Content technology and consultative services provider EBSCO recently unveiled the results of its survey of 1200 participants on the use of social media in libraries in Europe. EBSCO released the study as part of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) marketing satellite event in Stockholm.
According to the study, users in the European library community have a generally positive view of the benefits of social media and are leveraging such tools to raise and modernise the profile of their libraries. But concerns about the time it takes to maintain a social media presence, along with internal organisational and security policies, detract from success. Presented by EBSCO's Nordic Sales Manager Jakob Harnesk, the survey queried 1241 EBSCO customers based in Europe about how social media applications like Facebook, Twitter, blogs and wikis fit in the library world.
About half of the respondents came from the University/College sector, with governments, research institutes, health organisations, and corporations, and other comprising about 10 percent each of the remaining participant segments. In terms of how library users are engaging with social media, 59 percent of participants said their constituents use it at least some of the time, and another 34 percent said most of them use it regularly. Accordingly, the vast majority of libraries queried are using it or planning to, with only 15 percent saying that they are not interested in interactive platforms. The majority of users queried said that they spend 10-20 percent of their time maintaining social presence. Social networks, blogging, RSS, and Twitter were named as the most widely used technologies by participants.
The full findings, along with more in-depth analysis, will be presented again at London Online at the end of November.
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