to share is to learn: using social media to take libraries to learners

 ”To share is to learn:Using social media to take libraries to learners” 

Amy Ashmore, MLIS student, SLAISDean Giustini, Biomedical branch library, UBC

Daniel Hooker, Researcher, eHealth Strategy, UBC

A presentation to the Health Libraries Association of BC (HLABC) October 21st, 2010

"...the use of digital media (including internet and mobile) for collaborating with others to create user generated content and form self organizing communities.

 Typical elements of social media include the ability to: 

1) create a personal profile 2) “friend” or follow other members 

3) create content (text, photos, audio, video)4) share, tag, rate, comment or vote on content. 

Blogs, forums, wikis, social networking sites, microblogging sites, social bookmarking sites, social voting sites, social review sites and virtual worlds are examples ... So are social sites built around photos, audio, videos, presentations, music, and games ...”

Social media is defined as:

Ashmore, Giustini, Hooker – HLABC 2010

The ‘social contract’ / bettering health

Ashmore, Giustini, Hooker – HLABC 2010

Vannevar Bush's 1945 report Science - the Endless Frontier sets framework for a "social contract" between biomedicine & government

“…  streams of new knowledge [are needed] to fire the engines of innovation … creating new knowledge relies on access to information”

Idea of direct rule by ‘citizens’ is from Rousseau, 18th C:

“… liberty is possible when [we have] direct rule by people … where popular rule is indivisible & inalienable. Citizens can choose the rules by which they live ”

   • Dean Giustini, biomedical librarian at Vancouver hospital / UBC

• Early adopter: blogger, live in 'perpetual beta' (but NO cell phone)  • Firmly believe in collaboration

work with a team  best way to learn 

• Change in our organizations & in our field

demand for digital  fewer in-house visitors /increased research  need to learn constantly

Who am I? Why do I use social media?

Ashmore, Giustini, Hooker – HLABC 2010

• Social media research team (SMeRT) librarians http://smertlibrarians.wordpress.com

• LIBR559M - Social media for info professionals  • CARL / ABRC social media survey of academic librarians

• Environmental scan 2010   • New web 2.0 in medicine course

• HLWIKI Canada – social media topics, health libraries 

Social media projects I am involved in

Ashmore, Giustini, Hooker – HLABC 2010

http://hlwiki.ca

Some benefits of social media

• Encourage collaboration between librarians & researchers to generate ideas, to work on research & teach students

• Play role(s) in exchange of research-based information 

• Refine library mission, its services & systems

• Embed librarians in research processes online

…100 conversations, lead to 20 collaborations, lead to 5 grants, lead to 1 invention or award …

Ashmore, Giustini, Hooker – HLABC 2010

Personal learning practices

Blogs

Work spaces

Social networking

sites

Web 2.0 tools

Research spaces

Social technologies mediate my Learning

Aggregators

Ashmore, Giustini, Hooker – HLABC 2010

 • Amy Ashmore       MLIS student at UBC

• Research assistant

• Experience in both public and academic libraries

Social media projects I'm involved in:  • CARL / ABRC social media survey of academic librarians

• Environmental scan• Phase II - interviews of random sample

• Social media research team (SMeRT) librarians

Who am I?

Ashmore, Giustini, Hooker – HLABC 2010

• Changes in our organizations & in our field

• New methods of communication • New types of communities• New ways of disseminating knowledge & learning from others

• Shift in how we provide services as well as how we develop and learn as professionals

• Digital engagement without a lot of technical expertise

Why do I use social media?

Ashmore, Giustini, Hooker – HLABC 2010

CARL/ABRC Research - Environmental Scan

What we found: • Use of social media varies a lot from library to library

• Most popular tools (in order):

1. RSS feeds2. Blogs3. Instant messaging4. Social networking sites (e.g., Facebook, Twitter)

Ashmore, Giustini, Hooker – HLABC 2010

CARL/ABRC Research - Environmental Scan

What we found: • Social media not always on upper-level web pages 

• Web searching needed to find social media usage• Is there a relationship between use of social media & 

prominence on library website?

• Four libraries have ‘emerging technologies librarian’

• At least three have teams for social media, to provide training or leadership

Ashmore, Giustini, Hooker – HLABC 2010

Ashmore, Giustini, Hooker – HLABC 2010

Further Exploration: • Diffusion vs. centralization

• May affect overall social media integration • Feasibility depends on staff time/budget

• Maintenance • Whose responsibility is this?• Related to engagement: must be a clear understanding 

of why it matters & who it benefits

CARL/ABRC Research – Environmental Scan I

Ashmore, Giustini, Hooker – HLABC 2010

Further Exploration: •  Integration

• How visible is your social media?• Makes tools more useful

• Tools change, communities remain• Don’t just use more tools• Enhance services & create connections

CARL/ABRC Research – Environmental Scan II

Ashmore, Giustini, Hooker – HLABC 2010

What's Next?

• Social media is breaking down barriers between personal and professional spaces

 • Focus on training and policy development

• Rethink what is included in core services

• Exploration and community building

Ashmore, Giustini, Hooker – HLABC 2010

   • Daniel Hooker, Researcher at UBC's eHealth Strategy Office• 2010 SLAIS graduate, C. William Fraser award winner

Who am I?

Ashmore, Giustini, Hooker – HLABC 2010

• Directed study research (December 2009)• Social media adoption, policy and development: exploring a way

forward for academic libraries supervised by Dean Giustini

• Health libraries, medicine and the web. Personal blog and more• Social media research team (SMeRT) librarians

• Twitter• @danhooker • @eHealthStrategy

Social media projects I’m involved in

Ashmore, Giustini, Hooker – HLABC 2010

   • Change in our organizations & in our field

Health care organizations are poised to take on an active role in communication

Patient advocacy, medical education and health services all stand on the edge of potential change

Health librarians and information professionals can help tolead that change

• Social media are more than tools – they are a statement

Why do I use social media?

Ashmore, Giustini, Hooker – HLABC 2010

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1925430,00.html

Ashmore, Giustini, Hooker – HLABC 2010

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/aug/08/local/la-me-facebook-20100809

Ashmore, Giustini, Hooker – HLABC 2010

Ashmore, Giustini, Hooker – HLABC 2010

Takeaway

• Social media not just for techies anymore

•  Facilitates learning, encourages collaboration •  Training, strategy, policy increasingly necessary

•  Need to start figuring out how to make the time

Ashmore, Giustini, Hooker – HLABC 2010

Questions / Comments?

Ashmore, Giustini, Hooker – HLABC 2010

See you online!

Amy Ashmore – aashmore@interchange.ubc.ca

Daniel Hooker – daniel.h@ubc.ca 

Dean Giustini – dean.giustini@ubc.ca