Harvard and MIT are doing it. Are you?
Social media is a way to stay connected. The St. Ambrose University Library is striving to make that connection. Top names in education and academics are following SAU in social media, but for a student it is much more than staying connected. I know that as a college student we have so much to do in such little time. We try to evenly distribute our time among school, clubs, sports, work, friends, but it never seems enough. We still seem to spend long nights studying, hours hunched over a computer typing a paper, and days researching. The library is a choice, but with so much to do, how can a girl find the time to stop by?
Malavika Shrikhande, the cataloging assistant at St. Ambrose University library is part of the team that is pushing the boundaries between the library and its patrons. She advocates that students use social media to stay connected to the library. The SAU library has three blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest.
“You’re at home and you have a question but there is no way to get to the library or you don’t feel like it, but now you can ask us a question from anywhere,” Shrikhande said.
“We made it easy for you to find us with social media,” she said. Shrikhande helps to keep the sites active. She is so active that people like Harvard and MIT follow the SAU library’s Twitter account.
“She’s the social media queen,” Joyce Haack said. Haack is the library technical assistant. Haack updates the library’s blog, BeeBrary, frequently with all the latest leisure reading collections arriving at the library. The library also includes a list of the newest books and media on its’ sites.
“It’s a one stop shop to find the latest in the library. You can be doing research and you’ll find a new book on your topic–you can have the latest sources,” Shrikhande said. Haack notices the social media sites have had many views with little responses from patrons.
“We’d like to increase the interaction,” she said. Shrikhande also encourages patrons to respond for their own benefit.
“If I hear from you then I am able to see what you need. We really want to see what we can improve on,” she said, “We want to see that we cater to all the needs of our patrons.” Haack wants students to feel comfortable in asking for help. Students should take advantage of the services the library offers, such as the librarians.
“With the help of the librarians they can hone in on resources saving time,” she said, “Students don’t have to feel shy about asking for help they are so happy to help you, utilize them.”
This is another reason why Haack supports the social media interaction. She says that if a student is still too shy, then they can ask a question anonymously.