SPEC Kit 304: Social Software in Libraries (July 2008)
This SPEC Kit explores how many libraries are using social software and for what purposes, how those activities are organized and managed, and the benefits and challenges of using social software, among other questions.
For this study social software was broadly defined as software that enables people to connect with one another online. The survey asked about ten types of applications: 1) social networking sites; 2) media sharing sites; 3) social bookmarking or tagging sites; 4) Wikis; 5) blogs; 6) sites that use RSS (Really Simple Syndication) to syndicate and broadcast content; 7) chat or instant messaging (IM) services; 8) VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) services; 9) virtual worlds; and 10) widgets.
This survey was distributed to the 123 ARL member libraries in February 2008. Sixty-four libraries completed the survey by the March 14 deadline for a response rate of 52%. All but three of the responding libraries report that their library staff uses social software (95%) and one of those three plans to begin using social software in the future.
This SPEC Kit includes documentation from respondents of examples of Web sites that show how each of the ten types of social software is used.
Bejune, Matthew, and Jana Ronan. Social Software in Libraries. SPEC Kit 304. Washington, DC: Association of Research Libraries, July 2008.
Table of Contents
SPEC Kit 304: Social Software in Libraries (July 2008)
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Social Software in Libraries frontmatter
33
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Survey Results
99
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Representative Documents
113113
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Social Networking
115115
- University at Buffalo, SUNY: Facebook: University at Buffalo Libraries 116116
- University of California, Irvine: Facebook: UCI Libraries 117117
- University of Georgia: Facebook: UGA Student Learning Center 118118
- Indiana University Bloomington: Facebook: Herman B. Wells 119119
- University of Manitoba: Virtual Learning Commons 120120
- University of Michigan: Facebook: Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library 121121
- Southern Illinois University Carbondale: MySpace: Morris Library 122122
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Media Sharing
123123
- University at Albany, SUNY: Flickr: Dewey Graduate Library photostream 124124
- University of California, San Diego: YouTube: UCSD Science & Engineering Library 125125
- University of Hawai’i: University of Hawai’i on iTunesU 126126
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: YouTube: UIUC Undergraduate Library Commercial 127127
- Library of Congress: Flickr: The Library of Congress’ photostream 128128
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology: MIT TechTV 129129
- National Library of Medicine: YouTube: Preguntas a su pediatra 130130
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Social Bookmarking/Tagging
131131
- Duke University: Connotea: Bookmarks by group DukeUniversityLibraries 132132
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: Welcome to LibGuides@UIUC Library 133133
- University of Kentucky: del.icio.us / connectedlibrary / 134134
- University of Michigan: MTagger: All Tags 135135
- Pennsylvania State University: LibraryThing: socsclib > library 136136
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Wikis
137137
- Boston University: Capstone 2007 – Mugar Memorial Library 138138
- Case Western Reserve University: Kelvin Smith Library. Subject Guides 139139
- University of Connecticut: Welcome to the University of Connecticut Libraries’ Staff Wiki 140140
- McGill University: The McGill Library Global Health Resource Guide 141141
- University of Massachusetts Amherst: Focusing on Undergraduates: Library Collections, Services... 142142
- University of Minnesota: Libraries Staff Wiki Home Page 143143
- Syracuse University: Welcome to RefWorks – Syracuse University 144144
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Blogs
145145
- Johns Hopkins University: The Sheridan Libraries Blog 146146
- Michigan State University: MSU Library News 147147
- North Carolina State University: NCSU Libraries News 148148
- Rice University: Government Information News from Fondren Library 149149
- Smithsonian Institution: Smithsonian Libraries: Connecting. Ideas. Information. You. 150150
- Temple University: Temple University Library News 151151
- University of Washington: What’s New? History Happenings at the UW Library 152152
- York University: planet yul 153153
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RSS
155155
- University of British Columbia: New Materials at UBC Library 156156
- Case Western Reserve University: Kelvin Smith Library. RSS Feeds 157157
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: uiucwebtech. RSS 158158
- University of Nebraska-Lincoln: UNL Libraries. RSS 159159
- University of Oklahoma: University Libraries RSS Feeds 160160
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Chat/Instant Messaging
161161
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Virtual Worlds
167167
- University of California, Irvine: UCI Libraries Second Life 168168
- University of Florida: Games & the Libraries 170170
- University of Kentucky: University of KY Island 171171
- University of Michigan: Second Life @ the University of Michigan 172172
- Pennsylvania State University: Educational Gaming Commons 174174
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Library Implemented Widgets
175175
- Colorado State University: Business Blog with Meebo Me widget 176176
- Cornell University: Library Guides with QuestionPoint Ask a Librarian Qwidget 177177
- Georgetown University: Instant Message with GU Library Staff with Meebo Me Widget 178178
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: uiucwebtech. Widgets 179179
- University of Kansas: KU Libraries. ask a librarian with AOL Wimzi Widget 180180
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Library Developed Widgets
181181
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology: MIT Libraries News 182182
- University of Minnesota: How To... Tools and Widgets 183183
- North Carolina State University: NCSU Libraries Catalog Search Plugins 184184
- Pennsylvania State University: Research JumpStart 185185
- University of Texas at Austin: LIBwidgets 186186
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Social Software Committees
187187
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Social Networking
115115
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Selected Resources
191191

Title:
SPEC Kit 304: Social Software in Libraries (July 2008)