there are birds in the library (poster)

THERE ARE BIRDS IN THE LIBRARY tweet EXAMINING ADOPTION & USE OF TWITTER BY CANADIAN ACADEMIC LIBRARIES Nina Thurlow and Carolyn Hank, School of Information Studies, McGill University method 2 up next 5 Interested in hearing more? Contact the authors at [email protected] or [email protected] tweet As academic libraries adopt Web 2.0 innovations, it’s important to understand if and how social networking tools, such as Twitter, are used, and the resulting impact, both perceived and real. For example, when students follow a library’s Twitter feed, it may be seen to contribute to a rise in students' awareness of the library and its services. Before presuming how Twitter can help position the library of the future, it is important to establish a baseline of adoption now. This poster presents preliminary findings from an analysis of tweeting by Canadian academic libraries, including the ‘who,’ the ‘how often,’ and the ‘for how long. ’ Academic libraries were identified from the member listing of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC). From the 94 colleges and universities listed, the main libraries of each were identified. The libraries were then coded to assess eligibility for inclusion in the study across six factors, as presented in the results section below. For those qualifying libraries, characterized as having active Twitter accounts at least six months old, data was collected across eleven additional categories in order to provide a profile of their tweeting activities. results 3 abstract 1 wrap-up 4 Few academic libraries have jumped on the Twitter bandwagon. For those that have, they are active, with up-to-date tweets. It is used more as social broadcast tool (e.g., one-to-many) than social networking tool (e.g., one-to-one or one-to-few). Student and faculty perceptions of academic library tweets. Content analysis of academic library tweets. Differences in tweeting activities and perceptions between Canadian academic libraries and Canadian public libraries. SAMPLE who is tweeting? 31% English language institute n=76 81% Library web page n=75 80% Library Twitter n=36 38% 100% All listed colleges and universities N=94 33% Current tweets n=31 31% Account 6+ months old = 29 TWEETING demographics 118 FOLLOWING range 0 1319 (mean) = 29 FIRST TWEET 7% 2009 jan-jun 2009 jul-dec 2008 jan-jun 2010 jan-jun 2010 jul-dec 2011 jan-jun 34% 21% 17% 14% 7% { 24% do not ask to “follow them” from library homepage 544 FOLLOWERS range 13 1817 (mean) January 2011 PUBLISHING range 1 187 532 mean tweets to date 25 mean tweets per month {

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Poster presented at EGSS 2012 Conference. Citation: Thurlow, N., & Hank, C. (2012). There are birds in the library. Examining adoption and use of Twitter by Canadian academic libraries. Poster presented at the Education Graduate Students’ Society (EGSS) 11th Annual Conference, McGill University, Montreal, QC.

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Page 1: There are Birds in the Library (Poster)

THERE ARE BIRDS IN THE LIBRARY tweet

EXAMINING ADOPTION & USE OF TWITTER BY CANADIAN ACADEMIC LIBRARIES

Nina Thurlow and Carolyn Hank, School of Information Studies, McGill University

method 2

up next 5

Interested in hearing more? Contact the authors at [email protected] or [email protected]

As academic libraries adopt Web 2.0 innovations, it’s important to understand if and how social networking tools, such as Twitter, are used, and the resulting impact, both perceived and real. For example, when students follow a library’s Twitter feed, it may be seen to contribute to a rise in students' awareness of the library and its services. Before presuming how Twitter can help position the library of the future, it is important to establish a baseline of adoption now. This poster presents preliminary findings from an analysis of tweeting by Canadian academic libraries, including the ‘who,’ the ‘how often,’ and the ‘for how long.’

Academic libraries were identified from the member listing of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC). From the 94 colleges and universities listed, the main libraries of each were identified. The libraries were then coded to assess eligibility for inclusion in the study across six factors, as presented in the results section below. For those qualifying libraries, characterized as having active Twitter accounts at least six months old, data was collected across eleven additional categories in order to provide a profile of their tweeting activities.

results 3

abstract 1

wrap-up 4

Few academic libraries have jumped on the Twitter bandwagon.

For those that have, they are active, with up-to-date tweets.

It is used more as social broadcast tool (e.g., one-to-many) than social networking tool (e.g., one-to-one or one-to-few).

Student and faculty perceptions of academic library tweets.

Content analysis of academic library tweets.

Differences in tweeting activities and perceptions between Canadian academic libraries and Canadian public libraries.

SAMPLE who is tweeting?

31%

English language institute