Experts as facilitators for the implementation of social media in the library? A social network approach
| Published date | 09 September 2014 |
| Date | 09 September 2014 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/LHT-02-2014-0015 |
| Pages | 529-545 |
| Author | Hadewijch Vanwynsberghe,Elke Boudry,Ruben Vanderlinde,Pieter Verdegem |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Librarianship/library management,Library technology |
Experts as facilitators for the
implementation of social media
in the library? A social
network approach
Hadewijch Vanwynsberghe and Elke Boudry
Department of Communication Sciences, iMinds-MICT-Ghent University,
Ghent, Belgium
Ruben Vanderlinde
Department of Educational Studies, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium, and
Pieter Verdegem
Department of Communication Sciences, iMinds-MICT-Ghent University,
Ghent, Belgium
Abstract
Purpose – Based on the social capital theory, the authors assume that personal and professional
experts are both relevant to people’s competence development. However, to date, there is little
empirical evidence of how professional experts can support, or impede, people in learning how to deal
with social media. The purpose of this paper is to examine the role and position of social media exp erts
in the distribution of information on social media within the library as organization.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws upon social network and qualitative methods,
within three public libraries located in Belgium.
Findings – The findings suggest that as the most central actors, social media experts in a library play
a significant role in either supporting or constraining the distribution of information on social media.
Research limitations/implications – While the sample size was chosen to conduct a mixed
methods study that would explore how the position of a social media expert in an organization such
as the library facilitates or prevents the exchange of social media information, the authors
acknowledge the need for large-scale empirical studies that can substantiate the findings in larger and
more diverse samples.
Originality/value – This unique study explores how the role and position social media experts in
Belgian public libraries can support, or impede, librarians in learning how to deal with social media.
This study is useful for other public libraries who want to implement social media, establish a social
media policy and/or provide social media training.
Keywords Methodology, Libraries, Digital libraries, Qualitative methods, Skills development,
Social sciences
Paper type Research p aper
1. Introduction
Digital activities such as engaging in online communities, social networking, and
user-generated content production are a growing part of many people’s private
and professional lives. Social media is the unifying term fo r these kinds of “new digital
media phenomena [y] in which ordinary users (i.e. not only media professionals) can
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0737-8831.htm
Received 6 February 2014
Revised 14 May 2014
Accepted 25 June 2014
Library Hi Tech
Vol.32 No.3, 2014
pp. 529-545
rEmeraldGroup Publishing Limited
0737-8831
DOI 10.1108/LHT-02-2014-0015
This research is conducted within the EMSOC – User Empowerment in a Social Media Culture –
project, funded by the government agency for Innovation by Science and Technology (IWT, SBO
programe) in Flanders, Belgium.
529
Implementation
of social media in
the library
communicate with each other and create and share content with others online
through their personal networked computers and digital mobile devices” (Bechmann
and Lomborg (2013, p. 767).
Since public libraries have always connected people with information, social media
urge them to reconsider their position as public knowledge providers (Anttiroiko
and Savolainen, 2007). As a modern librarian’s task is to be able to use and distribute
information in many formats other than print, he or she must be able to use all media,
including digital and social media. Similarly, librarians are also increasingly
responsible for bridging the gap between social media and end-users to enable the
end-users to effectively and efficiently use these media sources (Callahan, 1991). In this
context, the debate of media literacy comes at stake, and given our specific focus, we
term this as “social media literacy” (SML). SML can be defined as not only the practical
and critically cognitive competencies possessed by users of social media, but also the
motivation to employ these media effectively and appropriately for social interaction
and communication on the web (Vanwynsberghe and Verdegem, 2013). To accomplish
such knowledge provision, librarians must be proficient with social media use.
Although much literature already exists concerning social media use in a library
context – mostly referred to as library 2.0 (Casey and Sevastinuk, 2006), it is still
in its infancy (Anttiroiko and Savolainen, 2011). Thus far, most of the existing
literature focusses on the potential use of social medi a in the library, “how-to guides”
for libraries to implement social media (Linh, 2008), and about competencies of which
librarians perceived they need them (Huvila et al., 2013). Empirical data on social
media implementation in libraries is rare. Therefore, this paper contributes to this
under-researched field by inquiring the actual implementation of social media in
libraries, and with a specific focus on the development of SML of librarians.
The functioning of organizations such as libraries is built upon social processes, or
relations and interactions, between the employees (Tichy et al., 1979). As such, libraries
start using new technologies, such as social media, through localized social processes
(Valente, 1996). Actual implementation and use of a new technology within the library
depends on the individual members of the organization and the relations and
interactions between them. Rogers (1995) and Haythornthwaite (2005) present social
network theory and analysis to involve these social processes into the diffusion of
innovation research. The social network approach posits that social interactions may
have an impact on people’s knowledge development about a new technology,
which leads to awareness, and consequently has an impact on the implementation
(or rejection) of that technology. Moreover, Frambach and Schillewaert (2002) and
Haythornthwaite (1996) indicate that information about an innovation is mostly
introduced by experts who have the most knowledge, skills, or expertise within the
organization and often work on or near the core of the innovation within the organization.
Therefore, the aim of this study is to empirically assess how a social media expert,
or the employee with the most knowledge and skills concer ning social media, in the
library facilitates, or impedes, the information flow and imple mentation of social media
in the library. Thus far, empirical studies on the implementation of innovations within
organizations were mainly conducted in the health care industry (e.g. Atun et al., 2007;
Williams, 2011) and the educational field (e.g. Damanpour, 1987; Frank et al., 2004).
Fewer empirical studies were conducted on social media implementation in libraries
(e.g. Neo and Calvert, 2012). This empirical base needs to be expanded to cover more
diverse organizations and to allow for more generalizable findings. As public
(non-profit) organizations, libraries have many c haracteristics analogous to hospita ls
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