Twitterreference
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The document discusses using Twitter for reference services in libraries. It identifies some active librarian accounts on Twitter and hashtags like #enquire that can be used. Questions are often found through direct tweets or private messages. Challenges include many questions being too complex for 140 characters. While engagement is low, Twitter can promote services and demonstrate what librarians can assist with. It works best alongside other reference options and allows librarian collaboration outside traditional models.
Twitterreference
- 1. Twitter: Reference in 140 Characters or Less Miranda Koshelek November 2, 2012
- 2. Reference Services on Twitter
- 3. Who’s Helping? ✤ For this project, I followed a number of different librarians. These were the most active in twitter reference
- 4. How to Find Questions ✤ Direct Tweets and Private Messages ✤ Hashtags ✤ Some useful ones may be #enquire, #refdesk, or #answers ✤ Advanced Search ✤ Twitter users can search using key words (eg. library) and may use boolean operators (eg. cite AND paper)
- 5. How to Find Questions ✤ Although direct tweets are easiest to access, they are also fairly rare ✤ Most of the reference I observed occurred when the librarian approached the information-seeker (a manifestation of embedded librarianship)
- 6. How to Answer ✤ Answers may be presented in 2 styles ✤ 1. Written in 140 characters or less ✤ 2. Given via link in tweet
- 7. Challenges ✤ 1. Many reference questions cannot be answered in 140 characters (to any level of quality) ✤ 2. Reference questions requiring a reference interview can be difficult to conduct. Conversations can be long, and ultimately, abandoned.
- 8. Challenges ✤ 3. The biggest challenge is engagement. Of those twitter accounts I followed, most of the tweets were advertising library service (including twitter reference) rather than conducting any actually reference assistance.
- 9. Should Libraries Bother with Twitter Reference? ✤ Erin Fields in her 2010 article, “A Unique Twitter Use For Reference Service,” identifies tweeting reference desk questions as a useful behaviour. ✤ It communicates the type of research being done at an institution ✤ Demonstrates the types of questions librarians can answer ✤ Ultimately, it becomes a valuable promotion tool
- 10. What Does the Future Look Like? ✤ It seems that, for the time being, twitter is here to stay. While its strength may not be in providing high-quality reference, it may certainly be a valuable tool to be used in conjunction with other services offered to distance users. ✤ These services may include chat reference, email reference, etc. ✤ Ultimately, twitter creates an access point for reference services outside of the traditional reference model. The ease of which librarians and information-seekers may collaborate is not equalled in any other media, and creates an environment where embedded librarianship may thrive.
- 11. @PractRef ✤ I have set up a twitter account for reference service. The purpose behind it is to practice/see examples of reference on twitter. ✤ Give it a try! I welcome any and all tweets :) ✤ Twitter handle: @PractRef
- 12. Sources & Further Reading ✤ List of libraries on twitter: http://www.libsuccess.org/index.php?title=Twitter ✤ Burkhardt, Andy. “Ambient Awareness in Twitter for Reference” http://andyburkhardt.com/2010/02/12/ambient-awareness-in- twitter-for-reference/ ✤ Fields, Erin. “A Unique Twitter Use for Reference Services.”Library Hi Tech News, No. 6/7, 2010. ✤ Milstein, S. ‘‘Twitter for Libraries and Librarians’’, Computers in Libraries, Vol. 29 No. 5, 2009.