[Web4lib] Who does your library follow on Twitter?

[Toby Greenwalt]

I monitor the Twitter account for Skokie Public Library (
http://www.twitter.com/skokielibrary), and I've got a few rules that I try
to keep in mind as I keep the number of followers in line.

Who can follow me: I have no restrictions as to who can follow me. The
Library's Twitter followers generally consist of:
a) local patrons;
b) local news organizations;
c) other libraries;
d) other librarians;
e) authors, publishers, and vendors;
and f) general spammers.

I'm more than willing to have as many people follow me as possible, as it
fulfills one mission of Twitter: to provide an quick and easy means to push
Library information to our patrons, friends, and colleagues. The more people
we have following us, the more likely it is people will see our tweets, and
possibly even retweet them to an even greater audience.

I'm much more selective in who I choose to follow with my Twitter account.
The people I follow back (or seek out and follow) all pretty much fall into
the first two categories. In doing so, I can strike a balance between the
need to push content out to as many people as possible, while making sure
all the patron needs within my immediate geographic area don't get lost in a
sea of tweets.

I'd also recommend using search tools like Twitter Search (
http://search.twitter.com), Tweet Scan (www.tweetscan.com), and Twingly (
www.twingly.com) to monitor topics of local interest and to identify new
users. By doing this, I've had some good luck identifying new patron needs,
and sparking some very interesting conversations.

Hope this helps.

Toby Greenwalt
Virtual Services Coordinator
Skokie Public Library

On Fri, Feb 13, 2009 at 1:30 PM, Cornwall, Daniel D (EED) <
dan.cornwall at alaska.gov> wrote:

> Hi All,
>
> Our library recently established a Twitter account at
> twitter.com/akstatelibrary. I'm a sort of do it first, ask questions
> later kind of guy, so I'm asking now what I should have asked before:
>
> If your library has a Twitter account, do you have criteria about who
> you will follow? Any non-spammer? Only other institutions? No one at
> all? Why do you what you do?
>
> Our main purpose in having a Twitter account is to have a user-friendly
> funnel for our RSS feeds and to have the ability to broadcast last
> minute webinars and new resources in a way that doesn't clutter people's
> e-mail boxes.
>
> Thanks in advance for any advice. - Daniel
>
>
> =================================
>
> Daniel Cornwall
> Head of Information Services
> Alaska State Library
> PO Box 110571
> Juneau, AK 99811-0571
> (907) 465-1315 ph
> (907) 465-2665 fax
> E-Mail: dan.cornwall at alaska.gov
>
> The Alaska State Library serves all:
>    State Employees - http://library.state.ak.us/is/infoserv.html
>    Librarians - http://library.state.ak.us/dev/libdev.html
>    Everyone else! - http://library.state.ak.us/
>
> Ask us! - http://library.state.ak.us/forms/askalibindex.html
>
> Any opinions expressed in this e-mail are mine alone and not those of my
> employer unless explicitly stated.
>
>
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