The document discusses using social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to teach information literacy skills to patrons in public libraries. It defines information literacy and social media, and examines how libraries can help patrons understand and evaluate information from these sources. The author provides recommendations for libraries to create social media accounts, engage patrons on these platforms, and demonstrate how to use and cite information from social media sources through hands-on instruction and opportunities to experiment.

1. Helping users to understand information: Using Web 2.0 to Promote Information Literacy in Public Libraries Maggie Hodge KwanLIBR 559 – Summer 2010

2. Aim Aim: Explore a variety of social media platforms Evaluate their usefulness in teaching information literacy to public library patrons A combination of my own suggestions and suggestions from scholarly literature Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/webtreatsetc/4091128553/ via Creative Commons

3. purpose Purpose: Help readers to understand information literacy and information literacy instruction in the framework of public libraries and Library 2.0 Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sanjoselibrary/2849158122/sizes/s/in/photostream/ via Creative Commons

4. Some definitions, before we move on:

5. What is information literacy? The ALA states that “to be information literate, a person must be able to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information.” Information literacy only becomes more important as more and more information is produced each day, often by amateurs like me!

6. What is social media? "...Social media…is the use of digital media, including internet and mobile, for collaborating to create user generated content and form self organizing communities. Typical elements of a social media service include the ability to: 1) create a personal profile 2) “friend” or follow other members to subscribe to their activity streams 3) create content in the form of text, photos, audio, or video and 4) share, tag, rate, comment on or vote on content created by other members. Blogs, forums, wikis, social networking sites, microblogging sites, social bookmarking sites, social voting sites, social review sites and virtual worlds are all example of web 2.0 sites. So are social sites built around photos, audio, videos, presentations, music, and games... "

7. What is library 2.0? According to contributors at the HLWIKI, Library 2.0 is: “... a transformation in the way libraries deliver services to library users. It provides new tools to make library spaces (both virtual and physical) more interactive, collaborative and driven by community needs. It encourages collaborative two-way social interactions between library staff and customers. L2 requires user participation and feedback in the development and maintenance of library services."

8. And now, a little background information: Public libraries have long been instructional centres Currently, public libraries host many a workshop on technology and social media, including seminars on creating an email account, searching the Internet, and making a Facebook profile/Twitter account, etc. Much of the content generated through these sites is grey literature: “information produced on all levels of government, academics, business and industry in electronic and print formats not controlled by commercial publishing i.e. where publishing is not the primary activity of the producing body."

9. HOW DO WE USE GREY LITERATURE, AND OTHER TEXT PRODUCED BY NON-TRADITIONAL SOURCES, SUCH AS SOCIAL MEDIA USERS? Librarians and other information professionals are still trying to determine this Librarians can help users determine what is factually correct, how to use this information, and how to cite it An example of grey literature (a blog), via http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancesh/3429284758/ and Creative Commons

10. WHY DO WE NEED TO KNOW HOW TO USE THIS MATERIAL? In Being Fluent with Information Technology, the authors emphasize the importance of information literacy in our daily lives: “information literacy... can take many forms: text, images, video, computer simulations, and multimedia interactive works. Content can also serve many purposes: news, art, entertainment, education, research and scholarship, advertising, politics, commerce, and documents and records that structure activities of everyday business and personal life.”

11. WHY USE SOCIAL MEDIA TO TEACH INFORMATION LITERACY? It’s tremendously popular. The above chart lists the percentage of marketers & corporations using a specific social media site. Source: shannonclarke.wordpress.com

12. Methodology Scholarly articles: LISTA via UBC Library Other articles as recommended by classmates and instructor Google search for public libraries currently using social media to teach information literacy Search terms “public library” and “information literacy” and “social media” returned nothing useful Variations of this search were not fruitful I adapted suggestions in scholarly articles about academic libraries to fit public libraries

13. Recommendations, part 1 Nieves Gonzalez Fernandez-Villavicencio encourages all librarians – and especially those working with the public – to acquaint themselves with the 3 most popular social networks: “Facebook... MySpace, and Twitter” (124). Learn how to use these personally and as public platforms, as they can be helpful or necessary in teaching information literacy skills. Logos from Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter, respectively.

14. Recommendations, part 2 Amanda Click and Joan Petit recommend creating a variety of social media accounts for a library and then using them to advertise events and draw in users. Drawing on their ideas, I’ve come up with the following suggestions: Ask users to RSVP to a workshop or event via Facebook Allow users to add a social bookmark to the library’s Delicious account Request that users tweet suggestions for new materials Introduce catalogue tagging to your users This allows users to learn new social medias and the information they produce somewhat independently Source: http://twitter.com/VPL/status/20014067366

15. Recommendations, part 3 Paula Warnken and Dana Dukic both agree that to understand a social media platform and the information that it produces, users much engage with it. In her SlideShare presentation, Dukic suggests explaining YouTube to library patrons, allowing them to explore it and to critique existing videos, and then to add their own YouTube video about libraries in Second Life via http://www.flickr.com/photos/photolibraries/3113061762/sizes/s/in/photostream/ via Creative Commons

16. Recommendations, part 4 Lili Luo believes that users don’t understand how to use information generated by social media because they don’t know it’s purpose. Public libraries can show patrons that social media can be useful, practical, and purposeful: Delicious Ning RSS Readers Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ivanwalsh/3677282034/ via Creative Commons.

17. Conclusion Social media and information literacy go hand in hand, as much of the information that remains difficult to understand is generated or disseminated by users of social media Social media will only grow in popularity, which is exactly why we should understand how to understand and use the information it produces Public libraries can help us to become information literate through social media by: Employing librarians who are comfortable using social media personally and professionally Asking users to respond to a library’s social media presence, and allowing users to provide feedback from the library’s beta version and on Providing hands-on instruction and practical opportunities to experiment with social media and the information it creates Demonstrating the practical uses of social media to patrons

18. Thank you all for watching – remember, I’ll be taking questions on Wednesday night at 7 PST in Chatroom 1 for all interested parties. If you have a question but can’t make it, send me a message through Vista and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks again!

19. References, part 1 Slide 2 webtreats. “154 Blue Chrome Rain Social Media Icons.” 5 August 2009. Online image. Flickr. 10 August 2010. <http://www.flickr.com/photos/webtreatsetc/4091128553/>. Slide 3 San Jose Library. “Tech Room.” 16 Septmber 2006. Online image. Flickr. 10 August 2010. < http://www.flickr.com/photos/sanjoselibrary/2849158122/in/photostream/>. Slide 5 Presidential Committee on Information Literacy. “The Importance of Information Literacy to Individuals, Business, and Citizenship.” Association of College & Research Libraries. Washington, D.C., January 10, 1989. Web. 13 August 2010. Slide 6 “Social media landscape.” HLWIKI. HLWIKI Canada. 9 August 2010. Web. 12 August 2010. Slide 7 “Library 2.0.” HLWIKI. HLWIKI CANADA. 10 July 2010. Web. 14 August 2010. Slide 8 GreyNet International. n.d. Web. 13 August 2010. <http://www.greynet.org/>.

20. References, part 2 Slide 9 “Rezabble.com blog post on my work.” 11 April 2009. Online image. Flickr. 14 August 2010. < http://www.flickr.com/photos/lancesh/3429284758/>. Slide 10National Research Council Computer Science & Telecommunications Board. Being Fluent with Information Technology. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 1999. Web. 10 August 2010. Slide 11 Clarke, Shannon. "Top 4 Social Media Sites Used by Marketers." [Weblog entry.] sClarke’s blog. 29 June 2009. (http://shannonclarke.wordpress.com/2009/06/29/top-4-social-media-sites-used-by- marketers/) 15 August 2010. Slide 13 Fernandez-Villavicencio, Nieves Gonzalez. “Helping Students Become Literate in a Digital, Networking-Based Society: A Literature Review and Discussion.” The International Information & Literacy Review 42 (2010): 124-136.

21. References, part 3 Slide 14 Click, Amanda, and Joan Petit. “Social Networking and Web 2.0 In Information Literacy.” The International Information & Literacy Review 42 (2010): 137-142. Vancouver Public Library. 31 July 2010. Twitter/VPL: Spread the love... 12 August 2010. < http://twitter.com/VPL/status/20014067366>. Slide 15 Dukic, Dana. “You Tube – A New Tool For Teaching Information Literacy.” Slideshare. 21st Century Learning Conference, Hong Kong. 17 Sep. 2009. Web. 12 Aug. 2010. HVX Superstar. “I Am Library: Ode to Self-Discovery & Collective Creativity: You Tube 500Views.”16 December 2008. Online image. Flickr. 14 August 2010. < http://www.flickr.com/photos/photolibraries/3113061762/in/photostream/>. Warnken, Paula. “The Impact of Technology on Information Literacy Education in Libraries.” The Journal of Academic Librarianship 30.2 (2004): 151-156. Slide 16 Luo, Lili. “Web 2.0 Integration in Information Literacy Instruction: An Overview.” The Journal of Academic Librarianship36.1 (2009): 32-40. Ivan Walsh. “Social Media Landscape.” 30 June 2009. Online image. Flickr. 15 August 2010. < http://www.flickr.com/photos/ivanwalsh/3677282034/>.