A golden opportunity?

Marketing I must confess is something that I have little time to undertake. The new social media does however offers more imaginative ways to do this but I believe that it would be just as time consuming. I heard a lecture by the librarian from a very large prestigious US university who although very enthusiastic about the new media, was also pragmatic. In her university, so much time was taken communicating with the students via Facebook, Twitter etc... that they had to have a dedicate PC that they took turns to man. She reported that she often spent a large part of the day corresponding with her students electronically and had very little face-to -face contact with them. She also reported that it had been impossible to fulfill the expectations raised because they did not have enough staff. I felt that this was very sad.

For our students, many of whom are part-time, face-to-face contact is very important and highly valued (their words not mine). The sense of community is an important aspect of our students training thus coming into the library, using the facilities and browsing the shelves is all part of that experience and helps them feel part of the college. If everything can be provided virtually the library experience will change and how long will our physical libraries last in times of financial constraints? Meeting students and talking over coffee/lunch is also a good way of getting to know students, understand their needs and break down barriers. I have found that being visible is a great PR tool.

So far I have not used Facebook to promote the library, I feel that this would be invading their social space. I like slideshare and can think of some possibilities for this. I do however intend to canvas the users opinions in regard to the different social media methods later this year so watch this space.....