A Guide to Twitter in Libraries

What is it

Twitter is a free communication and social networking tool which allows you to convey short messages of up to 140 characters to your circle of friends via the Twitter website, SMS, email, IM, or other Twitter client. Messages appear not only within your profile on Twitter, but are sent to your community of followers who have signed up to receive your updates.

Often referred to as microblogging, this new phenomenon has caught on with over 300,000 users on Twitter alone including Barack Obama and John Edwards. Twitter recently made the cut as one of Time’s Best 50 Websites of 2007. Librarians are using it to communicate at conferences and events and to keep up with developments in the field, and libraries have begun using it to promote their services.

How to Use it

Check out some of these great how-to guides which will have you twittering in no time:

Screencasts:

How Libraries are Using it

Libraries are just starting to test the waters with microblogging applications, but there are already examples of libraries using Twitter.

Case Studies:

Library Twitter Accounts:

Twitter Tools & Mashups

Twitter Alternatives

AddThis Social Bookmark Button

This entry was posted on Friday, August 17th, 2007 at 10:46 am and is filed under Library 2.0, Library Services, Marketing, Social Software, Web 2.0. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

26 Responses to “A Guide to Twitter in Libraries”

  1. Ratcatcher Says:
    August 17th, 2007 at 10:58 am

    You might also want to look at a recent Library Journal article on Twitter.

  2. Darrell Shandrow Says:
    August 18th, 2007 at 2:25 pm

    The unfortunate thing about Twitter is that its CAPTCHA does not provide audio playback or any other reasonable accomodations for blind or visually impaired users. This makes signing up for Twitter an inaccessible brick wall for blind people! Use of this in libraries and other government sponsored situations may be an issue with respect to accessibility regulations.

  3. R U A Twit? Yes, Some of Us R Now! Says:
    August 21st, 2007 at 2:37 pm

    [...] iLibrarian: a Guide to Twitter in Libraries. Thompson, Clive. “Clive Thompson on How Twitter Creates a Social Sixth Sense” Wired vol 15 no 7 June 26, 2007. http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/magazine/15-07/st_thompson. Accessed August 20, 2007. [...]

  4. Ellyssa Says:
    August 23rd, 2007 at 9:44 pm

    Great resource, thanks Ratcatcher!

  5. iLibrarian » 18 Different Kinds of Blog Posts Says:
    September 28th, 2007 at 11:53 am

    [...] Aggregate List/Guide [...]

  6. Librarians Matter » Blog Archive » Blog fodder - what do I put in? Says:
    October 27th, 2007 at 5:35 am

    [...] Aggregate List/Guide [...]

  7. facebook » A Guide to Twitter in Libraries Says:
    October 27th, 2007 at 11:40 pm

    [...] Read the rest of this great post here [...]

  8. CNBloggerCon und Konferenztwitter « Bibliotan Says:
    November 3rd, 2007 at 9:49 am

    [...] und Microblogging wird bestimmt ein interessantes Thema für Bibliothek, ich werde das Thema weiter verfolgen und bei [...]

  9. Rescatando enlaces de Twitter » eCuaderno Says:
    December 19th, 2007 at 5:32 am

    [...] Twitter Fiction A Guide to Twitter in Libraries Terraminds Twitter Search The Next Email. Why Twitter will change the way business communicates [...]

  10. A Few Things I’m Noticing While I Twitter « The Other Librarian Says:
    January 16th, 2008 at 12:29 pm

    [...] does not mean people do not have interesting ideas about how it could be used.   And certainly, some libraries are using it.   Still, as I’ve said about the Facebook [...]

  11. Talking Tech Friday - Twitter « MCLC Library Tech Talk Says:
    February 22nd, 2008 at 5:50 pm

    [...] iLibrarian- A Guide to Twitter in Libraries  [...]

  12. Edmodo, ¿el twitter para aulas de clase? Says:
    September 3rd, 2008 at 12:08 am

    [...] Una guía en iLibrarian para que las bibliotecas utilicen Twitter con varios ejemplos de algunas que ya tienen cuentas activas. [...]

  13. Edmodo, ¿el twitter para aulas de clase? | Andrebills Says:
    September 5th, 2008 at 9:53 pm

    [...] Una guía en iLibrarian para que las bibliotecas utilicen Twitter con varios ejemplos de algunas que ya tienen cuentas activas. [...]

  14. Twitter and libraries « Social Media and Libraries Says:
    December 5th, 2008 at 3:59 am

    [...] with developments in the field, and libraries have begun using it to promote their services” (iLibrarian, 2008). The types of users who would be part of a libraries twitter community, would most likely be [...]

  15. Thing #8 No More Incommunicado « SJCPLS Bloggers Says:
    February 5th, 2009 at 10:33 am

    [...] A Guide to Twitter in Libraries [...]

  16. InfoBlog EEA | Biblioteca EEA en Twitter Says:
    February 27th, 2009 at 7:01 am

    [...] presento una guia de Twitter para bibliotecas, escrito por Elyssa Kroski en su blog [...]

  17. Ferramentas de “Web 2.0″ para bibliotecas « Moo. Says:
    March 19th, 2009 at 4:24 pm

    [...] Twitter 101, tools, mashups, estudos de caso e bibliotecas que utilizam [...]

  18. 100 Tips, Tools, and Resources for Librarians on Twitter - Learn-gasm Says:
    April 2nd, 2009 at 4:47 am

    [...] A Guide to Twitter in Libraries. This article from iLibrarian offers plenty of information and resources to effectively use Twitter in the library. [...]

  19. A Semi-Deeper Investigation of Twitter in Libraries « libr 500 Says:
    April 15th, 2009 at 1:34 pm

    [...] A Guide to Twitter in Libraries: This article appears in Ellyssa Kroski’s blog iLibrarian. [...]

  20. Ferramentas de “Web 2.0″ para bibliotecas « Imagem, Vídeo, Twitter… e BIBLIOTECONOMIA Says:
    April 16th, 2009 at 7:13 pm

    [...] Twitter 101, tools, mashups, estudos de caso e bibliotecas que utilizam [...]

  21. Twitter für Information professionals « The Lonely Librarian Says:
    April 17th, 2009 at 9:23 am

    [...] neuere) Informationen und Tutorials zur Anwendung von Twitter in Bibliotheken, wie z.B. hier, hier, hier und hier. Andererseits ist der britisch Berufsverband CILIP erst jetzt daran, einen Kurs zu Twitter [...]

  22. “100 Tips, Tools, and Resources for Librarians on Twitter”…05.05.09 « The Proverbial Lone Wolf Librarian’s Weblog Says:
    May 5th, 2009 at 11:14 am

    [...] A Guide to Twitter in Libraries. This article from iLibrarian offers plenty of information and resources to effectively use Twitter in the library. [...]

  23. Yahoo! For Teachers » Twitter + Yahoo! For Teachers: Who Let the Owl Out? Says:
    June 12th, 2009 at 5:16 pm

    [...] A Guide to Twitter in the Library [...]

  24. Web Design for Libraries Says:
    August 30th, 2009 at 7:26 pm

    [...] How Do I Get Started With Twitter? iLibrarian has an excellent “Guide to Twitter in Libraries” on their website which includes links on how to use it, how libraries are using it specifically, screencasts, case studies, Twitter tools, sample libraries, and more. If you’re interested in learning more about how Twitter can help your library, this is definitely the place to start! Click here to read the article » [...]

  25. Twitter « Library Studies Says:
    September 27th, 2009 at 11:11 am

    [...] useful sources of information include iLibrarian’s Guide to Twitter in Libraries and the feeds of the Top Ten Twittering Librarians from [...]

  26. Twitter, Libraries, and Skills for the Future « Continuing Education Blog Says:
    October 5th, 2009 at 1:42 pm

    [...] Guide to Twitter in Libraries (http://oedb.org/blogs/ilibrarian/2007/a-guide-to-twitter-in-libraries/) by Ellyssa [...]

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