Thing 2 - RUDAI23 and the Importance of Social Media

This year I have decided to sign up for the free online course 'RUDAI23: 23 Things for Information Skills'.

It is a new online course for information professionals on social media for professional development. It is offered and led by the Western Regional Section of the Library Association of Ireland. The course is based on the successful 23 Things format and will consist of 23 simple modules or 'things' about using social media and web-based tools for continuing professional development. This course is open to anyone studying or working in the information profession and is a great opportunity to see what’s happening online in Libraries world-wide and brush up on your web 2.0 skills.

The course starts on the 9th September 2017 and finishes in January 2018. The course is free, self directed and participants will receive a CPD Certificate from the LAI upon completion. For more information visit www.rudai23.blogspot.com

I personally look forward to learning some new skills and picking up some useful tools and networking with fellow information professionals along the way.

Our first task was to set up a blog which was relatively easy. Our second task was a little harder to write our first blog post on any topic. This left it open for us to choose to write about anything. I decided to write about why I decided to do this course. It appealed to be for several reasons - the fact it is free is a huge bonus and also for continuous professional development - but most importantly I feel the content is hugely relevant for information professionals today. Nowadays more than ever it is important to communicate with our users especially as a virtual library, our users are based off-site so using social media as a tool for communication and engagement is essential.

The Internet is prolific and is a necessary tool for libraries including ours. As well as being a broadcasting medium it offers us opportunities for new and exciting ways to communicate and engage with our users. A Taylor & Francis White Paper on Social Media (2014) found that social media has the potential to facilitate much closer relationships between libraries and their users and they will most likely play an increasingly important role in libraries in the future.

Over the last few years, we have developed an excellent virtual library with access to an e-learning information skills training module, electronic journals as well as an online library catalogue and a value-added information service that supports our members. The old adage 'doing more with less' certainly rings true. The first step for us was creating a virtual offering to go along with our section of the website and our online catalogue. In 2012, we developed and launched our first e-learning module on information skills training. That year, we also changed from print to electronic journals. As our users are based around the country, this change was a necessary one for us. The second step is to ensure that our users know what is available and are utilizing the resources. The promotion and marketing of our resources and services is a constant and never-ending battle. It is time for us to consider new ways to reach our users.

For me, libraries are all about customer service and the user comes first. It is all about building relationships with users and social media offers a proactive approach to this. This year for the first time, we have dipped our toes into the social media world and entered the Twitter-sphere to try and engage with new users. We decided we need to go where our users are rather than expect them to come to us. The hashtag symbol #, used to group conversations, was ten years old this year. It has been responsible for creating social movements like the Ice Bucket Challenge, publicizing world news events like the Boston Marathon bombings and starting multiple conversations. It was created on August 23 2007, by former Google and Uber designer Chris Messina. Hopefully, we can add to the conversation in our own small way and maybe pick up a few new users in the process.

An example of libraries utilising the power of Twitter is the recent communications campaign to highlight the role of librarians and library staff in enabling evidence informed healthcare in the context of the broader patient safety agenda. The National Health Library & Knowledge Service of the HSE in partnership with the HSLG is leading this campaign. The hashtag on Twitter for the campaign is #EvidenceInformedHealthcare. More information on this campaign can be found on the HSLG Blog.

Next year, we hope to launch Library Webinars and engage with our users in the virtual environment with the ability to interact with them. This will be a new environment for us. Having previously done all our outreach activities via physical face-to-face interactions, the Webinars are our first step into this brave new world. It offers us a new way to build relationships with our users and promote our service.  

Hopefully throughout the course of RUDAI23, I will feel more confident about engaging with this virtual world that is now a necessary part of our everyday existence and perhaps pick up some tips on other online tools for user engagement. The virtual world is our oyster.

See you all in cyberland!