ema link event: engaging students (feb 2011)

connecting you with information, support and your community

Are we cool?

Katharine Widdows

Enquiries Support Officer

University of Warwick Library


OR: Student Engagement at Warwick: An Enquiry Support Team Perspective


OR (perhaps. . .) We are probably not cool – but we will keep trying


Social Networking: online engagement


Library uses of library social networks

Library Use Facebook Twitter

Up to date info & events promotion Yes (RSS and posts)

Yes (RSS and posts)

Receiving and responding to enquiries

Yes Yes

Using photos to add interest Yes Not yet

Using web links to direct people to other places

Yes Yes (use tinyurl / bit.ly)

Re-posting information from other services

No Yes

Getting feedback on services Not actively Yes - #librarywin


Student uses of library social networks


Facebook and Twitter: Library considerations

Issue Facebook Twitter

Terms and conditions Be careful! Much easier

Interface changes Frequent Only 1 so far

Who are your administrators? Personal log in Library log in

What about referrals? By email By email

Are you hitting your target audience? Potentially Potentially

Promoting your presence Various Various

Can you record activity? Yes (but we don’t fully yet)

Yes (but we don’t fully yet)

Inappropriate “engagement”? Potentially Potentially


Foursquare?

Social Networking - What next?


Mobile technology for roving staff: Face to face engagement


Utilising mobile technology: Smart Phone vs. iPad - staff comments

Smart Phone:

We thought we’d be cool – we’re not

It’s quicker for students to go to an OPAC

They think we’re texting our mates

iPad:

Certainly better received by students than the smart phone

Most students were quite impressed, able to help them whilst on the move

Most students were quite interested to see me using it and a lot of students asked if it was my own


Does the ipad help with student engagement?

• Allowed us to pull students out of OPAC queues• Allowed us to deal with enquiries “on the spot”• You could hand it to the student to do a search

themselves• Challenges the library/ “librarian” stereotype?• Ice breaker?


Technology - What next? CGI Robots?

“I feel that for the extravagant size of the library there are not enough explosions or special effects to spice, what can be quite long and dull days up.

Surely adding CGI robots and some form of 'Megan Fox' to the library would improve the aesthetic as well as increasing morale of the staff.”

(Genuine comment received via student feedback system in late 2010)


Or Employ Megan Fox?