Social media for academic libraries

Abstract

Social media platforms are the primary communication mechanism among students on college campuses in the United States. Libraries using social media channels to promote services and connect with their communities may wish to expand their social media presence by creating innovative content to support their teaching initiatives. YouTube is a powerful and popular social media channel libraries can use to post a range of content to enhance their presence in their community. This column provides an overview of current college students' use of social media, highlights some advantages of YouTube, and provides some best practices libraries can follow with social media initiatives.

Keywords:

• Library instruction
• reference services
• information services
• information seeking

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Eleanor Layo Freed

Eleanor Layo Freed, MLIS, MSSAS has experience in Film, UX, LLM, Fine Arts, and youth-bound interaction objects, and currently focuses on development of social communication imaginaries.