Librarians as Advocates of Social Media for Researchers: A Social Media Project Initiated by Linköping University Library, Sweden

ABSTRACT

Librarians at Linköping University help researchers keep abreast of developments in their fields and to increase the visibility of their work. Strategic, professional use of social media ought to be an essential part of a researcher's communication strategy. This article investigates the level of awareness of the professional use of social media among LiU researchers. The investigation showed that use of social media was not significant; however, a small number saw potential. The purpose of this article is threefold. The first purpose was to evaluate the potential of using social media as a tool for communicating research outside LiU. Second, the article presents a study in which views of LiU researchers on social media were ascertained via seminar discussions, informal feedback, and interviews. The study has a case study approach involving eight researchers. Third, the article covers how LiU Library created a web-based information package to support researchers in social media use.

KEYWORDS:

• Social Media Research Support
• scholarly social media
• social media tools
• social media strategy
• academic libraries
• research support

Notes

¹ Cyberscience 2.0 is a related term to Science 2.0 referring to scientists using web 2.0 tools such as social networks (Nentwich & König, 2012).