Twitter and Its Value To Librarians - The Rise Of The Microblogging

Service

Phil Bradley LIS 2009

• Twitter is a microblogging resource with a character limit of 140 characters per message, or 'tweet' as they are generally referred to.

• In answer to the question 'What are you doing?' users are free to type in anything that they choose; silly, serious, inane, important etc

• People will 'follow' other people, and will be 'followed' in turn. This means that you can see their 'tweets' and they can see yours.

• It's also possible to import links to blog posts, images, sound files into your 'twitter stream' or to export tweets to your website/weblog

• Users can 'Re-Tweet' posts, which is to say copy and paste a tweet from someone they follow to their followers to propagate a message

• The use of self/group defined #hashtags makes it much easier to search for, and follow tweets about a specific subject or conference

How can librarians use Twitter?

• Allows you to keep in contact with colleagues, to see what they're doing, what their interests are, read their opinions/thoughts/ideas

• Keep informed about developments from publishers; both in terms of what they're publishing, but also events they're running

• You can promote what your library service is doing. Attract new users, offer gifts or incentives, increase awareness and have fun!

• Provide instant answers and point people in the right direction

• Follow links to events, keep briefed on current affairs

• Use Twitter as an RSS reader to keep up to date with blog entries

• Share photographs quickly and easily, especially if using a smartphone

• Ask questions using polls, Re-Tweet for maximum results

• Keep involved with conferences even if you can’t attend them with 3rd party sites

• Add short (3 minute) audio posts using Audioboo and add in a photograph as well!

• Broaden your knowledge of a subject by following the right people/organizations

• Ask questions! Answer questions!

• Find new people to follow using Twitter search or 3rd party sites like WeFollow

• Communicate more effectively

• Discuss events as they happen

• Send people Direct Messages

Follow authors

Follow dead people

And more...

• Networking, both professional, friend to friend

• News: new books, closing early, new staff• Marketing tool• Broadcasting content• Updating a website via Twitter

Advantages

• Free• Fast• Simple• Effective• Brevity• ‘Always on’• Instant information

Disadvantages

• Media hype• ‘Fail Whale’• Brevity (what can you say in 140 characters?)• Small number of users• Spam• 3rd party applications• Viruses

6 things when getting started...

Directories to find people

• http://wefollow.com• http://mrtweet.net • http://www.twibes.com/• http://justtweetit.com/ • http://www.twellow.com/

Not forgetting...

• http://www.twitter.com/philbradley

Thank you!

Thanks to:• http://www.flickr.com/photos/hansdorsch/1807996676/ for the Twitter/iPhone image