Monthly Archives: April 2013

Social Media Strategy in Academic Libraries – implementation experience at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Libraries

A half-day workshop on Saturday 17 August 2013

Fee : Free for IFLA delegates

Many libraries have created social media sites enthusiastically to reach out to their increasingly sophisticated audience. Within a university, it is not uncommon to see a myriad collection of QR codes, Facebook Pages, Twitter accounts, blogs, Flick photos and YouTube videos set up by students, administrative staff and faculty.

Beyond using these ubiquitous tools for library promotion and information literacy, NTU Libraries decided to embrace social media more systematically and comprehensively to identify new niches for user collaborations and to create opportunities for enhancing or developing new library services. A key component of the strategy is to adopt a whole-of-organisation approach where all librarians understand the potential of these tools and leverage them effectively, turning every librarian into a consummate marketer of library services. A New Media Group was also formed to coordinate and drive the libraries’ social media initiatives.

The half day workshop will be conducted by the New Media team at NTU Libraries. During the first half of the workshop, the team will discuss aspects of the Social Media strategy, learning points on winning user acceptance and examples of social media projects. They will then demonstrate how to create a vibrant user community using free or low cost social media tools for the second half of the workshop. Participants can bring along their notebook PCs and try out these tools immediately. 

The workshop will end with a panel discussion, drawing librarians from different countries, to share how various libraries implement their social media strategies and the challenges faced.

Full details, including how to register, are available at the workshop’s blog

The workshop is being organised by Nanyang Technological University Libraries, in association with the IFLA Academic and Research Libraries Section.

The Standing Committee meeting of the Academic and Research Libraries Section will also be held at Nanyang Technological University.  Details will be provided, once confirmed.