Library information provider OCLC Research, US, has released the third report that completes the Social Metadata for Libraries, Archives, and Museums report series. The executive summary is said to provide a high-level overview of all three reports.
In the first report, the 21-member Social Metadata Working Group reviewed 76 sites relevant to libraries, archives and museums that supported such social media features as tagging, comments, reviews, images, videos, ratings, recommendations, lists, links to related articles, etc. The results from a survey of site managers conducted in October-November 2009 were included in the second report.
‘Social Metadata for Libraries, Archives and Museums, Part 3: Recommendations and Readings’ provides recommendations on social metadata features most relevant to libraries, archives and museums and an annotated reading list of the literature consulted during this research.
Social Metadata for Libraries, Archives and Museums: Executive Summary provides an overview of all three reports. The group's final recommendation is that it is riskier to do nothing and become irrelevant to user communities than to start using social media features.
Several additional resources related to these reports are also available. A Social Metadata for LAMs Facebook page provides a place a to share information about new examples of social metadata sites, interesting articles, blogs and videos related to social metadata. A Social Metadata for Libraries, Archives, and Museums YouTube video provides a short overview of this work and the reports by Program Officer Karen Smith-Yoshimura. The slides and recording of the Social Metadata for Libraries, Archives and Museums Webinar for OCLC Research Library Partners that took place on March 9, 2012 are also available online and in iTunes.
