Victoria University of Wellington and its council, its members, staff, employees, students and agents assume no duty of care in contract, tort or otherwise to users (direct or indirect) of the MIS Research Project and make no warranties or guarantees of any kind in relation to any of its content. This research is an exploration of content produced for social media by two New Zealand academic libraries: Auckland University of Technology Library and Massey University Library.
Purpose Statement
New Zealand academic libraries on social media
- Auckland University of Technology and library services
- Massey University and library services
Massey University Libraries are based in Albany, on the Auckland campus of Massey University and also in Wellington. Massey University also offers distance learning and library services to students who are far away, making MUL accessible to students from all corners of New Zealand.
Social media and academic libraries
Despite being a relatively new university, AUT enrollments have surpassed Massey University, with AUT student numbers in 2018 at 29,000 (Auckland University of Technology, 2018). Massey University is an old institution that started as an agricultural school in 1927 (Massey University, n.d.).
Rationale for study
Based on the findings, practical strategies can be formed to effectively use social media to facilitate student engagement. The results of this research will benefit academic libraries in New Zealand that have not yet experimented with social media to increase engagement with their students.
Definitions
Literature review
- Engagement
- Social Media Posts
- Comments on Social Media Posts
- Literature Review: Summary
Promotion has been a major focus of academic and public library social media sites (Palmer, 2014; Shafawi & Hassan, 2018; Stuart, Stuart, & Thelwall, 2017). 17 Advocacy for the library through social media can also be considered a connection with library users (Hënë, 2015).
Research Questions
Research Design
- Benefits of a content analysis study
- Quantitative content analysis
- Qualitative content analysis
- Data Collection
- Sample
- Ethical considerations
Descriptive statistics was chosen for this study because it allowed this researcher to present the data in a meaningful way. The data was collected from secondary resources which were the posts created by AUTL and MUL and the comments generated by the posts.
Data Analysis
Quantitative Analysis
Qualitative analysis
- Categories of posts
- Categories of comments
Put this in the "Conversation" category, because a lot of social media engagement happens when users are asked to talk. Humor, sharing content from others, behind the scenes of the library, and nostalgia are forms of connecting posts because they show the library's awareness of its surrounding users and community. Conversation posts build relationships and build social media as a place for people to have discussions with the library, rather than just being marketed.
The process was extensive as the feedback collected varied on topics such as talking to the library, outside. According to Whiting and Williams (2013) the most common reason for using social media is that it is used as a source of entertainment. General Comments General comments are comments unrelated to the library, or indirectly related to the library.
This category of social media helps communication facilitation and provides information to share with others. By tagging their friends, users highlight the posts of the tagged person, who may further interact with the post and profile.
Results
Platforms’ metrics
In the case of Instagram, AUTL performs better than MUL despite generating fewer posts than MUL. The statistics above simply tell us that one library is doing better than the other on each platform in terms of the number of likes and comments they generate on their posts. But it doesn't tell us about the content of the posts and the related engagement the posts are generating.
By categorizing the positions, a way was established to find out which types of positions generate more engagement for both academic libraries, thereby producing different results.
Categories of posts
Both libraries were consistent on Instagram with the highest number of posts in the promotional category. AUTL didn't post as often as MUL, which is reflected in the number of posts. The standard deviation for comments is smaller, reflecting the low number of comments (see Tables B.8 and C.8).
Once the data was collected, it became apparent that both AUTL and MUL were regularly posting the same content on Facebook and Instagram. Appendices B and C show the regular repetition of content on Facebook and Instagram, especially for MUL's Facebook and. This post features a group of waiata librarians and was shared as a “promo/link” on Facebook.
The most comments and likes were on promotion/link posts with an average of 3.57 comments per post. In summary, both academic libraries generated the highest number of promotional posts on both platforms.
Categories of comments
- AUTL on Facebook and Instagram
- MUL on Facebook and Instagram
On Instagram, AUTL had more variety in the posts and they did not belong exclusively to the campaign. AUTL was more successful in getting comments when making connection type posts on Instagram, as Figure 2 shows that the library received ten comments in the general, friendship, and free/grateful categories. MUL did not respond to the student's proposal about opening hours at the weekend.
MUL responded to it and suggested that the student can take the complaint to the reception (see table C.5 and C.6, sample 14). 29 comments in both categories belonged to general comment categories that were not related to the library (see Figure 6). These comments generated promotional posts where the library focused on library services, for example when they shared Professor Glyn Harper's event (Table C.2 sample no. 19 and Table C.6 sample no. 23).
However, for these comments to be relevant to the library and the services it provides, these post types must be focused on the library and promote library services. The quantitative and qualitative analysis also showed that although one library may have had more 'engagement' than the other according to the platforms' metric system, AUTL had a higher proportion of comments belonging to the free/thankful and general information about categories of library services despite having fewer posts and comments than MUL.
Discussion
- Likes and comments
- Regional factors
- Relationship between post types and user engagement
- One-way communication
- Engagement
It is the content of the comment that shows the person and their level of involvement with the library. Mon (2015) recommends that librarians should focus on the library's agenda and intended audience rather than the number of likes and comments. These aspects can be used to influence the production of the content for social media.
Facebook and Instagram metrics also do not link likes, comments and post content. General comments were obtained because the nature of the promotion/affiliation posts was quite general. It is also one of the most important areas for establishing a successful community of practice (Wenger, 1998).
43 space of the library instead of the online personification of the library they have created on social media. Perhaps the libraries combined promotion and education to see if this increases engagement in terms of likes and comments.
Limitations
46 According to Wenger (1998) a strong sense of community is important for building the trust needed to safely share thoughts and ideas. Therefore, social media should be used skillfully and not as a tool for mass communication, which places students in a passive position rather than a contributor. Using social media with communities of practice in mind can provide a context in which the power of 'sharing and communication' can be put to work to engage a community.
Implications
Conclusion
Engagement through Wenger's (1998) community of practice was evident to some degree in the social media activities at both libraries. Anderson (2017), an effective community of practice is markedly different from a 'group' because of the connectedness of the participants. In conclusion, the analysis of the number of likes and comments for both academic libraries revealed that they are an inaccurate way to measure engagement.
It is easy to engage with students by being attentive to the community and understanding what they value. It doesn't have to be expensive in terms of money, but it does require the enthusiasm and time of the staff. Effective and long-lasting communities of practice are those where knowledge is shared, gathered, supported and supported.
This was mostly absent in social media activities despite academic libraries being school spaces. Given the promotional nature of social media content from AUTL and MUL, it can be concluded that both libraries consider the application of marketing principles and techniques a better way to articulate their value in achieving their universities' goals. .
Recommendations for future studies
Recommendations for practice
Works cited
Retrieved December 8, 2018, from https://www.facebook.com/business/news/insights/facebook-and-instagram-a-tale-of-two-feeds. Paper presented at the meeting of the World Library and Information Congress: 84th IFLA General Conference and Assembly, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Library marketing via social media: The relationships between Facebook content and user engagement in public libraries.
Integrating social media into library services in East Asia: case studies at the University of Colorado and Yale University. Designing a curriculum to shape professional social media skills and identity in virtual communities of practice. User engagement in social media, implications for library use: a case of selected public and academic libraries in Malaysia.
Works consulted
Is there an app for it?: an exploratory study into the use of mobile technologies and learning within Aotearoa New Zealand's higher education libraries (MIS Researcher Project, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand).
Appendices
- Appendix A: Process of statistical analysis
- Appendix B: Posts and comments data – AUT Libraries
- Appendix C: Posts and comments data - Massey University Libraries
- Appendix D: Comparison of post categories
1 March 1, 2018 Massey University Library text/visual Photo snapped from the view from the library compound 24 0. 39 May 16, 2018 Massey University Library text/visual photo of Pink Shirt day display in the library. 4 March 8, 2018 Massey University Library text/visual Maya Angelou quote with a photo of a woman reading a book.
26 10 April 2018 Massey University Library text/visual Further promotion of the event being held in the library (Prof Glyn Harper). 37 23 April 2018 Massey University Library text/visual image of very expensive looking sports car parked near the return. 41 30 April 2018 Massey University Library Kupu O Te Wiki text/visual: two photos of librarians wearing jerseys.
54 May 18, 2018 Massey University Library text/visual five photos of Albany campus, for Pink Shirt day. 55 21 May 2018 Massey University Library text/visual Kupu O Te Wiki: photo of a librarian with two guitars.
