International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions Fédération Internationale des Associations de Bibliothécaires et des Bibliothèques Internationaler Verband der bibliothekarischen Vereine und Institutionen Международная Федерация Библиотечных Ассоциаций и Учреждений Federación Internacional de Asociaciones de Bibliotecarios y Bibliotecas
࿖䰙к佚णӮϢᴎᵘ㘨ড়Ӯ
ΕΎΒΘϜϤϟ ΕΎδγΆϣϭ ΕΎϴόϤΠϟ ϲϟϭΪϟ ΩΎΤΗϻ About IFLA
www.ifla.org
IFLA (The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions) is the leading international body representing the interests of library and information services and their users. It is the global voice of the library and information profession. IFLA provides information specialists throughout the world with a forum for exchanging ideas and promoting international cooperation, research, and development in all fields of library activity and information service. IFLA is one of the means through which libraries, information centres, and information professionals worldwide can formulate their goals, exert their influence as a group, protect their interests, and find solutions to global problems. IFLA’s aims, objectives, and professional programme can only be fulfilled with the cooperation and active involvement of its members and affiliates. Currently, approximately 1,600 associations, institutions and individuals, from widely divergent cultural back-grounds, are working together to further the goals of the Federation and to promote librarianship on a global level. Through its formal membership, IFLA directly or indirectly represents some 500,000 library and information professionals worldwide. IFLA pursues its aims through a variety of channels, including the publication of a major journal, as well as guidelines, reports and monographs on a wide range of topics. IFLA organizes workshops and seminars around the world to enhance professional practice and increase awareness of the growing importance of libraries in the digital age. All this is done in collaboration with a number of other non-governmental organizations, funding bodies and international agencies such as UNESCO and WIPO. IFLANET, the Federation’s website, is a prime source of information about IFLA, its policies and activities: www.ifla.org Library and information professionals gather annually at the IFLA World Library and Information Congress, held in August each year in cities around the world. IFLA was founded in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1927 at an international conference of national library directors. IFLA was registered in the Netherlands in 1971. The Koninklijke Bibliotheek (Royal Library), the national library of the Netherlands, in The Hague, generously provides the facilities for our headquarters. Regional offices are located in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Pretoria, South Africa; and Singapore.
IFLA Publications 145
Marketing Libraries in a Web 2.0 World
Edited by Dinesh Gupta and Réjean Savard
De Gruyter Saur
IFLA Publications edited by Sjoerd Koopman
ISBN 978-3-11-026331-2 e-ISBN 978-3-11-026353-4 ISSN 0344-6891 Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data is available in the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin/New York
© 2011 by International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, The Hague, The Netherlands ∞ Printed on permanent paper The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard – Permanence of Paper for Publications and Documents in Libraries and Archives ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (R1997) Typesetting: Michael Peschke, Berlin Printing and binding: Strauss GmbH, Mörlenbach Printed in Germany www.degruyter.com
Contents Raymond Bérard Preface/Préface .............................................................................................. vii Dinesh K. Gupta and Réjean Savard Foreword/Avant-propos ...............................................................................
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Section-I: Web 2.0 and marketing: general concepts Olivier Le Deuff The Library 2.0: origins of the concept, evolutions, perceptions and realities ......................................................................................................
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Tanja Merčun and Maja Žumer Making Web 2.0 work for users and libraries ..................................................
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Jean-Pierre Diouf Le marketing des bibliothèques supplanté par le Web 2.0: mythe ou réalité? ..............................................................................................
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Section-II: Adopting Web 2.0 strategies Heather Lea Moulaison and Edward M. Corrado Staying free from “Corporate Marketing Machines” library policy for Web 2.0 tools .......................................................................
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Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe and Rudy Leon Innovation as a framework for adopting Web 2.0 marketing approaches ......................................................................................
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Section-III: Marketing with Web 2.0 and the client Lionel Dujol Web 2.0 : de nouveaux usagers en bibliothèque? ............................................
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Li-Ping Ku Creating and using Personas for library service in the Web 2.0 era: a case study of the Chinese Academy of Sciences ...........................................
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Yamina Benhaouya The impact of CMR 2.0 in the library ..............................................................
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Section-IV: Case studies Rajesh Singh How tangible is your library in the digital environment? Implications of social media marketing in reinventing communities' library experiences .....................................................................
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Nadia Temmar La dimension participative du Web 2.0 : un atout marketing pour la bibliothèque de l’École Supérieure de Banque d'Alger ....................... 109 Rudolf Mumenthaler Library Marketing 2.0: experiences of the ETH-Bibliothek with social media ............................................................................................. 125
Section-V: International perspectives Amadou Anta Samb Web 2.0 tools and the marketing of libraries: the case of Africa ..................... 137 Moreno Barros Brazilian librarians and Twitter ....................................................................... 147
Conclusion Christie Koontz Marketing in a Web 2.0 world: a conference perspective .................................. 157
Preface The use of social networks for the marketing of libraries is a major issue for professionals. With so many initiatives in all categories of libraries all over the world, the IFLA Management & Marketing Section felt that time had come to bring information professionals together to discuss the use and relevance of Web 2.0 tools for marketing the 21st century library and information organization. This issue is central to the IFLA Management & Marketing Section, a working group that investigates all issues related to the management and marketing of library services, is a key forum of discussion and promotes good, innovative practices. This pre-conference, held in conjunction with the IFLA annual conference in Gothenburg, did not focus on the technical issues but on the marketing applications and aspects of Web 2.0. It brought together theoretical and strategic approaches and presented case studies covering a wide variety of library types and continents. With so many convincing examples of best marketing practices utilizing Web 2.0 tools, the conference was a huge success, thanks to the efforts of so many committed professionals: Réjean Savard, professor, Université de Montréal (Canada) who initiated the idea of this conference and chaired the Scientific Committee; All members of the scientific committee who evaluated all submitted papers: Judith Broady-Preston, Aberystwyth University (UK), Dinesh K. Gupta, Vardhaman Mahaveer Open University, Kota (India), Trine Kolderup Flaten, Bergen Public Library (Norway), Christie Koontz, Florida State University (USA), Àngels Massisimo, Universitat de Barcelona (Spain), Lena Olsson, Stockholm University (Sweden), Marielle de Miribel, Mediadix (France), Nadia Temmar, École Supérieure de Banque (Algeria), Christina Tovote, Stockholm University (Sweden), Steffen Wawra, Universitätsbibliothek Passau (Germany); Wilhelm Widmark, Library Director, Stockholm University Library who kindly hosted the conference; Eva Enarson, Chair, Local Organisation of the Satellite Meeting and Head of Information and Public Relations, Stockholm University Library (Sweden) and her team; And all speakers who made this conference so exciting. Raymond Bérard Chair, IFLA Management & Marketing Section Director of Agence bibliographique de l’enseignement supérieur (Montpellier, France)
Préface L'utilisation des réseaux sociaux pour le marketing des bibliothèques est devenue un enjeu majeur pour les professionnels. Avec tant d'initiatives dans toutes les catégories de bibliothèques partout dans le monde, la section Management & Marketing de l’IFLA a estimé que le moment était venu de réunir les professionnels de l’information pour discuter de l'utilisation et la pertinence des outils Web 2.0 pour le marketing des bibliothèques du vingt et unième siècle. Cette question est au cœur des réflexions de la section Management & Marketing de l’IFLA qui réunit des professionnels du monde entier issus de toutes les catégories de bibliothèques pour étudier les problématiques liées à la gestion et au marketing des services de bibliothèque. Une section qui est un forum de discussion et favorise la diffusion des pratiques innovantes. Cette pré-conférence, organisée en lien avec la conférence annuelle de l'IFLA à Göteborg, n'a pas traité des questions techniques du Web 2.0 mais de ses applications au marketing : les approches théoriques et stratégiques ont été privilégiées ainsi que des études de cas couvrant une grande variété de types de bibliothèques de plusieurs continents. Avec autant d'exemples convaincants de meilleures pratiques de marketing s’appuyant sur les outils Web 2.0, cette conférence a atteint ses objectifs. Son succès est du aux efforts de nombreux professionnels engagés que je tiens à remercier sincèrement: Réjean Savard, professeur, Université de Montréal (Canada) qui en a lancé l’idée et a présidé le comité scientifique Les membres du comité scientifique qui ont évalué les communications: Judith Broady-Preston, Université d'Aberystwyth (Royaume-Uni), Dinesh K. Gupta, Université Mahaveer Vardhaman Open, Kota (Inde), Trine Flaten Kolderup, Bibliothèque publique de Bergen (Norvège), Christie Koontz, Université d’Etat de Floride (USA), Àngels Massisimo, Université de Barcelone (Espagne), Olsson Lena, Université de Stockholm (Suède), Marielle de Miribel, Mediadix (France), Nadia Temmar, École Supérieure de Banque (Algérie), Christina Tovoté, Université de Stockholm (Suède), Steffen Wawra, Bibliothèque universitaire de Passau (Allemagne) Wilhelm Widmark, Directeur de la Bibliothèque de l'Université de Stockholm qui a généreusement accueilli la conférence
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Eva Enarson, présidente du comité local d’organisation de la conférence, responsable de l'information et des relations publiques, Bibliothèque de l’Université de Stockholm, et toutes son équipe Et tous les intervenants qui ont rendu cette conférence si passionnante. Raymond Bérard Président, de la section IFLA Management & Marketing Directeur de l'Agence bibliographique de l'Enseignement Supérieur (Montpellier, France)
Foreword Marketing libraries and information services has been a topic of interest for long time now. Many studies have demonstrated that it is an essential skill for the library and information professionals. Further, with the application of Web 2.0, marketing is taking a newer face, today. Web 2.0 and social media tools are transforming their marketing strategies by offering unlimited possibilities for library and information services. The traditional concept of marketing mix, i.e. 4 P’s or 5 P’s or even 7 P’s is being challenged with greater possibilities of customer participation and involvement in Web 2.0 and social media tools: First, Promotion is not the same anymore because Web 2.0 tools are themselves strong promotional tools, where interactivity adds a completely new dimension for marketers; Second, Place is taking a new breath with Internet: the library is completely decentralized and virtual, which is changing the rules in defining the library marketing strategy; Third, Web 2.0 tools are making the library Product much more expandable: the library product is less and less traditional. Information is becoming more powerful. Four, the Personnel is taking even more importance in the success of the library marketing strategy: the need for the appropriate expertise is more than ever crucial; Five, the Price is also affected by the Web 2.0 tools, since the value of information is becoming higher and customers are ready for the valuable information. Library managers have to work hard because new possibilities offered by Web 2.0 tools are putting a lot of pressure on the management because of the high costs of technology. Papers included in the proceedings are presenting different facets of application and usage of marketing and Web 2.0. They also show that Web 2.0 is an international phenomenon and such a trend has emerged even in developing countries. We would like to thank all the authors who generously took time to communicate their knowledge and feelings about this important topic. We are sure that all the librarians around the planet will appreciate a lot their contributions to the debate which we think is only at its beginning. We also believe that libraries will greatly be benefitted from these proceedings for more visibility among communities.
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Thanks to everyone again, members of scientific committee, organizing committee, session chairs, paper presenters, participants and colleagues at the Stockholm University who made this satellite meeting so successful and agreeable. It was a great venue! Dinesh K. Gupta Vardhaman Mahaveer Open University, Kota
Réjean Savard Université de Montréal
Avant-propos Le marketing des bibliothèques et des services d’information constitue un sujet d’intérêt important depuis déjà plusieurs années. De nombreuses études ont démontré qu’il s’agit là d’un outil essentiel pour les professionnels des bibliothèques et de l’information. De plus, avec l’arrivée du Web 2.0, le marketing acquiert une nouvelle dimension. Le Web 2.0 et les médias sociaux transforment les stratégies marketing en offrant des possibilités illimitées aux bibliothèques et services d’information. Le concept traditionnel du marketing mix, c’est-à-dire l’idée des 4 ou 5 P, ou même des 7 P, se voit maintenant mis au défi à cause des possibilités accrues offertes par le Web 2.0 et les médias sociaux en matière de participation des utilisateurs : Premièrement, les communications et la publicité («Promotion» en anglais) sont complètement transformées parce que les outils du Web 2.0 constituent eux-mêmes de forts éléments de communications et de publicité où l’interactivité vient ajouter une dimension totalement nouvelle pour les spécialistes du marketing; Deuxièmement, la distribution («Place» en anglais) prend un nouvel envol avec Internet : la bibliothèque est complètement décentralisée et se «virtualise», ce qui vient changer les règles dans la définition de la stratégie marketing; Troisièmement, les outils du Web 2.0 rendent le «Produit bibliothèque» plus élastique: la bibliothèque en tant que produit est de moins en moins perçue comme traditionnelle. Quatrièmement, le personnel prend de plus en plus d’importance dans le succès de stratégie marketing de la bibliothèque : le besoin d’une expertise appropriée est de plus en plus crucial; Cinquièmement, le Prix est aussi affecté par les outils du Web 2.0, puisque la valeur de l’information s’est accrue et que les clients sont prêts à payer pour une information qui a de la valeur. Mais les gestionnaires de bibliothèques doivent redoubler d’effort pour trouver les ressources de financement nécessaires à cause des coûts élevés de la technologie. Les articles inclus dans ces actes du colloque présentent différentes facettes de l’application et de l’utilisation du marketing et du Web 2.0. Ils démontrent également que le Web 2.0 est un phénomène international et que celui-ci s’étend maintenant aux pays du Sud. Nous aimerions remercier sincèrement tous les auteurs qui ont généreusement trouvé du temps pour communiquer leurs connaissances et leurs sentiments à propos de cet important sujet. Nous sommes convaincus que tous les bibliothécaires de la
xiv Avant-propos planète apprécieront beaucoup leurs contributions à ce débat qui ne fait que commencer. Nous pensons également que les bibliothèques profiteront de ces articles et que leur visibilité au sein de leur communauté en bénéficiera. Merci encore à tous, aux membres du comité scientifique, au comité organisateur, aux présidents de sessions, aux auteurs, aux participants et à l’Université de Stockholm qui ont permis que ce colloque satellite soit un grand succès, et une rencontre des plus agréables. Dinesh K. Gupta Vardhaman Mahaveer Open University, Kota
Réjean Savard Université de Montréal
Section-I: Web 2.0 and marketing: general concepts
The Library 2.0: origins of the concept, evolutions, perceptions and realities Olivier Le Deuff e-mail:
[email protected] Université Lyon 3 / Prefics-cersic Université Européenne de Bretagne, France Abstract The aim of this article is to show the genesis and the evolution of the Library 2.0 concept. A survey was conducted to understand the professionals' perception of a now outdated concept. About a concept that may be outdated. It is found that that the biggest evolution with Web 2.0 tools is the necessary for development of new skills for the librarians in a digital environment.
Résumé Nous retraçons brièvement la genèse et l’évolution du concept de bibliothèque 2.0. Nous nous appuyons sur une enquête auprès de professionnels francophones des bibliothèques pour mieux mesurer leur vision et appréhension d’un concept qui apparaît désormais daté. Il semble que la plus grande évolution porte désormais sur les compétences des bibliothécaires.
Introduction Library 2.0 is one of the most interesting concepts influenced by Web 2.0 to study. As a matter of fact, it is one of the first concepts that emerged shortly after the start of popularization of Web 2.0. Moreover it mixes two concepts that are essentially contradictory: the traditional library and the Web 2.0 philosophy. Library 2.0 can lead to controversy over the reality of the phenomenon, its utility and its real novelty. Does library 2.0 really exist? May be librarians 2.0 are easier to meet than real libraries 2.0. Indeed many librarians have been attracted by the new Web 2.0 tools that they have tried to fit into their workplace and personal development.
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Two papers published in 2005 (Casey and Abram) have driven the debate and brought the phenomenon to attention. We can notice that the blogs of library professionals are the most involved in this emergence. Some articles attempt to define the concept (Maness, 2006; Needleman, 2007). Stephens and Collins (2007) tried to better analyze the theoretical and practical objections. Its definition is difficult because some authors do not hesitate to speak in term of paradigm shifts. The subject is still studied (Le Deuff, 2010) and tends to be more applied to practical situations as in the recent study on university libraries and their relationship with the Web 2.0 (Xu et al, 2009). The authors chose to study mainly the French version of the concept through a survey of 168 professionals1 in libraries. It was sought to measure point of views about a concept that is probably already old-fashioned. The present work is an attempt to determine the reality of Library 2.0 and the elements of change or the potentials of innovation (Miller, 2006). The survey shows a low implementation in the field. It is observed that some debates exist between the main actors of "librarians-blogosphere", who want to expand the capabilities of the library, and librarians whose habits and thoughts remained strongly traditional. The question of the information literacy evolution, including computer and technical skills for librarians is raised and goes way beyond the "Library 2.0" concept.
History and definitions The Library 2.0 term was first used by Michael Casey in September 2005 on his blog Librarycrunch (Casey, 2005), taking up several ideas issued about Web 2.0 tools during the year and their integration into a library. Very quickly, the expression will be extended to library catalogs with the concept of cataloblog or catalog 2.0. But Stephen Abram (Abram, 2005) demonstrates that the library will become more 2.0 only with the evolution of the librarians’ skills. Library 2.0 appears multifaceted. A workshop in London in 2007 asked the question with this title “Is Library 2.0 a trivial pursuit?”2 This multifaceted aspect means that there can be no fixed definition of Library 2.0 and even less standardization. It would therefore rather be described as a "state of mind", with the same words used by Tim O'Reilly to characterize the Web 2.0. In addition, other terms are also emerging to describe the evolution of libraries with Web 2.0. One can also find the use of the expression: “hybrid library”, hyperlink library (Stephens and Collins, 2007) or social library (Bibliothek in Sozial in Danowski and Heller, 2006). By extension, the catalog (Coyle, 2007) is also experiencing an evolution (social catalog, catalog 2.0, 1 2
The results are available online.
Is library 2.0 a trivial pursuit? Diskus Centre, London, Wednesday 21st November, 2007. http://www.jibs.ac.uk/events/workshops/web2.0/intro.html#booking>
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cataloblog). It was noticed that a bigger role than before was given to the library’s user, even if he was theoretically already placed at the center of the information system ( Le Coadic, 2004). He becomes better involved and his needs redraw the library in a personalization strategy. Thus, the German librarian Thomas Hapke (Hapke, 2007) describes this evolution and suggests a new stage in the consideration of the user who becomes a real participant.
Library versus Library 2.0? The two models may seem incompatible. The legitimacy differs. It is essentially authoritarian in the library while it’s based on the popularity in the tools of Web 2.0. This opposition between two models allows to assert that what changed most with the digital technologies is not the institution or the “library” as a place, but rather the professionals and users who work inside.
Fig.-1: Library vs Library 2.0
It might be tempting to caricature and oppose the Library 2.0 to traditional library models. In reality, there is no opposition but rather complementarities. The conventional model has not disappeared but simply opened up more to new tools. In this, the expression “hybrid libraries” corresponds better to reality. Maness describes indeed Library 2.0 as a mix of different applications and possibilities, a mash-up: "Library 2.0 is a mash-up. It is a hybrid of blogs, wikis, streaming media, content aggregators, instant messaging and social networks."(Maness, 2006) Library 2.0 appears like an extension of the traditional model. Folksonomies are also a good example of confrontation in term of principles and methods but these are actually more complementary than a real opposition. Indeed, folksonomies did not replace the indexation by professionals but have just completed it with the addition of tags by users. Tags
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should rather be considered as a way for users to participate and take ownership of the library. However, the model of Web 2.0 differs significantly from conventional models of knowledge. It does not favor the production of knowledge, rather communication and exchange of data and news. Web 2.0 looks for more ephemeral duration and frequent questioning (perpetual beta). For the library, the inclusion of Web 2.0 services should not jeopardize the institution. Indeed, the goal of library is not to incorporate constantly new technologies in the fear of being late. Its aim is to build and offer knowledge, valuable information and data for a growing number of users. However, this opposition between Web 2.0 and conventional model of library is not irreversible according to the results of our survey (fig. 2).
Fig.-2: Web 2.0 compatibility with library
Which reality? A study was conducted on the Library 2.0 in US academic libraries (Xu et al, 2009). It showed a uneven reality. Survey conducted by the authors (fig. 3) also confirms that the achievement is still far from finished.
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Fig.-3: Is the Library 2.0 a reality ?
Web 2.0 seems to involve a logical evolution of the library. It is, therefore, necessary to conceive a more open and richer library with new applications and mash-ups. Danowski and Heller (2006) suggest that the paradigm shift that is not to incite the perfect use of the library but its capacity to offer better services to the users. However, it shouldn’t be forgotten that the "Library 2.0" term hides the differences between academic libraries and public libraries or school libraries. Moreover, the ideas or paradigms of library 2.0 are not totally new. As a matter of fact Web 2.0 tools often concretize older aspirations.
Tools or models? The injunction to use the Web 2.0 tools in library come from the ideology of information society which often forgets the cultural aspects. The study on in US academic libraries (Xu, 2009) shows heterogeneity in practices. The most used tools are Instant Messaging and blogs. Our survey (Fig. 4) confirms this trend : the blog is the most used tool in libraries (there were several possible answers)
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Fig.-4: Most useful tools in libraries
RSS is ranked first in term of most used tools for catalogs. Web feeds frequently provide and deliver up-to-date contents about chosen topics in respons to a query in the catalog.
Fig.-5: Most useful tools in catalog
Finally, what is evolving the most is not necessarily the library but the librarian.
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Librarians 2.0 Librarian 2.0 represents an evolution of the profession and the development of new computer skills and interactions with the users. “Apparently, Librarian 2.0 faces more challenges than ever before to offer quality services to library users while keeping pace with the rapid development of Web 2.0 technologies and encouraging user participation in libraries. Looking back, academic librarians have always been among the early adopters of information technology. This time shall be no exception.” (Xu et al. p. 329)
The digital tools have significantly changed the definition and the skills of librarians and information professionals who often have to become a bit “geek”. These new skills can be acquired through online communities of practice or social networks. A social network is even devoted to library 2.03. Most members are from the United States but a lot of librarians from different countries have their profile in this network. These networks participate in new forms of library professionals visibility and extend their field of expertise beyond the institutional structure. They are places for ideas, debates, testing and presentation of new tools and new features. For example, the influence of the French “librarians-blogosphere” (fig. 6) has changed (or tried to…) libraries and the profession.
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< http://www.library2.0.org/>
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Fig.-6: The French “librarians-blogosphere” with Touchgraph
An old-fashioned concept? It seems that the concept faces a slow decline, finally a little in the same way as the Web 2.0, which is now fully part of the Web , and the distinction does not really make any sense anymore. However, it seems difficult to say the same thing for the library. The features of Web 2.0 are not fully integrated. The following graph comes from google trend
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Fig.-7: Library 2.0 trend
It shows the number of search queries for the term "library 2.0" is in steady decline after its 2007 peak. Should we consider that the Web 2.0 is now integrated in the library or that the fad has passed? We believe that the concept is now somewhat outdated while new projects involving “Web of data” are starting. This recurrent theme is the extension of the library to other areas such as social networks, but also virtual worlds like the Second Life Library 2.0 project, which brings together several real and virtual libraries. The French Language Library of Second Life (la bibliothèque francophone) participate in changing the definition of the library as it is not just to view documents but to extend it to new types of exchanges. This necessary evolution is described by the French librarian Daniel Bourrion who raises the current problems: “As long as the answer for many professionals will be limited to” a library is a place where there are books “- so as long as we do not think the library as a continuum between the physical location and presence line around services, we continue to make rotten Web (sic) and / or does not consider the online presence as an integral part of the library - and then, consequently, we will go on not to train the professionals. We need to ensure this continuum between IRL and virtual.”
Conclusion Beyond the expression and evolution towards a hypothetical "Library 3.0", the spirit inside the Library 2.0 has been present for several years in library. It is a movement that never ends and adapt to future developments, which will have implications on the organization of knowledge and libraries management. The concept of “hybrid library” better defines these new challenges including semantic Web, or rather Web of data. The library is constantly enriched in content and opportunities. However, those challenges require new skills and the willingness to develop new features in “libraries-lab”. (Thanks to Axel Cateland and Pascal Lutz for their help in translation).
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References Abram, S. Web 2.0, Library 2.0, and Librarian 2.0: Preparing for the 2.0 World in Sirsi Dynix one source. http://www.imakenews.com/sirsi/e_article000505688.cfm?x= b6yRqLJ,b2rpQhRM Casey, M., 2005. Working towards a definition of Library 2.0 in Librarycrunch. Billet du 21 octobre Coyle K., 2007. The library catalog in a 2.0 world, The Journal of Academic Librarianship 33(2), 289-291. Crawford W., Library 2.0 and ‘Library 2.0’, Cites and Insights, 6 (2), from http://cites.boisestate.edu/civ6i2.pdf Danowski P., Heller L., 2006. Bibliothek 2.0 - Die Zukunft der Bibliothek, In Bibliotheksdienst 11/2006 S. 1259-1271. Hapke T., 2007. Informationskompetenz 2.0 und das Verschwinden des Nutzers, Bibliothek Forschung und Praxis, 31 (2), 137-149. Le Coadic Y., 2004. Usages et usagers de l’information. Armand Colin. Le Deuff, O. (2010). « La bibliothèque 2.0 ». in Les Cahiers du Numérique. « Du au concept 2.0 » vol.6/1. Maness J. M., 2006. Library 2.0 theory: Web 2.0 and its implications for libraries,” Webology 3 (2)
Miller P., 2006. Library 2.0: The challenge of disruptive innovation, Talis from: http://www.talis.com/tdn/node/1304 Needleman M., 2007. Web 2.0/Lib 2.0--what is it? (If it’s anything at all), Serials Review, 33(3), 202-203. Stephens M., and Collins M., 2007. Web 2.0, Library 2.0, and the hyperlinked library, Serials Review, 33(4), 253-256. Xu C., et al, 2009. The academic library meets: Applications and implications. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 35(4), 3
Making Web 2.0 work for users and libraries Tanja Merčun e-mail: [email protected] Maja Žumer e-mail: [email protected] Department of Library and Information Science and Book Studies, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia Résumé Le Web 2.0 a permis aux bibliothèques de découvrir un grand éventail de possibilités, mais l’expérience a démontré que son application ne remplissait pas toujours ses promesses. Pour réussir cette intégration, les bibliothèques se doivent d’acquérir une compréhension en profondeur du Web 2.0 et de leurs utilisateurs. Cet article explore quelques principes et embûches du Web 2.0 et les caractéristiques du comportement des utilisateurs dans le contexte du Web 2.0. Il apporte des suggestions concernant l’implantation du Web 2.0 en bibliothèques et met l’accent sur l’importance de créer des communautés et de concevoir des expériences intéressantes pour les utilisateurs. Il propose également aux bibliothèques un plus grand esprit de collaboration et de partage afin de combattre les embûches du Web 2.0.
Abstract Web 2.0 has opened a wide range of possibilities for libraries, but experiences have shown that applying Web 2.0 features in library setting did not always bring the desired effect. In order to build successful services, libraries should first get an in-depth understanding of Web 2.0 as well as their end-users. This paper looks into some of the principles and pitfalls of Web 2.0 and also discusses the characteristics of user behaviour in the 2.0 environment. It brings suggestions concerning the implementation of Web 2.0 features in libraries and emphasizes the importance of creating communities and designing for user experience. It also proposes collaborations and sharing experiences amongst libraries as a possible solution for bridging some of the pitfalls of Web 2.0.
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Introduction Using Web 2.0 in libraries, whether for marketing library services, harnessing the power of the crowd, establishing direct communication with users, or simply integrating new, attractive features into library websites and information systems, the first necessary step for its success is to understand as to how Web 2.0 works and what are its main principles. Past experiences have shown that applying Web 2.0 features did not always bring out the desired effect, mainly because creators did not put into consideration the necessary 2.0 requirements, the context of use, or what they even wanted to accomplish. Traditional library management and marketing processes remain valid and needed also within the digital environment (de Sáez, 2002) and in order to define its strategy, position itself in the changing online environment, and develop quality 2.0 services, the library needs not only to understand its market and end-users, but also the philosophy and characteristics of Web 2.0.
Web 2.0 Web 2.0 has set a new standard for user-centred design by creating more intuitive and inviting tools, demanding constant change, flexibility, and evaluation while promoting user engagement, sharing, collaboration, interaction, and personalization. But in the 2.0 movement one can in fact recognize two distinct levels: on the one hand there is the driving force behind the changes, the so called “2.0 philosophy”, while on the other hand, the technology and the tools that try to transform these ideas into reality. Whereas the technology, novel tools, services, and features are often the main focus when talking about Web 2.0, it is important to first understand the philosophy behind the changes as Web 2.0 is not so much about the technology as it is about ‘what we do with it and how we use it’. Especially in the library community, we could say that embracing 2.0 philosophy and changing the business model to follow the idea of perpetual change, flexibility, evaluation, simplicity, openness to and collaboration with users may be even more important than the implementation of numerous popular Web 2.0 tools itself.
Understanding Web 2.0 and its pitfalls Building 2.0 features, libraries need to have a good understanding of both, the potentials of Web 2.0 as well as the possible barriers to successful implementation and use of such services (Kelly et al., 2009). In the following part, a closer look at some of the 2.0 characteristics and associated pitfalls will be taken and explored as how these could be addressed. Web 2.0 has often brought forward concerns related to privacy, data protection, security, and sustainability. In the “Web as platform” world any one
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can take advantages of the applications that are provided on the Web. One can, for example, use an external service to publish and organize the data or he/ she can communicate with other tools and bring their data into one’s own Web spaces. While this offers quick and easy solutions, it also means that libraries no longer have complete control over such services. The provider may shut down the service without enabling libraries or library users to retrieve their data (Kelly et al., 2009), it may take advantage of private information, or even make users vulnerable to malicious software (Rudman, 2010). To minimize the risks, libraries need to develop guidelines and strategies for application development and use as well as look into the stability, safety, and managing options of each tool. The next potential risk could be summed up as the “human factor”. As emphasized by O’Reilly and Battelle (2009), Web 2.0 is about harnessing collective intelligence, where we have two types of user contributions: explicit or “typed” data (such as ratings, annotations, blog posts, wiki entries, etc) and implicit data generated by use (such as viewed items, downloaded items, circulation data, search process data which can be then used for recommendations, similar items suggestions, ranking etc.). But,user participation and interaction is seen as one of the key benefits of Web 2.0 as it brings valuable content into the systems, it also presents a possible setback since the usefulness of the service many times demands a high degree of participation and depends on the so called “network effect”: the more users, the more useful and valuable a service becomes. As a result, a potentially good service will not achieve its purpose or will even fail in case it does not reach needed usage or the so called critical mass of participation (Chui et al., 2009). Also, only a small percentage of participants or enthusiasts are contributors of explicit data for example, (Eve,2009) reports that around 10-15% of users contribute by editing and adding comment and only 1-5% of users actually creates and adds new content) which makes it somewhat more difficult to reach the critical mass for such services. Another pitfall under the “human factor” label is also the demand for constant involvement in the development of services. In case of libraries, librarians are the ones responsible for maintaining the new features by making sure that everything works perfectly, by constantly developing and improving services as well as taking care of updates and content creation when needed. Although some Web 2.0 features can be implemented easily and without much cost to the library, others require the expertise of system librarians to be set up and modified to the library needs. And all 2.0 applications demand that librarians invest their time - not only at the beginning but throughout the whole lifetime of the service. This is due to two reasons. Firstly, the true 2.0 feature should develop and improve in real-time as long as it exists (the “perpetual beta” principle) and secondly, without constant content updates, maintenance, librarian involvement, and participation, many services will loose their intended purpose and the community that forms around them. Just think of the
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many examples of blogs that died out because authors were no longer interested in creating new entries; similarly, library Facebook or Twitter account success depends largely on the daily updates and valuable news it can convey.
Knowing the users Knowing who users are? How they use the available tools? What they wish and need? and How they act in the Web 2.0 online environments? are essential agnda to be addressed in building 2.0 services. However, studies show that librarians and users sometimes have different perceptions of what is important (an example of such gap can be seen in the OCLC study on online catalogues – OCLC, 2009), which leads to implementations and utilizations of 2.0 functionalities are not always well matched (Kim and Abbas, 2010).
Generations of users 2.0 tools are usually associated with younger generations and their implementations often justified by the argument that there is a need to adapt to the new expectations and demands of the Web -savvy-digital-native generation. However, these arguments have not been exactly correct as a closer look at the “net generation” reveals that, contrary to the common belief, their use of Web 2.0 is generally “limited both in level of familiarity and depth of use” and that their knowledge of and involvement in technology are in fact quite superficial. Burhanna et al. (2009), for example, describe that students in their study were not heavy Web 2.0 users, only a few reported creating and posting content to Web 2.0 sites and most of them only participated in social networking sites. With the widespread of internet and its everyday use throughout generations, the age classifications of users are becoming less important or even irrelevant (OCLC, 2007). The use of Web 2.0 features is far from being limited to younger generations and the differences between proficiency of users more and more seem to originate from the frequency and the complexity of use, rather than the mere date of birth. Web 2.0 usage is rising quickly among adults: in a number of applications, adult participation is significantly increasing while teen participation is decreasing in comparison (Lenhart et al., 2010) and, in some tools, older generations even present the main contributors of content (Bughin, 2007; Cain Miller, 2009). So we can say that Web 2.0 features should be formed with the whole spectrum of users in mind and not just the younger generations. As Miller (2009) suggests, older participants might have a positive influence on the long term stability of the service and while we did not find any research to back our claim, we believe that older users also present a significant group of quality contributors.
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Types of users By the degree of participation and co-creation of community in the Web 2.0, users can be divided into groups that can also help us understand how users approach 2.0 world. Hayes (2007) makes the following categorization (the number of users decreasing with each one): • • • • •
the consumers: the largest of 5 groups, made of users who passively consume content and personalize it, the sharers: forwarding, sharing and rating content, the critics: publically rating and commenting on content, the editors: submitting and editing content creating by others, and the creators: submitting original content.
With creators of content being in the minority and consumers still presenting the largest group of participants, libraries should distribute its services accordingly by concentrating more on services that do not require or depend on explicit content generation and by investing in features that will harvest information from user’s interaction with the system. If libraries wish for users to migrate from consumers to more active participants, they could form their services in a way that formulation of content will also be useful for users personally. Not many users will contribute just because they would like to give something back to the community, but if they have some personal gain from it (such as having a personal file of read books or annotations of books), they will be more motivated to join in.
Bringing Web 2.0 in libraries With users research one can more accurately pinpoint the needs of the user community. Many a times, assuming that users will welcome and employ every 2.0 service library implements has proved wrong. Morris and Allen (2008) as well as Burhanna, et al (2009) report that even if 2.0 technologies would be implemented at the university libraries, it would be unlikely that many of them were used by students. They add that while students seem to be most interested in social networks within 2.0 world, they would not necessarily like it or appreciate it if their library started using it. As it seems, many students perceive social networks as their private and personal spaces where they would not always welcome libraries or where they would, in case of interaction, prefer to keep their relationship professional (Burhanna, et al., 2009, OCLC, 2007). Surprisingly, students found the least value in library participation within social networks and most value in the contents library is able to provide and in Web 2.0 features integrated into a library websites and catalogues (although they did not indicate they would be heavy users either) (Morris and Allen, 2008; OCLC, 2007). Then again, these preferences and priorities might be different with users of public libraries or research libraries.
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So far, there has been a large number of articles written on what Web 2.0 tools libraries could or even should be using, but not many have really made an objective evaluation to see how successful the implemented 2.0 features have been so far or what problems appeared with the implemented services (McLean and Merceica, 2010). There is a wide range of tools and possibilities for libraries in the 2.0 world, but the challenge is which ones to choose and how to use them best.
Creating communities Part of a successful 2.0 implementation is also the community that participates and contributes to library 2.0 features. But as Howard (2010) stresses, “communities don’t happen by accident” and Everyone in the library should work towards building communities that will present the core to sustainable 2.0 services by targeting users who can create the critical mass and add value to our services in order (Chui et al., 2009). This means that there is a need to identify and nurture the core contributors (Bughin, 2007) and understand what motivates and inspires them to join, take part, and remain within a community. For better understanding of how communities work, Howard (2010) suggests a model of 4 elements necessary for long term success: remuneration, influence, belonging, and significance. The four elements say that there needs to be a clear benefit of being a member of the community (positive return on invested time and energy), that members need to have influence in the community which is perceived to be significant, and last but not least, it should give members a sense of belonging.
Creating user experience User experience refers to a person’s perceptions and feelings about a service or a system which have been formed by his or her interaction with the product. The whole process of creating and designing for user experience (more information on that can be found in Garrett, (2003) goes from identifying user’s needs and organization’s goals, defining the needed functions and content requirements to designing interactions, user interface, and visual image. Throughout the paper some of the elements that are part of user experience design have been discussed, the following sections will focus mainly on content requirements and system design.
Content 2.0 process is not a one-sided one, which means that libraries must equally participate in knowledge creation, sharing, and communication. By creating
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unique and useful information such as, for example, librarian’s recommendations lists, lists of useful school books, books on certain topics, book reviews, presentation of new library materials, or news about the local community etc., the library will more easily position itself in the community and give value to its services. Besides adding content, libraries can also enrich their services using implicit data and providing useful system generated content. While it is the system that analyses the data, it is the library’s job is to discover what implicit data lies in existing user interactions and how they could best put it to use and build a database or an ecosystem around it. O’Reilly and Battelle (2009) believe that this presents one of the core competencies in the 2.0 era. Whether generated manually or automatically, the rich and constantly updated content is something that has the power to attract users to visit and use the library website, which is crucial for 2.0 services. Once libraries will be able to attract and keep users as regular visitors of the website, they will also be able to apply more 2.0 services for user-to-user interaction and communication.
System design Besides following user’s needs and providing relevant content and services, a part of the equation is also the system design itself. Ease of use, intuitiveness, and usefulness play an important role in the acceptance and sustainable use of various innovative technologies, including Web 2.0 (Schneckenberg, 2009). Within system design we would especially like to highlight the possibilities for personalizing and customizing user interfaces. Treiblmaier et al. (2004) differentiate between the two and define them with concepts of adaptability and adaptivity. Adaptability is typical of customization where the system enables users to modify some features (functionality, profiles, interface, content …) to better fit their workflow while adaptivity presents personalization, an automatic, dynamic process where the system tracks user’s behaviour and adjusts itself according to it. The two concepts are not an invention of 2.0, but they have been highly promoted within the 2.0 movement as they advance system’s usability and enable a more personal communication between the library and the user. Even though personalization opens a spectrum of possibilities for libraries and has an important (and so far neglected) marketing potential for promoting valuable content for users, increasing user visits, and user satisfaction by reducing time and effort and better matching user’s needs (de Pechpeyrou, 2009), there is the concern of privacy, so libraries must be careful not to misuse the information gained by such data mining.
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Conclusion Past experience shows that 2.0 features are unlikely to be adopted by users or by librarians without some management intervention (Constatinides and Fountain, 2008). As Schneckenberg (2009) puts it, the “if you build it they will come” approach to technology adoption is not likely to work by itself, so the question is how to effectively bring Web 2.0 in library context, and derive value from its tools to meet the needs of library users. This paper has scanned through the topics for library managers to consider before bringing Web 2.0 in the library setting. On the one hand, it has emphasized potential problems libraries might encounter when implementing 2.0 features and the importance of the planning process in which the library creates policies and guidelines concerning its use of 2.0 and the role 2.0 features are going to play within its overall scheme. On the other hand, it has also pointed to library users who present another significant variable for the success of 2.0 in libraries and shortly explored user behaviour and expectations within the Web 2.0, as well as some possibilities for improving the user experience. Knowing library users and how they are likely to approach 2.0 services will help make informed decisions about the development of library services and the formation of a positive user experience. Applying the right and well implemented set of services, engaging users and making them active participants in the creation process can increase user satisfaction and enhance loyalty and trust, giving the organization credibility, the promise of user’s return and possibility of “word of mouth” marketing. The 2.0 era finally enables libraries to have a more individual approach also in the online environment, not only in the provision of services, but also in marketing library services and holdings. Personalization and customization options help at making user’s interaction with the library system more satisfying and efficient and at the same time allow direct, one-to-one marketing. Facebook, Twitter, blogs, or Flickr have repeatedly been associated with the marketing potential for library services, but we sometimes forget that there are also other 2.0 tools that can help not only promote the library but also library collections. Personal recommendations, RSS feeds on chosen queries, similar items, user lists, and tags are features that are also important from the marketing perspective as they bring forward potentially interesting items and show users the richness of library collections. Web 2.0 also enforced the idea that libraries should employ 2.0 tools to meet users where they are and bring library services to them. However, this way some libraries formed a broad set of services which were difficult to keep track of and maintain, and as some research suggested, users actually favoured bringing Web 2.0 in the library environment and improving services there instead of bringing libraries into existing Web 2.0 spaces such as Facebook or Twitter. While we believe that also social networking services and other
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online Web 2.0 platforms can present useful tools for libraries, if nothing else from the marketing perspective, we, too, argue that library’s priority concerning Web 2.0 should lie in improving their systems and thus bringing enriched contents and added value to their primary services. No amount of marketing will help if libraries do not have high quality services that are easy to manage and help users get new knowledge or discover and explore library collections. However, because of the network effect and critical mass of participants in many of the Web 2.0 tools, libraries themselves could also benefit from employing the “2.0 philosophy” of collaboration and shared services. As libraries often serve a rather small community and have quite a limited amount of resources, their 2.0 services do not reach their full potential. It may happen that poorly implemented or maintained features will only make users question the quality of library services. In one of our researches of library 2.0 services in library catalogues (see Merčun and Žumer, 2008) we could, for example, see that tagging in local library catalogues often does not reach the needed mass to create representative tag clouds, the number of user contributed reviews and ratings is generally too low to add real value to the service and user comments to library blogs are more an exception than a rule, thus diminishing the value and purpose of the new services. If libraries were to combine their forces at a certain level (for example public libraries of one region, or academic libraries for the same study area), they may be better able to build services that will harvest the potentials of Web 2.0 and generate real value through user participation and generation of content.
References Bughin, J.R., 2007. How companies can make the most of user generated content. The McKinsey Quarterly, August. Available at: http://www.cs.ucl.ac.uk/staff/d.quercia/ others/ugc.pdf Burhanna, K.J., Seeholzer, J. Salem Jr., J., 2009. No natives here: a focus group study of student perceptions of Web 2.0 and the academic library. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 35 (6), 523-532. Cain Miller, C., 2009, Who’s driving twitter’s popularity? not teens. The New York Times, 25th August.Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/26/technology/internet/ 26twitter.html Chui, M., A. Miller, R. R., 2009. Six ways to make Web 2.0 work. McKinsey Quarterly. Available at: http://www.tmf.no/wp-content/uploads/Sixwaystomakewebwork.pdf Constantinides, E. and Fountain, S.J., 2008. Web 2.0: conceptual foundations and marketing issues. Journal of Direct, Data and Digital Marketing Practice, 9 (3), 231-244. de Pechpeyrou, P., 2009. How consumers value online personalization: a longitudinal experiment. Direct Marketing: An International Journal, 3 (1), 35-51. de Sáez, E.E., 2002. Marketing concepts for libraries and information services. 2nd ed. London, Facet.
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Eve, J., 2009. Sceptic 2.0? Social networking technologies. In: Jillian R. Griffiths and Jenny Craven (Eds), Access, delivery, performance: the future o libraries without walls. London, Facet Publishing, pp. 95-110. Garrett, J.J., 2003. The elements of user experience. New York, New Riders. Hayes, G., 2007, November 26. Web 2.0 and the myth of non-participation. Personalizemedia: the digital, personalized you in immersive, networked media worlds – a weblog by Gary Hayes. Available at: http://www.personalizemedia.com/the-mythof-non-participation-in-web-20-social-networks/ Howard, T., 2010. Design to thrive: creating social networks and online communities that last. Morgan Kaufmann. Kelly, B. et al, 2009. Library 2.0: balancing the risks and benefits to maximise the dividends. Program: Electronic Library and Information Systems, 43 (3), 311-327. Kim, Y., Abbas, J., 2010. Adoption of library 2.0 functionalities by academic libraries and users: a knowledge management perspective. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 36 (3), 211-218. Lenhart, A., Purcell, K., Smith, A., Zickuhr, K., 2010. Social media and mobile internet use among teens and young adults. Pew Internet and American Life Project. Available at: http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Social-Media-and-Young-Adults.aspx McLean, M, Merceica, P., 2010. Evaluating Web 2.0: user experiences with public library blogs. In: Proceedings of VALA 2010: Connections, Content, Conversations, Melbourne. Available at: http://www.vala.org.au/vala2010/papers2010/VALA2010_28_ McLean_Final.pdf Merčun, T., Žumer, M., 2008. New generation of catalogues for the new generation of users: a comparison of six library catalogues. Program: Electronic Library and Information Systems, 42(3), 243-61. Morris, A., Allen, K., 2008. Library 2.0 technologies in academic libraries, a case study of student use and perceptions. In: Online information 2008 proceedings. London, Incisive Media, pp. 77-83. OCLC, 2007. Sharing, privacy and trust in our networked world: a report to the OCLC membership. Available at: http://www.oclc.org/reports/pdfs/sharing.pdf OCLC, 2009. Online catalogs: what users and librarians want: an OCLC report. Available at: http://www.oclc.org/reports/onlinecatalogs/fullreport.pdf O'Reilly, T., Battelle, J., 2009. Web squared: Web 2.0 five years on: special report. Web 2.0 Summit, O’Reilly Media. Available at: http://www.web2summit.com/ web2009/public/schedule/detail/10194 Rudman, R.J., 2001. Incremental risks in Web 2.0 applications. The Electronic Library, 28 (2), 210-230. Schneckenberg, D., 2009. Web 2.0 and the empowerment of the knowledge worker. Journal of Knowledge Management, 13 (6), 509-520. Treiblmaier, H., et al, (2004). Evaluating personalization and customization from an ethical point of view: an empirical study. In: Proceedings of the 37th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS). Washington, IEEE.
Le marketing des bibliothèques supplanté par le Web 2.0: mythe ou réalité? Jean Pierre Diouf e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] Conservateur de bibliothèques CODESRIA, Dakar, Senegal Résumé D’une manière générale, le marketing a introduit beaucoup d’innovations dans la conduite des activités des entreprises surtout commerciales et industrielles. Conçu et appliqué à ses origines pour prendre en charge les besoins de la clientèle en vue d’un positionnement et d’un accroissement du chiffre d’affaires des entreprises, le marketing n’a pas manqué de s’étendre à d’autres secteurs de la vie courante et parmi lesquels les bibliothèques. Parmi les missions fondamentales de celles-ci, figure en bonne place la satisfaction des usagers, d’où l’opportunité pour les structures documentaires d’adapter les outils du marketing à leur fonctionnement. Les premières études sur le marketing des bibliothèques datent de la fin des années 80 et pour lesquelles certains auteurs, spécialistes de la documentation, démontrent l’applicabilité des outils du marketing aux systèmes d’information documentaire. Ces études portent essentiellement sur les pays du Nord. En Afrique, il existe quelques prémisses dans la réflexion avec par exemple l’ouvrage de Nozha Ibnlkhayat1 consacré au « Marketing des systèmes et services d’information et de documentation » dans le contexte marocain. Parallèlement au marketing, les avancées technologiques dans les bibliothèques sont aussi très remarquées. Les systèmes d’information documentaire non seulement se démocratisent de plus en plus pour l’utilisateur grâce à un accès plus facile et plus libre à leurs ressources mais ils adoptent dans leur fonctionnement de nouveaux outils de communication et d’échange de l’information symbolisés par le concept Web 2.0. Basé sur une technologie aux multiples fonctionnalités communautaires et collaboratives, le Web 2.0 permet de diffuser, de mettre à jour instantanément, de partager et d’accéder à des contenus en créant des réseaux d’échanges. 1
Ibnlkhayat, Nozha (2005). – Marketing des systèmes et services d’information et de documentation. – Québec : Presses de l’Université du Québec. – 456 p.
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Cette innovation soulève des interrogations, notamment sur l’avenir du marketing dans les services de bibliothèques. Face aux bouleversements stratégiques et technologiques dans la gestion des systèmes d’information documentaire, cet article agite un certain nombre de questions qui s’articulent autour des points suivants : • • •
l’adaptabilité actuelle des outils et techniques du marketing dans la gestion des bibliothèques; les apports du Web 2.0 dans les performances des bibliothèques; le marketing et le Web 2.0 dans les structures documentaires en Afrique.
Les résultats ci-dessous allant dans le sens de l’efficience des bibliothèques sont attendus : • • • •
la maîtrise des choix stratégiques dans les bibliothèques surtout africaines ; l’orientation judicieuse des ressources des bibliothèques ; l’implantation d’outils de gestion adaptés; la formation appropriée à octroyer au personnel des bibliothèques pour accroître leurs performances.
Abstract In general, the concept of marketing has encouraged several innovations in the conduct of activities, especially those of commercial and industrial enterprises. Designed and applied initially to support customer needs while improving the productivity of enterprises, marketing has seen its scope extended to other spheres of every day life including the libraries. Given that user satisfaction is a key task of libraries, librarians have been quick to adapt the tools of marketing to their work. The studies on libraries marketing date back to the late 1980s with the demonstration by certain authors, basically documentalists, of the applicability of marketing’s tools to documentation and information systems. Such studies focus mainly on developed societies of the West. In Africa, a few studies such as that of Nozha Ibnlkhayat " Marketing systems and information services and documentation” in the Moroccan context, exist on the marketing libraries In parallel to development in marketing, libraries have advanced in their use of technology. Documentation and information systems have increasingly become democratized due to easier and free access by users to resources and the use by libraries of tools of communication and exchange of information symbolized by the concept Web 2.0. Based on a technology with multiple community and collaborative functions, Web 2.0 can disseminate, instantly update, share and access content by creating networks of exchanges. Such
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technological advance cannot but raise questions most especially, questions about the future of marketing of library services. Given the strategic and technological changes in the management of documentation and information systems, this article raises a number of questions. These are: • • •
The adaptability of tools and techniques of marketing in the management of libraries The contributions of the Web 2.0 to the performance of libraries; Marketing and Web 2.0 in the African libraries.
The following results for the efficiency of the libraries are expected: • • • •
the strategic mastering of choice particularly in African libraries; the optimal use of library resources; the introduction of appropriate management tools; giving appropriate training to libraries staff in a view to enhance their performance.
Introduction Le marketing laisse penser à une pratique qui remonte de loin dans le temps. Est-il possible de le situer temporellement sans prendre le risque de se tromper? A quand remonte t-il véritablement ? L’Homme ne pratiquait-il pas depuis longtemps le marketing sans lui donner un contenu bien précis ? Achille Weinberg dans un article intitulé « Aux sources de l’éloquence » rapporte les écrits de Bruno Ballardini2 sur « comment l’Eglise avait inventé le marketing ». « Les procédés des publicitaires et commerciaux pour appâter le client avaient déjà été inventés 2000 ans plus tôt par les apôtres, Saint Paul et les Pères de l’Eglise pour séduire une nouvelle clientèle : les chrétiens.3» La réponse la plus simple à ces questionnements peut nous amener à avancer d’une manière empirique, que le marketing est né depuis que l’Homme a senti la nécessité, de satisfaire ses propres besoins et à travers lui, les besoins de l’autre, de fabriquer, de produire, de se déplacer, d’échanger et de vendre ce qu’il a produit. Cependant, il est vrai que le marketing sous sa forme actuelle, à la suite de ses différents développements sous l’angle des techniques, des méthodes, des objectifs, des informations et surtout devant une concurrence de plus en plus âpre, remonte à une période plus ou moins récente. Les premières notions modernes remonteraient avec la crise économique de 1929 qui a véritablement contribué à son adoption comme discipline pouvant aider les entreprises à surmonter la crise, par l’écoulement de leurs productions en
2 3
Bellardini, Bruno, 2006, Jésus lave plus blanc!, Liana Levi Weinberg, Achille, 2009, « Aux sources de l’histoire », Sciences humaines, n°.209, p. 31
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mettant en exergue tout un ensemble de services, d’études et de techniques pour atteindre et satisfaire le consommateur1. C’est ainsi que dans son évolution et maillage, le marketing touche tous les secteurs de la vie économique, sociale et culturelle de l’Homme. Il est aujourd’hui difficile d’imaginer un domaine d’activités où le marketing n’est pas présent et suivant une technique2 adaptée à cet environnement, allant du mix-marketing au marketing politique et aux secteurs auxquels on pense le moins.3 Les bibliothèques, centres de documentation et dépôts d’archives ne sont pas en reste. Le marketing y occupe depuis plus d’une vingtaine d’années une place de choix surtout dans les grandes bibliothèques universitaires et nationales, en cherchant à fidéliser mais surtout à satisfaire les besoins des usagers par une meilleure prise en compte de leurs attentes. Les Technologies de l’Information et de la Communication symbolisées par Internet et tous les outils de communication et d’échanges développés depuis lors y contribuent amplement. En effet, après la promotion de l’accès direct aux ressources documentaires dans les bibliothèques qui nécessite encore le déplacement de l’usager à la structure documentaire, l’avènement des bases de données bibliographiques en ligne, la naissance des bibliothèques électroniques qui ne demandent plus systématiquement la présence de l’usager dans le site de la bibliothèque pour connaître ce qu’elle détient dans tel ou tel domaine. L’accent est aujourd’hui mis sur l’accès intégral aux ressources documentaires, par une politique accentuée de numérisation d’où l’existence de plusieurs projets aussi bien dans les pays du Nord que dans le Sud. Les innovations vont encore plus loin avec l’implication directe des usagers sur les informations qui leur sont proposées, notamment sur la manière dont elles sont traitées et au-delà. Depuis moins d’une dizaine d’années, la tendance prise par les utilisateurs des bibliothèques consiste à orienter, à partager des sources d’information avec les professionnels et d’autres usagers ayant les mêmes centres d’intérêt, grâce à l’introduction des outils du Web 2.0 dans les structures d’information documentaire. L’objet de cette étude porte autour des éléments ci-dessous : • • • •
4 5 6
les apports du marketing dans les systèmes d’information documentaire ; l’introduction des outils du Web 2.0 dans les bibliothèques ; le marketing des systèmes d’information documentaire et le Web 2.0 : pour quelle synergie? Les structures d’information documentaire en Afrique face au marketing et au Web 2.0.
Wikipédia : http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing#Enjeux_et_histoire_ du_marketing (Consulté le 17/04/2010) http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat%C3%A9gorie:Technique_marketing (Consulté le 17/04/2010) http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat%C3%A9gorie:Type_de_marketing (Consulté le 17/04/2010)
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Les apports du marketing dans les systèmes d’information documentaire Les systèmes d’information documentaire ont-ils réellement bénéficié des outils et techniques du marketing ? Quels en sont les impacts dans leur mode de gestion et dans l’optimisation du niveau de satisfaction des usagers ? Beaucoup d’études consacrées à ce sujet mettent l’accent sur l’urgence et la nécessité d’introduire le marketing dans les systèmes d’information sans pour autant mesurer les impacts entraînés par cette introduction. Il n’est point nécessaire de démontrer l’apport du marketing appliqué au secteur marchand tellement il a fait école, avec des réussites éclatantes, ce qui a par ailleurs favorisé son adoption dans d’autres secteurs d’activités. Les succès recueillis dans les secteurs marchands reposent principalement sur la philosophie du marketing mix, symbolisé par les «4 P» et un peu plus tard avec l’introduction d’un cinquième P, passant ainsi des «4 P» aux «5 P», qui prennent en compte les différentes variables sur lesquelles agisse un produit dans un marché. Il s’agit « du « Produit », du « Prix », de la « Distribution », de la « Communication » et du « Personnel (force de vente) »4. L’étude des différentes composantes de ce concept permet d’en saisir toute la portée.
Le marketing Mix dans le secteur marchand Le produit Le produit doit ainsi satisfaire le besoin du consommateur d’où l’ensemble des études qui sont menées en amont avant sa mise en vente sur le marché. La recherche se focalise de plus en plus sur une prise en compte différentiée des besoins.
Le prix « La meilleure manière de conserver ses clients est de toujours se demander comment leur en offrir davantage pour un prix meilleur.5 » D’une manière générale, le prix occupe une place importante dans la prise de décision d’achat. Pour des produits et des services présentant les mêmes caractéristiques et conditionnement, le prix oriente la décision du consommateur.
7 8
Les « 5 P »sont en anglais : « Product, Price, Place, Promotion, Personnel ». Kotler, Philip ; Dubois, Bernard, 2000, « Marketing management, 10ème ed., Paris: PubliUnion Editions; p. 411
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La distribution Elle s’identifie à l’ensemble des activités allant du magasin du producteur où les produits finis sont stockés jusqu’au moment où le consommateur en prend possession. Cette phase est également d’une grande importance car elle assure la disponibilité du produit sur le marché. Autant, il est important de produire, autant il est aussi important de rendre le produit accessible.
La communication L’action pour une entreprise de communiquer sur ses produits vers les consommateurs devra être considérée au même niveau que les précédents éléments du marketing mix. Elle ne se limite pas seulement à informer mais utilise aussi d’autres voies et moyens pour atteindre le consommateur. Il s’agit de la publicité, la promotion des ventes, les relations publiques, la vente et le marketing direct. Toutes ces actions avant d’être déclenchées doivent être planifiées et coordonnées suivant un processus bien précis. Elle nécessite la plus grande attention de toute l’équipe impliquée dans la mise en œuvre de la politique de communication.
Illustrations de l’imagination dans la communication
Ill. n° 1: Nescafé dans les rues de Dakar
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Ill. n° 2: 3ème opérateur de téléphonie au Sénégal
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Ill. n° 3: 1er opérateur de téléphonie au Sénégal
Le personnel L’introduction du cinquième « P » est intervenue plus tard pour désigner le personnel en contact direct avec les consommateurs. Le personnel requiert des qualifications et un engagement, seuls gages de succès face à des concurrents toujours imaginatifs.
Ill. n° 4: Les « 4 P » du marketing mix
9
6
Source: fr.academic.ru/dic.nsf/frwiki/1126367
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Ill. n° 5: Les « 5 P » du Mix
Face à la rigueur de la concurrence, les entreprises commerciales ont largement recours au marketing mix. Qu’en est-il du secteur non commercial et plus particulièrement des systèmes d’information documentaire symbolisés ici par les bibliothèques ? Par comparaison au secteur marchand, le marketing a investi tardivement les bibliothèques. Il serait par conséquent intéressant de mesurer l’adaptabilité et l’impact des outils du marketing mix dans les bibliothèques d’une manière générale et plus particulièrement dans les bibliothèques africaines.
Le marketing Mix au sein de la bibliothèque Le produit Dans ce cas d’espèce, le produit s’apparente à un service qui fait partie intégrante de la liste des produits ciblés par le marketing. Autant le marketing s’intéresse aux produits dits tangibles (Kotler, Philip ; Dubois, Bernard, 2000) autant il s’intéresse aux activités de services.
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Le prix Habituellement, les bibliothèques offrent un service gratuit aux usagers. À l’exception des frais d’inscription annuelle souvent symboliques, aucun autre apport financier n’est demandé à l’usager pour bénéficier des services d’accès, de consultation et de prêt auprès de la bibliothèque. Les services connexes de photocopie et très rarement de connexion Internet surtout en Afrique, peuvent être facturés mais ils n’ont rien à voir avec le service de base qui consiste à mettre l’information à la disposition de l’usager. Cette question de prix vu sous l’angle des entreprises commerciales qui sont concurrentes n’existe pas dans les bibliothèques qui au lieu de se concurrencer entre elles, sont surtout complémentaires. Nous assistons aujourd’hui à la création de consortium et à la mise en place de services communs des bibliothèques, qui consistent à signaler auprès des différentes structures participantes les ressources documentaires disponibles chez les uns et les autres pour ainsi mieux satisfaire les usagers en qualité de services. Cette question du prix reste entière avec des visions différentes des bibliothécaires s’intéressant au marketing dans les systèmes d’information documentaire (Nozha Ibnlkayat 2005).
La distribution Dans le marketing mix des services, la distribution se rapporte au terme SERVUCTION qui est une dérivation des mots SERVICE et PRODUCTION. Ce concept inventé en 1987 par P. Eigler et E. Langeard7 est également utilisé dans le modèle du marketing mix des structures documentaires proposé par J.M. Salaün (1990). La distribution dans les systèmes d’information renvoie à : « la proximité avec les publics, les horaires d’ouverture, la distribution interne, c’est à dire la fonctionnalité des installations, la cohérence des classements, la lisibilité de la signalisation, le délai de communication des documents, etc.8 » La servuction vue sous l’angle des SID se rapproche de la distribution au plan commercial car cherchant l’une comme l’autre à mettre le produit ou le service à la portée de l’usager.
La communication La communication est reconnue comme étant centrale dans les bibliothèques et centres de documentation. Il est enseigné dans toutes les écoles de bibliothéconomie, qu’il ne sert à rien d’acquérir des ressources documentaires qui ne sont pas mises à la disposition du public. Les bibliothèques et plus 10 Eiglier, P. ; Langeard, E., « Une approche nouvelle du marketing des services », Revue française de gestion, p. 97-114 11 Torres, Ingrid, 2002, Le marketing des services d’information et de documentation : une étude documentaire, Documentaliste – Science de l’information. Vol. 39, n° 6, p. 296
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particulièrement les bibliothèques nationales qui avaient une forte orientation pour la conservation du patrimoine national s’orientent aujourd’hui de plus en plus à la communication de ce patrimoine. Pour informer son public, la bibliothèque utilise des affiches, des fiches d'information, des bulletins de sommaires, des listes d'acquisitions et plus récemment depuis l’apparition d’Internet des listes de diffusion etc. La communication commerciale quant à elle, s’appuie sur des outils et moyens d’information mieux élaborés et qui nécessitent beaucoup plus de moyens.
Le personnel Le personnel dans les bibliothèques n’est pas homogène car n’ayant pas reçu le même niveau de formation. On y distingue le personnel chargé de la conception, de l’orientation et de la politique documentaire de la bibliothèque et le personnel d’exécution constitué essentiellement de bibliothécaires et de sous-bibliothécaires (commis), en charge du traitement des documents et de l’accueil du public. Les sous-bibliothécaires ne mesurent pas souvent l’impact et la portée de leurs actions et comportement vis-à-vis du public. N’ayant pas reçu de formation en relations publiques, ils ont tendance à ne pas accorder tout le crédit à leurs positions dans la bibliothèque. Cette situation entraîne très souvent une relation d’incompréhension entre l’institution qu’est la bibliothèque et les usagers. Prendre en charge la formation en relation publique des personnels en contact avec les utilisateurs est un aspect à ne pas négliger dans la bibliothèque. La rentabilité de celle-ci en dépend en grande partie.
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Le « 5P » du marketing Mix dans les systèmes d’information documentaire
Ill n° 6 : Source : Réjean Savard (1988). - Principes directeurs pour l’enseignement du marketing dans la formation des bibliothécaires, des documentalistes et des archivistes. – Paris : UNESCO, p.23
Ill. n° 7: Source : J.M. Salaün (1990), Marketing des bibliothèques et des centres de documentation, Paris : Edition du Cercle de la librairie, p. 111
L’étude du marketing mix, aussi bien dans le cadre du marketing classique que dans celui des systèmes d’information documentaire, nous a semblé fort opportun, pour ainsi apprécier l’impact des outils du marketing les mieux adaptés dans un système d’information documentaire. Les précurseurs du marketing de l’information documentaire ont essayé d’adapter les outils du mix dans les bibliothèques mais force est de reconnaître que certaines variables s’appliquent difficilement aux structures documentaires. C’est le cas plus précisément du prix. Et si les bibliothécaires revoyaient l’application du mix dans les bibliothèques en la réduisant aux « 4 P », non pas ceux théorisés par J. M. Salaün (1990) comprenant : l’offre de service, la servuction, la communication et le contrat mais ceux regroupant les trois premières variables et le personnel (l’offre de service, la servuction, la communication et le personnel) comme illustré dans le schéma ci-dessous :
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Ill. n° 8 : Adaptation des « 4 P » du marketing Mix des bibliothèques et des centres de documentation proposé par J.M. Salaüm (1990)
La place du marketing dans les systèmes d’information documentaire en Afrique Le Sénégal est l’un des premiers pays en Afrique francophone au Sud du Sahara à disposer d’une école des sciences de l’information et de la communication grâce à l’appui de l’UNESCO. Cet établissement a eu pendant longtemps la vocation de former les professionnels des bibliothèques, centres de documentation et des dépôts d’archives pour la plupart des pays francophones d’Afrique noire. Dans cet institut d’université, le management des systèmes d’information documentaire fait partie des disciplines enseignées. Ceci laisse supposer que les professionnels, gestionnaires des systèmes d’information, ont une connaissance du management et du marketing de l’information. Cette supposition est d’ailleurs confirmée par les réponses obtenues lors des enquêtes de terrain. Les personnels des structures documentaires ayant répondu au questionnaire expliquent le marketing de l’information comme étant entre autres: « l’ensemble des activités ayant pour objectif de faire connaître la structure, ses offres et de la mettre en valeur». Cette définition très générale ne prend en compte que la « visibilité de la structure » ignorant ainsi tous les autres aspects en rapport avec le mix. Ainsi, malgré leur initiation aux principes du management et du marketing, les praticiens des bibliothèques n’appliquent pas systématiquement les stratégies du marketing dans leurs structures d’information en raison particulièrement de l’absence d’une politique de marketing rigoureusement définie. Face à cette situation, les conséquences ne manquent pas de se faire ressentir dans la gestion des bibliothèques et surtout devant la raréfaction des ressources financières entraînant ainsi, l’obsolescence des collections, l’arrêt des abonnements aux périodiques à titre onéreux, mais également la limitation du nombre de personnel qualifié à sa plus simple expression. Les professionnels se
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retrouvent généralement seuls à gérer toute une collection documentaire les amenant à devoir faire des choix comme l’exprime un répondant à l’enquête « devant la masse de travail et la limitation des ressources humaines, nous n’avons pas encore introduit les outils du Web 2.0 dans la bibliothèque ».
Le Web 2.0 et ses outils dans les bibliothèques Avec l’avènement de l’Internet, plusieurs outils de communication aussi variés les uns que les autres ont été développés et continuent de l’être dans le seul souci d’améliorer l’accès à l’information et de faciliter les échanges entres internautes. Après la messagerie, les listes de diffusion, les forums etc., nous assistons à la naissance des plus récents services à l’image du Web 2.0 avec son corollaire d’outils que sont blog, tag, wiki, mashup, fil RSS, Twitter … qui ont aussitôt été adoptés par les bibliothèques à l’instar des premiers outils. Mais quels rôles ces outils jouent-ils au sein des bibliothèques ? Une riche littérature est déjà disponible sur ces nouveaux outils de communication. Nous ferons donc l’économie de leur origine, définition et description pour davantage mettre l’accent sur leur impact au sein des bibliothèques dans un premier temps et dans une seconde étape les comparer avec les techniques du marketing. D’une manière générale, l’usage de ces outils est orienté vers la production et la diffusion d’une part et d’autre part vers la contribution, l’échange, l’enrichissement et l’accès à l’information. L’occasion est ainsi donnée à chaque individu d’être consommateur et producteur d’information de la façon la plus simple. Les blogs et les wikis de même que les fils RSS et Twitter illustrent parfaitement cette nouvelle tendance de l’appropriation de l’information. De tels outils ne pouvaient s’empêcher de s’inviter dans les bibliothèques quant on sait que l’orientation aujourd’hui des systèmes d’information documentaire est de fournir une information utile et accessible en temps réel. Les bibliothèques en marge de leurs services classiques intègrent ces outils pour mieux satisfaire les usagers espérant ainsi accroître leur visibilité. Cependant, l’une des insuffisances des outils du Web 2.0 est en rapport avec la pérennité de l’information et plus particulièrement des blogs qui peuvent naître et disparaître au gré des intérêts du moment de leurs initiateurs. Il appartiendra donc aux bibliothécaires d’en faire un bon usage en veillant systématiquement à la vérification de l’information à travers les outils qu’ils mettent à la disposition de l’usager. Il est reconnu que ces nouveaux outils mettent l’accent sur la production et la diffusion d’une part et d’autre part vers la contribution, l’échange, l’enrichissement et l’accès à l’information. Ceci revient dans un système classique de gestion de bibliothèque à une valeur ajoutée supplémentaire
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apportée par ces outils en termes de disponibilité/distribution de l’information/produit à tout moment et en tout lieu.
Ill. n° 9: symboles du Web 2.0
Le marketing des systèmes d’information documentaire et le Web 2.0: pour quelle synergie? Le marketing des systèmes d’information documentaire repose essentiellement sur des stratégies, basées sur une trajectoire bien définie et rigoureusement appliquée, pour parvenir non seulement à capter et à satisfaire les besoins des usagers mais également à optimiser les ressources investies pour atteindre les résultats escomptés. L’Internet a introduit de nouveaux outils de communication dans les bibliothèques, qui ont globalement amélioré et changé les méthodes et façons de communiquer des structures documentaires. Parmi ces outils, il y a ceux du Web 2.0. À l’analyse du rôle et de l’usage de certains des outils du Web 2.0, ces derniers peuvent s’adapter aisément au sein des bibliothèques. Il appartient aux professionnels de l’information tenant compte des usages habituels des utilisateurs d’adapter les outils du web 2.0 les mieux utilisés dans leurs structures. Il revient alors de constater que le marketing de l’information et les outils du Web 2.0 peuvent parfaitement s’adapter et même s’interconnecter, l’un faisant appel à l’autre pour l’amélioration des services, des performances et des attentes de tous les acteurs qui gravitent autour de la bibliothèque. C’est donc un impératif pour les bibliothécaires de s’approprier les différents outils, méthodes et techniques pouvant permettre d’aller de l’avant et de se départir des idées de rejet de certaines innovations qui sont surtout incontournables. Le fonctionnement des bibliothèques relève de plusieurs critères en rapport avec l’environnement, les ressources surtout financières et le professionnalisme de
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ses agents. Face aux bouleversements constatés dans les bibliothèques des pays dits développés, il est aussi judicieux de s’intéresser aux structures documentaires face aux enjeux technologiques dans des milieux moins nantis à l’image du continent africain.
Les structures d’information documentaire en Afrique face au marketing et au Web 2.0 Nécessité d’une prise en compte du marketing et du Web 2.0 Le marketing et les outils du Web 2.0 méritent d’avoir un meilleur sort dans les systèmes d'information documentaire en Afrique. Ceci ne pourra devenir une réalité qu'à travers une formation, une information et une intégration des professionnels de l’information documentaire dans les réseaux de professionnels à travers le monde. L’auto-formation est également à prendre en considération dans le cadre de la mise à niveau des bibliothécaires. La conjugaison des efforts entre les associations professionnelles de bibliothécaires et celles des professionnels de l'informatique pourrait largement être profitable pour les agents des bibliothèques en vue de relever leur niveau de maîtrise des technologies de l’information. Quant au marketing, les professionnels en font souvent usage mais sans pour autant s’en rendre compte d’où les limites des efforts consentis. Il est donc souhaitable que les techniques du marketing soient non seulement maitrisées mais aussi appliquées selon les règles de l'art pour en tirer le maximum de profits. Il revient non seulement aux enseignants de cette discipline dans les écoles de formation d’insister sur les résultats combien positifs que peut apporter une bonne maitrise du marketing de l’information mais aussi, il appartient aux associations professionnelles d’en assurer la vulgarisation à travers les animations et les rencontres qu’elles organisent. Après l’époque des bases de données, de l‘Internet, des bibliothèques numériques etc., les bibliothèques et les bibliothécaires doivent s’adapter aux changements perpétuels qui s’imposent à eux dans le cadre de l'exercice de leur fonction. À défaut d’une adaptation, les bibliothèques risquent d’être laissées à elles-mêmes et continueront d’être perçues comme des structures à charges et non rentables surtout celles logées dans des institutions autres que les universités.
Le Web 2.0 dans les bibliothèques africaines: l’étude de cas du Sénégal À l’échelle mondiale, le Web 2.0 est en train de changer les rapports entre bibliothécaires et usagers d’une part et d’autre part, de permettre une approche participative des utilisateurs au sein de la bibliothèque qui ne se limite plus aux messages véhiculés à travers les boîtes aux idées mais marquent leur présence par la manière même dont l’information doit être traitée et diffusée.
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Les résultats de l’enquête et les visites effectuées sur les pages Internet des bibliothèques au Sénégal démontrent que les bibliothécaires sont bien au fait des outils du Web 2.0 mais l’utilisent très peu à des fins professionnelles pour communiquer et diffuser l'information. Ces outils sont aussi très peu présents sur les sites Internet des institutions qui abritent ces bibliothèques. Ce qui laisse supposer pour les organisations qui en disposent, que c’est très certainement au moment de la conception du site Internet, que les outils du Web 2.0 ont été installés sans un réel impact recherché et voulu pour la visibilité de la structure. Les outils auxquels ils font référence sont le flux RSS, Facebook et Twitter. Qu’est-ce qui explique alors la faiblesse de l’utilisation des outils du Web 2.0 dans les bibliothèques au Sénégal? Les raisons objectives de cette faiblesse sont principalement liées à l’inexistence de formation des bibliothécaires et des usagers des bibliothèques dans l’exploitation des outils du Web 2.0. Cette formation devrait pouvoir être prise en charge par les associations nationales de professionnels. Les conséquences qui résultent de cette absence d’utilisation professionnelle de ces outils sont l’implication limitée des utilisateurs dans la gestion des services de la bibliothèque.
Conclusion Tous les professionnels des bibliothèques cherchent à s’approprier des questions que soulèvent aussi clairement Marc Maisonneuve en ces termes : «Les bibliothèques, en effet, doivent aujourd’hui répondre à un besoin d’immédiateté (l’usager ne veut plus subir la contrainte des horaires) et de personnalisation des services (l’usager veut disposer d’une information sur mesure, répondant à ses centres d’intérêt). La proposition d’une offre de services hors les murs, adaptée aux contraintes des actifs et source d’une liberté nouvelle pour tous les usagers, semble s’imposer peu à peu comme la principale stratégie de fidélisation ou de reconquête des publics.9» À cette exigence à laquelle il faut répondre, il nous semble que le marketing des systèmes d’information et les outils du Web 2.0 nouvellement intégrés dans les bibliothèques compte tenu de leurs avantages significatifs peuvent largement y contribuer. Il revient simplement aux bibliothécaires de les accepter à l’image des techniques bibliothéconomiques, de les maîtriser et d’en faire une application judicieuse pour en tirer le plus de bénéfice pour la bibliothèque et les usagers. Il est aussi important de noter que le marketing et le Web 2 .0 font bon ménage et sont complémentaires car l’un contribue à analyser, à diagnostiquer l’environnement de la bibliothèque en vue de mieux connaître le public cible. Quant à l’autre, il permet d’intégrer les points de vue des usagers, d’en faire 12 Maisonneuve, Marc, 2008, Le catalogue de la bibliothèque à l’ère du Web 2.0 : étude des opacs de nouvelle génération, Paris : ADBS, 305 p.
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des éditeurs mais aussi et surtout de permettre au public à qui l’information des bibliothèques est destinée d‘élargir ses sources d’information et ses réseaux d’échange. La combinaison judicieuse du marketing de l'information et du Web 2.0 ne peut être que profitable aux bibliothèques.
Bibliographie Calenge, B., 2009. Web 2.0 et bibliothèques : une contribution Cousin, Capucine, 2008, Tout sur le Web 2.0, Paris : Dunod, 184 p. Danowski, P., 2007. Bibliothèque 2.0 et contenu produit par l’usager : Que peuvent faire les usagers pour nous ?, 6 p., http://archive.ifla.org/IV/ifla73/papers/113-Danowskitrans-fr.pdf (Consulté le 08 mars 2010) Les enjeux du catalogue 2.0 : la reconquête du public, http://www.toscaconsultants.fr/ articles/LES%20ENJEUX%20DU%20WEB%202.0%20POUR%20LES%20BIBLIOT HEQUES.%20LA%20RECONQUETE%20DU%20PUBLIC.pdf (Consulté le 13/03/2010) Exemple de mise en place de services Web 2.0 dans les bibliothèques , http://www.adbs. fr/secteurs/IMG/ppt/mercier061106.ppt#256,1 (Consulté le 13/03/2010) Kotler, P. ; Dubois, B. , 2000, « Marketing management, 10ème ed., Paris: Publi-Union Editions, 789 p. Kotler, Philip ; Dubois, Bernard ; Keller, Kevin ; Manceau, Delphine, 2009, Marketing Management, 13e édition, Paris : Nouveaux Horizons, 900 p. Lardy, J., 2010. Bibliothèque et Web 2.0 JPL-Bibliothèques_et_web2.ppt (13/03/2010) Le Hénaff, D., Date Web 2.0, nouveaux usages d’accès et de diffusion de l’information, Web 2.0 : principe et utilité pour les professionnels de l’info-doc, http://www.adbs. fr/regions/IMG/pdf/web2-adbslr-professionnel-infodoc.pdf (Consulté le 12/04/2010) Maisonneuve, M., Les enjeux du catalogue 2.0 : la reconquête du public, LES%20ENJEUX%20DU%20WEB%202.0%20POUR%20LES%20BIBLIOTHEQU ES.%20LA%20RECONQUETE%20DU%20PUBLIC.pdf (Consulté le 10 mai 2010) Maisonneuve, M., 2008. Le catalogue de la bibliothèque à l’ère du Web 2.0 : étude des opacs de nouvelle génération, Paris : ADBS, 305 p. Malouin, J., Le Web 2.0 : l’aire des communautés, http://www.electroniquebooks.com/ web_documents/rapportWeb 2.0.pdf (Consulté le 20 juin 2010) Mathiot, V.T., 2007. « Les outils du Web 2.0 en bibliothèque », BBF, 2007, n° 6, p. 100101 , http://bbf.enssib.fr/ (Consulté le 08 mars 2010) Mayol, S., Le Marketing 2.0 : de l’apparition de nouvelles techniques à la mise en place d’une véritable nouvelle vision du marketing stratégique, http://cnriut09.univlille1.fr/articles/Articles/Fulltext/257a.pdf (Consulté le 07 MARS 2010) Peinaar, H.; Smith, I., Le développement d’un service de type pour une bibliothèque africaine, http://www.ifla.org/iv/ifla73/index.htm (13/03/2010) Poissenot, C., 2009. « La nouvelle bibliothèque : contribution pour la bibliothèque de demain », BBF. N° 6, p. 104-105, http://bbf.enssib.fr/ (Consulté le 13 mars 2010) Rambhujun, N., 1983. Le marketing des bibliothèques universitaires : une approche théorique, BBF, t. 28, n° 5, p. 485-496 Rambhujun, N., 1984. Le marketing des bibliothèques universitaires : une étude de cas, les usagers de la bibliothèque universitaire de Bordeaux, section droit et sciences économiques, BBF, t. 29, n° 1, p. 4-15
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Regards sur le Web 2.0 : le Web 2.0 entre mode, marketing et réalité technique, http:// www.cooperatique.com/wp-content/dsWeb 2.0_Regards.pdf (Consulté le 10 juin 2010) Renoult, L. Enjeux des outils web 2.Enjeux des outils et applications dans la stratégie d’entreprise. web2_0_triplelootz_010210.pdf (20 mai 2010) Roux, M., 2009. « Catalogues en devenir : nouveaux usages, nouveaux outils ? », BBF. N° 5, p. 76-77 , http://bbf.enssib.fr/ (Consulté le 13 mars 2010) Torres, I., 2002. « Le marketing des services d’information et de documentation : une étude documentaire », Documentaliste – Science de l’information. Vol. 39, n° 6, p. 290-297 Verneuil, A., 2007. « L'avenir des bibliothèques à l'ère du et face aux évolutions d'Internet », BBF, n° 5, p. 93-94 http://bbf.enssib.fr/ (Consulté le 13 mars 2010) Weinberg, A., 2009. « Aux sources de l’histoire », Sciences humaines, n° 209, p. 30-35
Section-II: Adopting Web 2.0 strategies
Staying free from “Corporate Marketing Machines” library policy for Web 2.0 tools Heather Lea Moulaison e-mail: [email protected] Assistant Professor, School of Information Science & Learning Technologies University of Missouri–Columbia, USA Edward M. Corrado e-mail: [email protected] Assistant Director for Library Technology, Binghamton University Libraries Binghamton University, USA Abstract With the rise of social media, libraries are able to use Web 2.0 tools not only for communication and services, but also for marketing and advertising these services. Boundaries between personal and professional, however, can be blurred when librarians use personal accounts for professional reasons. Policy documents to guide librarians in their use of social media are lacking, but policies stored in SocialMediaGovernance.com’s database can provide insight on best-practices policies for social media use in similar environments. This paper assesses the content of policies created by non-profits and government-sponsored institutions and uses these as the basis for recommendations for social media policy in libraries. By clearly defining the use of Web 2.0 technologies in libraries, librarians can be empowered to embrace these new technologies and to rely on their own informed judgment when putting them to use.
Résumé Avec l’essor des médias sociaux, une bibliothèque peut actuellement se servir des outils Web 2 non seulement pour la communication et comme plate-forme des services, mais aussi pour le marketing et pour la publicité de ces services. Les frontières entre le personnel et le professionnel peuvent toutefois devenir
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moins nettes lorsque les bibliothécaires se servent des comptes personnels pour des raisons professionnelles. De la documentation manque pour guider les bibliothécaires dans l’utilisation des médias sociaux, mais des politiques contenues dans la base de données SocialMediaGovernance.com peuvent combler cette lacune en indiquant de meilleures pratiques en ce qui concerne les médias sociaux dans des environnements connexes. Pour arriver à un jeu de sujets à aborder dans sa politique de bibliothèque, cette étude prend en considération les politiques des institutions à but non lucratif et des institutions gouvernementales. En définissant clairement l’usage des technologies Web 2 dans les bibliothèques, les bibliothécaires auront le pouvoir d’accepter ces technologies et ils auront la confiance pour les mettre en œuvre judicieusement.
Introduction Libraries have made use of technology throughout their history, and the present time offers new opportunities for integrating Web technologies with standard workloads. Libraries are unique in that they, by definition, will support the information needs of users from some other institution such as a country, a municipality, a university, or a business. Dependent on other institutions for funding and working in the service of these parent organizations, libraries will have unique needs when it comes to creating policy that will simultaneously meet the needs of the parent organization and meet the needs of users of the library services. The establishment of policy to guide librarians in their use of Web 2.0 tools is no different. This paper will begin with a discussion of social media in general and will take a brief look at two examples of social media tools, Facebook and Twitter. In light of the potential for blurring of boundaries when librarians use social media tools in their work, then it looks to the SocialMediaGovernance.com policy database to see what other non-profits and government organizations suggest in terms of policy for social media use. Taking the most commonly used elements found in policies housed in the database, then suggests as to how these elements might be considered when creating policy documents for libraries. Finally, concludes with thoughts about the use of social media in libraries.
Social media Social media are a large subset of social Web 2.0 technologies, some of which may be enjoyed through SMS features of standard mobile phones. For the purpose of this paper, we will de-emphasize the mode of access, and consider social media to be Web 2.0 technologies that highlight the individual user and
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his or her connections to other individuals. Online connections take place through sites that use easily-mastered Web 2.0 authoring, messaging, and sharing tools. Web 2.0 tools make social media user-friendly and socially enjoyable – a space for users to exploit their social networks while demonstrating their creativity, preferences, and unique personalities. Users create accounts and in many cases, identify friends or networks of other users, and interact by creating or uploading content, commenting posted content, and sending messages. Social media include social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, but can also be considered to include video- or photo-sharing sites like YouTube or Flickr, location-based mobile applications like Gowalla and FourSquare, and Web 2.0 tools like blogs and wikis. Besides being used for communication between peers, these tools are being used by businesses and non-profits for marketing and promotion. Two commonly used and much-discussed social media sites are Facebook and Twitter. Facebook is the preeminent social networking site in the world with over 500 million active users, 50% of whom will log on in a given day, and 70% of whom are located outside of the United States1. Facebook users log into an account, personalize that account, connect with members of their networks, show support for organizations they like, broadcast their own brief comments, post comments to pages of members of their network, send messages, and show their support by indicating that they “like” certain content. They can also organize gatherings or post photos or videos. Many other similar sites exist that may be used in more or less the same way around the world. Like Facebook, Twitter is also gaining attention both in and out of libraries. Twitter is a site permitting micro-blogging, where users publish updates of 140 characters or fewer called a “tweet”. In April 2010, it was reported that Twitter had 106 million users, and Twitter usage is on the rise2. On July 31, the 20 billionth tweet was posted on Twitter.3 Lindy Brown has compiled lists of United States libraries4 and international libraries5 using Twitter for communication. The two lists enumerate 817 libraries, demonstrating that a wide range and significant number of libraries are using Twitter around the globe. Both Facebook and Twitter are currently being used for marketing and promotion of a variety of products and services. Products such as Coca-Cola (8,081,127 users “Like” Coca-Cola6) and businesses such as IKEA (96,352
1 2 3 4 5 6
http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics (accessed July 13, 2010). http://www.businessinsider.com/twitter-stats-2010-4#it-gets-180-million-unique-visitors-3 (accessed July 13, 2010) Twitter user sends world's 20 billionth tweet. . (2010, 31 July). BBC News. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-10829383 (accessed August 2, 2010) Brown, Lindy. (2010, 22 July). Libraries on Twitter (updated list). [weblog]. (accessed July 22, 2010). http://lindybrown.com/blog/2009/01/libraries-on-twitter-updated-list/ Brown, Lindy. (2010, 22 July). Libraries on Twitter (updated list). [weblog]. (accessed July 22, 2010). http://lindybrown.com/blog/2009/01/libraries-on-twitter-updated-list/ On July 20, 2010
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users “Like” IKEA7) can have fan pages in Facebook where users can publically show their loyalty, and where companies can post information and coupons, and answer questions. Twitter account holders can “follow” the tweets of favorite companies, and can create lists of accounts that post entertaining or useful tweets. Twitter has published “Twitter 101”, a guide for businesses on how to make the most of Twitter (http://business.twitter.com/twitter101/). Starbucks is one company making use of Twitter, and has 961,624 followers8. Because these companies are already engaging in advertising and are already managing branding of the name and their products, new online venues like social media that offer unpaid advertising are easily exploited. Libraries and other non-profit organizations have also made forays for the purpose of marketing (services, events, fundraisers, etc.). A delicate balance needs to be struck for users who are in these spaces to enjoy themselves, but who want to receive communication, show support, express their own unique likes and personality, and be entertained. In this paper, we focus on Facebook and Twitter as examples of social media sites used by libraries for marketing that will benefit from across-the-board guidelines and from formal institution-specific policy.
Librarians as social creatures With the rise of social media, Web 2.0 technologies are increasingly being used as important outreach tools for all kinds of libraries, and these tools are ones that patrons are coming to expect. In libraries, use of new media means that a new set of skills must be acquired by librarians in order to meet the needs of their users (Murphy and Moulaison, 2009). As in the recent past, librarians can apply their own Internet and Web 2.0 skills to the creation and maintenance of new library services that take advantage of these technologies. Farkas (2009) points out that when this happens with social media, though, there can be a blurring of boundaries. Librarians with social media accounts in their own name will already be connected to others not related to their work. When private posts from a librarian’s personal account are about work, and when those posts are negative or unprofessional, the reputation of the employer can suffer (Farkas, 2009). The greatest amount of overlap between personal and private currently is in the realm of social media, and all Web 2.0 interactions between librarians and patrons can benefit from guidelines and policy documents that assist in understanding how these new technologies should be used.
7 8
On July 20, 2010 On July 20, 2010
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Web search for library policy and social media guidelines While it is understood that policy for social media use in libraries is important, a dearth of information specific to libraries is available. In her article, Grensing-Pophal (2010) writes about the importance of social media policy in general terms, but does not look at specifics as they relate to libraries. In an attempt to understand how library institutions are approaching the task of social media policy creation, we carried out a Web search. The goal was to see what kinds of policy documents or guidelines for interactions were posted to assist librarians in their use of Web 2.0 tools and social media as part of library outreach services and marketing. The Web searches we carried out were brief and exploratory, for the purposes of gaining a sense of the available information. Searches were carried out in both English and French in North America in the months of May and July, 2010. Informal observations from this search are the following: • • •
Libraries have not made a priority of posting Web 2.0 tools or social media policy/guidelines for employees on the open Web Libraries are more concerned with posting Web 2.0 and social media policy/guidelines for patrons No documentation in French was discovered, only documentation in English
Based on this brief exercise, it can be conclude that libraries either have created Web 2.0 and social media policy documents and guidelines for staff, have posted them to locations that are not freely available on the Web; or that libraries have not yet created these policies or guidelines. Either way, there is little for libraries at large to use as a basis for the creation of such documents at the present time.
Social mediagovernance.com’s policy database Taking a step back from libraries, it is possible to study the big picture of Web 2.0 and social media use by looking at policy documents posted online to the repository of policy documents hosted at SocialMediaGovernance.com. SocialMediaGovernance.com is a site devoted to social media policy documents from around the world, and also includes reports on the topic that are international in scope and a report based on the contents of the database.
Analysis of non-profit policies It is possible to look more closely at non-profits and government organizations’ policy documents in the SocialMediaGovernance.com database, as the
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policies uploaded to the site are organized by type of industry9. Because nonprofits and governments have the most in common with standard libraries, this group of organizations was chosen. A total of 44 nonprofits and government organizations have uploaded policy documents to the clearinghouse. Of those, seven dealt exclusively with blogs or wikis and were discarded for the purpose of this paper. Seven additional policies were excluded after inspection because they dealt more with the public interacting with social media then with employees interacting with social media, and four polices were combined into two because they were by the same organization. In total, 28 policies were studied. The policies studied were quite diverse both in terms of the organizations they represent and the size and scope of the documents. The policies range from the Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia, to universities, to churches, to branches of the United States military. Some of the policies are only a page long while others are 80+ page long documents like the Guide to Online Participation created by the New Zealand State Services Commission. The diversity of the policies makes it quite difficult to compare and contrast the policies, but there are still a significant number of similarities between most of the policies and certain themes that were repeated. An analysis of the 28 selected policies identified eleven predominant themes. These themes are: • • • • • • • • • • •
Branding, discloser, and disclaimers (n=26) Professionalism and demeanor (n=23) Guidelines about interacting with the public (including moderating comments) (n=19) Content (type of content to post or not to post) (n=19) Legal concerns (include record retention, copyright, and privacy laws) (n=19) Approval process of social media use (including who and why) (n=18) Personal use of social media (n=15) Aligning social media presence with organizational mission and goals (n=14) Best practices (including knowing your audience) (n=11) Evaluation of social media presence (n=10) Training (n=6)
Branding, discloser, and disclaimers: It is probably not surprising that over 90% of polices analyzed mentioned something to do with branding, disclosing affiliation, and including disclaimers. Although most of the policies mentioned that these themes, the extent to which they were discussed varied. Some policies specified use of organizational colors, logos and mottos and others went into the detail of how to construct user names. Most of the policies called for 9
Online Database of Governent and Non-Profit Social Media Policies http://socialmediagovernance.com/policies.php?f=5 (accessed July 13, 2010)
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social media users to be transparent and include their name, position within the organization, and contact information. A typical example involving disclosure comes from the Australian Public Service Commission. Their policy states that “staff making official use of online media should disclose their position and status and the fact that they are authorised to communicate an official viewpoint.” 10 Professionalism and demeanor: More than 80% of polices included statements about keeping a professional demeanor when participating on social media sites. Some of the policies offered general descriptions such as being respectful while others like the (US) National Public Radio (NPR) policy where more descriptive. NPR's policy includes language stating “you should do nothing that could undermine your credibility with the public, damage NPR's standing as an impartial source of news, or otherwise jeopardize NPR's reputation.” 11 Guidelines about interacting with the public (including moderating comments): Almost 70% of the policies include guidelines about interacting with the public. These including things like being courteous and truthful and are accompanied by guidelines to be followed when approving or deleting comments on Facebook and blogs. One policy also included information about “friending” people on social media sites. It is likely that this organization, BBYO, did this in part because they are a leadership organization for teenagers. Content (type of content to post or not to post:. A majority of the policies included some information about the content of postings. Many of these included statements about posting truthful and accurate content. Other's included statements like New Zealand State Services Commission's policy that said employees should “only disclose information in your official capacity that you are authorized to disclose”12 A common aspect of policies from governmental organizations was to remain politically neutral and to not say anything that could be constituted as supporting a particular political party. Legal concerns (include record retention, copyright, and privacy laws): Many of the policies mentioned various legal requirements and concerns. The most common one by far was about respecting copyright. One thing that was not included in many policies, however, was the copyright status of anything posted on a social media site. This may be because ownership of intellectual content of employee work is covered in other policies. While it was not analyzed for this study because it focuses solely on blogs, one policy that does talk about copyright of postings is the Weblogs at Harvard Law School Terms 10 Australian Public Services Commission, Interim Protocols for Online Media Participation, http://www.e.govt.nz/policy/participation/guide-to-online-participation (accessed July 31, 2010) http://apsc.gov.au/circulars/circular088.htm (accessed July 30, 2010) 11 National Public Radio, News Social Media Guidelines http://www.npr.org/about/ ethics/social_media_guidelines.html (accessed July 31, 2010) 12 New Zealand State Services Commission. Guide to Online Participation. 13.
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of Use1. Theses terms of use say that the default license for anything posted is copyright-able by the author and is submitted under the terms of an Attribution-Share Alike Creative Commons Public License. If a library or parent organization does not already have a copyright policy for employee work, it may want to make this policy clear in any policy created. Many of the policies from governmental agencies also included statements about public record retention policies and procedures and privacy laws such as the United States' Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Approval process of social media use (including who and why): More than half of the policies discussed the approval process for creating organizational accounts and presence on social media sites. The particular processes varied greatly from one policy stating that the “Public Affairs Office must review and approve all [content] prior to posting”2 to Vanderbilt University's policy stating one should “secure the approval of your department head or manager.”3 Personal use of social media: Just over half of the policies discuss personal use of social media. It is presumable that the other organizations may have had separate policies for personal use or they may be covered in a different document such as a faculty handbook. None of the policies prohibited the use of social media for personal use but some of them did suggest that staff notify their managers. Another common theme relating to personal use of social media was that employees should not be using organizational time or resources for purely personal activities. The American Red Cross's Online Communications Guidelines states that employees should “uphold the fundamental principles” of the Red Cross during personal use of social media.4 Many of the policies also refereed to other organizational policies such as a code of conduct that may relate to using social media sites for personal reasons. Aligning social media presence with organizational mission and goals: Half of the policies talk about aligning social media presence with organizational mission and goals. How this was done varied from one short mention to, in the longer documents, suggestions on how to do this. Tufts and Vanderbilt Universities as well as others made it clear that from the beginning employees should define their goals when starting a social media presence. Best practices (including knowing your audience): Some of the policies, especially the longer ones, included information about best practices. One of 13 Harvard Law School. Weblogs at Harvard Law School Terms of Use. http:// blogs.law.harvard.edu/terms-of-use/ (accessed August 1, 2010) 14 Wake County. Web 2.0 Guidelines for Use. http://www.wakeemployees.com/support/ documents/web20_dept_guidelines.pdf (accessed July 31, 2010) 15 Vanderbilt University. Social Media Handbook. http://www.vanderbilt.edu/publicaffairs/ webcomm/social-media-handbook/ (accessed July 31, 2010) 16 American Red Cross. Online Communications Guidelines. https://docs.google.com/ View?docid=df4n5v7k_98chfqrnch&hgd=1#_PERSONAL_COMMUNICATIONS (accessed July 30, 2010)
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the things mentioned along with best practices was “know your audience”. Knowing your audience may be particularly important for more narrowly focused organizations and/or smaller departments. The American Red Cross suggested that people using social media should “learn the culture of social media.”5 Another theme repeated was that people using social media should remember that, as the United States' General Services Administration (GSA) polices states, “published content is persistent in the public domain.”6 Evaluation of social media presence: Approximately 40% of the policies talked about the need to evaluate the organization’s social media presence. The policies varied as to how to do this, but the ones that went into any detail pointed out the need to plan how you are going to evaluate any new or expanded social media presence before jumping in. Another theme was the need to do ongoing evaluation. For example, if you created a social media presence and you evaluated it after six months, you should continue re-evaluate at regular intervals because the nature of social media is constantly changing and what worked six months or a year ago may not work today. Training: Just over 20% of the policies mentioned training. How this approached, like other common themes, was varied. Some mentioned exactly where to get training while others mentioned that department heads should make sure that the staff members they authorize to post on social media sites have the proper training.
Suggested policy elements for libraries In light of the literature cited above and based on the social media policies and guidelines indicated in the SocialMediaGovernance.com’s database, we suggest the following library-specific elements be addressed in formal library policy guiding social media use. The elements are divided into three categories: Management, Creation, and Use of social media. The themes found in the SocialMediaGovernance.com’s policies were listed above by frequency, with the themes appearing in the largest number of policies listed first. The elements that follow represent the repurposing of these themes in a library content. Elements are therefore listed in a way that makes sense to their discussion for inclusion in library policies. Themes taken from the SocialMediaGovernance.com policies are indicated in italics below. The framework being put forth emphasizes the importance of the management elements. Library social media policies will want to address at least some if not all of the elements presented below: 17 American Red Cross. Online Communications Guidelines. https://docs.google. com/View?docid=df4n5v7k_98chfqrnch&hgd=1#_PERSONAL_COMMUNICATIONS (accessed July 31, 2010) 18 General Service Administration. Social Media Policy. http://www.gsa.gov/graphics/ staffoffices/socialmediapolicy.pdf (accessed July 31, 2010)
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Management (administrative aspects of maintaining a social media presence) • •
•
•
•
•
•
“Determine Your Objective”( Lauby , 2010): What does it mean to your library to have a successful social media presence? Align social media presence with organizational mission and goals: Define the role of new media and social media, tying them in to the goals of the institution; Create, as necessary, a set of goals for the use of each social media site; Ensure that enough staff-hours can be devoted to the account’s maintenance once it is in place; and Ensure that the account will be deleted or turned off instead of abandoned if not successful Approval process of social media use (including who and why): Specify which employee(s) / team(s) will have new social media responsibilities; Direct creation and use of social media accounts, including maintenance; Establish social media procedures - Handing off responsibilities to another employee ◦ Permanently due to personnel changes ◦ Temporarily due to leave, vacation, etc. - Changing platforms or social media sites “Create a tactical road map” (Smithsonian Institution (2009); Move from beta to production. It is good to allow employees to experiment but at some point any organizational social media presence needs to move from an experimental stage to production. In some cases it may mean that the person that started the account or page may need to hand over the reins to some other person or part of the organization, or allow additional employees administrative access to the account. Training : Determine education needed to support new media use; Provide information literacy instruction in new media for patrons as part of a 21st century skill set ; Conduct workshops on social media for peer librarians - Currently in use by the library - Of potential interest to the library Evaluation of social media presence: Evaluate the use of social media in the library ;Set a timeframe for evaluations (after 6 months? One year?); Request employee, systems, and patron assessment of social media use and usefulness; stablish the return on investment (ROI) - By community served (Only homework help?) - By point in time (Posts only in summer? Only late at night?) Compared to other uses of staff time (Is it better to create more interactive library Web pages?) Legal concerns (include record retention, copyright, and privacy laws): Include information about any applicable laws or regulations - Intellectual property; Copyright
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- Privacy laws - Record retention laws Personal use of social media: From staff with personal accounts; If not addressed elsewhere may be appropriate to include; Use of library time and resources for personal social media use
II Creation (one-time creation and documentation of account information) • •
Branding, discloser, and disclaimers. Specify who may and under what circumstances ; Create accounts in the library’s name; Specify naming conventions for account names (Murphy, 2008) Specify where/by whom: Documentation for the account is to be maintained - Social media website’s URL - Account login and password Total staff hours researching creation and creating the account will be logged for future evaluation
III Uses (regular maintenance of library’s social media presence) •
•
Content (type of content to post or not to post). Identify services, collections, news, information, etc. that may be advertised/marketed ; Indicate information that should consistently be included (information about changes to opening hours, etc.); Indicate information that is not appropriate (i.e. personnel changes, personal news from staff, etc.) ; Consider how patron privacy can be maintained when necessary Best practices (including knowing your audience). Indicate expectations about - Guidelines about interacting with the public (including moderating comments). Politeness/tone/level of formality - Professionalism and demeanor. ◦ Use of abbreviations or Web conventions for spelling Personal disclosures including giving names, locations, etc.; Speed of responses to direct questions; Importance in relation to other library services (less important than phone queries, but more important than email questions?); Instances where employees use their own judgment in responding to difficult or challenging posts, and the spirit informing that judgment ◦ Provide a link to guidelines as necessary
Implications and recommendations A wide range of scenarios can be addressed by library administrators when working through the policy elements above. The resulting policies are meant to assist the librarian in his or her work, and not to restrict him or her. By help-
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ing to guide librarians when working in social media environments, these policy elements can at the same time protect them, providing context and rationale for work done on social media. Guidelines for libraries, parent organizations, library associations, and others can be referenced as necessary to help librarians in their professional work. It should be recognized that social media may not be of interest to all librarians at an institution. It is not necessary for everyone in the library to understand the behind-the-scenes functioning of social media, but it is necessary that any social media service, once put in place, be understood in general terms by an institution’s librarians. By formalizing policy, the place that social media will have in the library is made clear; roles and responsibilities are established. Further, mechanisms are in place so that services offered via social media are consistently maintained and promoted to patrons when appropriate. For many librarians, this will include learning about social media as public relations personnel are doing in other sectors (Cordelier, 2010). Formalization of a policy can ensure that libraries will receive opportunities to have necessary training so that they can go onto educate users in this kind of 21st century skill sets.
Conclusion The paper describes some social media in use in commercial business and described some ways that businesses are using Facebook and Twitter for marketing. When it became clear that libraries have not formalized their policies in a public way, we looked to the policies for non-profits and government organizations housed in the SocialMediaGovernance.com database. With the predominant themes from these policies in mind, we suggested a framework of elements to address in a library’s social media policy that deal with management, creation, and use of social media by librarians. Interacting with patrons in new social media environments can be a worthwhile pursuit for libraries of all kinds. Guiding library employees in the creation and use of these sites is essential, and creating a detailed road map by which these tools, like any other tools in use by the library, may be implemented and assessed is equally important. Social media cannot be left to chance, or librarians may find themselves in difficult positions if the blurred boundaries are inadvertently transgressed. Now is the time to stop using social media experimentally in libraries, and to begin using it in a way that is respectful of our users, our employees, and our mission, as the potentially powerful tool that they are. We believe that presenting librarians with clear guidelines for the management, creation, and use of social media in libraries goes a long way toward making that new goal a reality.
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References Cordelier, B., 2010. Quelle utilisation des médias sociaux en 2010 dans l’industrie des communications ? [Presentation]. Centre d’études AAPQ-Infopresse en communications marketing, UQAM. http://www.crpcm.uqam.ca/pages/medias/Présentation%20sur %20l'utilisation%20des%20médias%20sociaux%20en%202010.pdf Farkas, M., 2009. Governing social media: Protect your library’s brand online. American Libraries, p. 35. Grensing-Pophal, L., 2010. The new social media guidelines. Information Today, 27(3), 1, 46-47. Lauby, S.,2010. How to: Implement a social media business strategy. Mashable.com. http:// mashable.com/2009/12/28/social-media-business-strategy/. Murphy, J, and Moulaison, H.L., 2009. Social networking literacy competencies for librarians: Exploring considerations and engaging participation. In D. M. Mueller (Ed.), Pushing the edge: explore, extend, engage: Proceedings of the Fourteenth National Conference of the Association of College and Research Libraries, March 12-15, 2009, Seattle, Washington. (pp. 328-330). Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries. Murphy, J., 2008. Presentation in Designing User Centered Information Systems. School of Communication and Information, Rutgers University. Smithsonian Institution, 2009. Web and New Media Strategy http://smithsonian webstrategy.wikispaces.com/file/view/20090729_Smithsonian-Web-New-Media Strategy_v1.0.pdf (accessed July 14, 2010)
Innovation as a framework for adopting Web 2.0 marketing approaches Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe e-mail: [email protected] Rudy Leon e-mail: [email protected] University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA Abstract Web 2.0 offers a myriad of tools for expanding the library's marketing strategy. Traditional marketing practices such as the 4Ps offer useful guidance in developing a Web 2.0 strategy. As many Web 2.0 approaches are experimental and ephemeral (e.g., different tools become popular but may fade in prominence over time), it can be challenging to determine which of these to use. Considering the traditional approaches in combination with innovation theory and design thinking will help library and information professionals to make powerful predictions of where to invest time and resources in the Web 2.0 marketing world. A case study of the use of Twitter by an academic library exemplifies this approach. Using innovation theory and design thinking will help libraries in selecting Web 2.0 applications for marketing library services and resources and help librarians in understanding what users need from their libraries in order to develop responsive and proactive marketing strategies for the Web 2.0 world.
Résumé Le Web 2.0 offre une multitude d’outils permettant l’expansion de la stratégie marketing de la bibliothèque. Les pratiques traditionnelles du marketing comme les 4 P peuvent guider adéquatement le développement d’une stratégie Web 2.0. Comme plusieurs approches de type Web 2.0 sont expérimentales et éphémères (e.g. différents outils deviennent populaires mais peuvent perdre de l’importance avec le temps), déterminer laquelle utiliser peut apparaître comme un défi. Pour permettre aux professionnels des bibliothèques de prédire avec précision où investir du temps et des ressources dans l’univers
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des stratégies marketing Web 2.0, il importe de considérer les approches traditionnelles en combinaison avec la théorie de l’innovation et la pensée design. Une étude de cas de l’utilisation de Twitter par une bibliothèque universitaire illustre cette approche qui aidera les bibliothécaires à comprendre ce que les utilisateurs ont besoin dans leurs bibliothèques afin de concevoir des stratégies marketing Web 2.0 proactives et qui fonctionnent.
Introduction A search of the Internet reveals a common description of Web 2.0. It is found on multiple websites but its origin appears unknown. Exemplifying the Web 2.0 ethos, the description appears to belong to the community and no longer to any individual in particular. According to this description, Web 2.0 is used to describe the “second generation” of the World Wide Web. This second generation is focused collaborating and sharing information online. Web 2.0 transitions from static HTML Web pages to a dynamic environment that is based on people using Web applications. The focus is on open communication in Web -based communities of users and on open sharing of information. Focused on open communication and open sharing of information, Web 2.0 theories and technologies offer great potential for expanding the library's marketing strategy and reaching customers. There are a myriad of tools and resources that are freely available. Indeed, there are so many tools and resources that it can be challenging to determine which ones, if any, to adopt for a particular library, service, program, or collection. Traditional marketing principles and practices such as the marketing mix (i.e., the 4Ps) can offer useful guidance in developing a Web 2.0 strategy. The 4Ps are product, price, place, and promotion. The marketing professional considers these elements in relation to the targeted customers. The goal is for customers to perceive value in the marketed product or service. The 4Ps are widely discussed in the marketing literature and also serve as the foundation of a number of extensions of the model, including The Eight Ps of services marketing (Lovelock and Wirtz, 2007). The nature of Web 2.0 tools and resources challenge traditional marketing approach. Many Web 2.0 approaches are necessarily experimental and expressive. They are experimental, ephemeral, and evolving. As different tools become popular but may then fade in prominence over time, it can be challenging to determine which to use and which to avoid. Considering innovation and design theories in combination with traditional marketing approaches will help library professionals make powerful predictions of where to invest time and resources in the Web 2.0 marketing world.
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Innovation theory Everett M. Rogers’ book, Diffusion of Innovations, is the touchstone text for understanding innovation theory. Widely available in multiple print editions, the original 1962 edition is also available through Google Books (http://books.google.com/?id=zw0-AAAAIAAJ). Though others have expanded on this work over the intervening years, Rogers remains the foundational text for understanding the basic concepts and processes of innovation adoption. In making a decision about whether to adopt a particular Web 2.0 resource, considering the characteristics of innovation that influence adoption will assist librarians in analyzing the relative merits of the Web 2.0 resource. Given the social nature of Web 2.0 resources, consideration will need to be made of the characteristics influencing adoption both from the perspective of the library (i.e., will the library adopt a particular Web 2.0 resource) and from the perspective of the library’s target market for that resource (i.e., will the users adopt the particular Web 2.0 resource). Rogers discusses five characteristics: •
•
• • •
Relative advantage is “the degree to which an innovation is perceived as better than the idea it supersedes. The degree of relative advantage is often expressed as economic profitability, social prestige, or other benefits.” (Rogers, 1995, 212) Compatibility is “the degree to which an innovation is perceived as consistent with the existing values, past experiences, and needs of potential adopters. An idea that is more compatible is less uncertain … and fits more closely with the individual’s life situation. Such compatibility helps the individual give meaning to the new idea so that it is regarded as familiar.” (Rogers, 1995, 224) Complexity is “the degree to which an innovation is perceived as relatively difficult to understand and use.” (Rogers, 1995, 242) Trialability is “the degree to which an innovation may be experimented with on a limited basis.” (Rogers, 1995, 243) Observability is “the degree to which the results of an innovation are visible to others.” (Rogers, 1995, 244)
Generally speaking, the relative advantage, compatibility, trialability, and observability of an innovation – as perceived by members of a social system – are positively correlated to rate of its adoption while complexity is negatively related to its rate of adoption. (Rogers, 1995, 250-251) Also important to understand is the innovation-decision process. Rogers defines this process as: “the process through which an individual (or other decision-making unit) passes (1) from first knowledge of an innovation, (2) to forming an attitude toward the innovation, (3) to a decision to adopt or reject, (4) to implementation of the new ideas, and (5) to confirmation of this decision.” (Rogers, 1995, 161)
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At any time in this process, a decision may be made to reject the innovation. And, again, for the librarian considering a Web 2.0 resource, this process should be considered both from the perspective of the library as well as from the perspective of the targeted library users.
Design thinking To design is to create something through a plan or systematic approach. The thing that is created may be an idea, product, process, or other resource – in other words, an innovation. As such, design thinking resonates with innovation theory. In their book About Face 3: The Essentials of Interaction Design, Alan Cooper, Robert Reimann and David Cronin summarize design thinking as: • • •
Understanding users’ desires, needs, motivations, and contexts Understanding business, technical and domain opportunities, requirements, and constraints Using this knowledge as a foundation for plans to create products whose form, content, and behavior is useful, usable, and desirable, as well as economically viable and technically feasible. (Cooper, Reimann, and Cronin, 2007, 4)
The design and consulting firm IDEO uses a similar framework for their world-famous design projects as described in The Art of Innovation: Step 1: Understand the market, client, technology and perceived constraints Step 2: Observe real people in real-life situations to see what makes them tick Step 3: Visualize new concepts and the customers that would use them Step 4: Evaluate and refine prototypes in a series of quick iterations Step 5: Implement the new concept for commercialization (Kelley and Littman, 2000, 6-7) These design thinking approaches operational the lessons from innovation theory into processes that librarians can follow as they consider various Web 2.0 resources. This paper now turns to a case study of the use of Twitter by the Undergraduate Library at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in order to examine how innovation theory and design thinking can inform the adoption of Web 2.0 marketing strategies.
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The Undergraduate Library The Undergraduate Library at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is one of more than 30 libraries on the campus. It is the only library focused specifically on the needs of undergraduate students and serves as a complement to the subject and resource specific libraries that include the Business and Economics Library, Education and Social Science Library, History, Philosophy and Newspaper Library, Reference, Research and Government Information Services unit, and Rare Book and Manuscript Library. The Undergraduate Library (UGL) is the home of the media, gaming and popular culture collections and has developed many innovative service programs including the learning commons and campus partners programs. UGL is open almost 150 hours each week during the school year. All of these elements are grounded fundamentally in a commitment to understanding and meeting user needs. The mission, vision, and core values statements of UGL make this commitment explicit. Vision Statement: Fostering and promoting an inviting, innovative and evolving educational environment for the inquiring minds of the University of Illinois through the expertise of our professional and knowledgeable staff who develop and maintain our preeminent collections, facilities and services. Mission Statement: The Undergraduate Library will encourage engagement with information and technology in its various forms, reinforce the value of collaborative inquiry and work, create new opportunities for community interaction, and support first and foremost undergraduate students so they adjust to and succeed at the University of Illinois and beyond. Core Values: Our core values are our guiding principles. They guide us to carry out our mission and envision our future. Embracing excellence, growth, and respect, we believe in:
• • •
•
•
Integrity. We value integrity, honesty, and truth in our work and actions. We support the principles of intellectual freedom. Service. We value service at the highest level. We strive to provide quality, responsive service to all of our constituents. We take pride in the service level and productivity of our staff. Education and Learning. We value education and learning and are partners in the educational lives of our students. We are committed to fostering life-long learners and providing the necessary physical, virtual and human resources to nurture inquiry and learning. Teamwork. We value a work environment that supports teamwork, creativity, and cooperation. We believe communication is key to our teamwork. We are committed to the library’s mission and value respect for social and cultural diversity. Innovation. We value innovation. We are adventurous and original. We seek innovative practices and services that benefit our students and faculty and contribute to the larger library community.
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Experimentation and Web 2.0 The resources and finding aids selected and developed by the University Library taken as a whole are meant to serve the entire campus population. For some library units there is more emphasis on meeting the needs of advanced researchers and scholars. For the Undergraduate Library, the emphasis is on undergraduate students and the development of student learning, engagement and curiosity. The focus on learning, engagement and curiosity leads naturally to a spirit of innovation and entrepreneurialism. UGL is characterized by a willingness to change approaches, explore the evolving role of the library, and experiment with technological possibilities. UGL computers and laptops are heavily used by students and offer library resources as well as the Microsoft Office productivity suite and a wide array of media viewing and editing software. Students have full access to Facebook, embedded chat clients such as those in Google or Yahoo mail programs, YouTube, and other social media websites. UGL was one of the first academic libraries to offer digital reference service, beginning in the late 1990s, and today’s digital reference service encompasses instant messaging, text/SMS, and chat-based options. Openness to experimentation means trying many things and accepting that not all will work. Deciding which tools to launch and how to best use them, however, leads to a higher rate of success than implementing tools and then looking for a use for them. Innovation and design thinking processes have had a major impact on the successful deployment of social media tools in the Web 2.0 marketing environment. Over the years UGL has used many Web 2.0 tools for connecting with users. These have included a variety of instant messaging platforms (Google Chat, AIM, Yahoo Messenger, MSN, Trillian), MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, Vimeo, YouTube, SlideShare, iTunesU, blogs, Friendfeed, Flickr, LibraryThing, and Google Voice. UGL has also implemented several Web 2.0 tools for internal communication including wiki platforms, Google Docs, Google Calendar, and Amazon WishLists. These tools have enjoyed a wide degree of success and failure and not all are currently in active use. The implementation of Twitter and its development over time demonstrates the usefulness of innovation and design thinking in considering Web 2.0 resources.
Case study: Twitter and the Undergraduate Library An ethnographic study of undergraduate student research behavior at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in fall 2008 revealed that students were not able to easily locate or identify library resources and were not included to ask library staff for research assistance. Students displayed an
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attitudinal perspective that is best described as “if I can’t find it, it isn’t available.” Rare was the student who thought information might be available but that his/her own skills were not sufficient to locate it. In all cases, the information students had wished to find and decided was not available was indeed provided by the library. On the basis of these findings, UGL committed to these core tasks: expose existing library content, increase student awareness of library services, and encourage an attitude of “the library must have that!” An analysis of existing library marketing channels revealed that UGL’s implementation of Twitter could be re-implemented in support of these tasks. The UGL Twitter account, AskUndergrad, was created in May 2007. The “tweets” posted originally primarily functioned as part of an alert system, broadcasting news about network outages, major events, and wireless issues. This was a fairly common Twitter implementation in libraries at the time. What was unique was that the AskUndergrad Twitter stream was embedded on the UGL homepage and thus was visible on all computers in the UGL thereby exposing it to patrons regardless of whether or not they use Twitter directly. This existing implementation of the AskUndergrad Twitter account, though not particularly exciting or noteworthy, was able to be reconceptualized to serve user needs as revealed in the ethnographic study. Starting in January 2009, the second phase of the AskUndergrad Twitter account was deployed. The automated signage and alerts that characterized the first phase remained a component of the tweets that were posted but were no longer the emphasis. This second phase focused on engagement and influencing undergraduate students’ knowledge and attitudes about the library. A variety of tweet categories were articulated as well as “personality” that was engaged, dynamic, and a bit humorous. The tweets were designed to connect undergraduate students to their curiosity and their research through library resources. Three distinct types of tweets were developed and each type was posted once a day. These three original tweet types were: • • •
Service tweets that highlight library services; Partner tweets that highlight Learning Commons Partners scheduled for office hours in UGL, such as Career Services and Academic Advising; and, “This Day in History” tweets that build context, curiosity and critical thinking through connecting historical events with a prepared search result in a library database or online catalog.
The re-deployment of the AskUndergrad Twitter account was successful by traditional Twitter “follower” metrics. By the end of spring 2009, AskUndergrad had more than 300 followers and over 100 of those were identified as UIUC undergraduate students. AskUndergrad now has almost 1000 followers and nearly 300 of those are affiliated with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
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Innovation and design thinking continues to drive further evolution of the implementation of Twitter at UGL. In this next phase, the goal is to increase interactivity with UGL’s followers. Through specifically worded tweets, AskUndergrad has begun soliciting responses from followers. In addition, those staffing the AskUndergrad Twitter service (UGL reference librarians and graduate assistants are all able to post tweets as AskUndergrad during their reference desk shirts) now scan tweets from undergraduate students followers and look for those that might benefit from a response recommending library services and resources. This new approach is still in development and is part also of a larger UGL strategy to build a sense of approachability and communication into all of its services.
Innovation and design thinking for Twitter A great many factors must be considered before adopting a tool and this is as true for free Web 2.0 tools as it is for any commercial instrument. The success of UGL’s Twitter implementation comes in no small part from considering these factors. Most important to the success of this service was that the problem came before the tool. User-centric problems were identified through user ethnographic assessment and then proactive library marketing messages were crafted: exposing library resources, showing friendliness and accessibility of library staff, and communicating that the library has more than students realize. As in any design thinking process, UGL’s use of Twitter began with the problem to be solved – not because of someone being enamored of a new Web 2.0 tool. Of course, trying out new tools to understand them is a perfectly legitimate and perhaps necessary exploratory practice, but a problem to be solved is required foundation for launching stable services. Applying all of these elements together in a decision-making process helps increase the likelihood that a service will thrive and reduces the number of unsustainable but well-intentioned attempts. For UGL, Twitter represented a relative advantage over previous approaches to communicating information about library resources and services to students and was highly compatible with UGL values and strategies. As a Web 2.0 tool, Twitter is relatively straightforward, though creating policies and practices to facilitate use of the single AskUndergrad account by all of the librarians and graduate assistants in UGL was at times complex. Web 2.0 tools are inherently high in observability and trialability, although until a Twitter account has a community of followers it is impossible to trial all of Twitter’s functionality.
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Conclusion As librarians consider using Web 2.0 tools for library marketing, innovation theory and design thinking offer powerful frameworks for making decisions about which tools to use for which purposes. In addition, these frameworks offer insights into ways to re-envision applications of Web 2.0 tools that may already be in use in more user-centric and problem-solving ways.
References Cooper, A., Reimann, R., Cronin, D., 2007. About face 3: The essentials of interaction design. Wiley, Indianapolis, 648 p. Kelley, D., Littman, J., 2000. The art of innovation: Lessons in creativity from IDEO, America's leading design firm. Doubleday, New York, 320 p. Lovelock. C.H., Wirtz, J., 2007. Services marketing: People, technology and strategy. Prentice Hall, New Jersey, 672 p. Rogers, E.M., 1995. Diffusions of innovations. The Free Press, New York, 519 p.
Section-III: Marketing with Web 2.0 and the client
Web 2.0: de nouveaux usagers en bibliothèque? Lionel Dujol e-mail: [email protected] Médiathèques du Pays de Romans, France Abstract The world of information and access to knowledge has known for the past few years a context of intense transformation related to the emergence of Web 2.0. A new Internet user has appeared. Such user is no longer simply a consumer of information; he is also a user of Web services who produce information. The ease of use of search engines reinforces the feeling of independence that inspires them to move away from traditional mediators of information which includes libraries. Library 2.0 is not based on technological changes, but on an attitude of openness to the user and its informational purposes. As such, some libraries are trying somehow to incorporate a “user centric” approach based on relationship marketing concepts. It involves building an ongoing and enriched relationship with users or potential users to adopt their perspectives to better meet their expectations, making the library more visible and highlighting its added value.
Résumé Le monde de l’information et de l’accès à la connaissance connaît depuis quelques années un contexte de transformations intenses lié à l’émergence du Web 2.0. Un nouvel internaute usager s’est affirmé. Il n’est plus simplement consommateur d’information, il est aussi utilisateur de services Web, producteur d’information. La facilité d’utilisation des moteurs de recherche renforce chez cet usager un sentiment d’autonomie qui l’incite à se détourner des médiateurs traditionnels d’informations dont font partie les bibliothèques. La bibliothèque 2.0 n’est pas fondée sur des changements technologiques mais sur une attitude d’ouverture à l’usager et à ses usages informationnels. Des bibliothèques tentent tant bien que mal d’intégrer une approche plus centrée sur l’usager s’inspirant pour certains des concepts du marketing relationnel. Il s’agit de construire une relation enrichie et continue avec les usagers/internautes établis ou potentiels afin d’adopter leurs perspectives et de répondre au mieux à leurs attentes, de rendre la bibliothèque plus visible et de mettre en avant sa plusvalue.
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Le monde de l’information et de l’accès à la connaissance connaît depuis quelques années un contexte de transformations intenses. En effet, la dématérialisation de l'information et le développement de l'accès à distance via internet participent à rendre les bibliothèques de moins en moins visibles. D’autant plus que la facilité d’utilisation des moteurs de recherche renforce chez l’usager un sentiment d’autonomie qui l’incite à se détourner des médiateurs traditionnels d’informations dont font partie les bibliothèques. Un nouvel internaute usager s’affirme avec l’émergence du Web 2.0 et son lot de nouveaux usages informationnels. Il n’est plus simplement un consommateur autonome d’information, il est aussi utilisateur de services Web, producteur d’informations et de métadonnées. Dans ce contexte la visibilité numérique des bibliothèques est brouillée. Ce constat découle aussi du fait que pendant longtemps, la raison d'être des bibliothèques et leur légitimité n'était pas à prouver, mais était considérée comme acquise. Les bibliothèques n'ont donc pas eu à justifier leurs activités sur le Web. Désormais, cette légitimité est surtout évidente aux yeux des bibliothécaires, mais l'est nettement moins aux yeux du plus grand nombre1. Une légitimité écornée enfin par de très nombreux clichés négatifs liés au monde des bibliothèques2 qui persistent et continuent d'être alimentés par les médias. Ainsi, pour le lancement en 2007 de sa nouvelle liseuse électronique « The Reader », Sony avait conçu un slogan provocateur « Sexier than a librarian », en ajoutant « Your library may vary », sous entendant que jusqu’à présent elle n’avait guère évolué et que l’on pouvait toujours l’espérer…. Légitimité et visibilité sont donc étroitement liées.
L’apport du Marketing relationnel La bibliothèque 2.0 n’est pas fondée sur des changements technologiques mais sur une attitude d’ouverture à l’usager et à ses usages informationnels. Hors de nombreux sites internet de bibliothèque ont encore une approche « bibliothéco-centrée », qui peut conduire à passer à côté des demandes et des attentes des publics, ou à ne pas leur donner le sentiment d'y répondre. À l’heure où Google est la principale porte d’entrée à la recherche informationnelle, nous ne pouvons plus demander à l’usager de s’adapter à l’univers bibliothéconomique, beaucoup trop hermétique pour le néophyte. Comment alors lui donner «envie» de franchir le portail de nos sites et utiliser nos services en lignes?
1 2
Granget, S., 2008. Le rôle stratégique de la communication externe en bibliothèque universitaire. Mémoire d’étude ENSSIB, Villeurbanne, France, 77 p. Moeschler, O., 2007. « Fontaines de connaissance » ou « musées du livre » ? ... Les bibliothèques municipales selon leurs non-usagers. En ligne : http://campus.hesge. ch/ressi/Numero_6_octobre2007/articles/HTML/RESSI_036_Moeschler.htm.
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Des bibliothèques tentent tant bien que mal d’intégrer une approche plus centrée sur l’usager s’inspirant pour certaines des concepts du marketing relationnel3. Cette technique marketing propose de construire une relation enrichie et continue avec les usagers établis ou potentiels afin d’adopter leurs perspectives et de répondre au mieux à leurs attentes, de rendre la bibliothèque plus visible et de mettre en avant sa plus-value4.
La segmentation des portails Il s’agit de prendre en compte la spécificité des publics dans leurs usages, leurs niveaux de connaissances, leurs centres d’intérêts, leurs finalités de recherche5. L’usager global ou statistique ne reflète que très rarement cette multiplicité et pourtant c’est à lui que s’adresse la plupart des services en ligne de bibliothèque. L'exemple du portail de la bibliothèque publique du comté de Cuyahoga aux USA6 est un bel exemple se segmentation de contenus. Celui-ci n’est pas organisé selon les services de la bibliothèque et ses outils documentaires, mais selon les types d’usagers et leurs attentes7. D’autres bibliothèques proposent des portails segmentés tels le site jeunesse de la bibliothèque municipale de Toulouse8 ou l’univers teenagers des bibliothèques publiques de Los Angeles9. Ces portails s’inscrivent dans un service de médiation documentaire où chaque usager consulte des contenus correspondant à ses centres d'intérêts. La plus-value de ce type de services consiste en une plus forte connivence entre l'usager et la bibliothèque.
Le service personnalisé Le marketing relationnel insiste sur une relation de plus en plus personnalisée et individualisée avec l’usager. De nombreuses bibliothèques offrent déjà une
3
4 5 6 7 8 9
Cette technique marketing vise a établir une relation continue et enrichie avec le consommateur en dehors même des moments de consommation ou d’achat. Cette relation se construit par l’établissement d’un dialogue entre la marque et le consommateur s’effectuant sur différents canaux. Le marché cible peut correspondre aussi bien à la clientèle établie qu'aux clients potentiels . Barthet, E., 2007. L’offre de service des bibliothèques de santé : une mise en perspective marketing. Mémoire d’étude ENSSIB, Villeurbanne, France, 109 p. Barthet, E., 2008. Le marketing en bilbiothèques : un autre engagement auprès des usagers. En ligne: http://cyberdoc.univ-lemans.fr/sitefulbi/journee2008/barthet.pps. http://www.cuyahoga.lib.oh.us/ Le site se décline en sous portail : espace jeunes, espaces ados, espace seniors, espace enseignants. L’usager est aussi interpellé sur ces attentes : que lire cet été ? Partager vos lectures ? … http://jeunesse.bibliotheque.toulouse.fr/ http://www.lapl.org/ya/
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gamme de services personnalisés en ligne10. Les services question/réponse sont certainement les plus développés. Ils permettent aux bibliothécaires d’établir un rapport étroit avec leurs usagers. Le réseau des bibliothèques municipales de Lyon en est un exemple remarquable. Leur service question/réponse appelé le « Guichet du Savoir11 » permet aux utilisateurs de poser n’importe quelle question en étant assuré d’avoir une réponse correcte et argumentée dans un délai approprié. Là où le projet est intéressant est qu’il ne s’adresse pas uniquement aux habitués des services de la bibliothèque mais aux internautes et usagers potentiels qui se heurtent à la fois aux problèmes de l’accès physique (horaires, amplitudes d’ouvertures…), mais aussi à l’idée tenace que la bibliothèque n’est pas forcément un endroit accessible.12 En proposant ce service à tous et sur le Web La BM de Lyon s’adresse à ceux qui cherchent simplement à obtenir une réponse ponctuelle à tout moment de la journée. Une réponse ciblée et de qualité. Une tentative de concurrencer l’effet « magique » des réponses offertes par un moteur de recherche pour certains usagers convaincus que « l’on trouve tout sur Internet »! Les services personnalisés doivent avoir pour vertu de tirer vers le haut les compétences des bibliothécaires et de construire une relation privilégiée avec l’usager internaute. Une manière de cultiver la différence et la spécificité des bibliothèques. Un gain de visibilité et de légitimité.
Le service personnalisable La meilleure manière de répondre aux attentes spécifiques des usagers est de leur offrir des services en lignes personnalisables13, des espaces où ils organisent la bibliothèque selon leur propre logique. La possibilité de s’abonner à des flux rss organisés par thèmes se développe sur les sites internet des bibliothèques14. Ces fils RSS permettent à l’usager de filtrer les informations issues de la bibliothèque, de les organiser et de les consulter dans l’agrégateur qu’il utilise au quotidien. Certains OPAC proposent même de générer un flux rss totalement personnalisé à partir d’une recherche spécifique dans le catalogue. Dans ce cas, le flux sera créé à la volée pour un seul usager.
10 Cavaleri P., 2003. Les bibliothèques et les services personnalisés en ligne : De nouveaux produits dans un marché concurrentiel. BBF, t. 48, n°4. Disponible en ligne : http://bbf.enssib.fr/consulter/bbf-2003-04-0024-004 11 www.guichetdusavoir.org/ 12 Morin, C., Tilbian, C., 2005. Le Guichet du Savoir : un service de la Bibliothèque Municipale de Lyon. Disponible en ligne : http://www.savoirscdi.cndp.fr/index.php?id=1450 13 Cavaleri P., 2003. Les bibliothèques et les services personnalisés en ligne : De nouveaux produits dans un marché concurrentiel. BBF, t. 48, n°4. Disponible en ligne : http://bbf.enssib.fr/consulter/bbf-2003-04-0024-004 14 Voir par exemple la feedothèque de la médiathèque intercommunale Ouest Provence : http://www.mediathequeouestprovence.fr/le-catalogue-du-reseau/les-fils-denouveautes.html
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Certes une offre qui éloigne l’usager du site institutionnel de la bibliothèque mais qui tisse de nouveaux liens à partir de ses centres d’intérêts. La personnalisation peut aller jusqu’à organiser selon ses thèmes de prédilections les collections consultables en ligne. C'est tout le pari du Musée McCord de Montréal15. Ce dernier propose à ses utilisateurs/usagers de constituer leurs propres dossiers documentaires et de les organiser en "circuits publics"16. Ces parcours personnalisés sont consultables par toute la communauté des utilisateurs. L’usager participe à la mise en valeur des collections en s’inscrivant dans une communauté d’intérêt qu’anime l’institution. De fait l’usager devient un partenaire à part entière.
L’usager un partenaire? Les fonctionnalités du Web 2.0 permettent de renforcer la relation de partenariat entre usagers et bibliothécaires. Le Web 2.0 induit un autre rapport au savoir, de nouveaux besoins. Participant à la grande conversation du net, l’usager internaute s’inscrit dans une communauté d’intérêt dans laquelle les professionnels et les amateurs se côtoient et partagent le même espace informatif. L’encyclopédie collaborative Wikipedia17 en est le plus bel exemple. Les services en ligne de bibliothèque tentent d’intégrer ces nouveaux usages informationnels. En témoigne le développement ces dernières années des catalogues intégrant des fonctionnalités participatives18. La plupart de ces “catalogues 2.0” permettent à l’usager de commenter une notice, d’attribuer une note à un document ou encore de lui associer un tag. Ces métadonnées générées par les usagers viennent enrichir la base bibliographique constituée par les bibliothécaires. Une participation des usagers plus théorique que réelle tant ceux-ci utilisent peu ces fonctionnalités participatives. Cette absence de masse critique est un vrai problème lorsque nous savons qu’un service participatif ne trouve son intérêt que si le nombre d’utilisateurs augmente. Nous pouvons trouver plusieurs explications à cette désaffection : l’obligation de se brancher pour participer, l’absence de mise en valeur des contenus produits par les usagers ou encore la non-participation des bibliothécaires euxmêmes à la discussion. Mais les bibliothèques qui ont joué le jeu de l’ouverture, de la mise en valeur et de la participation n’ont pas connu de meilleur succès. L’explication est simple au final. Un catalogue en ligne de bibliothèque qu’il soit 1.0 ou 2.0 reste un catalogue de bibliothèque. C’est à
15 16 17 18
http://www.musee-mccord.qc.ca/fr/ http://www.musee-mccord.qc.ca/scripts/user.php?Lang=2 http://www.wikipedia.fr Maisonneuve, M., 2008. Le catalogue de la bibliothèque à l’heure du web 2.0. ADBS édition, Paris, France, p.18
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dire un outil de recherche documentaire1 bien loin de l’univers numérique quotidien de l’internaute habitué à commenter sur les blogs, à taguer sur Flickr ou à réagir sur Facebook. Cet usager internaute nous attend ailleurs. L’enjeu pour la bibliothèque 2.0 est donc de savoir comment positionner ses ressources et son expertise informationnelle là où les usagers sont.
Aller à la rencontre des usagers La bibliothèque doit affronter la compétition qu’il y a aujourd’hui sur le Web pour capter l’attention des internautes qui sont de plus en plus participatifs, connectés entre eux et organisés au sein de communautés d'intérêts. L’une des solutions est de participer directement dans ces communautés en ligne. C’est le choix d’une vingtaine de bibliothèques2 qui ont décidé de participer au projet The Commons3 de la plateforme de partage de photos Flickr4. Celles ci y ont mis à disposition une partie de leurs fonds photographiques patrimoniaux sous licence Creative Commons. Les objectifs sont clairement énoncés par la Library of Congress5 participante au projet: “Partager ces collections photographiques avec ceux qui ne visitent pas notre site "Comprendre en quoi l'indexation sociale pour nous apporter des idées d'amélioration de nos services et de nos fonds Accroître notre expérience et notre implication dans des communautés Web partageant des centres d'intérêts communs avec les collections de bibliothèques."
En moins d’une année les 4,615 photos de la Bibliothèque du Congrès ont été visionnées plus de 10 millions de fois, 67,176 tags ont été ajoutés, 7,166 commentaires ont été déposés et plus de 15 000 membres de Flickr ont choisi de renter de la Bibliothèque du Congrès dans leur liste de contacts6. Ce genre de projet accroît considérablement la visibilité des contenus d’une bibliothèque et démontre les nombreuses interactions créatives qui sont possibles lorsque les gens peuvent accéder à des collections au sein de leurs propres communautés sur le Web. Des expériences similaires ont été faites en France avec la bibliothèque municipale de Toulouse7 et le projet Photos Normandie8. 1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8
Calenge,B., 2010. Pourquoi les catalogues ne peuvent pas être 2.0. En ligne : http://bccn.wordpress.com/2010/03/01/pourquoi-les-catalogues-ne-peuvent-pas-etre-2-0/ http://www.flickr.com/commons/institutions/ http://www.flickr.com/commons/ Flickr est un site Web de partage de photos gratuit avec certaines fonctionnalités payantes. En plus d’être un site Web populaire auprès des utilisateurs pour partager leurs photos personnelles, il est aussi souvent utilisé par des photographes professionnels. Le site hébergerait plus de 2 milliards de photos. http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/flickr_pilot_faq.html http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/flickr_report_final.pdf http://www.flickr.com/people/bibliothequedetoulouse/ http://www.flickr.com/people/photosnormandie
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La Médiathèque Départementale du Haut-Rhin expérimente, avec l'appui du Ministère de la Culture, un service d'écoute en ligne de musique en partenariat avec la plateforme sociale MusicMe9. Il ne s’agit plus de mettre sur cette plateforme sociale un fonds musical appartenant à la médiathèque, mais de donner aux abonnés l’accès à l’écoute en streaming du catalogue de Music Me, aux bibliothécaires musicaux du haut Rhin la possibilité de proposer des «playlists» et à des radios la possibilité de faire de nombreuses découvertes musicales10. Une médiation numérique organisée par des bibliothécaires sur un site privé d’écoute de musique en ligne qui profitera à l’ensemble de cette communauté. C’est l’expertise bibliothèque qui est donc mise à disposition et que l’on peut rencontrer au détour d’une écoute.
Sollicitons la fée sérendipité : la médiation numérique des collections Le terme sérendipité est issu de l'anglais (serendipity) et désigne le fait de trouver une information de manière imprévue. En étant présentes sur des sites non académiques, les bibliothèques peuvent aussi espérer toucher leur public potentiel et gagner en visibilité. Les bibliothèques démontrent non seulement leur aptitude à manipuler les outils du Web 2.0 mais aussi leur capacité à s'ouvrir au monde extérieur. La médiation numérique est une piste à suivre. Il s’agit de tout dispositif technique, éditorial ou interactif mis en œuvre par des professionnels de l’information-documentation favorisant l’appropriation, la dissémination et l'accès organisé ou fortuite à tout contenu proposé par une bibliothèque11. Cette dernière se doit de proposer le plus grand nombre possible de portes d’entrée vers les collections car l’usager a une réalité multiple. Les bibliothécaires eux se doivent d’orienter l’usager internaute plus que de lui prescrire un parcours. De nombreuses bibliothèques ont déjà engagé ce travail en s’emparant d’une foule d’outils numériques dit 2.012, les blogs, les fils rss ou encore les réseaux sociaux tels que facebook ou Twitter. Mais ces outils ne suffisent pas, il faut aussi proposer et disséminer des contenus éditorialisés présentant une plus value informationnelle certaine. Cette large diffusion d’informations à valeur ajoutée est une condition nécessaire pour susciter des interactions avec des internautes, pour participer à la médiation culturelle sur internet qui est aujourd’hui organisée par les 9 http://calice68.mt.musicme.com/ 10 Galaup, X., 2010. Streaming musical en bibliothèque - l'exemple Alsacien. En ligne : http://www.slideshare.net/xgalaup/streaming-music-me 11 Mercier, S., 2010. Médiation numérique en bibliothèque : une définition. EN Ligne : http:// www.bibliobsession.net/2010/03/03/mediation-numerique-en-bibliotheque-une-definition/ 12 Queyraud, F., Sauteron, J., 2008. Outils web 2.0 en bibliothèque : Manuel pratique. ABF (Association des Bibliothécaires de France), Paris, France, 132 p.
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vendeurs et les grands médias. Une véritable force à l’heure où beaucoup d’internautes se perdent dans la jungle informationnelle et sont demandeurs de recommandations, de pistes à explorer. En avril 2006 la bibliothèque municipale de Lyon lance "Point d’Actu !"13, un magazine en ligne défini comme un service d’orientation documentaire axé sur l’actualité. Les bibliothécaires s’emparent d’une question d’actualité, la mettent en perspective, proposent des références pour mieux comprendre et élargir le débat: des livres, des sites, des films, des revues, des dossiers, des images...14 Alors que les sujets d’actualités sont largement relayés par les médias et qu’ils constituent l’une des premières requêtes dans le moteur de recherche Google, «Points d’Actu !» a pour objectif de proposer un éclairage complémentaire. Ce service ne vise pas tant à promouvoir la collection de la bibliothèque mais de mettre à disposition de tous une expertise bibliothécaire15. Le succès d’audience étant, la bibliothèque municipale de Lyon décline la formule à des niveaux moindres avec pas moins de six services thématiques en ligne allant des cultures gay et lesbiennes, des arts vivants, de la musique contemporaine à la santé ou encore la culture numérique16. Ces services portent l’image de l’institution sous l’angle des contenus proposés. Ces exemples démontrent que si la gestion d'un fonds documentaire reste un pilier de notre métier, il n'est plus exclusif. La gestion de "leur visibilité" et l’animation du réseau de lecteurs et/ou des communautés d'intérêts potentiels rattachés à ces documents sont d'une importance égale si ce n'est plus. La bibliothèque s’éditorialise, le bibliothécaire devient le journaliste de ses collections. Mais la médiation numérique des collections ne s'improvise pas et ne se résume pas au simple fait d’ouvrir un blog ou une page sur Facebook. La réussite de ces dispositifs suppose un projet éditorial et une (ré) organisation de la bibliothèque. Un projet de médiation numérique et un projet global car il est au carrefour de nombreuses activités de la bibliothèque, sans pour autant se fondre dans l’une d’elle17.
De nouveaux usagers? Nous connaissons une transformation majeure de l’espace temps des bibliothèques : à coté de l’espace physique et ses usages territorialisés s’ajoute 13 http://www.pointsdactu.org 14 http://www.pointsdactu.org/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=6 15 Calenge, B., 2008. Biliothèques et politiques documentaires à l’heure d’internet. Ed. Du Cercle de la Librairie, Paris, France, p.204-205 16 http://www.bm-lyon.fr/ 17 Dujol, L., Mercier, S., 2009. Les sites web des bibliothèques : évolutions et animation. En ligne : http://www.slideshare.net/hulot/les-sites-web-des-bibliothques-volutions-et-animation
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celui de l’immensité du Web et du flux. La bibliothèque s’ouvre à un nouveau type d’usagers : emprunteur ou simple consultant, inscrit ou non inscrit, usager internaute de la bibliothèque hybride ou internaute usager de la bibliothèque en ligne seulement, habitant du territoire physique ou habitant de l’immense territoire numérique. Toutes les combinaisons sont possibles. Non seulement les bibliothèques s’ouvrent aux usagers et aux internautes du monde entier mais en outre elles leurs donnent la parole, leurs permettent d’agir et s’ouvrent à l’expérimentation permanente, à la mise à jour collaborative. Les nouveaux usages numériques, qu’ils soient économiques, sociaux ou culturels ne laissent pas le choix aux bibliothécaires : les bibliothèques doivent occuper ce territoire numérique, innover, répondre aux nouvelles attentes des usagers et s’adapter à leurs multiples usages dans leur diversité, sans perdre de vue leur spécificité locale. L’usager n’est pas forcement demandeur d’une bibliothèque 2.0, mais de contenus produits par la bibliothèque se disséminant dans son univers numérique quotidien. C’est là que les bibliothécaires peuvent mettre en valeur la plus-value de leur expérience professionnelle. Néanmoins les bibliothécaires doivent accepter ces nouveaux usagers et apprivoiser les règles de cette nouvelle frontière numérique pour proposer une alternative fiable et viable aux contenus portés par la puissance des sociétés privées. La mutualisation des contenus produits par les bibliothèques francophones est la condition sine que non pour que cette alternative s’affirme. Une mutualisation qui au jour d’aujourd’hui n’existe pas, alors qu’elle est un enjeu majeur de la présence Web des professionnels de l’information et de la documentation.
Références bibliographiques Barthet, E., 2007. L’offre de service des bibliothèques de santé : une mise en perspective marketing. Mémoire d’étude ENSSIB, Villeurbanne, France, 109 p. Barthet, E., 2008. Le marketing en bibliothèques : un autre engagement auprès des usagers. En ligne : http://cyberdoc.univ-lemans.fr/sitefulbi/journee2008/barthet.pps. Calenge, B., 2008. Biliothèques et politiques documentaires à l’heure d’internet. Ed. Du Cercle de la Librairie, Paris, France, p.204-205 Calenge,B., 2010. Pourquoi les catalogues ne peuvent pas être 2.0. En ligne : http:// bccn.wordpress.com/2010/03/01/pourquoi-les-catalogues-ne-peuvent-pas-etre-2-0/ Cavaleri P., 2003. Les bibliothèques et les services personnalisés en ligne : De nouveaux produits dans un marché concurrentiel. BBF, t. 48, n°4. Disponible en ligne : http://bbf.enssib.fr/consulter/bbf-2003-04-0024-004 Dujol, L., Mercier, S., 2009. Les sites web des bibliothèques : évolutions et animation. En ligne: http://www.slideshare.net/hulot/les-sites-web-des-bibliothques-volutions-et-animation Ertzscheid, O., 2008. La bibliothèque du congrès et FlickR : des accès désaxés. En ligne : http://affordance.typepad.com/mon_weblog/2008/01/la-bibliothque.html Galaup, X., 2010. Streaming musical en bibliothèque - l'exemple Alsacien. En ligne : http://www.slideshare.net/xgalaup/streaming-music-me
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Granget, S., 2008. Le rôle stratégique de la communication externe en bibliothèque universitaire. Mémoire d’étude ENSSIB, Villeurbanne, France, 77 p. Gupta, D. and Jambhekar, A., What Is Marketing in Libraries? Concepts, Orientations, and Practices, Information Outlook, 2002, 6 (11), p. 24-31. Hetzel, P., Le marketing relationnel, Paris : Presses universitaires de France, Que sais-je ? 2004. Jacques, J.F., 2005. Le marketing et les bibliothèques, BBF, t.50, n°2, p.88-90. Dispoinble en ligne : http://bbf.enssib.fr/consulter/bbf-2005-02-0088-004 Maisonneuve, M., 2008. Le catalogue de la bibliothèque à l’heure du . ADBS édition, Paris, France, p.18 Mercier, S., 2010. Médiation numérique en bibliothèque : une définition. EN Ligne : http://www.bibliobsession.net/2010/03/03/mediation-numerique-en-bibliotheque-unedefinition/ Moeschler, O., 2007. « Fontaines de connaissance » ou « musées du livre » ?... Les bibliothèques municipales selon leurs non-usagers. En ligne: http://campus.hesge.ch/ ressi/Numero_6_octobre2007/articles/HTML/RESSI_036_Moeschler.htm Morin, C., Tilbian, C., 2005. Le Guichet du Savoir : un service de la Bibliothèque Municipale de Lyon. Disponible en ligne : http://www.savoirscdi.cndp.fr/index. php?id=1450 Queyraud, F., Sauteron, J., 2008. Outils en bibliothèque : Manuel pratique. ABF (Association des Bibliothécaires de France), Paris, France, 132 p.
Creating and using Personas for library service in Web 2.0 era: a case study of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Li-Ping Ku e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] Dept. of Library and Information Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei City, Taiwan Abstract Marketing library service in Web 2.0 environment suits users’ goals, tasks and needs. Creating and using personas is a practical way to integrate the views of all users about library services. In this study, users are clustered into four personas and discussed how digital library services can be enhanced. This study shows that it is useful to create and use personas for satisfactory user experience, user-centered design and marketing in Web 2.0.
Résumé Dans le contexte du marketing des services de bibliothèques à l’ère du Web 2.0, créer et utiliser des «personnages» est une façon pratique d’intégrer l’opinion de tous les participants à propos du service de la bibliothèque. À l’aide de questionnaires, d’entrevues et d’observations, la recherche utilise plus précisément le courriel, les systèmes de babillards électroniques (BBS), la messagerie instantanée, le pair-à-pair (P2P), le clavardage (chat), la diffusion en posdcast, les réseaux sociaux, les folksonomies, les fils RSS et le blog. Ainsi, les usagers ont pu être assignés à quatre personnages avec lesquels il fut ensuite possible de discuter comment améliorer la virtualisation des services. La présente étude démontre l’importance de créer et d’utiliser des personnages en fonction du comportement et des caractéristiques de l’expérience des usagers, pour une meilleure conception et un meilleur marketing des services.
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Introduction Internet has become important for both students and educators to obtain useful information. In Web 2.0 era there are many social software tools available to a user, which brings the user and the service provider closer and offers opportunities to communicate informally leading to change in their information/communication behavior. .But, due to lack of communicative bridge among the end user, software designer and marketing professionals, it becomes difficult for libraries to address the user’s goal, task and need in the Web 2.0 era. For successful marketing of library service in Web 2.0, it is necessary to understand online users’ behavior; to develop new user models; and to know how to improve future library services. This study creates personas based on a survey of online user behavior and makes use of the personas for marketing library service in Web 2.0 environment. Persona is a software engineering method that assists the designer and company director to easily and exactly understand user characteristics and behavior in online environment. It is also useful for marketing professionals for establishing communication with their consumers and users. Personas resemble user profiles, but it has some important distinctions, that are specifically designed and relevant to product or service and not only focuses on the users’ demographics (such as age, gender, education, etc.) but also concerned with users psychological and behavioral perspective. (Blomkvist, 2002; Nokia, 2010). Personas are not real persons, but they represent the design process with actual users’ behaviors and characteristic (Cooper, 2006). Personas can assist R and D team to recognize and remember their users through fictional names and photos in user profiles. The workflow of creating and using personas therefore is usually based on empirical study of user behavior. (Grudin and Pruitt, 2002) Many scholars have created personas to improve their information system, such as human-computer interface for adult and child (Antle, 2006), personal embodied agent (Ljungblad, et al2006), user model (Vyas et al, 2006), panel of mobile devices (Capps et al, 2006), system design and usability (Haikara et al, 2007), E-learning system (Panke, 2007), design of social network website (Booth et al, 2008), user modeling methods of AmI (Casas et al 2008). Because using personas to understand user attitudes, behavior and needs, can enhance product availability (Dong et al, 2007), the interaction design is considered in the user centered design. Many researchers have used personas to enhance their marketing strategy, such as evaluation of website (Coney and Steehouder, 2000), individual differences (Lindgren et al, 2007), communication between D-team and Uteam (Okamoto, 2007), marketing for online community website (Silva and Sallaume, 2007), guidelines of increased programmer for user need (Zimmer-
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mann and Vanderheiden, 2008), design the actual user needs (Stoll et al, 2008). Because personas can assist designer and service supporter to learn their user’s characteristic, goal, work and task (Lamberts, 2002), both the market research and software design are considered in focus marketing. This study has systematically examined the online users’ behavior of the graduate school of Chinese academy of sciences using personas.
Research method The empirical research is focused on the end-user information behavior online. In this study, the findings reported were generated using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS v12.0). There were two surveys carried out in this study. The first survey was questionnaire based that investigated the postgraduate and doctoral students of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing. Out of a sample was 3000 users selected through stratified random sampling technique, a valid sample of 498 users were administered the questionnaire. The second survey was based on a random sample of the respondents of the first survey. The third survey used purposed random samplings to collect the interview handwriting data in the same samplings. The proportion of returned questionnaires between the respondents and the non-respondents was 50 percent. The final survey was a natural observation during the six-month survey period for more detailed understanding of the interviewed respondents. The study was carried out during 09 June 2008 to 05 June 2009, and the results are being discussed below.
Results and discussion Creating and using personas includes market research, interaction design and service marketing. Personas should be in the planning, development or any decision-making process to intentionally or unintentionally go into the thinking of team members (Hussain, 2009). Creating personas, fictional persons, is one practical way for user centered design (UCD) and renew service in Web 2.0 era in progress and it depends on the survey of user behavior. This study has the results survey as Table 1.
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Table-1 : Web 2.0 user behavior
(The bias of average age is 4.358 at the 95% confidence interval; Cronbach's Alpha = 0.883 is larger than the 0.5% test standard)
Through this table, it can be seen that the digital library using Web 1.0 marketing is more effective, even though the digital library has completed Web 2.0 service system. The result of questionnaire shown indicates that the students most often use Email, BBS, IM and Blog, and a few students use Chat-room, Podcast, Social Network Software (SNS), Social Tag/Bookmark, RSS and P2P. In addition, the results of interview depicts that the main function of the instant messenger is to maintain communication with users’ family number and friends and the main function of blogs is to discuss the topic of some entertainment contents. On the user perspective, the more Web 2.0 service, the more entertainment. The Web 2.0 technology application is not fully relevant with the improving academic information communication. The results of natural observation are in line with users who expect more knowledge service but they use the library service as knowledge service not yet. In other words, there is a need for new library service. Library staff is not the protagonist of Web 2.0 services, even through library staff work for serving users in the library’s services. The investigation of the social community makes it known that the willingness of participation in social communities is different. Most students have willingness to join a lear-
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ning discussion group higher than the other groups, but there is no special tendency that they would participate in any community with library staffs. Besides, the library staff has its influence on the selection of books, articles and course materials; but the influence is not only from the library, the community leaders have more powerful effect to the user's product selection, and the general community member’s influence is not clear. It is important for librarians to transmit a notion to the high profile information seekers through which they now have got a most supportive and caring “friend” in their library. We therefore established four personas as follows: 1) information users who are fond of experimenting new technologies; 2) information seekers who have a biased perseverance of using search engines rather than using other information seeking tools; 3) information users who prefer to communicate with others via networked virtue communities online; and 4) information users who read documents, access articles, books, and databases only by being personally present in a library building. Creating personas was founded by behavior attribute with factor analysis and cluster analysis, the processes of such quantitative analysis was presented in an essay (Gu, 2009). Based on the research result, four fictional personas were created in graduate school of Chinese academy of sciences and are used in library of CAS to describe what users’ behavior and character as Figure-1.
Figure-1 : Web 2.0 Personas
From the above investigation and analysis, it is clear that the informal communication provided a few unique features in action. This included such features as advanced discovering opportunities for information gathering and a mechanism for information feedbacks. The operational aspects of such approach to marketing library in Web 2.0 involved four steps: i.e. 1) to understand user’s personal background, information seeking behavior and information needs; 2) to make knowledge services
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known to the potential users; 3) to show respect and appreciation to each other; 4) and to establish personal friendship between service providers and end-users. Thus, the library service is designed to suit above user behavior, and both market research and marketing are the key parts of software design process for better improving user's academic information and communication.
Conclusion By creating and using personas, librarian and library staff can understand user groups’ goals, tasks and their need. Based on survey result, four personas were created and were used in library to describe the users’ behavior and character. It brought us easy design of the software and made effective marketing possible. Users participation in the building process of Web 2.0 systems made the library service more suited to users’ need and to gain users’ satisfaction. The process of the user driven innovative library service model can be described as below: 1 Market research 1-1 Survey of Web user behavior 1-2 Analysis of user behavior and psychology 1-3 Creating personas 2 Software design 2-1 Discussion about existing service meeting the kind of user group 2-2 Discussion about existing service not meeting the kind of user group 2-3 Discussion about different service meeting different user groups 3 Service and marketing 3-1 Achievement of service system functions 3-2 Promotion and immediate feedback 3-3 Re-thinking the service with personas As a case study, this article shows the phenomena of users’ behavior of the graduate school of Chinese Academy of Sciences and suggests relevant detail of its user- centric design of the library service system. The relevance of the present study on other library and institution depends on more local references and future studies. However, as a long-term research with questionnaire, interviews and natural observation for creating and using personas, this study indicates that there are benefits in creating and using personas with their character and behavior as guide for library service and design of digital library system. The significant aspect of this study is that it has built up a communicative bridge between digital library designer, end-user and library marketing professionals.
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(Acknowledgement: The author is grateful to Professor Zhang Xiaolin for his support in this project and be profound thanks to Réjean Savard for his encouragement).
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Mulder, S.; Yaar, Z., 2007. The User is always right: A practical guide to creating and using personas for the Web . New Riders Press, Berkeley, USA. Nokia Corporation. Personas 101-Using personas to craft a superior user experience., Forum Nokia Clobal Website [2010-09-22] http://www.forum.nokia.com/info/sw. nokia.com/id/260b0d43-e1ba-43e8-b5ef-6b8bd396e1d6/Using_Personas_to_Craft_a_ Superior_User_Experience.html Okamoto, M., et al, 2007. Participatory design using scenarios in different cultures. In: Jacko J.A. (Ed.), Proceedings of the 12th international conference on Human-computer interaction: interaction design and usability. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Germany, pp223231. Panke, S, Gaiser, B, and Werner, B, 2007. Evaluation as impetus for innovations in elearning-applying personas to the design of community functions. MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 3(2), 179-190. Pooth, P, 2008. Rereading fandom: MySpace character personas and narrative identification. Critical Studies in Media Communication 25(5), 514-539. Silva, E.J.; Sallaume S., 2007. Online communities administration: Defining tools for different profiles. In: Baranauskas C. (Ed.), Human-comupter interaction-Interact2007. Springer-verlag, Berlin, Germany, pp353-356. Stephen, P.C., Joseph G.A., Fang TY., 2008. Multiple personas for mobile devices. [200811-04]. http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7086008.html. Stoll, J., McColgin, D., Gregory, M., Edwards, W.K., 2008. Adapting personas for use in security visualization design. [2009-11-04] http://www.cc.gatech.edu/~keith/pubs/ adapting-personas-vizsec2007.pdf Vyas, D., de Groot S, van der Veer GC. ,2006. Understanding the academic environments: developing personas from field-studies. In: Grote, G., Gunter, H., Totter, A. (Ed.), ACM International Conference Proceeding Series, vol.250. Zurich, Switzerland, pp119-120. Zimmermann, G.; Vanderheiden, G., 2008. Accessible design and testing in the application development process: Considerations for an integrated approach. Universal Access Information Society 7, 117-128.
The impact of CRM 2.0 in the library Yamina Benhaouya e-mail: [email protected] Teaching assistant University of Oran, Algeria Abstract Relationship marketing has taken an important place in the services sector. Is first development highlighted by Berry in 1983, is now analyzed and developed by many authors. The library has a flexible growing competition; has focused on this development of marketing to develop a customer relationship management (CRM) to be fully effective. With the development of information technology and changing customer expectations, social media or Web 2.0 seems very effective to satisfy a relationship, to attract and retain customers. The present study aims to examine the customer relationship management (CRM) in the era of Web 2.0 and the possibilities of its implementation in a library.
Résumé Le marketing relationnel a pris une place importante dans le secteur des services. Son premier développement mis en évidence par Berry en 1983, est maintenant analysé et développé par de nombreux auteurs. La bibliothèque fait face à une concurrence croissante et s'est intéressée a cette évolution du marketing afin de développer une Gestion de la Relation Client (appelée en anglais CRM) pour être pleinement efficace. Avec le développement de la technologie de l’information et de la communication et l’évolution des attentes des clients, les medias sociaux ou le Web 2.0 semblent très efficaces pour établir une relation avec les clients, pour la satisfaire et pour fidéliser cette clientèle. Notre étude vise a examiner la gestion de la relation client (CRM) à l’ère du et les opportunités de sa mise en œuvre dans une bibliothèque.
Introduction The most well-known and most often used definition of marketing by Philip Kotler states: “Marketing is analysis, planning, implementation, and control of
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programs designed to create, build, and maintain beneficial exchange relationships with target audiences for the purposes of achieving the marketer’s objectives” (Kotler and Andreasen, 1991). CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is a tool for measuring the effectiveness of marketing activities in an organization. It is a “combination of business process and technology that seeks to understand a company’s customers from the perspective of who they are, what they do, and what they’re like..” ( Ryals and Knox, 2001). The strategy CRM is an organizational process that aims “to increase sales and profitability by developing a lasting relationship with customer by their business potential and profitability» (Lendrevie, Levy, and Lindon,2006). In other words, it is the ability to identify, acquire and retain customers. The development of the Web has profoundly changed the CRM applications by organizations on the one hand and has brought doun the cost, on the other hand. Today, it is possible for any organization to have online marketing practices. The emergence of Web 2.0 are called social media has promoted the development of customer relations through better understanding of customer behavior, personalization services and better customer satisfaction. In this new context, the library as a service organization will adapt a new marketing strategy that is at the heart of its concern a new version of customer relationship management (CRM), assisted by the Web 2.0. This marketing strategy called CRM2.0. From the foregoing, the problem is: "How can Web 2.0 develop a CRM in a library? and with what value?
CRM 2.0: CRM + Web 2.0 CRM: Customer relationship management The term CRM gained widespread recognition in the late 1990s. In less than a decade, CRM has escalated into a topic of major importance. Although the term only came into use to a significant extent in the late 1990s, but the principles on witch it has been based have been existed for much longer. In its original version, the CRM is defined as "an approach that should identify, attract and retain the best customers, generating more sales of business and profits. ... the goal of CRM is to move from mass marketing to a marketing handles each client individually. It involves learning and understanding the habits of each client anticipate their needs and find new opportunities to add value to the relationship, she positions the customer at the heart of the process." (Lefebure and Venturu, 2005). CRM is based on: •
customers should be managed as important assets,
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customers vary in their needs, preferences, buying behaviour and price sensitivity, understanding customer that organization can tailor their offering to maximize the overall value of their customer portfolio.
Customer relationship management (CRM) is primarily a process of organization, aimed at putting the customer at the heart of its work to increase the satisfaction of the latter, and developing and maintaining back activities. CRM is a strategy whereby an organization seeks to understand, anticipate and manage the needs of its customers and prospects. CRM is a management approach that enables organizations to identify, attract and increase retention of profitable customers by managing relationships with them. The principle is to allow each part of the organization access to the system information to be able to improve customer knowledge and to provide products or services that best meet their expectations.
Web 2.0 provoked the R of CRM “The expression of" Web2.0”, invented by Dale Dougherty late 2004 and popularized by Tim O’Reilly, means a technological change that allows set of new practices on the Internet” (Lendrevie et al, 2006). The term Web 2.0 refers to the development of online services that encourage collaboration, communication and information exchange. In other words, Web 2.0 reflects changes in how we use the Web rather than describing the technical or structural changes. Many Web 2.0 services, often called "social media" because of their role in supporting communication and building online communities are becoming more integrated in many areas of life. Similarly, libraries and librarians around the world use Web 2.0 technologies to promote the services, share information and interact with users and colleagues. The Web 2.0 or Social media tools include: • • • • • •
social networking sites Facebook, MySpace, Friendster, video and photo sharing websites Flickr, YouTube, micro-blogging sites eg Twitter, weblogs, including corporate blogs, personal blogs or blogs hosted, forums and discussion boards such as Whirlpool, Yahoo! Groups or Google Groups, online encyclopaedias such as Wikipedia.
With Web 2.0, a new generation of CRM will emerge that enable users of a library to become true media players. This new phase of CRM, called CRM 2.0 allows not only increase the number of users by promoting their service offerings, but also strengthens communication with customers and builds loyalty. Example: Two studies that came out in mid and late 2008 confirm this seemingly peculiar notion. Cone released a study on “Business in Social Me-
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dia” that found that 34% of Americans think that companies should have a social media presence. Even more telling, 56% of the total respondents felt a stronger connection to the company and its brand when they could use social media tools to interact with that company and 57% of them felt “better served (www.oracle.com/us/products/applications/siebel/036062.pdf).
CRM 2.0 CRM 2.0 customer relationship management in the era of Web 2.0 also known as Social CRM. It is a strategy for interaction and collaboration that the Web 2.0 can feed it over time, even years between a library and its users (http://crm20.pbworks.com/CRM-2-Definition-%231). From the foregoing, the CRM 2.0 is composed of four components: • • • •
Customer (User) : a good customer provides more profit with less resource. Relationship: between the organization and its customers, it involves communication and ongoing interaction and bi-directional. It can be in short or long term, continuous or discrete, repeated or single. Management: It allows a continuous change of culture and processes of communication in the organization. Web 2.0: new Web technologies allowing to make applications more interactive.
Difference between CRM 1.0 and CRM 2.0 The CRM is an emerging CRM 1.0 by Web 1.0, which consists of static pages, posted once and for all without the possibility of s'évoluer. There were no blogs updated regularly. Or networks such as Facebook or Twitter where everyone can speak freely and directly. This Web there was the Web 1.0. The Web 2.0 to enrich the process of its CRM applications multitudes. That'll give birth to another generation of CRM called CRM 2.0 whose main differences between the CRM1.0 and the CRM 2.0 are presented in the following table.
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Table-1: Comparision between CRM 1.0 and CRM 2.0
CRM 1.0 Features/Functions
CRM 2.0 Features/Functions
Definition: CRM is a philosophy and a business strategy, supported by a system and a technology, designed to improve human interactions in a business environment
Definition: CRM 2.0 is a philosophy and a business strategy, supported by a system and a technology, designed to engage the customer in a collaborative interaction that provides mutually beneficial value in a trusted and transparent business environment
Tactical and operational:Customer strategy is part of corporate strategy
Strategic: Customer strategy IS corporate strategy
Relationship between the company and the customer was seen as enterprise managing customer - parent to child to a large extent
Relationship between the company and the customer are seen as a collaborative effort. And yet, the company must still be an enterprise in all other aspects
Focus on Company <> Customer Relationship
Focus on all iterations of the relationships (among company, business partners, customers)
The company seeks to lead and shape customer opinions about products, services, and the company-customer relationship.
The customer is seen as a partner from the beginning in the development and improvement of products, services, and the companycustomer relationship
Marketing focused on processes that sent improved, targeted, highly specific corporate messages to customer
Marketing focused on building relationship with customer - engaging customer in activity and discussion, observing and re-directing conversations and activities among customers
Technology focused around operational aspects of sales, marketing, support
Technology focused on both the operational and social aspects of the interaction
Tools are associated with automating functions
Integrates social media tools into apps/services: blogs, wikis, podcasts, facebook , tools are associated with communicating
mostly uni-directional
always bi-directional
Based on a toolset (software)
Based on a strategy (corporate culture)
Source : http://crm20.pbworks.com/CRM-1-vs-CRM-2%3A-A-Comparative-Table
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CRM 2.0 in the library CRM 2.0 tools are the method of using Web 2.0 tools in a context of communication and collaborations between an organization and its customers. Steven Downess (2006) a researcher with the National Research Council of Canada, believes that “the emergence of Web 2.0 is not a technological revolution, it is a social revolution…it’s about enabling and encouraging participation through open application and services…with rights granted to use the content in new and exciting contexts” ( Solomon and Schrum, 2007). The emergence of networks and social media offer a new opportunity to enrich the user knowledge. Today, libraries have at their disposal fabulous tools to help them better manage the relationship with its users. In this acronym, which means Web 2.0, there are tools that allow a library to track various contacts with its users. The advent of Web 2.0 is a way to introduce a new method of dynamic relationship between the library and its users.
Facebook CRM Facebook is a free marketing tool that can reach a wide audience. This social space is a new medium with which it is very useful, even necessary, as a relationship marketing tool today (http://blog.analystik.ca) . It can be: • • • • • •
A meeting place for users and librarians, Additional way of viewing the user and to monitor its image after the notices that are exchanged between them, Tool allowing users to a library to intervene to put articles, reviews, photos and videos, Space to discover the collections of the library, users interact with an animation upstream and downstream to collect the opinions, put experiences, links, photos, video or swap space (forum) on facebook, can accompany users in their experience with the library, Useful tool in everyday life, offering local information (opening hours and closures), access to resources (catalogs, databases), or an information service remotely (chat, forum).
With these applications, Facebook can be used as an extension of CRM processes in a library which can be useful in: • • • •
Providing better services (new era of Marketing and the development of services), Helping in reaching to new customers, Transform the users to an actor, Catching up a lot of data on members of networks which may be made available for services,
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Capitalizing collective intelligence through conversations with hundreds of thousands of users (comments, suggestions, surveys, tests, etc. ...), Building trust by quick response to questions and problems, seamlessly.
Twitter CRM Twitter is a social medium that has great success today. This tool enables the library to communicate with its users through short messages (tweets). It can be an extension of traditional CRM tools that allows: • • • • • • •
Informing users about the news of the library, Collecting suggestions and opinions on library policy, Following reviews (tweets) that users posting about library services, Getting valuable feedback on which libraries can use to target marketing and develop more personalized customer relationships, developing an online guide that gives many tips for librarians and users, developing link more familiar between the library and its users are showing their listing, developing a relationship with users more personalized.
Opportunities of CRM 2.0 The library can gain many goals from CRM 2.0: • • • • • • • • • • •
Attracting new users, Improving Communication and coordination between teams of organization, Following contacts, Personalizeing the relationship with users, Increasing the number of users in a quick and appropriate response to their expectations, Identifying users needs , Increasing user satisfaction, Identifing performance indicators, Improving quality of service, Improving the image of the organization by enhancing attention to the user, Increasing customer loyalty.
Example: Coleman Parkes Research, in a study released by Avanade in 2008 called “CRM and Social Media: Creating Deeper Customer Relationships” found that companies were seeing real world benefits even a mere three years into the existence of CRM 2.0 (www.oracle.com/us/products/applications/ siebel/036062.pdf)
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The result is: • 75% found that it created a perception of the company as forwardlooking, • 71% found that it led to a reduction in time to resolution for support issues, • 66% found it led to greater customer satisfaction, • 64% found it led improved market reputation, • 40% found that they could see specific improvements and increases in sales
Conclusion The Web 2.0 is an evolution of a medium which now offers added value to the CRM in the organization in general and in particular library. This new technological development that gives a voice to users, allows the library to create a new dimension in its relationship management with users and a means to better understand their expectations and therefore better respond. The CRM 2.0 is a new dimension of interaction with users, and in turn greater fidelity to the library while keeping in line with its objectives.
References Greenberg, P., CRM 2.0, from: http://crm20.pbworks.com/CRM-2-Definition-%231 (accessed 15 september 2010). Greenberg,P., Social CRM Comes of Age, from www.oracle.com/us/products/applications/ siebel/036062.pdf (accessed 20 September 2010) Kotler, P. Andreasen, A.,1991. Strategic marketing for nonprofit organizations, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 644p. Lendrevie J., Levy J., Lindon D, 2006, Mercator: Théorie et pratique du marketing, DUNOD, Paris, 1142p. Ryals L.; Knox S., Oct 2001, Cross-functional issues in the implementation of relationship marketing through customer relationship management. European Management Journal, 19, 534-542 Solomon G, Schrum L, Web 2.0: new tools, new schools, 2007, ISTE, West Broadway, 270p Oswald G., CRM 1 vs CRM 2: A Comparative Table, from: http://crm20.pbworks. com/CRM-1-vs-CRM-2%3A-A-Comparative-Table (accessed 20 september 2010) Shih, C., Facebook peut-il jouer le rôle de CRM , sur (http://blog.analystik.ca.) (consulté le 15 septembre 2010)
Section-IV: Case studies
How tangible is your library in the digital environment? Implications of social media marketing in reinventing communities' library experiences Rajesh Singh e-mail: [email protected] Assistant Professor School of Library and Information Management, Emporia State University, USA Abstract The library has an important societal role in connecting information with customers by providing a superior library experience. This paper attempts to address the “customers’ library experience” and is representative of a larger business trend in which the information exchange is no longer based on products and services, but on customer experience. To address this issue, our research attempted to gain insight into customers’ library experience (users as well as non-users) of a small public library in British Columbia, Canada. Based on the research findings, this paper attempts to discuss the implications of strategic social media initiatives for creating virtual library experiences to engage customers. Moreover, this paper also proposes an experiential-based model for creating a superior library experience for customers.
Résumé La bibliothèque joue un rôle social important en connectant information et clientèles quand celles-ci peuvent avoir accès à un service de haut niveau en bibliothèque. Cet article aborde la question très actuelle des «expériences de clientèles en bibliothèque» et se veut représentatif d’un courant de pensée répandu en management selon lequel l’échange d’information n’est plus basé sur les produits et les services, mais plutôt sur «l’expérience» du consommateur. Dans cette optique, notre recherche vise à obtenir une compréhension de «l’expérience» des clientèles (utilisateurs aussi bien que non-utilisateurs) dans une petite bibliothèque de Colombie-Britannique au Canada. À partir des résultats, cet article vise à discuter les implications des initiatives stratégiques de media sociaux créant des «expériences virtuelles» en bibliothèque qui permettent aux clientèles de participer. De plus, cet article
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propose une modélisation «d’expérience» de haut niveau pour les clientèles de bibliothèque.
Introduction Sites with consumer-driven content, operating under the banner of what is commonly called ‘Web 2.0,’ have become the rising stars of the Internet in recent years. Many of the innovations in social media have been motivated by the desire to enhance the capacity for consumer-driven content. As a consequence, social media is empowering people to become the new influencers, and it is forcing PR and marketing professionals to recognize and include these powerful tools in their advertising and marketing communications strategies (Solis and Breakenridge, 2009). This radical transformation in social media from one-way to interactive relationships with customers offers enormous opportunities for libraries to fulfill their important societal role in connecting information with customers by providing them a superior library experience. However, some libraries are still unsure exactly how to adapt to the new world of social media for engaging the hearts and minds of people in their communities (Gilmore and Pine II). In a similar vein, some libraries still underestimate the potential of social media, and apply the old-school approach of “marketing at” people instead of engaging in interactive dialogue that will enhance the tangibility of their library brand and their customers’ library experience in the digital landscape. This paper attempts to address the recent interest in understanding the “customers’ library experience” portraying a larger business trend in which the information exchange is no longer based simply on providing library products and services to customers, but on the entire customer experience. As a consequence, many libraries have moved beyond evaluating themselves in a library-specific framework. Instead, they look at their users as customers who operate within a much larger context—a context that includes the option to consume the library’s resources from multiple information access points. This shift in understanding the library experience from the customers’ viewpoint also focuses attention on "non-users," with the intent of discovering how libraries can entice this segment of their communities to become "active users." Through a community analysis of a small public library in British Columbia, Canada, this paper seeks to gain insights into the engagement and management of the library customer community (users as well as non-users) by understanding their experiences and expectations of the library's marketing efforts. More precisely, this paper attempts to discuss strategic social media initiatives for creating virtual library experiences to engage customers. Moreover, this paper proposes an experiential-based model for creating a superior library experience for customers.
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Methodology This research attempted to gain insight into customers’ library experience (users as well as non-users) of a small public library in British Columbia, Canada. The research data was gathered during August-September 2008. A questionnaire was distributed to every household (1,427 total). Although mailout questionnaires tend to be costly and time consuming to analyze, it was important to ensure that every segment of the population had the opportunity to respond. Therefore, it was decided that a person of age of 19 or older from each household will be requested to fill out the questionnaire. The design of the questionnaire and the research project overall did not address the needs of youth on the island. In addition to the mail-out questionnaire, an identical Web -based version of the questionnaire was deployed on the library’s website. The Web -based questionnaire was advertised in the library's monthly newsletter sent out to residents, and the librarians also mentioned it in person to customers. Eight semi-structured interviews were also conducted with library stakeholders. The snowball technique was used in identifying the stakeholders. The primary purpose of these interviews was to develop a context to enable interpretation of the questionnaire results. Overall, 320 out of 1427 questionnaires were returned, which amounted to 22.4% of the population. The research data were analyzed with a combination of quantitative as well as qualitative methods. In addition, 24 responses were gathered from the web based questionnaire. The researchers noted that there was a relatively high response rate to the mail-out questionnaire and a relatively low response rate from the Web -based questionnaire.
Results Library users and non-users The questionnaire was sent to both users and non-users. 21 respondents indicated that they visited the library less than once a year. This group was called “infrequent/non-users.” 106 respondents indicated that they visited the library between once a year and several times a year. This group was termed as “moderate users.” 212 respondents indicated that they visited the library once or more per month and were called as “frequent users” (Fig. 1).
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Figure-1: Respondents by frequency of library use
Efforts to engage non-users yielded limited results. While we did receive responses from 21 non-users, many of the non-user respondents were reluctant to answer some of the survey questions. Some respondents indicated that because they hadn't been to the library or did not use the services, they were unqualified to respond to certain questions. While response to questions regarding specific library services were avoided by many non-users, they all responded to the question of why they do not visit the library.
Library Website accessibility, layout and design Respondents identified marketing as a major opportunity for the library. The library’s website (www.bowenlibrary.ca) is one of the main vehicles for disseminating information to the community. Yet only 38% of respondents indicated that they had ever used the website (Fig 2).
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Figure-2: Library website accessibility
However, of those who visited the website, 83% indicated that the website's design and layout make it easy to use (Fig 3).
Figure-3: Library website layout and design
The findings appear to indicate the problem that many people do not seem to be aware that there is a library website or that they simply do not think to check it when seeking information about the library. A library’s marketing and branding efforts can make the website a destination for library related news and information.
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Awareness of library program We also asked respondents whether or not the library offers programs that meet their needs (Fig. 4).
Figure-4: Respondent questions taken from questionnaire
Given the options of ‘yes’, ‘no’ and ‘don’t know’ respondents overwhelmingly indicated that they don’t know or were unwilling to comment on the library program offerings. It is likely that respondents are simply unaware of what programs the library offers. This seems to indicate that there is an opportunity for the library to enhance its profile and raise awareness of its programs by establishing a marketing strategy. Frequently, organizations find ways of bringing information to their clients as opposed to expecting their clients to always seek information by visiting the organization’s website. One of the ways this is done is through permission-based marketing. We asked respondents if they would be open to receiving library related news and information via email (Fig. 5).
Figure-5: “Would you like to get information through email about the library’s programs and activities?”
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The results show that 49% of all respondents indicated yes. There is an opportunity to reach a large segment of library patrons by sending out a monthly email newsletter. An email newsletter could be sent, on an opt-in basis, to interested library patrons. Email newsletters are cheap to produce and keep the library and its activities in the forefront of the minds of their customers. It is another way to maintain a presence in the community by marketing library activities as well as the website, and can encourage user feedback. Below are some respondent comments that illustrate the desire for the library to reach them with information on upcoming events and other news: “Before this survey I did not know that the library offered a variety of programs.” “I wonder how you advertise your programs. Perhaps it needs to be higher profile. I'll start looking around for programs “ “make me more aware of what you have…I am a heavy Facebook user and would love to see the library’s presence there” “tell me what's going on (what's new) via email or social media”
Implications of social media marketing in Web 2.0 environments The findings indicate implications for service providers to develop a deeper partnership with their communities. While the library is relatively visible in the community both because of its physical location and its current marketing practices, there are a number of opportunities to reach a greater segment of residents and to keep regular patrons better informed. Results suggest that the library’s website is well designed but is not well-known by customers. One respondent even indicated that she did not know the library had a website. The library has the opportunity to brand its website as part of an overall marketing strategy. Most of the findings could be addressed by utilizing creative marketoriented strategies to reach users and non-users, leading to more effective service management in the digital environment. One such strategy would involve ensuring that the library’s web address is featured prominently on all library marketing media. This includes library letterhead, envelopes, brochures, newsletters, bookmarks, signage, and via blogs, Twitter and Facebook. Any time the library promotes events, issues news releases or places an advertisement, the library’s story in alignment with benefits for the community should be featured prominently in traditional as well as social media. It is also crucial for the library to market its services within the library itself. Many frequent users (individuals who visit the library several times a month) are not aware of the services that the library offers. Program offerings, new books and databases can be profiled though displays and signage designed to catch the attention of customers.
104 Rajesh Singh The library can also benefit from pushing information out to residents as opposed to relying on in-person visits or website visits to disseminate information. There are several ways this can be achieved:
Email newsletter A library can send out an email newsletter to regularly update interested patrons. A substantial number of infrequent/non-users, moderate users and frequent users all indicated that they would be open to receiving email updates from the library. An email newsletter is relatively inexpensive to produce and distribute and could be an ideal way to reach interested community members. There are likely a number of community organizations that would also be interested in receiving an email newsletter and would likely forward relevant items on to their memberships.
Blogging—telling your story There is an opportunity for libraries to blog about user community-relevant topics, not just library accomplishments. We should always remember that social media is not just a new tool in our marketing belt. It is a new opportunity to engage customers and cultivate relationships. Embedded in this is the notion of relationships that are cultivated and can be of benefit to everyone including the library, the community, and vendors and database providers. It is high time that libraries become part of the conversation by serving as a resource for their communities. However, it should not be forgotten that if libraries blog, they must understand their value propositions, marketing, services, customer relations and, ultimately, why all this matters to the people they are trying to reach (Scott, 2010).
Really Simple Syndication (RSS) BIPL’s website could include an RSS service so that patrons could subscribe to news and information updates. This way, interested residents can opt to automatically receive notification every time new content is added to the website. RSS feeds have become increasingly popular in recent years and are another inexpensive way to reach users. RSS appeals to the more tech savvy users, but it is becoming increasingly more mainstream.
Twitter—sharing in the conversation Twitter is one of many social "micromedia" tools that are gaining in popularity, and represent a significant change in how we create, share and consume content online. Rather than digesting a large, gut-busting meal of
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information, one can ingest small "media snacks" instead. This "media snacking" approach utilizes micromedia tools to deliver content in small increments (often 140 characters or less). Media snackers are actually creating a new paradigm for conversations and the dynamics in which people communicate with each other. One of the most compelling trends that libraries can’t ignore is that a lot of people are discovering and sharing information. As a service provider, therefore, libraries should pay attention to all the potential channels through which to reach customers. With every new channel that gains momentum, libraries have an opportunity to build a connection with their customers and other libraries to foster healthy and dynamic communities based on conversations and relationships (Solis and Breakenridge, 2009) . Micromedia represents a new paradigm to reach people and an opportunity for libraries to monitor conversations related to their business. It’s not just about catering to the many early adopters who blaze the trail by experimenting, documenting, and sharing their experiences with shiny new objects. It’s about responding to people dictating their preference for creating, receiving and sharing information in specific ways. Micromedia and aggregated streams of information will continue to evolve into legitimate rivers that reach people, whether or not libraries choose to utilize those conduits to reach people. Even if libraries don’t subscribe to the “less is more” philosophy, many people do. Our library customers have choices, so ignoring them will only ensure that we’re not included in their diet of relevant media snacks. In this new paradigm, it is important to remember that the best listeners make the best conversationalists. Micromedia provides an active hub for listening and perception management, and it represents another avenue by which libraries can become a resource and cultivate valuable communities.
Facebook—community development Social networks like Facebook and LinkedIn are becoming primary mechanisms for connecting with people, ideas, brands, news, and information. This trend provides opportunities for libraries to enhance their library's image by reaching out to more people in the community via these social media tools and channels to more effectively cultivate online relationships and, at the same time, leverage the network to increase visibility for their expertise, activities, image and reputation. We focus on Facebook because it’s one of the easiest and most versatile social networks for professionals today. In keeping with the contemporary trends, Bowen Island residents are also establishing a presence online through social media platforms like Facebook. A search of Facebook groups containing the term “Bowen Island” reveals over 60 groups in some way related to, or dedicated to Bowen Island. Groups include formal organizations such as "Bowen Island Ultimate Club" with 47 members, and the "Bowen Island Teen Centre" with 84 members. There are also dozens of less formal
106 Rajesh Singh groups including the group "I Belong on Bowen" with 425 members and "I Support 'Smart Growth' on Bowen Island" with 26 members. There is even a Facebook group called "Bowen Island Book Club" with 7 members. The library has the opportunity to use social media like Facebook to its advantage. Again, the cost of utilizing social media is negligible and the potential benefits are substantial. A Facebook presence would provide another avenue for residents to communicate with the library. Residents and the library alike can share photos of library events; residents could recommend material for the collection and give feedback on library related decisions. A Facebook presence may also demonstrate the utility and relevancy of the library in our increasingly digital lives, and appeal to segments of the population that tend not to use the library, such as youth. It’s not just the ability to connect with people that is important. It’s important to create, cultivate, and promote a strategic online presence and personal brand. Remember, participation is marketing.
An experiential based model—emergence of virtual experience managers The ever-increasing pace and ever more ubiquitous nature of social media increasingly embeds participants in various online social networking services. As a new phenomenon, social interaction in virtual worlds, where users communicate and interact in real time, offers untapped potential for users and marketers alike (Tikkanen et al, 2009). Therefore, it is increasingly important to better understand the marketing implications of these new forms of social activity and related consumption patterns. The question posed to a marketer is looming – the roles of both library consumers and library service providers are evolving and redefined to a large extent in this new virtual era. For example, consumers are re-claiming their roles as active co-constructors of life experiences and consumption meanings through online community networks. However, the library literature has not addressed systematically what this change means for libraries and marketers – how may virtual worlds change the landscape of library marketing practices? The responses of some customers in illustrate that conventional marketing parameters such as web advertising may not be the only effective way to exploit the special characteristics of virtual worlds. Therefore, libraries need to increase their understanding of the types of interaction and exchanges occurring in virtual worlds. What is more, the shifting role of the consumer and service providers to the context (i.e. virtual setting) needs to be further explored and assessed. The study also seems to indicate the emergence of virtual experience managers in the future whose role will be to seek ways to engage user communities and create shared experiences for community members.
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This paper proposes a conceptual framework of the experiential based model to guide service organizations in the assessment of online social networks (Fig. 6).
Figure-6: Marketing framework for libraries in the social media context
This framework is adapted from the paper entitled “An experiential, social network-based approach to direct marketing” (Palmer and Koenig-Lewis, 2009). By enhancing media richness in marketing, libraries can enhance these experiences further. In Figure 6, three elements of the social network environment are shown – the service provider (library), the service receiver (customer) and the community. The traditional interface for direct marketing is shown between the seller and the customer. With the introduction of the community element, the customer interacts with self-selected communities. As service providers, libraries need to interact with user communities to achieve a variety of benefits, including spreading positive word of mouth and gathering data about their information needs and preferences. The challenge for libraries is how to achieve a position at the center of Figure 6 that combines the service provider, the service receiver and the community. It is argued that the “experience” of using a social network site is an integrative framework for addressing the needs and expectations of customers, so that the communities and libraries’ involvement in communities can mutually reinforce customers’ library experience. Through this conceptual model, for example, libraries could assess their readiness to undertake virtual world marketing activities. Through interaction the customer can be engaged in the dynamic creation of new content which can lead to reciprocal value creation between service provider and receiver. Whereas traditional media marketing is primarily based on one-way communication in which consumers are exposed to advertising or other forms of marketing communications, in
108 Rajesh Singh virtual worlds customers can actively interact with the library. Customers can, for instance, interact with the library’s products/services or with the library’s virtual experience managers. However, in order to provide a reason to interact with the library, the interaction has to be reciprocal and deliver value for both sides or the customers will swiftly discontinue such efforts. Therefore libraries should, for example, consider having virtual experience managers to facilitate a relevant, interesting, robust, compelling and enriching library experience.
Conclusion Clearly, one of the most important aspects of social media is that people talk about almost everything. Libraries are no exception, and like many other things, they also discuss libraries’ products, services and experiences they encounter while using the libraries’ resources, whether in person or remotely. Most of the time, these discussions occur outside of the sphere of our influence. However, it is certainly possible to guide the discussion in virtual environments if libraries respond to their customers’ ever changing information needs, wishes and preferences with a bit creativity in this new medium. In any organization, there will always be naysayers who cannot see the utility of certain social media applications and resist adopting new methods of communication. However, at some point, it becomes clear that a new medium is becoming pervasive in its use throughout society, and it would be best if organizations could be at least a little ahead of the curve when it comes to adoption of such media to communicate with customers. In order for an organization to grow, there must be some openness to experimentation. Inherent in this is the willingness to learn from failures as well as successes. Through utilizing social media, you are opening up a dialogue with customers which will certainly help to guide you to the right social media solutions for your library.
References Gilmore, J.H.; Pine II, Joseph B., (2002). Customer experience places: the new offering frontier. Strategy and Leadership, 30(4), 4-11. Palmer, A.; Koenig-Lewis, N., (2009). An experiential, social network-based approach to direct marketing. Direct Marketing: An International Journal, 3(3), 162-176. Scott, D. M., (2010). The new rules of marketing and PR: how to use social media, blogs, news releases, online video, and viral marketing to reach buyers directly. New Jersey: Wiley. Solis, B.; Breakenridge, D., (2009). Putting the public back in public relations: how social media is reinventing the aging business of PR. New Jersey: Pearson. Tikkanen, H., et al; (2009). Exploring virtual worlds: success factors in virtual world marketing. Management Decision, 47(8), 1357-1381.
La dimension participative du Web 2.0: un atout marketing pour la bibliothèque de l’Ecole Supérieure de Banque d'Alger Nadia Temmar e-mail: [email protected] Ecole Supérieure de Banque Alger, Algerie Résumé Avec l’avènement de l’Internet à haut débit à l’Ecole Supérieure de Banque, le taux de fréquentation de la bibliothèque a peu à peu commencé à décroître. La majorité des lecteurs qui continuent à la fréquenter viennent essentiellement pour faire des recherches sur les postes Internet. L’objectif de cette étude est d’adapter les technologies du Web 2.0 dans une stratégie marketing visant à reconquérir les usagers de la bibliothèque et les placer dans une démarche participative. Dans le cadre de cette action, nous avons intégré quatre outils du Web 2.0 à savoir, un site de microblogging, un univers Rss pour la veille informationnelle, un site de gestion et de partage de signets et un réseau social. Nous allons à travers cette étude présenter les médias sociaux utilisés et tenter, même s’il est un peu tôt, de démontrer leur impact sur le comportement de nos usagers.
Abstract With the advent of broadband Internet in the Algiers School of Banking, the rate of library use has gradually started to decrease. The majority of users still coming to the library come primarily to use Internet. The objective of this study is to adapt Web 2.0 technologies in a marketing strategy to strengthen the image of the library and to reconquer the users and place them in a participatory approach. For this action, we integrated four Web 2.0 tools: Facebook Twitter, Netvibes and Delicious. In this paper, we are presenting the social media used and try to demonstrate their impact on our users’ behavior.
110 Nadia Temmar
Introduction Confrontées à un environnement numérique concurrentiel en pleine évolution, les bibliothèques tout comme les entreprises sont de plus en plus contraintes à élaborer des stratégies de marketing et réfléchir à de nouvelles façons de travailler. Parmi les concepts marketing, l’orientation client ou le recentrage sur l’utilisateur sont à la base du marketing relationnel. Ce dernier vise à privilégier la qualité du contact établi avec le client, ce client qui a beaucoup changé à l’ère de l’Internet et des nouvelles technologies. Il est présent sur le web, navigue sur les réseaux sociaux, créé des blogs et communique à travers de nouveaux outils qui favorisent la communication et le partage de contenus. La revue de la littérature démontre, que la plupart des entreprises internationales, et maintenant, certaines bibliothèques, utilisent le dans leur stratégie marketing. Le Web 2.0 est souvent présenté comme une évolution du Web 1.0, c’est le passage d’un Web statique à un Web dynamique. Il se définit comme une plateforme de services qui présente une multitude de nouveaux outils: blogs, wikis, réseaux sociaux, microblogging et autres. Appliquer les principes du marketing relationnel en se positionnant sur des sites de médias sociaux, développer des prestations en faisant usage des services interactifs en ligne, tel est le défi que s’est lancé la bibliothèque de l’Ecole Supérieure de Banque à Alger. Dans l’objectif de renforcer l’image de marque de la bibliothèque et de reconquérir nos usagers qui passent beaucoup de temps sur Internet, nous allons les rejoindre là où ils se trouvent. Nous allons les placer dans une démarche participative, collaborer avec eux, mieux les connaître pour mieux cerner leurs besoins. Nous allons collaborer avec eux, générer des commentaires de leur part. Ces commentaires sauront certainement nous aider à améliorer nos prestations. Nous étudierons par la suite l’impact de ces outils sur le comportement de nos usagers.
L’Ecole Superieure de Banque L’École Supérieure de Banque (ESB www.esb.edu.dz), créée en janvier 1995 est un établissement de formation bancaire sous tutelle de la Banque d’Algérie (Banque Centrale). L’École pour mission de former, de perfectionner des nouveaux diplômés et de recycler des cadres supérieurs et moyens en poste dans les domaines de la banque et des finances. Les concours d’accès aux deux cycles (Diplôme Supérieur des Études Bancaires (DSEB) et Brevet Supérieur de Banque (BSB) sont ouverts aux bacheliers de l’enseignement secondaire justifiant de notes suffisantes dans certaines matières du baccalauréat. L’Ecole complète les cycles de formation diplômantes par une Post-Graduation spécialisée en banque et un Master Banque-finance.
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Les formations de premiers cycles ont pour but de développer chez les candidats, les compétences techniques et le savoir faire des principaux métiers de la banque et de les préparer à assumer des fonctions d’encadrement pour le DSEB. Les lauréats du BSB doivent avoir des connaissances générales économiques et financières, des techniques leur permettant de maîtriser les opérations courantes de banque ainsi que des capacités à organiser leur travail et communiquer. Les formations de deuxième cycle visent l’acquisition de connaissances approfondies et le développement des compétences dans l’une des activités bancaires et financières. L’Ecole organise également à la demande des institutions bancaires et financières ou de sa propre initiative, des formations de courte et de moyenne durée (de quelques jours à plusieurs mois) destinées aux professionnels en exercice. Les programmes de formation, conçus pour répondre à des besoins spécifiques des organismes bancaires et financiers, besoins qu’ils ont au préalable identifiés, se déroulent selon une programmation adaptée aux contraintes professionnelles des candidats sous forme de formation intensive résidentielle ou de formation alternée. Les contenus et l’organisation de la formation sont centrés sur la pratique professionnelle et managériale. L’École est implantée sur un site de 17 hectares, parmi ses infrastructures et outre les bâtiments administratifs, les locaux pédagogiques, une résidence d’étudiants, un restaurant et un parc sportif, se trouve la bibliothèque objet de notre étude (www.esb.edu.dz/biblio).
La bibliothèque La bibliothèque de l’ESB a pour mission d’appuyer l'enseignement et la recherche et d’apporter aux élèves et stagiaires la documentation utile pour mener à bien leurs études. Elle dispose d’un fonds spécialisé, riche et particulièrement récent. Elle est présente sur Internet avec son catalogue en ligne et offre l’accès à ce réseau dans les salles de lecture. Mais la prédominance de la bibliothèque de l’ESB par rapport aux autres bibliothèques algériennes, c’est son accès libre aux ouvrages, d’où une grande affluence du public, que ce soit des élèves et stagiaires et enseignants de l’Ecole ou d’étudiants et chercheurs externes. La bibliothèque de l’ESB dispose de deux salles de lecture déployées sur deux étages pouvant accueillir jusqu’à 100 utilisateurs. Elle comprend un service d’accueil et d’information, deux postes de consultation pour les bases de données et un accès à Internet, des présentoirs à périodiques, des rayonnages pour les livres, une salle pour visionner les documents audiovisuels, un service de reprographie, etc. Le fonds documentaire couvre tous les domaines du management mais aussi d’autres champs de connaissances tels que l’histoire, les sciences humaines ainsi qu’une librairie de loisirs contenant des romans, nouvelles,
112 Nadia Temmar essais etc. La majorité du fonds est en langue française, cependant la bibliothèque dispose depuis peu d'un petit fonds en langue arabe qui sera bientôt disponible en ligne. La bibliothèque dispose de multiples ressources documentaires sur différents types de documents (ouvrages, périodiques, journaux, bases de données, cassettes vidéo et audio), traitant principalement du domaine bancaire et financier.
La fréquentation de la bibliothèque Pour répondre aux besoins des usagers (environ 400 élèves, le personnel, des stagiaires, et des utilisateurs externes), deux techniciens des bibliothèques sont présents au niveau de la banque de prêt. Ces personnes sont chargées de l’accueil, de l’orientation et de la procédure de prêt des documents. La gestion du prêt est informatisée grâce au Système Normalisé de Gestion des Bibliothèques (Syngeb), logiciel développé en Algérie par le Centre de Recherche en Information Scientifique et Technique (CERIST)1. Ce produit nous permet de faire l’évaluation de nos services et obtenir des statistiques de prêt. Depuis la création de l’Ecole, le taux de fréquentation de la bibliothèque et de l’utilisation de ses ressources a toujours été en hausse. Cependant à partir de l’année 2004 les statistiques de prêt2 révèlent une forte baisse aussi bien dans la fréquentation de la bibliothèque que dans l’utilisation de ses ressources. La relation a tout de suite était établie avec l’introduction de l’Internet à haut débit à partir de cette année là. En effet, dès l’année 2001, l’ESB dispose d’un accès au réseau Internet. Cependant le débit de connexion reste très faible c’est ce qui explique l’augmentation continue des statistiques de prêt pendant ces années. En 2004, l’Ecole se dote d’une connexion haut débit, puis en 2009, une connexion wifi est disponible au niveau des salles d’études et alentours où les élèves et stagiaires peuvent se connecter entre les heures de cours et le soir. A partir de cette année, les lecteurs ont commencé à se faire rares et ceux qui venaient se ruaient avidement sur les deux postes donnant accès au Web.
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Figure n°1: évolution du prêt à la bibliothèque de l’année 1998 à 2009
Nous avons entrepris une brève enquête auprès de nos lecteurs pour déterminer le temps qu’ils passent sur Internet, le genre d’information qu’ils recherchent sur le réseau et la manière dont ils s’informent à l’ère du numérique. Les résultats de l’enquête sur questionnaire ont révélé que: • •
•
Pour les recherches d’information, les utilisateurs se basent sur le moteur de recherche Google et l’encyclopédie libre Wikipedia. En dehors de la quête d’information pour l’élaboration de leurs travaux de recherche, les usagers vont sur Internet pour être informé des nouveautés : actualités, politique, économie, finances, bourse, sport, cinéma, musique… Enfin, la grande partie des usagers a indiqué qu’elle va sur Internet pour retrouver et échanger avec ses amis sur les réseaux sociaux.
Nous nous sommes trouvés face à une situation critique pour laquelle il fallait impérativement trouver une solution avant la déferlante du Net prévue dans le cadre du projet de connexion Wifi qui couvrirait toute l’Ecole. Nous avons décidé d’adopter une démarche marketing pour mieux nous rapprocher de nos usagers et cette fois, par le biais de leur source favorite d’information, à savoir Internet.
La démarche marketing pour la reconquête des usagers Le marketing est un « ensemble des méthodes et des moyens dont dispose une organisation pour promouvoir, dans les publics auxquels elle s’intéresse, des comportements favorables à la réalisation des ses propres objectifs »3.
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Le dico du marketing
114 Nadia Temmar Sans le savoir, les bibliothécaires ont toujours eu dans leur travail des « attitudes marketing » et ont adopté les concepts du marketing relationnel avec leurs usagers. La satisfaction de l’usager a de tout temps été la principale préoccupation pour tout bibliothécaire. Cependant, avec le développement rapide des nouvelles technologies nous nous retrouvons dans un nouveau contexte de marketing 2.0 dont « L’expression fait partie du vocabulaire commun d’une nouvelle génération d’experts en marketing utilisant l’Internet comme principal outil de travail. Contrairement à leurs prédécesseurs, ces derniers considèrent les autres médias de masse (télévision, journaux, radio etc.) comme des outils de communication secondaires. » … « Le Marketing 2.0 fait typiquement usage des blogs, des flux RSS, des wikis et réseaux sociaux ou de façon plus large de ce qui constitue le Web participatif ou communautaire dans la communication marketing d'une marque ou institution. Les plus grandes sociétés au monde ont déjà commencé à créer des campagnes de marketing 2.0. »4 Le recours au marketing 2.0 semble particulièrement pertinent dans le domaine de l’information quand on sait que « la disponibilité et la facilité d’accès et de mise à jour des connaissances est un facteur clé de la compétitivité de toute entreprise dont la valeur ajoutée réside dans la production et/ou l’assemblage de contenus intellectuels ».5 Pour nous éclairer sur ce nouveau concept, nous avons parcouru le Web dans l’objectif de découvrir comment ont réagit, face à cette nouvelle donne, les professionnels de l’information à l’échelle internationale. Le résultat de notre recherche a fait ressortir que la majorité d’entre eux, notamment dans les pays développés, se sont approprié le dans leur stratégie marketing. Ils témoignent généralement avec enthousiasme sur leurs retours d’expériences à travers justement les outils du. Par l’usage que font ces collègues de ces outils, nous avons réellement saisi l’impact de ce phénomène dans le domaine des bibliothèques et des services d’information. Nous avons été très vite séduits par cette nouvelle manière d’utiliser Internet et ces outils collaboratifs et sociaux par lesquels la diffusion de l’information s’opère de façon très fluide. Nous avons découvert que la réalité est telle que la bibliothèque doit se transformer, devenir hybride, faire participer l’usager qui est devenu producteur de contenu dans l’amélioration de ses services. Les outils du jouent un rôle important dans cette phase de transformation de la bibliothèque. Ils ont un réel impact sur les actions marketing des bibliothèques et ont quelque part dynamisé la communication avec les usagers. Leurs commentaires sur les blogs le démontrent très clairement. Pour notre part et partant du fait que si nos usagers utilisent ces outils, notre bibliothèque doit de ce fait rester en phase avec ces nouvelles technologies pour assurer une qualité de service et atteindre son public là où il se trouve. En d’autres termes, pour démontrer la valeur stratégique de notre bibliothèque, 4 5
Définition du marketing 2.0 Le « web 2.0 », un atout pour les entreprises
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nous devons promouvoir ses services à l’endroit où se trouvent nos usagers. Ceci est d’autant plus important que les tendances marketing actuelles6 démontrent qu'il est indispensable d’utiliser les outils du pour être mieux visible sur Internet. Une des particularités de ces services réside dans le fait que les bibliothèques peuvent atteindre une grande audience, un plus large public. En effet, se positionner sur le réseau social Facebook, par exemple qui a atteint aujourd’hui les 500 millions de membres,7 permettrait à ces millions de membres de vous rencontrer et de découvrir vos services. En conséquence, pour augmenter le taux de fréquentation de la bibliothèque et atteindre une utilisation optimale de ses ressources, une démarche marketing s’impose. L’idée centrale étant de passer du Web statique (le site de la bibliothèque) a un Web dynamique qui donne la parole à l’usager et favorise les liens entre bibliothécaire et usager pour susciter plus de demande. L’orientation client est certainement le point clé dans cette démarche. Cette approche qui est à la base du marketing relationnel vise à privilégier la qualité du contact établi avec le client pour s’adapter au mieux à ses besoins. Alors pourquoi ne pas appliquer ces principes de marketing en faisant usage des services interactifs en ligne et en développant des prestations?
Le Web 2.0 et son intégration Pour expliquer ce concept, nous avons opté pour la définition de Wikipédia, encyclopédie collaborative en ligne car elle-même est considérée comme une application du. Selon Wikipédia: « L'expression « Web 2.0 » désigne certaines des technologies et des usages du World Wide Web qui ont suivi la forme initiale du Web[1], en particulier les interfaces permettant aux internautes ayant peu de connaissances techniques de s'approprier les nouvelles fonctionnalités du Web et ainsi d’interagir de façon simple à la fois avec le contenu et la structure des pages et aussi entre eux, créant ainsi notamment le Web social.»8 L’expression Web 2.0, désigne aussi « le renouveau du World Wide Web. Cette évolution concerne aussi bien les technologies employées que les usages. On qualifie de Web 2.0 les interfaces permettant aux internautes d’interagir à la fois avec le contenu des pages mais aussi entre eux, faisant du Web 2.0 le Web communautaire et interactif. »9 Contrairement au Web 1.0 dans lequel les pages Web sont statiques et l’utilisateur consommateur d’information, le regroupe un ensemble de pratiques nouvelles qui favorisent la participation des internautes et le partage de contenus. Les sites sont
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Bonnel, Julien. Marketing des réseaux sociaux : les tendances qui se démarquent Le blog de Facebook http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0#Origine_du_terme Initiation au web 2.0
116 Nadia Temmar dynamiques et l’internaute devient actif. Il peut publier du contenu, l’enrichir, le partager et profiter des échanges. Parmi les outils qui symbolisent le, certains font beaucoup parler d’eux: Wikipedia, les blogs, Flicker, Youtube, les flux Rss et agrégateurs, Twitter, Dailymotion, Facebook, Myspace etc. Ces outils sont appelés communément médias sociaux aujourd’hui. L’expression a d’ailleurs tendance à remplacer celle de selon d’Emilie Ogez10 qui nous le livre sur son blog. D’autres définitions trouvées le confirment du reste. Tableau n°1 : services et outils du Web 2.0
Réseaux sociaux Facebook, my space Videao Blogging Wordpress Blogger Microblogging Twitter Socialbookmarking Del.icio.us, Digg Video et partage de photo Youtube, Dailymotion, Fickr Veille Flux Rss, Netvibes Comme nous pouvons le constater sur le tableau ci-dessus, la liste de ces outils qui n’est certes pas exhaustive, reste importante. Nous avons étudié certains d’entre eux par le biais de sites, de blogs et de tutoriaux qui représentent de véritables cours en ligne. Ces tutoriaux ont contribué à l’amélioration et au perfectionnement de nos connaissances. Ils sont de véritables représentants de la notion de partage et de collaboration du. L’expérience d’autoformation sur ces outils s’est répercutée indéniablement sur nos activités car nous sommes maintenant convaincus que les plateformes collaboratives professionnelles ont un rôle à jouer dans le développement des bibliothèques. Pour appliquer notre stratégie marketing orientée client et reconquérir nos usagers il faudrait: • • • • • • •
Aller à leur rencontre sur le Web. Y proposer notre savoir-faire. Y proposer de nouveaux services. Dialoguer et échanger avec aux. Exprimer le besoin de garder le contact avec eux. Prouver l’importance de leurs commentaires ou propositions. Susciter la demande.
A la fin de l’année 2009, nous avons pris la décision d’utiliser certaines d’entre elles avec pour objectif de cibler nos usagers, les placer dans une démarche participative, collaborer avec eux, mieux les connaître pour mieux cerner leurs besoins. Toujours à l’aide de ces outils nous pourrons susciter une plus forte demande et certainement conquérir de nouveaux lecteurs. Nous allons renforcer la présence et la visibilité de la bibliothèque sur des sites 10 Web 2.0, médias sociaux et réseaux sociaux
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grands publics ou sur des réseaux sociaux. Nous allons positionner ses ressources là où naviguent les usagers. Nous verrons enfin par quels moyens nous allons atteindre nos usagers pour leur proposer une veille informationnelle. La sélection des outils du Web 2.0 à adapter dans notre bibliothèque n’a pas été chose facile, vu leur nombre et quelquefois leurs similitudes. Nous avons tout de même sélectionner ceux qui, de notre avis, conviennent davantage à notre objectif principal, à savoir, assurer le marketing de la bibliothèque, promouvoir ses services en vue de reconquérir nos usagers et les faire participer à l’évolution du service. Selon Pascal Krajewski11, les bibliothèques 2.0 sont centrées sur l’utilisateur, fournissent des matériaux multimédias, sont socialement riches et utilisent leurs communautés pour innover. Pascal Krajewski a proposé les 5 axes qui définiraient la bibliothèque 2.0: • • • • •
se promouvoir (marketing) s’ouvrir à l’usager (qu’il devienne contributeur) améliorer les outils existants (approfondir les missions traditionnelles) délivrer de nouveaux services (diversification des missions traditionnelles) se poser en forum social (lieu central pour la communauté)
Dans le but d’appliquer les axes cités plus haut, notre choix s’est fixé sur quatre outils du Web 2.0., symboles de l’Internet participatif, par rapport à leur popularité auprès du public et des professionnels de l’information: Facebook, Netvibes, Del.icio.us et Twitter. L’information, la séduction et la sensibilisation de nos usagers à nos nouvelles méthodes de travail ont démarré par une campagne d’affichage. Les affiches restent à notre sens, un excellent moyen de communication interne puisqu’elles peuvent être placées dans des endroits très fréquentés par le public. Nous avons donc procédé à l’affichage dans des endroits stratégiques tels que la cantine, les salles des professeurs, les salles de réunion, les locaux pédagogiques et bien évidemment la bibliothèque. Une autre de forme de sensibilisation à ces outils s’est faite directement auprès de nos usagers lorsque nous sommes passés à l’action pendant le cours de « méthodologie de la recherche documentaire » que nous dispensons à l’école. Nous avons rappelé à nos élèves et stagiaires l’existence de la bibliothèque, de ses ressources et maintenant de ses nouveaux moyens de diffusion de l’information. Très vite ces campagnes ont eu leurs retombées sur nos usagers qui ont commencé à s’enquérir sur nos nouvelles méthodes de travail et à s’inscrire auprès de nos nouveaux services.
11 Le web 2.0 et les bibliothèques
118 Nadia Temmar
Le réseau social Facebook : bibliothèque ESB cherche amis Selon une étude publiée sur le blog de Nielsen le temps passé sur les réseaux sociaux a enregistré une croissance de +82% au mois de décembre 2009 (en comparaison avec déc. 2008) et passe ainsi de 3 heures à plus de 5h30! Les réseaux sociaux représentent ainsi les sites les plus populaires au monde en termes de temps passé12. Pour ce qui nous concerne, notre choix s’est porté sur Facebook. Ce choix s’est opéré d’une part, par rapport à sa popularité au niveau mondial comme l’indique le schéma ci-dessous; et d’autre part suite aux réponses de nos usagers qui considèrent Facebook comme le leader des réseaux sociaux et sont très nombreux à y avoir un compte. Un autre critère de choix dans l’intégration de Facebook dans notre stratégie marketing c’est que ce réseau génère beaucoup d’information et crée ainsi plus de dynamisme. De plus, si nos utilisateurs fréquentent Facebook, la bibliothèque ne peut pas rester en marge de ce phénomène et doit impérativement se positionner sur ce lieu d’échange et de collaboration:
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Figure n°2: Top américain des médias sociaux
Nous avons créé un profil http://www.facebook.com/esb.bibliotheque sur Facebook sur lequel nous publions nos dernières acquisitions, des articles, des cours, des conférences, des vidéos, nous signalons des sites, des blogs sélectionnés et autres informations relatives au monde de la finance et de la banque. Nous communiquons aussi sur Facebook pour informer régulièrement nos usagers sur les services et événements de la bibliothèque tels que les changements d’horaires, expositions etc. Facebook a permis une participation accrue de la part de nos élèves, du personnel et des enseignants. A ce jour, 26 juillet 2010 nous comptant 270 amis. La communication avec nos usagers à travers ce réseau est très fructueuse. Leurs remarques et considérations sont 12 http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/global/led-by-facebook-twitter-global-time-spent-onsocial-media-sites-up-82-year-over-year/ 13 http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/global/led-by-facebook-twitter-global-time-spent-onsocial-media-sites-up-82-year-over-year/
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prises en compte. Certains d’entre eux nous sollicitent pour avoir des informations sur des thèmes de recherche. Un autre avantage de notre présence sur Facebook réside dans le fait qu’on a renoué contact virtuellement avec les anciens élèves et stagiaires, chose qui aurait été difficile à réaliser physiquement vu l’éloignement. Le rythme de publication n’est pas encore idéal mais nous nous arrangeons pour être présents quotidiennement. Le fait que pratiquement tous nos usagers ont un compte sur ce réseau social, nous a conforté dans notre vision du indiqué plus haut.
Twitter: ou les tweets pour informer et s’informer Twitter est un service de microblogging permettant aux utilisateurs de communiquer entre eux par le biais de messages courts ou « tweets » ne dépassant pas les 140 caractères. Sur son blog, Silvere Mercier14 propose un billet très détaillé sur Twitter et son utilisation dans les bibliothèques. Il cite en particulier le guide intitulé Twitter for librarians: the ultimate guide15. Parmi les usages qu’ils suggèrent on peut utiliser Twitter dans la bibliothèque pour: • • • • • • • • • •
Rester en contact avec les collègues. Lire des informations récentes. Des sources d’informations comme CNN, ou la BBC ont des comptes Twitter. Rester au top des technologies de pointe. Avoir des informations sur les conférences auxquelles on ne peut pas assister. Des personnes sur Internet font des comptes-rendus sur des conférences ou donnent les informations nécessaires pour y assister. Proposer un service de référence en ligne. Pourquoi ne pas utiliser Twitter pour récolter des suggestions ou des retours sur votre site Web , votre politique etc. S’en servir comme d’un carnet de notes. Pour ne plus laisser vos idées s’envoler juste parce que vous ne savez pas où les consigner. Surtout que Twitter est accessible depuis le mobile. Partager des références. Annoncer les événements de la bibliothèque : annoncer toutes les activités de la bibliothèque. Avertir les usagers des nouveautés. Prévenir de la disponibilité d’ouvrages réservés.
En créant notre compte http://twitter.com/esb_biblio, on a voulu maintenir nos usagers informés des activités de notre bibliothèque. Via ce compte, nous publions des tweets aussi bien à nos usagers qu’aux professionnels de l’information qui nous suivent. L’objectif principal de notre présence sur ce site de microblogging étant de promouvoir la bibliothèque et ses services et 14 http://www.bibliobsession.net/2009/04/21/pourquoi-utiliser-twitter-dans-les-bibliotheques/ 15 http://www.collegeathome.com/blog/2008/05/27/twitter-for-librarians-the-ultimate-guide/
120 Nadia Temmar placer l’usager dans une démarche participative. L’avantage de Twitter est que l’information est instantanée et mise à jour rapidement.
Netvibes: ou le partage de la veille Pour pratiquer une veille efficace dans le domaine de la finance qui est le centre d’intérêt principal de nos usagers, nous avons opté pour Netvibes (http://www.netvibes.com/biblioesb). C’est un portail Web individuel avec un accès privé ou public. A l’aide de Netvibes, nous pouvons prendre rapidement connaissance des nouveautés et des mises à jours de différents sites ou blogs. Cet outil contribue considérablement à la gestion de l’information et à la mise à jour des connaissances. L’objectif de la page publique est de rassembler des liens Internet utiles à l’intention de nos élèves mais aussi à toute personne désireuse de s’informer sur la finance. La page Netvibes représente une configuration interne c'est-àdire des renseignements sur la bibliothèque et ses activités, un accès au catalogue ainsi que des renseignements sur l’école et une configuration externe avec de l’information plus large financière, actualités, recherche, vie pratique, presse etc. L’information est rassemblée dans un seul lieu. Nous avons partagé le travail en onglets thématiques tels que actualités de la bibliothèque, news des banques, marchés financiers, information économique, presse, sport, musique et autres loisirs. L’objectif principal de ce travail c’est d’offrir à l’usager le moyen de trouver ce qu’il désire à partir de notre univers Netvibes. Celui-ci peut aussi bien trouver son moteur de recherche favori que rechercher des informations dans les domaines qui nous semble être essentiels pour lui. A ce jour 26 juillet 2010, nous comptons 2134 visiteurs.
Del.icio.us: ou le partage des signets Del.icio.us est un site de social « bookmarking » qui sert à conserver la trace des pages Web que nous visitons et vers lesquelles nous voulons revenir aisément. L’organisation de ces marques pages est structurée grâce aux tags ou mots-clés. Chaque internaute peut y publier ses liens vers des articles, des blogs, des sites, et y accéder depuis n’importe quel ordinateur relié à Internet. Ces liens peuvent être publics ou privés. L’avantage de cette application en ligne c’est le partage des signets. Les internautes « taguent » ou étiquètent des sites qui leur semblent pertinents, ils les organisent puis les partagent avec d’autres utilisateurs. Des fils Rss signalent les derniers liens archivés, on peut générer des fils Rss par thème ou tag; Del.icio.us est aussi générateur de nuage de tags. Nous alimentons notre compte public Delicious de signets et de liens utiles pour nos usagers, d’adresse de sites offrant du texte intégral tes que les
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sites de mémoires et thèses en ligne et de tout autres sites favoris pouvant intéresser nos usagers. Il reste bien évident que pour mieux disséminer notre bibliothèque sur le Web et rediriger nos usagers vers son site principal, nous publions le lien www.esb.edu.dz/biblio sur la page d’accueil de tous nos sites de médias sociaux cités plus haut. C’est à partir de ce lien qu’ils peuvent interroger les catalogues et autres bases de données de la bibliothèque.
Impact de ces outils sur la bibliothèque de l’ESB Après une année scolaire passée à utiliser les médias sociaux, on a pu percevoir un progrès concernant notre visibilité, nos prestations et le taux de fréquentation de la bibliothèque. Néanmoins, il est encore trop tôt pour mesurer l’efficacité réelle et l’impact de ces outils sur le comportement de nos usagers. On dit souvent qu’il est très difficile de mesurer sa présence sur le Web . Cependant, le blog Kriisiis.fr16, propose « 100 critères de mesure de l’efficacité de son activité sur les réseaux sociaux ». Pour ce qui nous concerne, nous essayons d’évaluer nos actions Web par le biais de certains critères qui nous semblent pour le moment pertinents: • • • •
Sur Facebook, le nombre d’amis ainsi que le nombre de notification et de messages peut, nous semble t-il être, un bon un outil de mesure de l’efficacité. Sur Twitter le nombre d’abonnés et de « retweets » peut révéler l’intérêt de nos tweets. Sur Netvibes, nous avons installé un compteur pour calculer le nombre de visites. Et enfin sur delicious, par le nombre visite et de partage de signet.
L’évaluation concernant notre courte expérience d’utilisation des médias sociaux a eu les résultats que nous livrons ci-dessous: • •
•
Le taux de fréquentation de la bibliothèque a connu une nette progression de la part des élèves, stagiaires, personnels, et enseignants de l’Ecole. Le nombre de personnes extérieures à l’école qui rendent visite à la bibliothèque a augmenté aussi bien physiquement que virtuellement puisque nous recevons des requêtes d’internautes de l’extérieur du pays. Nous recevons des recommandations de la part des usagers relatives au fonctionnement de la bibliothèque.
La présence sur le Web de la bibliothèque de l’ESB avec une représentation sur des sites de medias sociaux a amélioré incontestablement nos services et 16 http://www.kriisiis.fr/index.php/tag/mesurer-son-efficacite-sur-les-reseaux-sociaux/
122 Nadia Temmar contribué à revaloriser le travail des bibliothécaires. Ce phénomène a entraîné une augmentation de visites physiques à la bibliothèque. Les usagers sont informés instantanément des activités ou des acquisitions de la bibliothèque. Ils passent plus de temps à la bibliothèque et échangent avec le personnel: on s’intéresse beaucoup plus aux bibliothécaires puisque (selon les dires d’un étudiant) « ils maîtrisent les nouvelles technologies et ne passent plus leur temps à revendiquer le retour des livres à la bibliothèque ». Les médias sociaux ont contribué à offrir une image moderne de la bibliothèque, ce qui a favorisé notre action marketing et promotion en faveur de nos usagers. Nous prévoyons d’en adopter d’autres comme l’ont fait certaines bibliothèques, à l’instar de la bibliothèque de Bergen en Norvège17, qui a produit une vidéo promotionnelle sur Youtube. Le nombre de visites sur la vidéo illustre que celle-ci a pu atteindre un large public. Les outils du nous permettent de développer des relations non seulement avec nos usagers mais aussi avec des internautes externes à l’institution. Cet avantage permet une meilleure visibilité de la bibliothèque et le renforcement de la coopération et des échanges avec des collègues à l'échelle mondiale. Cette collaboration avec les professionnels joue un rôle prépondérant dans le perfectionnement professionnel du personnel des bibliothèques. Parmi l’éventail des outils que l’on a proposé à nos usagers, Facebook reste le réseau social le plus fréquenté et dans lequel les échanges avec Bibliothèque ESB sont le plus prolifiques. Les usagers apportent leurs contributions, ce qui nous conforte dans l’idée que leur participation revêt une grande importance. Nous sommes très peu suivi par nos usagers sur le site de microblogging Twitter très probablement à cause de l’obstacle de langue. Le site vient d’être traduit en francais, nous verrons par la suite s’il y a un changement dans le comportement de nos usagers par rapport à ce site. Pour ce qui nous concerne en tant que professionnels de l’information, Twitter a été d’un grand apport quant à notre perfectionnement. En effet, nous tenons à signaler que les échanges entre les professionnels de l’information et la pratique de la veille sur ce lieu sont des plus généreux et très profitables. Delicious n’est pas très pratiqué auprès de nos usagers, nous devons en faire la promotion. Neanmoins, Delicious est tout comme Twitter un excellent moyen de partage des connaissances pour les professionnels de l’information. Les utilisateurs ont très vite saisi le principe de Netvibes et vont souvent rechercher des informations sur le site. Nous pensons qu’une formation sur certains médias tels Delicious et Twitter s’avère nécessaire. En attendant d’organiser cela au profit de nos usagers, nous leur signalons régulièrement des tutoriaux sur les outils en question. Nous espérons emmener nos utilisateurs à exploiter les informations que nous leur communiquons sur ces médias et à venir plus souvent à la bibliothèque. Toutefois nous savons à priori, que pour nos lecteurs, 17 The Magic of the Library - A Fun Presentation of The University of Bergen Library http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wytQ3pudf5k
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particulièrement les élèves de l’Ecole qui représentent la majorité et qui maîtrisent Facebook, ce réseau est et restera, à notre avis, celui qui fédèrera le plus grand nombre d’utilisateurs et détiendra la première place dans les échanges entre la bibliothèque et les utilisateurs. Si de notre côté nous restons convaincus que les bibliothèques sont essentielles à l'apprentissage, l'enseignement et la recherche, les nouveaux modes de communication à l’aide des outils du représentent incontestablement la nouvelle réalité dans l’échange, la communication et le partage de l’information. Nous pensons comme Bertrand Calenge18 que « les outils du Web 2.0 peuvent profondément transformer les méthodes de travail au sein même des bibliothèques, intervenir de façon massive et pertinente sur la veille, le travail collaboratif…, mais ne peuvent profondément changer la face des bibliothèques ni leur statut ». A notre avis, les bibliothèques et le Web doivent représenter des ressources complémentaires car même si les outils du sont efficaces dans une démarche marketing, la bibliothèque académique, puisque c’est l’objet de notre étude, restera toujours un espace d’échange, un lieu propice au travail. Elle reste essentielle dans le cadre de la recherche. Nous constatons régulièrement dans le cadre de notre travail que les étudiants des premiers cycles préfèrent utiliser Internet pour effectuer leurs travaux de recherche. Toutefois ceux qui sont en fin de cycle sont plus enclin à rechercher des publications scientifiques et académiques que seule la bibliothèque peut leur fournir. Dans cette optique, nous pensons qu’il est nécessaire de persévérer dans l’utilisation médias sociaux pour promouvoir la bibliothèque, faire découvrir ses collections et encourager le public à s’y rendre plus souvent. En combinant les outils du Web 2.0, nous pourrons certainement atteindre le maximum d’utilisateurs particulièrement si on arrive à rendre notre présence utile à nos usagers et entretenir une relation de confiance avec eux. Cependant et vu leur nombre, il est important de ne pas se disperser dans l’utilisation des médias sociaux. Il est nécessaire de les tester avant de se fixer sur un choix à adopter dans le long terme car pour éviter le phénomène d’ « infobésité » et ne pas assaillir nos usagers d’information, il faudrait se fixer dans un cadre d’échange qui arrangerait tout le monde.
Conclusion De par notre courte expérience d’une année de présence sur les outils du Web 2.0, nous avons perçu des petits changements dans le comportement de nos usagers. Nous avons réussi à percevoir les attentes de certains d’entre eux, à recueillir leurs avis. Notre stratégie marketing sera certainement plus captivante l’année prochaine car nous comptons continuer à investir virtuellement les espaces de nos utilisateurs. Nous sommes convaincus que ce 18 Web 2.0 et bibliothèque : une contribution http://bccn.wordpress.com/2009/12/12/web-2-0et-bibliotheques-une-contribution/
124 Nadia Temmar n’est que de cette manière, et à force de persévérance, que nos usagers se rendront compte de notre engagement envers eux. En sollicitant des retours de leur part, ils participeront plus aisément par leur contribution dans l’amélioration de nos prestations. Nous pouvons dire que le Web 2.0 n’est pas simplement une nouvelle mode mais une nouvelle manière de travailler. L’intérêt de l’utilisation de ces outils c’est qu’ils sont à la portée de tout le monde aussi bien, côté coût, que côté facilité d’utilisation. Néanmoins il faut prendre en compte l’investissement temps. En effet, les heures passées sur les réseaux sociaux sont très longues si l’on veut tenir régulièrement à jour les sites, les alimenter en contenus et surtout communiquer autour de sa présence en ligne. Enfin, nous restons convaincus que l’adaptation des outils du Web 2.0 dans les actions marketing ne constitue pas en elle-même la solution appropriée pour cibler et atteindre les usagers mais reste compatible et complémentaire avec les principes du marketing traditionnel. La bibliothèque doit s’affirmer aussi en dehors du Web car la relation directe avec l’usager demeure un moment privilégié.
Bibliographie Audras, M.; Sansaloni, R., 2001. Les études marketing documentaires : transformez votre docuementation en information stratégique. Dunod, Paris, 165p. Dossier et information-documentation, 2009. In : Documentaliste-Sciences de l’information. ADBS, Paris. pp.30-69 Job, C., 2009. Marketing documentaire et dans l’enseignement à travers l’expérience de l’école polytechnique. Mémoire. Master professionnel. Communication du savoir, technologies de la connaissance et management de l’information, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Paris. 60p. Muet, F.; Salaün, J.M., 2001. Stratégie marketing des services d’information. Cercle de la librairie, Paris. 221p.
Library Marketing 2.0: experiences of the ETHBibliothek with social media Rudolf Mumenthaler e-mail: [email protected] Head of Innovation and Marketing ETH Zürich, ETH-Bibliothek, Switzerland Abstract Libraries seek to more directly address to their target groups using new ways of communication with social media. The ETH-Bibliothek is present on different platforms and uses several tools of Web 2.0 such as RSS, Facebook, Twitter, Blogs and also Foursquare. Although the number of fans and followers increases steadily, but the main target groups are not sufficiently addressed. Promoting new services via Web 2.0 is quite difficult. Such activities tend to be seen as spam. A test with Facebook Ads showed that this kind of PR is hardly noticed by users, even if target groups can be addressed very precisely. Therefore traditional forms of marketing (such as flyers) remain important even in the era of Web 2.0. It is also very important to integrate the communication stream.
Résumé Afin d’atteindre plus facilement leurs groupes cibles, les bibliothèques ont recours à de nouveaux moyens de communication : les médias sociaux. Ainsi, l’ETH-Bibliothek est présente sur diverses plateformes et utilise plusieurs outils du Web 2.0, notamment RSS, Facebook, Twitter, Blogs et Foursquare. Toutefois, même si le nombre d’adeptes augmente de façon constante, certains problèmes nuisent aux prises de contact avec les principaux groupes cibles. La promotion de nouveaux services via le Web 2.0 s’avère une tâche ardue: ces messages tendent à être perçus comme des pourriels. Un test publicitaire sur Facebook a montré que les utilisateurs remarquent à peine de telles campagnes de diffusion, et ce, même lorsque le public a été ciblé avec soin. Par conséquent, les formes traditionnelles de marketing (les dépliants, par exemple) demeurent très utiles même à l’ère du Web 2.0. Enfin, il est capital d’intégrer les flux de communication.
126 Rudolf Mumenthaler
Limits of classical marketing In earlier times users were informed about new library services and activities with print information (leaflets, flyers, booklets etc.). Since the end of the 1990s the same information was published on the library’s homepage in addition to the leaflets. User surveys, however, show that users are not aware of many library services, even “important” services from the library’s point of view (Neubauer et al, 2005). Furthermore users do not access library’s homepage in the way librarians think that they should. They enter sideways from search engines, not from “above”, from the entry point. As users don’t usually browse the homepage, they often do not notice the news on the homepage. So it is difficult for the library to reach their customers by traditional means (Ramminger, 2007).
Goals and hopes connected with Web 2.0 tools Using Web 2.0 technologies libraries hope to address directly all users and specific target groups. They try to meet users where they are, try to build a community, obtain feedback from users and get a reputation as modern institutions with up-to-date services. In the context of the ETH-Bibliothek we utilized RSS feeds, blogs, Facebook and Twitter as our selected Web 2.0 tools.
User survey The ETH-Bibliothek performed a small user survey on virtual channels, primarily on Facebook, to ask its customers about the usage of Web 2.0 services. The survey was implemented with the application Wildfire on Facebook on a Web page and it was also promoted via Twitter. The following questions were asked (among others): • •
Which Web 2.0 services do you use? Actively and passively (only reading)? Which Web 2.0 services of the ETH-Bibliothek do you use?
The survey was not representative, addressed to users of the Internet and Web 2.0 services only. The number of participants was 44. Survey results included the fact that people very often use wikis (Wikipedia) and YouTube, but mostly for only reading or viewing. Social networks (like Facebook) are used for both reading and writing (Fig. 1).
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Which services do you use actively (writing)?
40active 31 3732 36 passive 2011 1211 10 14 97 6
Fig.-1: Web 2.0 services used in general passively (reading only) and actively (also writing)
This may mean sites like Facebook have a high potential for interaction between the library and its users. Blogs are established as important sources for information, but even experienced Internet users rarely use RSS, Social Tagging and Twitter (Fig. 2).
Which services of ETH-Bibliothek do you use?
30 20 10 0 Facebook Twitter Fig.-2: Web 2.0 services of the ETH-Bibliothek
Blog
RSS-Feed
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Social media tools @ ETH-Bibliothek RSS feed The RSS feed was the first Web 2.0 service at ETH-Bibliothek. It was used for the publication of the news channel in English and German (www.library.ethz.ch/en/rss/feed/aktuell.rss). Additionally, all blogs can be subscribed to as an RSS feed. RSS feeds are a very important basic technology in order to publish content on different channels. Users can subscribe to news and blog RSS feeds directly or subscribe to search results from the library catalog. RSS feeds can also be integrated into Facebook and Twitter and used in personalized Websites (like iGoogle, see Fig. 3).
Fig.-3: Personalized iGoogle with RSS feeds of ETH-Bibliothek (and a gadget)
It was noticed in usability tests for the new homepage, however, that most users – even experienced library users – didn’t recognize the RSS icon and didn’t know its function! Web statistics indicate a high usage of RSS feeds, but it is difficult to say how many of the hits are produced by automatic readers.
Blogs The ETH-Bibliothek has two different kinds of blogs: one as an interactive collection description called Special Collections Digital (http://blogs.ethz.ch/ digital-collections) and another as a contribution to discussions in the online librarian community, called Innovation@ETH-Bibliothek (http://blogs.ethz.ch/ innovethbib). The technical platform (WordPress) is hosted by the IT Services of ETH Zürich. The idea behind Special Collections Digital was to create an interactive collection description resource as a Web log. Every week an article about a
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new document or new Special Collections holdings is published. Several staff members are contributors to this blog. Principally there is an option for comments, but it is seldom used by the readers. Therefore the blog is used only for information, not for interaction. The blog Innovation@ETH-Bibliothek is a more typical blog with information on trends and news in information technology and libraries with subjective contributions (interpretations) by the author. There is a focus on new services and products, especially eReaders. The blog has many readers and the articles are often commented upon.
ETH-Bibliothek Facebook page The original idea behind creating a Facebook page was to test a new platform and new forms of communication with users (www.facebook.com/ ETHBibliothek). It is a fact that students (as one of the main target groups of the library) are strongly present on Facebook; in March 2010 there were 2.1 mio Facebook users in Switzerland, of which 175,000 are graduates of a university and 13,000 graduates of ETH Zurich. The number of 1,100 students at ETH Zürich that are officially registered on Facebook is certainly too small. I estimate that around 10,000 of about 16,000 students are on Facebook, but don’t indicate that they are students at ETH Zurich. Our experiences with Facebook are quite positive: the function to become a fan (“like”) is well used – as of September 2010 the library has 750 fans. In 2009 there were approximately 30,000 page views on our Facebook page. The newly introduced “like”-button made interaction especially easy for users, but they don’t often write comments. There are some important issues involved with a library Facebook page. On the one hand Facebook changes pages and functions without asking; so one day the button “become a fan” was replaced by “like” and the widgets were replaced by pages or tabs. We also had issues with spam on our Facebook page. Sometimes companies become a fan only to publish their promotion on the page. Additionally, a Facebook page is always connected to a private Facebook account. The page can only be administered by a person who has an individual Facebook account. Only the administrators or fans of the page are able to invite other people to become a fan of the page. It is not easy to promote a Facebook page with its own means. For example, it was quite useless to send a (personal) invitation as a friend to people you don’t know personally, even if they are also part of the university’s network. Only few accepted the invitation, some even felt harassed. Not very successful was the campaign to invite unknown members of the university’s network to become fan of the library, either. Dozens of identical messages were interpreted as a spam activity, and Facebook threatened to delete the account. In order to promote the Facebook page and also other services, ETHBibliothek made a test with Facebook Ads. The result was not an overwhelm-
130 Rudolf Mumenthaler ing success: On average, only one in every 2000 people who saw the ad on Facebook clicked on the ad in order to get more information or to become a fan of ETH-Bibliothek. In 2009 the statistics gave a value of 2.5 mio views and 800 clicks on the ads. As the library only pays per click, the campaign was inexpensive ($150 in 2009). But after a deeper analysis of the outcome, the ETH-Bibliothek stopped the Facebook Ads campaign.
ETH-Bibliothek on Twitter The Twitter feed of the ETH-Bibliothek was created to use an additional communication channel (www.twitter.com/ETHBibliothek and www.twitter. com/ETHLibrary). It allows the integration of RSS feeds and blogs and can also be used as a communication tool in case of emergency. Because Twitter (like Facebook) is independent of the library’s infrastructure, it also works when the library’s web server would be down. On Twitter users have followers instead of fans. The number of library followers increases constantly. In March 2010 there were 124 followers, 224 in June and 300 in September. The library was by then on 105 lists and it had sent 450 tweets. Until now there were only a few students and members of the faculty among the followers they mostly consist of modern librarians interested in what other libraries do. In Europe students and teachers seem to use Twitter only rarely. This is quite a surprise for me, as I use Twitter as my main source of information. Blogs, twitterfeeds and newsfeeds can be integrated into your Twitter, onto your PC and – even more importantly – into your mobile devices. At a conference in April 2010, the ETH-Bibliothek installed a Twitterwall that was displayed on a smaller screen in the lecture hall. Attendees’ comments and questions with the hashtag of the conference published on Twitter were picked up by the moderator and discussed in the plenary session. The use of Twitter proved to be a real added value to the talks in the conference. From a personal point of view, Twitter is a very powerful tool to create a professional network with other librarians. It is much easier to become a follower on Twitter than a friend on Facebook. Many people differentiate between their more personal Facebook account and a more professional Twitter profile. But users need to keep in mind that only active Twitterer are interesting to others. That is also important for the institutional Twitter feed. A new form of publish or perish?
ETH-Bibliothek on Foursquare Location based information systems are one of the megatrends of the near future. Smartphones with an integrated GPS sensor made location aware applications a reality in a very short time. Foursquare is a service and application available for many mobile devices. It combines the functions of a social network, a location-based information system and a social game. Users of Fours-
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quare can “check in” at various locations within the application. The ETHBibliothek created Foursquare venues for the main library and several special libraries and collections outside the main building (http://foursquare.com/ venue/299248). Now users can “check-in” at these places and get information provided by the library itself as well as user generated tips (Fig. 4).
Fig.-4: ETH-Bibliothek: venue on Foursquare
For example, the library informs via Foursquare when the opening hours change. The game factor means that users can become “mayor” of a venue and they win points when they check-in. If a person checks-in five times at ETHBibliothek, he receives a small award. There aren’t yet many experiences with this social network, but it’s one more way to get in contact with users.
Integration into institutional communications Who should provide all the information on the different channels? Usually a library gets no more resources for this kind of added activities. One solution could be to deliver information automatically to the different channels. The basic technology of RSS enables the synchronization of different news feeds
132 Rudolf Mumenthaler into one. There are several free Web -based services to combine the different channels: Twitterfeed is a tool to synchronize several RSS feeds to one and to publish it on a Twitter account. It is easy to combine a Twitter account with the personal Facebook profile – but not with an institutional Facebook page only. If the administrator of the Facebook page doesn’t want his personal Facebook page flooded with news of the library, he has to find other ways. In Facebook only one blog or RSS feed can be imported into Facebook notes. So you first have to create one feed out of many. This could be done with Twitterfeed, but this combined feed is imported without images and looks not so attractive on Facebook. That’s why we use Yahoo! Pipes as synchronizing tool (Fig. 5).
Fig.-5: Combination of several feeds in Yahoo! Pipes
The combined RSS feed is then imported to Facebook notes. With this method, news published on the Web page is also visible on the Twitter feed and on Facebook (Fig. 6).
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Fig.-6: News stream at ETH-Bibliothek
At least theoretically the synchronization happens completely automatically, but in reality the import to Facebook has to be restarted quite regularly manually. These free services are not always reliable. An alternative could be commercial services like HootSuite.
Conclusion It’s no question; people take notice of social media. It’s a powerful method to send the signal that an institution is concerned about their customers and that it searches for innovative forms to communicate. But it is also clear that the users of these services are not primarily library users. Most of them are aficionados of Web 2.0 and belong to a wider community of Web 2.0 librarians. So even with modern social media a library does not address its primary target groups effectively. These groups don’t take automatically notice of new services. A combination of new and traditional marketing methods to promote these new services is most useful. That is why the ETH-Bibliothek created a flyer with the social media platforms on which it is present that will be dispersed among the new beginning students of ETH. It is also very important to integrate the communication stream – linking news and information between the different platforms from the Web page to the social media pages. This streamlines the promotion process. For the maintenance of all the various channels, it’s also crucial to use standards (such as RSS) and automatisms. We are using these methods to reach our students with social tools and we are looking forward to the increasing number of ETH students becoming fan of their library.
(Acknowledgements: Thanks to Dominique Hétu, Wendi Ackermann and Michael Stephens for suggestions and proof reading of this paper, you are real friends!)
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References Neubauer, W. Et al, 2005. Alles in allem: die beste Bibliothek, die ich kenne. Nutzerbefragung an der ETH-Bibliothek 2003. ETH-Bibliothek Ramminger, E.; and Graf, N. (2007). Informationsmanagement an der ETH Zürich. Ergebnisse einer qualitativen Expertenbefragung der ETH-Bibliothek zum Umgang mit Literatur und Informationsressourcen in Forschung und Lehre. ETH-Bibliothek.
Section-V: International perspectives
Web 2.0 tools and the marketing of libraries: the case of Africa Amadou Anta Samb e-mail: [email protected] Senior librarian, Head of Public Relations Service, Cheikh Anta Diop Academic Library, Dakar, Senegal Abstract The visibility in the Web and the users’ recovery are today a necessity for the libraries which increase the initiatives aiming to use the technologies and the marketing techniques. Such trend shows a real willing to keep the link with the user whenever he could be, and particularly in Internet which is now the ‘central media’ for the communication strategies of the organizations. In the African context and especially in Senegal there are not marketing policies in the libraries. Just some disparate marketing practices summed up caps and teeshirts sale at the effigy of the library and not fit into a coherent and sustainable strategy. Concerning the libraries have Websites 1.0 i.e. they are still rigid, static and no user-oriented. Apart from the Gaston Berger University library in Saint-Louis that uses currently the tools via Netvibes that is an admission of failure everywhere.
Résumé La visibilité sur le Net et la (re)conquête des publics sont de nos jours une nécessité et les bibliothèques ne s’y trompent guère en multipliant les initiatives visant à l’utilisation des technologies du Web 2.0 et des techniques du marketing. Cette tendance montre une volonté de garder le lien avec l’utilisateur où qu’il soit, et surtout sur l’Internet qui est devenu LE media central pour les stratégies de communication de toute organisation. Dans le contexte africain et spécialement au Sénégal, le marketing se réduit à des pratiques sporadiques – vente de tee-shirts et de casquettes à l’effigie de la Bibliothèque – qui ne s’insèrent pas dans une stratégie globale et cohérente. Concernant le Web 2.0, la plupart des bibliothèques disposent tout au plus d’un site Web 1.0. La seule bibliothèque qui utilise à ce jour les fonctionnalités du Web 2.0 est la Bibliothèque de l’université Gaston Berger de Saint Louis grâce à l’agrégateur Netvibes.
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From marketing to Web 2.0 Marketing is a philosophy of management which is user-oriented. Confronted with competitive environments in full growth, information services have more and more to familiarize with the concept of marketing. However, in reality, very few libraries and information services reached the level of a complete marketing orientation. This is due partly to the fact that information services perceive marketing like a series of tactical actions rather than like a true strategic positioning on the long-term; and in another part with opposing of their employees to adopt a customer orientation. The customer, precisely, changed a lot since many years due to many reasons which the emergence of Web 2.0. The Internet emergence enriched the relationship between the librarian and the user through a strong relational marketing helped by the collaborative tools. The relational marketing is a technique of marketing aiming to settle a continuous and enriched relationship with the customer even out of the consumption or purchase periods. The visibility on Internet and the users’ recovery are today a necessity for the libraries which increase the initiatives aiming to use the technologies and the marketing techniques. This trend shows a real willing to keep the link with the user whenever he could be, and particularly in Internet which is now THE central media for the communication strategies of the organizations. The main objective is to improve our communication means with the users and attract the non-users. The second reason for the library 2.0 adherents is that these new services enable the libraries to have a more human schedule. Thus; the library is able to position itself as an active member of the developed communities in the sphere. But another objective of the adoption by the libraries is to improve the internal communication and the knowledge sharing in the library and moreover in the librarianship area. Web 2.0 is a Web evolution stage which the user and the information sharing are the cornerstone. Web 2.0 is not a technological revolution but a real revolution of practices, a cultural and informational revolution. The marketing concept originally, changes the information landscape thanks to many services. The Web 2.0 enables the collective creation of the knowledge. So the library has to achieve a strategic positioning in this new landscape. Nowadays the library is not able to ignore this technology which services and applications in the librarianship field are at the origin of new terms: interactivity, participation, serendipity, network effect…
The digital natives A fact is that most of the libraries users are digital natives. So, it is very important to know the tools used by our users in order to see if we can offer them
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our services via the same tools. The main objective is to improve our communication means with the users and attract the non-users. That’s why the librarians have to familiarize themselves with the cultural and informational practices of the digital natives i.e. people naked with the computers, the online games, the e-mail, Internet, the mobile phone, the instant messages. The main characteristics of these ones are that they are “always on” i.e.: • • • •
They are always connected; They wait until everything comes to them; They have virtual friends and assume their “second life” when they have one; Their features are pixelized and they speak a language where all the words start with e- or @.
Each year, there is more and more of this type of people on the benches of our universities, in the corridors of our schools, and around of their libraries shelves. It is simply the arrival of Generation Y. This generation is the generation of Web 2.0: this is where they are. Tightly held on to their lifestyle, they leave only two choices for our libraries: leaving them there or joining them there. The goals of the libraries that need to face these digital natives invasion are: • • • •
Seeking the user where they are, on the social media; Learning their language; Imitating their features; Seducing them and bringing them back to the library services – at least numerical – which are conceived for them.
Thus, the librarians have to compromise with the number of the students using laptops inside our libraries and fully involved in the social media development. The interest of the social media is demonstrated by these eloquent facts: • • • •
The social media are the first activity in the Web ; In 2008, 1/8 % of the married couples met themselves in a social network (USA); LinkedIn is the first recruitment tool of the US companies; Kindle (book reader/ Amazon.com) represents 35% of the books sale.
The social media are not a fashion but a basic change of our way of communicating with the users. Today we don’t need to look for information. We wait until everything comes to us. Next time we won’t move to look for the products and services; they will come to us in the social medias sphere : the meeting place between Web 2.0 and marketing.
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Web 2.0 and library The library doesn’t have anymore the monopoly of the academic information supply. Thus, we must move up-market in the digital environment which revolutionized the user’s behaviour. The books (or collections), the serials, the databases, etc. are no longer enough to make the library attractive for the users. In a word, the library does not be associated anymore to the book or is not be able to promote itself within this material. According to Jean-Michel Salaün: “The digital era knocks over the information and documentation sciences sector. It’s a real rupture for the librarianship”. The raw material of the libraries has changed with the dematerialisation of the book. But the digitalization is now very widespread beyond the library’s books. Within everybody’s reach; Just a click. The new rival of the library in he documents supply is well identified: Internet. In reaction to this phenomenon, the libraries leave their premises and diversify their offer of electronic resources: databases, online serials, e-books, etc. But it is important to communicate about the online services offer due to cost-effectiveness requirements. The libraries challenges in a numerical context will be to: • • • • •
Redefine the library vocation by emphasizing their competitive advantage: the librarian and his specificities (human warmth, user’s training…) In a resources decreasing context for the libraries while the books acquisition costs increase day by day the libraries challenge is: To prove that their services are vital for the students success; To prove that the financial resources granted to the library are made cost-effective; To see that the librarians’ state of mind must change and integrate the customer satisfaction idea.
In another hand the positioning is the main challenge of the libraries in the new digital sphere. In order to go on satisfying its customers, the libraries have to create new interactions networks in this environment with the goal to prolong its offer of services efficiently.
Means of actions Disseminate the means of the library access Enable the users to access easily to the library catalog with the Web 2.0 tools: • •
Create a plugin integrated to Firefox. Create its own navigator bar. Ex : Harris county Public library toolbar.
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•
Achieve an economic intelligence by RSS. Ex: librairie Gallimard à Montréal; Hennepin County Library
The library becomes thus directly accessible to the users via his navigator or his RSS agregator.
Contextualize the library Make the library more visible by ensuring it a presence in commercial and public sites or in the social networks. Ex: LibraryThing, Google Book search
Market the library by the social networks Many libraries have taken the plunge and currently use the social networks like platforms to promote their services: MySpace, Ex: The American Library Association (ALA) uses MySpace : presentation of the libraries activities, blogs, videos, etc. Facebook: For the academic libraries Facebook is the most adapted social network due to its academic origin. It is interesting for the library to have a Facebook page. But it is better to animate and promote it.
Library 2.0 Library 2.0 designs each library that is developing one of the different Web 2.0 technologies. Few libraries are able to use all the Web 2.0 applications. They have to choose according to their orientations and resources. Library 2.0 is a modern form of the notion of service to the user: it reflects the way which the service will be offered. The user becomes one of the library’s actors; he participates to its evolution giving for example his opinion on the blog of the library. The libraries have so a great interest to become libraries 2.0 in order to attempt a visibility need without earning an important budget. Each library has to use the Web 2.0 technologies which suit it and are adapted to its context. So, it must choose the Web 2.0 tools according to its community, and methodology in order to attempt its aims but according to its resources. Moreover, it is important for the libraries to know the tools used by their users in order to offer them services via the same tools especially as nowadays many of these peoples don’t imagine anymore work without these tools. The Web 2.0 technologies enable for example to the libraries to generate value-added thanks to the user’s involvement, to enrich its collections of books and may be to decrease the costs of the documents purchase by favouring the resources access rather than physical collections.
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Marketing and Web 2.0: convergences? If the marketing for non-profit organizations joins successfully the Web 2.0, the reason is that it is merely a relational marketing. Moreover the Web 2.0 concept is based on the relationship and the collaboration. In a context of numerical, strategic and social changes, how marketing and Web 2.0 can be combined to allow the information services to provide the best answer regarding offer and request. The adoption of Web 2.0 tools would not be difficult for the marketing-oriented libraries because of the similarities between marketing and Web 2.0: marketing is always customer-oriented while the Web 2.0 is user-centred because he participates to the process of the service delivering. In the marketing context the “servuction” means the stage of the process where the user participates to the service achievement thanks to the means and the staff. The libraries marketing-oriented have to appropriate the Web 2.0 tools which are a modern form of traditional marketing tools known before. But this marketing necessary passes by digitalization to reach the prospects. Indeed, now the new generations read books less and less while they are able to read more of thousands of Web pages, e-mails, Facebook profiles. With the immersion of the libraries in the Web 2.0 practices and uses it happens a real “cultural revolution” that requires many basic purposes of marketing approach: • • •
To think to the needs of the non-users; To supply the distant users on an equal footing with the users inside the library; As a librarian to get out the library in order to meet the users and consider which Web 2.0 services are used by these ones and find how the library will use the same services.
An example of convergence is that the Web 2.0 opportunities correspond perfectly to a marketing strategy: • • • •
- Market library products and services; - Modernize the library image; - Attract new users; - Anticipate the user’s needs by listening to and knowing them.
Advantages of the alliance between Web 2.0 and marketing: an offensive and omnipresent communication with a targeted public in order to make costeffective books investments and develop others ones. Now, marketing and Web 2.0 are the two major trends of the librarianship and are convergent.
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The African context The African context about Marketing and Web 2.0 tools used in the libraries is totally different to the situation described in the northern hemisphere. In the African context and especially in Senegal there are not marketing policies in the libraries. Just some disparate marketing practices and not fit into a coherent strategy. Even in the Cheikh Anta Diop Academic Library which is the fleuron of the West African university libraries the marketing activities are summed up caps and tee-shirts sale at the effigy of the library. No or just some surveys with the users in order to identify their various and changing needs. According to a survey made on august 2010 across 15 French speaking countries in western Africa, most of the libraries (scholar, academic or public libraries) have a Website 1.0 (rigid, static and no user-oriented Website) when they have one. So the African libraries especially the academic libraries have to create spaces on the social networks and sharing tools or create in the library Website a space that will gather the different links towards these accounts.
Web 2.0 tools used by the Gaston Berger University Library (Saint-Louis) Twitter Informations about the library’s activities open hours, etc.: http://twitter.com/bugbactu
Ning Own internal social network accessible only sur invitation
Del.icio.us Social bookmarks sharing, tagging regulation, etc.: http://delicious.com/bugb
Slideshare Slides sharing (PPT, PDF, DOC. Presentations), Library’s animation: http://www.slideshare.net/bugb
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LibraryThing New acquisitions, bibliographic references sharing: http://librarything.fr/profile/BUGBSAT (profile page) http://www.librarything.fr/catalog/BUGBSAT (acquisitions) http://www.librarything.fr/tags/BUGBSAT (tags)
Alternatives to Web 2.0 in African libraries Netvibes Apart from the Gaston Berger University library in Saint-Louis (270 km at the north of Dakar) that is an admission of failure. Indeed, this library that doesn’t have an institutional Website is using now Netvibes portal accessible to http://www.netvibes.com/bugb#Accueil
Digital libraries Fortunately rather than developing physical collections only, today the African libraries concern themselves particularly with the digital resources access. Many digitalization projects and collections development programs occur in the African libraries (Cybertheses, Cyberdocs, Sist) in order to put more contents accessible in the Web which is the central media for the communication strategy of any company.
Libraries Consortiums Many African libraries unite themselves into consortiums in order to reduce the electronic resources access. Thanks to eIFL the Senegalese higher education libraries consortium (Cobess) have acquired in 2010 many electronic resources: BioOne, Cambridge University Press Journals, Institute of Physics Journals, JSTOR , Oxford English Dictionary Online , Oxford Reference Online, Oxford Journals
Libraries buildings While in the developed countries of the northern hemisphere the libraries are less and less frequented because of Internet and the “Web 2.0 effect”, in Africa it is not the same thing. The libraries, especially the academic libraries, are always crowded: the “physical library” with its walls, premises, tables, seats, shelves, books, etc. is still well appreciated and used. That’s why the libraries renovation or building programs don’t stop growing.
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References Accart, J., 2008. Virturéalité. La bibliothèque sera 2.0…quoique ! Archimag, 33, 4-6 Bibliothèque 2.0 [en ligne] http://noria.apf.francophonie.org/spip.php?article143 Consulté le 08 mai 2010 Bosc, A., 2007. Services en ligne : l’exemple de deux bibliothèques universitaires australiennes. BBF 6, 51-55 Calenge, B. – Web 2.0 et Bibliothèques : une contribution. http://bccn.wordpress.com/ 2009/12/12/web-2-0-et-bibliotheques-une-contribution/ consulté le 26/08/2010 Danowski, P., 2007. Bibliothèque 2.0 et contenu produit par l’usager: que peuvent faire les usagers pour nous? Communication faite au Congrès de l’IFLA de Durban (19-23 août 2007), Durban, 2007. Diouf, A. Notre Bibliothèque fait du Web 2.0 [en ligne] http://louisar.wordpress.com/. Posted on may 12, 2009. Diouf, A. De la Bibliothèque 2.0: exemples et pratiques. [en ligne] http://louisar.wordpress.com/. Posted on december 31, 2007. Diouf, A. De la Bibliothèque 2.0: définitions et enjeux. [en ligne] http://louisar.wordpress.com/. Posted on december 24, 2007. Diouf, A. Un peu de tout sur le Web 2.0. [en ligne] http://louisar.wordpress.com/. Posted on december 20, 2007. Job, C. Marketing documentaire et Web 2.0 dans l’enseignement supérieur à travers l’expérience de l’Ecole Polytechnique, Mémoire de Master, Communication du savoir, technologies de la connaissance et mangement de l’information, Paris 1, 2009 Les pratiques marketing des services de référence, 2006. Documentaliste-Sciences de l’information, 43, 5-6. La Bibliothèque à l’heure du Web 2.0 http://www.education.cdeacf.ca/archives.php?quoi =actualite&actu=1920 Consulté le 26 août 2010 Les BU vont-elles disparaître?http://blogues.ebsi.umontreal.ca/jms/index.php/post/2010/02/ 22/Les-bibliotheques-universitaires-vont-elles-disparaitre. Consulté le 26/08/2010 Library and Google.® BBF, 2007, 1, 140-141 [en ligne] http://bbf.enssib.fr/ Consulté le 04 septembre 2010. Maisonneuve, M., 2008. Dix bonnes raisons de choisir un OPAC de nouvelle génération. Documentaliste-Sciences de l’information, 45, 3, 16-17. Mathiot, V. T., 2009. Les outils du Web 2.0 en bibliothèque. BBF 6, 100-101 [en ligne] http://bbf.enssib.fr/ Consulté le 10 décembre 2009 Qui a besoin des bibliothèques à l’heure de Google ? Par Thomas le mercredi 18 avril 2007 Vagabondages http://www.vagabondages.org/post/2007/0418 Consulté le 20/01/2008 Rotrou, G.Web 2.0 : nouvelle donne pour la publicité et le marketing Salaün, J.- L’avenir de la bibliothèque est-elle dans le Web 2.0? http://blogues. ebsi.umontreal.ca/jms/index.php/post/2007/03/25/215-lavenir-de-la-bibliotheque-estelle-dans-le-web-20 Consulté le 26 août 2006 Samb, A.A., Les mutations de la Bibliothèque à l’ère du Web 2.0, Communication faite à la 3ème édition du Symposium International de Bucarest (20-23 septembre 2010), Bucarest, 2010. Samb, A. A. 2008. Situation de la documentation et du marketing au Sénégal, 3p. Samb, A.A., 2000Du marketing à la BUCAD: enjeux et perspectives. Mémoire de maîtrise, Sciences de l’information et de la Communication, Dakar.
146 Amadou Anta Samb Vermeuil, A., 2007. L’avenir des Bibliothèques à l’ère du Web 2.0 et face aux évolutions d’Internet, BBF 5, 93-94 [en ligne] http://bbf.enssib.fr/ Consulté le 21 juillet 2010 Web 2.0 et bibliothèque 2.0 http://bibliodoc.francophonie.org/article.php3id_article=258 Consulté le 10 décembre 2009.
Brazilian librarians and Twitter Moreno Barros e-mail: [email protected] Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Abstract Brazil leads the world in social networks. This paper focuses on the results of a two-year experience of Brazilian librarians using Twitter in their work field. Two types of presence on Twitter are identified. A new approach is proposed to answers the critical questions librarians are facing regarding service provision based on Twitter.
Résumé Le Brésil est le leader mondial des réseaux sociaux. Le présent article présente les résultats d’une étude concernant l’utilisation de Twitter au travail par les bibliothécaires brésiliens. Deux types d’activités sur Twitter ont été identifiés. L’auteur propose une nouvelle approche pour répondre aux questions importantes auxquelles font face les bibliothécaires concernant leur offre de service sur Twitter.
Perspective and numbers Social networking is one of the most ubiquitous activities across the Web. As more users around the world became acquainted with connecting and expressing themselves through social network Websites, a whole new social online environment emerged. According to ComScore, a digital world research company, today nearly 3 out of 4 global Internet users access social networks each month1. This phenomenon continues to gain steam around the world, and Brazil represents one of the fastest growing social networking markets.
1
http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2010/8/Indonesia_Brazil_and_ Venezuela_Lead_Global_Surge_in_Twitter_Usage
148 Moreno Barros Surprising as it may seem for an emerging economy, Brazil leads the world in social networks reach. According to a report released on April 2010 from Nielsen2, a preeminent media research company, Brazil is the country with the most social networks regular users, topping the charts with the highest percentage (86%) of local online consumers who are registered on at least one of the major social networks. In Brazil, social networking sites had 35.2 million unique visitors in July 2010, up 47% compared with a year earlier. Undisputed leader is Google’s Orkut, with 70% reach, making it the world leader on domestic audience reach, with 28.9 million unique visitors in July, representing growth of 27% in 12 months. At the same time, Facebook grew by 524%, reaching 8.2 million visitors3. Nielsen credits the popularity of social networking in Brazil due to Orkut. The network ran by Google drew more than three-quarters of Brazil’s internet audience. But social network via Twitter has experienced an explosion in local traffic over the past year, establishing itself as one of the most-visited social networks in Brazil, right behind Orkut and Facebook. Twitter is the fourth most popular social network in Brazil with about 8.6 million visitors in August 2010. The service reaches about 23% of the Brazilian online population. According to comScore, this is the highest Twitter penetration in the world4. Expansion of broadband connections and mobile access, and the rise of the sense of social media ubiquity are important factors contributing for the social networking phenomenon in Brazil. But history and culture more likely explain why social networks seem so attractive to Brazilians. We are incredibly community oriented.
How many we are? Twitter is just too attractive. It brought a new level of speed, ubiquity and filter quality. People working in some extension with media, technology and communication are the most active users of Twitter. Librarians fit somewhere in there. Just like in many other countries, it was a natural to librarians to adopt these tools in our work field. In Brazil there are more than 300 active users identified as librarians (included those that are attending library school, librarians to be). It is very diffi-
2 3 4
http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/global/social-media-accounts-for-22-percent-of-timeonline/ http://blogs.ft.com/beyond-brics/2010/08/25/can-facebook-become-brazils-other-socialnetwork/ http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/Brazil_facebook_is_growing_fast_but_orkut_still_ far_ahead.php
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cult to maintain an updated list of librarians on Twitter5 since there is no simple way to keep track on every new librarian user. But based on network effect and popularity it is safe to say that we have a solid library-Twitter community in our country. There are about 50 Brazilian libraries with an unofficial or official Twitter account. This number is also growing. I would recommend a simple search on Twitter for the term ‘biblioteca’, which stands for ‘library’ both in Portuguese and Spanish. There is also a large group of librarians following the Twitter stream of the major library conference in Brazil6.
How we are? Considering the high number and quality of articles and blog posts already written in the last years regarding the theoretical, philosophical and practical aspects of social networks applied to libraries and by librarians, I will focus on what Brazilians have in terms of results after a solid couple of years of library and librarians using Twitter. My perception is that we have in Brazil two distinct types of presence on Twitter – one that is personal and one that is institutional. To make it clear, personal use stands for librarians using it on behalf of themselves, talking to their friends, families and conversations based on personal interests. Institutional stands for official accounts representing institutions, libraries, taking in account that there is a real person running it or a group of people who respond for it. Brazilians have got really good at professional conversation – which is, in a personal level, librarians have a lot to talk about in between librarians. This conversational volume is not hard to spot, requiring only a simple examination of our Twitter streams, updates and lists. But Brazilians are not so good at institutional conversation – when there is a librarian transvested as an official library account trying to talk with its users. In a brief conclusion, we could argue that librarians are sharing with librarians but panphleting to users. Librarians are really good in passing relevant information forward to other librarians, sharing library related stuff and making a real impact on each other’s lives, but apparently doesn’t have the same capability when dealing with patrons. Most of the time we are providing only small, ephemeral pieces of alerts in a one way communication scheme, but using a tool that is essentially about conversation. It can hardly be believed that this is an institutional fault, even considering all the constraints that cannot be avoided in our governmental and public uni5 6
See http://bsf.org.br/2009/05/01/bibliotecarios-no-Twitter/ See http://Twitter.com/SNBU/following
150 Moreno Barros versities’ libraries, but simply evidence that we still have not completely understood how to use Twitter to attend users need and consequently maximize the tools’ potential as a conversational platform. Nevertheless on the librarians personal side we have good results: Twitter provides a whole new level of awareness and information consumption; article request has also been working amazingly as any well connected librarian can put a reference on their timeline and within minutes get many responses from different colleagues across the network; social networking itself breaks barriers and professionals can get to know each other better, get connected through friends in common, work, think and solve problems together. Twitter is a great meeting place after all. On the institutional side we have low level of interaction, between libraries and its users. Sure there are standouts, but looking at the average library timeline it’s easy to identify their low effort trying to maintain a conversational flow; struggle to get followers, which is hard to understand since librarians on personal level seem to be very good at making connections and followers based on the quality of their conversational content; no prior strategy, which lead to accounts being left behind after a short period of experimentation. Many explanations have been put on why Twitter doesn’t fully function: duplication of work or extra work; no immediate impact; won’t convert potential users into actual users; and impossible to personalize. Back to the librarian’s side, Twitter has represented a way to hack the system, considering that most of our libraries in Brazil have a very strict structure or low technical resources. Hacking the system represents a way to work out of the constraint of politics. And Twitter has what it takes with a bottom up approach, Web based and easy to implement. Take the article request tactic for example, as we librarians are exchanging articles in favor of our users but probably going against databases contracts. Not only Twitter but social software in general allows people to have a voice even if they are not authority on a particular subject. Being an alternative to academics, Twitter is just another form of scientific communication, dependant on formal communication, but exploiting more the ability to work outside the academic boundaries. Librarians of Twitter are helping to make this concept clearer. Self branding is something that Brazilian librarians are learning to do, as they are taking advantage of being followed by a lot of colleagues and other people. Not to forget that Brazilians are culturally community driven. After all this comparison between personal and institutional sides a straight conclusion is that Twitter as a news board has fulfilled its role.
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Where we are? After two years of solid experience, is that all we have? Twitter as a news board? We stand at this tipping point now, where there’s no turning back and we need to figure out where are we going and how are we going to get there, if we ever get somewhere. A lot of questions come up, and we are trying to respond them. Are we doing marketing or advertising? Because if Twitter in libraries has worked only as a news board, it seems that we are trying to promote and sell what we do as librarians and ask people what they want from us, when we should be instead trying to use the tools’ potential to anticipate and discover what people need, before they even recognize particular demands. As a way to sell this type of initiative and to insert Twitter into institutional culture, we need to prove that social media works and then use what we know to make it better. No doubt we already have enough experience. Librarians lack the ability to deal with the lack of policies. Not many of us are willing to take risks and start projects from the very beginning, taking full responsibility for it. All the subversive initiatives that turn into a best practice have the potential to become institutionalized. We Brazilians have acknowledged the importance of taking this type of risk to make ideas work. Twitter is just another practical example. A major point we need to address is that we have something of incalculable value, because we cannot deny that there is a huge value in Twitter, which needs to be measured. It seems contradictory but we have to figure out a way to capitalize this value. Many articles have pointed the importance of return on investment. We need to come up with a method to measure the ROI on this type of investment because anyhow it consumes time, human and technical resources. This type of approach forces us to answer questions such as “how many books were lent thanks to Twitter?” or “how many potential users were converted into actual users thanks to Twitter?” I have a personal feeling that we have failed in trying to work with Twitter within the library scope, hoping to make a better contact with our users.
Where we are going? But we won’t stop here; we need to keep moving on. Trying to figure out how Twitter can be applied to libraries in its full capability seems to be a good problem. I am not saying that is good to have problems, but especially in a country with many problems like Brazil, these good challenges are fuel for a creative community. As Clay Shirky (2008) or any librarian with social media experience would state, Twitter or social networking in general associated with the library
152 Moreno Barros is meant to be simple, not be fundamental. We can’t be fundamentalists about it. Maybe we should think of Twitter as a platform to do things rather than simply say things. Certainly there is a great deal of hype around social networking, but the model is here to stay.
What Brazil has to offer? In conclusion, what Brazil has to offer? We have a major librarian workforce. Brazilian librarians are joining Twitter and social media in general with the same velocity and curiosity as Twitter itself stir up its functionality as a library service. Countless librarians from all regions of the country are coming in each day, ready to take the most out of the tools’ conversational potential, be it in personal level or applied to their work places. The list of Brazilian librarians on Twitter raises the same proportion of the network’s overall reach. Our country is one of the largest in the world and Twitter is proving to be a major gathering tool, working not only to approximate librarians working in many different and distant regions but to provide better services to patrons across the nation. Twitter can work faster than email and telephone, as most librarians are connected to their accounts online fulltime. Portuguese is the fifth most spoken language in the world and one the fastest-growing languages after English. It is the language of about half of South America's population. There is no doubt Brazil plays a major role in keeping the language heritage circulating in a network system dominated by English spoken users. Librarians can take advantage of Twitter to evidence the uniqueness of the collections and materials written in Portuguese they guard. There are so many young librarians showing up on Twitter. Digital natives are using Twitter as an extension of their social lives, now coming straight out of library schools exploiting those tools on their full capabilities. Young librarians have the vision the employ Twitter to the work field like older librarians wouldn’t. It feels almost like a relief to see that librarians won’t need to adapt to certain tools, since these have been a natural for them even before they became librarians. As pointed by Ronaldo Lemos7, Director at the Brazilian Center for Technology and Society, social networks has become a better mirror of the Brazilian society, with its class and social differences. My local perception may have similarities with many other countries. I strongly believe this is good sign as we are facing the same reality or a variety of realities and can use a globally pervasive tool like Twitter to work altogether in making our work better and provide greater services to our library users and patrons. 7
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKksump9864
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References Shirky, C., 2008. Here comes everybody. Allen Lane, London.
Conclusion
Marketing in a Web 2.0 world: a conference perspective Christie Koontz e-mail: [email protected] School of Library and Information Studies Florida State University, Tallahassee, USA Rich tapestries of thought … As a lifelong student and teacher of marketing the opportunity to act as synthesizer of the “Marketing Libraries in a Web 2.0 World,” conference presentations, was keenly appealing and ultimately gratifying. One learns a great deal when assigned from the conference outset to listen, digest and then summarily share the shining moments and brilliant thoughts of presenting scholars on site and then via this write-up. This was a much easier job due to the high quality of works selected by the scientific committee, manifested by the timely conference theme. Participants and attendees of the August 7th-8th, 2010 event held at Stockholm University, represented over 20 countries. Global perspectives shared at IFLA conferences and pre-conferences endure when proceedings such as these, land on book shelves, Websites. Too often conference presentations only create rich tapestries of thought for participants to travel home with. So in fulfilling my role as an agent of synthesis, I write this summation and last chapter. This final act also instigated my pondering, specifically last chapters of books. As in fact and at some point these may be more arcane as other forms of communication proliferate. For example, blogs and tweets have no last chapters…but seem to go on endlessly. I can only assure the reader this chapter will end — and the fine work of the Stockholm conferees will be a foundation to build upon.
“The 4Ps are being transformed by Web 2.0…” The conference opened with Réjean Savard, conference organizer and legendary marketing guru of IFLA, stating, “The marketing mix strategy, (the 4Ps), product, price, place, and promotion, are being transformed by Web 2.0.”
158 Christie Koontz I reflected on Savard’s statement and agree. Web 2.0 embodies user interaction with any organization’s offer (product or service) ultimately improving its utility and appeal. The principles of the 4Ps (marketing mix strategy) are designed to move the product (which is developed and based upon identified customer needs) forward — at a set price (sum of acceptable customer costs), deliver it via optimal places, and promote the offer by connecting it to media channels which target customers’ access. Any one of these Ps (product, price, place, promotion) are designed to be tweaked if less than optimal movement of the product occurs. The product is the most expensive to alter — so frontend work is critical. Web 2.0 makes the tweaking process work better as the customer is involved all along the way. Savard, finalized and concurs with this stating, “Web 2.0 is itself also promotional, the Internet is a new place, expanding delivery and view of the library’s product line and implicit in this — the price (cost to customers of time ) is being lowered.” Great minds think alike. Marketing principles which stand the test of time assure collaboration and concurrence amongst scholars and students.
Themes and topics… Conference topics available for scholarly review and presentation included such themes and topics as: the value of marketing principles and practices currently amongst 2.0 strategies; how does 2.0 better identify and meet customer needs; what technologies best market 2.0 tools to customer segments; what training do (library and information studies) LIS professionals need to best use these new tools; and examples of “best practices”.
Shining moments and brilliant thoughts… Here is a review and summation of “shining moments and brilliant thoughts of presenting scholars1”. Silvier Mercier, Paris, France, representing Olivier Le Deuff, says “think about exchanges” when designating social media. Marketing of course is a process of exchanges between the organization and the customer. Mercier also challenges that, “…while Web 2.0 prevails perhaps the Library 2.0 is not a reality yet?” Mercier concludes digital availability by default increases librarians’ competencies as these create new paradigms and mash-ups. “Librarians must embrace and go on,” he finalizes. 1
This review is only of those who were able to attend the conference and present their papers. I acknowledge the fine work of those included in this publication that contribute to this topic as well.
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Tanja Merčun, University of Ljubliana, Slovenia, states Web 2.0 is not just media tools but a philosophy including: perpetual change, flexibility, engineering, collaboration, interaction and personalization. Merčun encourages, “…know your users and strive for a co-creative community“. Heather Moulaison, School of Information Studies, Ottawa, Canada, and Edward Corrado, Binghamton University, USA, emphasized library and the information organizations need to “create policies for the organization and their employees to facilitate social media amongst and amidst the mixing and blurring of personal and professional lines.” They suggest, “If you make a major glitch — contact your boss immediately,” and conclude, “ plan from the beginning how to evaluate your efforts and implement training for all concerned”.
Libraries are in perpetual Beta… Olivier Charbonneau, Concordia University, Canada – said one of the more memorable statements. “We are in perpetual beta. We must embrace the user as a contributor – it cannot be Web 2.0 without this philosophy. As far as marketing, Web 2.0 tools must aid your marketing — so select the right one!!” Lisa Hinchcliffe, University of Illinois, USA, spoke of the critical need of evaluation for marketing programming. “Success is determining whether or not there is a success.” Hinchcliffe shared the diffusion of innovation theory — as it applies to Web 2.0 which in application helps discern whether the new is better than the old. She also espouses, “… the theory can help us know if the suggested tool is compatible — as customers want to try new things out and observe if they like something or not (before adapting)”. Hinchcliffe also stressed the need for evaluation techniques that communicate the library’s value to administrators and funders. Li-Ping Ku, Run Run Shaw Library of City University of Hong Kong, China created research-based profiles of users to better build their Web 2.0 tools. He stated “ …dig in, observe, ask, then quantify what ‘they’ are doing, prefer and need”. Rajesh Singh, Emporia, USA, encourages “…invite customers — ignite their interest, and foster emotional involvement amongst people.” He reminds participants that just because, “…you build it-- does not mean they will come”.
Web 2.0 goes where they are…building community Rudolf Mumenthaler, Zürich Switzerland, underlines users do not always or perhaps rarely know about all the library’s services. “Web 2.0 can go to where they are — addressing, targeting, and building community,” he stated.
160 Christie Koontz Mumenthaler in his experience went beyond using earned media in the university library (such as self-posted Facebook or Twitter) and into paid media (Facebook advertising), testing the waters and creating a new model. Jacob Harnesk of EBSCO Information Services and Marie Payet of SCD de L’UPEMLV, France, based upon current EBSCO sponsored research offer partial findings regarding challenges organizations face launching social media, such as: social media take too much time to manage; there is lower interest amongst users than expected; restrictive policies are cumbersome; and information security and confidentiality issues are constant. “Consider user needs before launching your social media,” they conclude.
Do not leave Web 1.0 behind Ake Nygren (pronounced like OK), Kista Library Learning Center, Sweden, states, “…do not leave Web 1.0 behind for the 2.0.” He reminds the audience that social media are not just about digital ‘places’ but also physical (places of access which are staffed). Nygren emphasizes the utility of the mobile phone for information professionals who are self-mandated to provide increased access. He encourages exploration of the mashups of physical and digital browsing, “confront and challenge normality.” Moreno Barros — Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, shares Twitter’s “rage” in Brazil which captured 86% of Internet users. “Twitter offers speed, ubiquity and filters quality — making it a natural for librarians — yet few of us seem to have a strategy for our users,” Barros challenges. Communities with diverse representation should be heartened by this Web 2.0 tool’s widespread use and also how choices may differ amongst demographic groups, based upon this unique Brazilian study. Bentenbi Chaibdraa Tani, University of Oran, Algeria, was the first to dub social media as “viral marketing”. She states, “Social media facilitates developing potential customer markets as never before built upon a networking framework.” Her presentation was impressive and in English which she translated on site. This inspired those present to agree there would be no more apologies for not speaking each other’s languages! As a student of Latin only — I applauded. Dinesh Gupta, a session moderator, shared his blog, Marketing Mantra which hosts 1400 members. The diverse and high quality content make the marketing blog type of social media successful. Gupta is tireless in his work with the IFLA International Marketing Award and this year’s 2010 winners, each used social media tools indicative of Web 2.0’s applicability. Last but not least--Lionel Dujol, Mediatheque de Pays de Romans, France, offered wry and witty humor — noting the ‘library is the belly button of Web 2.0”. I ended with Dujol’s vision at the conference, and end this chapter now!
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But this is certainly not the end of the discussion regarding new tools for tried and true marketing principles. Christie Koontz, Florida State University, USA, (author of this article) states, “Principles are truths exalted over time — prestigious, practical and predictable.” In Koontz’ perspective — the conference gained new ground in upholding the sheer notion of principles — marketing or otherwise.
