MySpace to generate interest in the library
from the Generation Y digital natives. DSArena would
provide a natural extension of this to allow us to attract new
customers who are used to the high degree of
personalisation and interactivity offered by Web 2.0 sites.
We are also excited about the ability of our customers to
share information and experience online without needing to
visit a library. We would also anticipate other user groups,
such as our Silver Surfers, would be fast to adopt Arena.”
Libraries would probably want to keep a dedicated OPAC
for more traditional users, with Web 2.0 services offering an
References
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8 PUBLIC LIBRARY JOURNAL Autumn 08
alternative or a complement. Certainly in the US, libraries
such as Ann Arbor District Library have chosen this route,
preferring to offer users the traditional alongside the new.
Social networking initiatives in the library world are generally
driven by library information professionals in conjunction with
the corporate IT team. It is likely that other departments within
local government will follow, as they see how the library
initiative can complement their offering. Patrick Conway, author
of the recent Conway Report for CILIP (Conway, 2008), has
warned that “...some local authorities don’t fully recognise that
the library service can contribute positively to their overall
strategic objectives and this may be because the Head of
Service responsible for public libraries does not have a seat on
the council’s top table” (CILIP, 2008). Library chiefs need to
focus on increasing their status within the local authority, as
well as on embracing new ways of working and new
technology, if they are to make the most of the opportunities
offered by Web 2.0.
Nigel Lancaster is Sales Director, DS. nigel.lancaster@ds.co.uk; 0115 900 8000
DS is the market leader in technology solutions for UK public libraries and archives and
has over 30 years experience in developing generations of systems for its customers. DS is
a member of the Axiell Library Group. www.ds.co.uk
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