Flicc Institute for Library Technicians 2011 @ the Library of Congress

Social Media in Federal Libraries

Rosalind Romain & Aileen Marshall
National Transportation Library
FLICC Library Technicians Institute
September 29, 2011

Agenda

• What is Social Media: A Definition
• Goals of Social Media
• Federal Legislation, Regulation, and Agency Policy
• The Universe of Social Media
• Breakout Exercise
• Social Capital and Social Media Etiquette
• The NTL Experience: A brief overview of NTL’s use of social media
• Refine Your Social Media Skills

About the Presenters
• Rosalind Romain has served as the NTL law librarian since 2001. In addition to her reference,
research, and collection development duties, Ms. Romain serves as the NTL’s social
media coordinator and wrote the current social media strategy and policy documents for
NTL. She received her MLS from the Catholic University of America and her JD from the
University of Maryland School of Law. Rosalind is a member of the American Association of Law
Libraries Continuing Professional Education Committee and contributes a quarterly “Librarian’s
Corner” column to the American Bar Association’s Transportation Quarterly newsletter.
• Aileen Marshall joined NTL as Information Specialist right after receiving her MLIS from the
University of South Carolina. She also holds a MA in English Linguistics from the Westfaelische
Wilhelms-University in Germany in 2006, and moved to the States in 2007. Since living here she
has worked in various library settings, including public and correctional libraries.. Aileen has a
passion for social media in library environments and how these dynamic networks can help
librarians to reach out to their customers and provide exceptional service. In the past two years
she has contributed to professional publications and conferences. She loves to advocate for the
profession, is an active member of the DC Chapter of the Special Library Association, and
serves on various committees.

What is Social Media?

"Social media" or "Web 2.0" technologies - Though many definitions
of Web 2.0 exist, it is consistently characterized as the collection of
Web tools that facilitate collaboration and information sharing. Web-
based communities and hosted services include social-networking
sites, video and photo sharing sites, wikis, blogs, virtual worlds, and
other emerging technologies.(Source: GSA Social Media
Handbook)

Goals of Social Media

• Reach a larger population and the millennial generation.
• Get to know your patrons and their perception of the library.
• Increase overall awareness of the library and its resources.
• Attract more people to events and programs.
• Provide public point of contact in the event of a natural disaster or similar event.
• Provide new services or same services in new media.
(Source: L.Solomon, Doing Social Media So It Matters, 2011)

Goals of Social Media

• Expand educational reach of library.
• Build community support.
• Provide timely, germane information resources in response to current events.
• Engage library stakeholder community in decisions (i.e., suggestions for acquisitions or
new services).
• Enable collaborative project development and work across departments and libraries.
• Streamline workflows across departments and between libraries.
(Source: L.Solomon, Doing Social Media So It Matters, 2011)

Strategy and Procedure
• - What: What outlet(s) will you be using?
• - Where: Where is the outlet located? (e.g. URL)
• -Federal Legislation, Regulations, and Agencyis your timeline or deadline?
When: When did you start using the social media outlet? What Policies
• - Why: GOALS! Be specific about what you hope to achieve.
• - How: How do you get an account? How do you get training? What content will you post (be
specific)? How frequently will you post?
Who will be responsible for monitoring? Is final approval needed?
• Federal Guidance
• Agency Policy and Guidance
• Elements of a Library Social Media Policy

Elements of a Social Media Policy
• Purpose • Comment Moderation
• Scope / Applicability • PII (Personally Identifiable Information)
• Background • Brand Management
• Properties • Access and IT Security
• Policy Review Schedule • Licensing
• Strategy and Procedure • Accessibility
• Definitions • Information Collection from the Public
• Legal Authorities and Guidance • Soliciting Official Public Comment
• Ethical Conduct • Record Keeping
• Intellectual Property • Disclaimer

The Universe of Social Media

• Social Networks
• Micro Blogging
• RSS Feeds / Content Aggregation
• Social Bookmarking
• Wikis / Collaborative Workspaces
• Photo and Video Sharing
• Blogs
• Virtual Worlds
• Communication Dashboards
• Life Streams

DEFINITION:Tools used to connect people who
share the same interests and/or activities, or who
are interested in exploring the interests and
activities of others. Social network services are
internet based and provide a variety of ways for
users to interact. (GSA Social Media Handbook)

National Library of Medicine Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/nationallibraryofmedicine

Smithsonian Libraries
Facebookhttp://www.facebook.com/SmithsonianLibraries?ref=s

DEFINITION:Extremely short blog posts in
the vein of text messaging. The messages
can either be viewed by anyone or by a
restricted group that is chosen by the user.
Twitter, a popular micro-blog client, allows
for posts of up to 140 characters in length
to be uploaded and read online or through
instant messaging or mobile devices via
text messaging. (GSA Social Media Handbook)

National Agricultural
Libraryhttp://twitter.com/#!/National_Ag_Lib

National Archives
Twitterhttp://twitter.com/#!/usnatarchives

DEFINITION:RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a
format for sharing and distributing Web content.
Using an RSS reader, you will be notified when
new content is published on the feeds that interest
you, without cluttering your inbox with e-mail
messages. (GSA Social Media Handbook)

National Library of Medicinehttp://www.nlm.nih.gov/
listserv/rss_podcasts.html

DEFINITION:Web-based services where users
create and store links. Although web browsers
have the ability to bookmark pages, those links are
tied to that browser on that computer. Social
bookmarking, in contrast, is tied to an online
account, which can be made public. These
bookmarks can be shared and discovered by
others.
Examples of social bookmarking sites include
del.icio.us, Digg, and, Reddit. (GSA Social Media
Handbook)

National Transportation
Libraryhttp://www.delicious.com/NationalTransport
ationLibrary

LibraryThinghttp://www.librarything.com

DEFINITION:A collection of web pages that
encourages users to contribute or modify the
content. By using a simple web interface, a
community can collaborate on developing a
document or web page, no matter where they're
located. (GSA Social Media Handbook)

FedSpace
(Beta)https://www.fedspace.gov/landing/anonymous

Diplopedia
Department of State Wiki
(Internal)http://www.state.gov/m/irm/ediplomacy/11
5847.htm

Transportation Research Collaboration
Websitehttp://www.transportationresearch.gov/Pag
es/index.aspx

DEFINITION:Photo Sharing – Websites which
allow users to post and share digital photos. These
sites typically allow
commenting and meta-data to be attached to
photos.
Video Sharing – Websites on which users post
video they have taken for others to view and
comment on.
Such sites allow viewers to “embed,” or display
others’ video on their own sites. (GSA Social Media
Handbook)

Library of Congress’ Flickr Photo
Streamhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_con
gress

Smithsonian Libraries YouTube Channel
http://www.youtube.com/user/SmithsonianLibraries

DEFINITION:A web-based forum with
regular entries of commentary, descriptions
of events, or other materials where
the blog host posts material on the website,
and others may provide comments. Blogs
may be moderated by the host or may allow
any material to be posted. (GSA Social Media
Handbook)

Library of Congress
http://blogs.loc.gov/law/

Blogs

National Archives Blogs
http://www.archives.gov/social-media/blogs.html

DEFINITION:Imagined places where users can
socialize, connect and create using voice and text
chat. (GSA Social Media Handbook)

Second Life – Info Island
http://secondlife.com/

Designing Digitally, Inc. - Virtual Worlds for Military
Training Purposes
http://www.designingdigitally.com/

Communication Dashboards

DEFINITION:A dashboard is defined as a graphical
user interface that organizes and presents
information in a format that is easy to read and
interpret. (Source: F. S. Information Dashboard Design: The Effective
Visual Communication of Data. Cambridge, MA: O’Reilly Media Inc,
2006.)

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: http://
www.cdc.gov/metrics/socialmedia/index.html

DEFINITION:An online record of a person's daily
activities, either via direct video feed or via
aggregating the person's online content such as
blog posts, social network updates, and online
photos.
(Source: P. McFedries, Word Spy : The Word Lovers Guide to Modern
Culture 2004)

New York Public Library Wire
Tumblrhttp://nypl.tumblr.com/

Homewood Public Library, AL – FriendFeed
http://friendfeed.com/homewoodpubliclibrary

Social Media: Social Capital & Etiquette
A good reputation offline does not automatically translate into a good reputation online.
Social Capital
• Give Credit: Thank people, recognize them for their contribution, even if it is negative.
• Ask for Opinions:Nearly everyone likes to give their opinion. Don’t be afraid to ask controversial
questions as this will facilitate discussions and the exchange of ideas.
• Link to Others: Don’t make the mistake to only link to your library’s assets. If you see an
interesting or relevant blog post from another library or organization, pass it along.
• Share Your Community’s Ideas:If one of your community members says something that might be
of interest to others, pass it along.

Social Media Etiquette
A good reputation offline does not automatically translate into a good reputation online.
• Make Your Library “Human”:Let your community know that the staff welcomes opinions,
compliments, and criticism. Encourage your community to express their feelings and opinions
towards the library or a particular service.
• Provide Useful And Interesting Content:Promote information and events that people care about.
Ensure that your posts answer the following question: What’s in it for me?
• Respond: 24 hours online is a long time. People expect fast responses and service.
• Remember That You Represent Your Agency:Follow your agency’s policies and guidelines in
regards to social media.
(Source: Doing Social Media So It Matters)

National Transportation Library (NTL)

Mandate:
• Maintain a collection of statistical and other transportation information;
• Facilitate access to that collection; and
• Coordinate with other transportation libraries and information providers in support of first two goals
Goals & Objectives:
• Provide and direct USDOT staff, Congress, the public, transportation stakeholders and others to
relevant, accurate and timely information and data
• Support the information needs of USDOT, other government agencies, and the transportation
community. This is accomplished through training, high-quality resources and collections,
partnering (e.g., science.gov), and coordinating standards for information exchange (e.g.
transportationresearch.gov).

The NTL Experience
• Outlets: Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Delicious, RSS, Wikipedia
• Our Policy and Strategy
• Intern Activities
• Plans for the Future
"Social media" is a broad term that encompasses the various web-based applications that integrate
technology, social interaction, and content creation (the term “web 2.0” can also refer to social
media). The systems allow users to interact and share data via instant messaging, chat, forums,
RSS, blogs, wikis, image and video sharing, virtual worlds, social network services, social
bookmarking, social libraries, and more. Applications include, but are not limited to Facebook,
MySpace, Flickr, YouTube, Second Life, Skype, Meebo, Google Talk, LinkedIn, Library Thing,
Delicious, Twitter, and Bloglines. (Source: NTL Policies and Standards for Use of Social Media)

Refine Your Social Media Skills
• Five Weeks to a Social Libraryhttp://www.sociallibraries.com/course/
Five Weeks to a Social Library is the first free online course devoted to teaching librarians how to use social media
in their libraries. It was developed as a hands-on learning opportunity for librarians who would benefit greatly from
learning about social media, but do not have access to traditional continuing education programs.
• AALL CS-SIS Web 2.0 Challengehttp://cssis.org/w2c2009/
The American Association of Law Libraries Computing Services Special Interest Section developed this online
course to introduce law librarians to social media and how to use it in their libraries. The courses are free, hands-on
learning experiences that are beneficial for any librarian who wants to gain experience using web 2.0 technologies.
The courses provide a series of course materials, instructional screen-casts, hands-on exercises, and examples of
social media use in libraries.
• CommonCraft.com’s “Plain English” Video Tutorials http://www.commoncraft.com/video/social-media
Jargon-free short videos that provide concise descriptions of several types of social media including, social
bookmarking, social media and the workplace, Twitter, wikis, social networking, and RSS.

Refine Your Social Media Skills
• Federal Consortium for Virtual Worlds (FCVW) http://www.ndu.edu/icollege/fcvw/
The Federal Consortium for Virtual Worlds was established in 2007 by the National Defense University. NDU’s
iCollege hosts a 2 day annual conference in Washington, D.C. on online virtual worlds. The conference provides a
unique forum for federal agencies to share their experiences with virtual worlds.
• ForeSee Results Digital Citizen Satisfaction Summit http://www.foreseeresults.com/news-events/user-
summit.shtml
This free event is a full day of educational presentations designed to help government and non-profit staff to
manage websites and social media. Experts provide strategies for collecting and using citizen feedback to meet
organizational goals and improve agency initiatives.

References for Further Reading

Getting Started
• Doing Social Media So It Matters: A Librarian’s Guide . Laura Solomon. ALA Editions, 2010.
• GSA Social Media Handbookhttp://www.gsa.gov/graphics/staffoffices/socialmediahandbook.pdfThe GSA
Social Media Handbook provides guidance for social media use and expands on the GSA Directive on Social
Media Policy.
• GSA Social Media Navigatorhttp://www.gsa.gov/graphics/staffoffices/socialmedianavigator.pdf
The Social Media Navigator is a guide to GSA’s official use of social media, which augments the GSA Directive on
Social Media Policy. It provides guidance for the use of social media hosted on non-Federal government as well as
internal Federal government servers.
• How To.govhttp://www.howto.gov/social-mediaA tool kit of how-to videos, policy guidance, strategy and
more. The website helps the user to tackle the unique challenges of implementing social media in a federal
government setting.

Federal Guidelines Governing the Use of Social Media
▪ OMB Memorandum 10-23 Guidance for Agency Use of Third-Party Websites and
Applicationshttp://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/assets/memoranda_2010/m10-23.pdf
• OMB Guidance on Paperwork Reduction Act and use of Social Media:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/assets/inforeg/SocialMediaGuidance_04072010.pdf
• Guidelines for Secure Use of Social Media by Federal Departments and
Agencieshttp://www.cio.gov/Documents/Guidelines_for_Secure_Use_Social_Media_v01-0.pdf
• Implications of Recent Web Technologies for NARA Web Guidancehttp://www.archives.gov/records-
mgmt/initiatives/web-tech.html


Sample Agency Policies
▪ GSA Recent Updates to Social Media Policy and Guideshttp://www.gsa.gov/portal/category/25809
• Health and Human Services Center for New Mediahttp://newmedia.hhs.gov/standards/index.html
HHS created the Center to promote and support the strategic implementation of new media across HHS, but the
guidelines provided can be easily applied to all federal agencies.
• CDC Social Media Tools, Guidelines & Best Practiceshttp://www.cdc.gov/SocialMedia/Tools/guidelines/
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention created a guide that can be used by federal agencies to plan, develop,
and implement social media activities. The guide provides critical information on lessons learned, best practices,
clearance information and security requirements.

Thank you for attending!

Questions or comments?

Contact the Presenters & NTL
Rosalind.Romain@dot.gov
Aileen.Marshall.ctr@dot.gov

Flicc Institute for Library Technicians 2011 @ the Library of Congress

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