The South Carolina State Library has recently published a report titled, Social Media, Libraries, and Web 2.0: How American Libraries are Using New Tools for Public Relations and to Attract New Users. The report provides quantitative and qualitative data gathered from library staff members in the U.S. to determine how libraries are employing a variety of Web 2.0 and social networking tools to promote library programs and services.
This is the third survey conducted November, 2010, by the South Carolina State Library, coordinated by the agency's communications director, Dr. Curtis R. Rogers. According to Rogers, "The data gathered by this survey provides a wealth of information about how libraries of all types are using social media to promote library services and events. It was difficult to filter all of the comments because so many library staff members had so much to say about their successes with social media. It was also interesting to see that many libraries are still not employing these free tools especially in such tough economic times."
Rogers pointed to one specific comment printed in the report when respondents were asked how they felt about using these tools to promote library services. One respondent stated, "I believe Web 2.0 tools will only become more important in the future not only for marketing library services but to monitor what others are saying about our libraries and library services. With so many venues for people to comment, it is critical to be trolling and listening for their comments. These are users who may not choose to visit the library to complete a paper form or interact with the library website to complain or comment, but feel comfortable doing so on foursquare or twitter."
To access the full report, visit http://www.statelibrary.sc.gov/docs/pr/201012_pr_social_media_survey.pdf.
