2012 Best Practices for Government Libraries

Social Media
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BEST PRACTICES 2012
the answers when it comes to the business of information. The important
thing is that I know where to find them. Even a virtual presence needs a
professional community to rely on for development and support.
The virtual reference services of other libraries are also part of my
professional community. Through these reference librarians, I am given a
certain amount of access to much of what exists in the actual brick and
mortar library. In addition, their expertise and years of experience are
priceless.
It seems to always come back to Social Media these days. There is a reason. In a
world where the only face I see during my work day is that of my faithful dog, I am
still constantly in touch with people. Social media is the virtual water cooler,
continuing education, bulletin board and news stand all rolled into one. It used to
require a great deal more effort to stay highly informed. These days, all you need
to do are follow the right people on twitter, read the right blogs, and peruse the
right feeds. Once you find the ones that best suit your needs, just sit back and
absorb!
The reality is that a certain degree of social interaction is needed to stay up to date
on new resources, upcoming opportunities, workshops, conferences, issues in the
news, etc. Without this interaction, an information professional’s knowledge can
become stagnant and lose its value.
Virtual Reference Must Haves
There is the old adage that says when it comes to Quality, Price and Time, you can
only have two. I believe today’s technology is catapulting Virtual Reference to a
place where it can come pretty close to hitting all three of those targets.
The most important things to remember are:
Make use of all the fantastic forms of communication. Use them to facilitate
discussion, Use them to remind people you are there.
Develop a strong, intelligent professional community on whom you can rely
for support and development, and
The more available you are to your customer base, the more valuable your
organization becomes.
With these items in place, a Virtual Reference presence can only benefit any
organization.