Week 7 - Facebook

I've been using Facebook socially for a number of years so thought that this Thing would be a bit of a breeze. However, there's a big difference between using it to connect with mates to sort out the next night out and using it to publicise the library and connect with readers. Certainly the Facebook page format lends itself to publicising useful information such as opening hours and location, but that wouldn't really be enough to increase awareness of the library amongst users (or 'Fans'). It is also no more use than (and in fact an awful lot less use) a website. If the point of using Facebook is to publicise a library and its resources it's not enough just to create a page.


As a daily Facebook user the most important aspect of the site for me is what appears in my News Feed - that's what I react to initially. It's all very well having an engaging and exciting page, but if your Fans aren't being prompted towards the page through reminders that it exists, it will be to no avail. Similarly, I will check any messages sent to me, so if the library messages its Fans regularly with new content, I will in all likelihood read it. The more active a library is with connecting with its Fans through messaging and status updates, the more likely those Fans will use the library's page. Of the Oxford libraries using Facebook, I was particularly impressed with Queen's College Library . An extremely active and engaging prescence on Facebook, with a fantastic set of pages including the use of RSS feeds for new acquisitions and a variety of search option on their Boxes page. I can see why they have over 2000 fans!