Blogs, Wikis and Reference Services: Surveying the Australian Library Landscape Chelsea Harper Centr

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Blogs, Wikis and Reference Services Surveying
the Australian Library LandscapeChelsea
Harper Central Queensland UniversityKate
Watson University of the Sunshine Coast
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• What are Blogs?
• a web-based publication consisting primarily of
  periodic articleswith the newest post at the top
  of the page, and reader comments often appearing
  below it(http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page)
  
• What are Wikis?
• a web application that allows users to add
  content and their own version of history, as on
  an Internet forum, but also allows anyone to edit
  the content (http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Pa
  ge)

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• Vlog

Confluence
Wiclear
Bliki
Audioblog
Seedwiki
Moblog
Technorati
Blogger
TikiWiki
Typepad
b2evolution
Feedster
LinkLog
Swiki
Jotspot
Blog
Docuwiki
Xanga
Wiki
Mediawiki
BlogDigger
Wikia
WordPress
BlogFarm
Autocasting
Photoblog
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Corporate/Business
Government
Educational
Military
Health
CEO
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Study Background

• Investigating Blog and Wiki Technology for the
  Enhancement of Internal
• Reference Services Practices
• Literature Review
• Technology Review
• Survey of Australian University, Public and
  Special Libraries
• Site Visits
• Pilot Study

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LIS Interest International
gtgtgt 5 Years
Biblioblogosphere
LISWiki
EduBlog Awards Best Library/Librarian Blog
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LIS Interest Australia
gtgtgt 2 Years
Increased discussion
Conference Papers
Professional Development Events
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Literature Review

• A review of the literature highlights four
  trends
• Published literature on this topic is limited
  but growing (especially in relation to the
  Australian Landscape).
• Minimal evidence of research available on this
  topic in the published literature.
• While Librarians have embraced the technology,
  there are minimal Library instances reported in
  the literature.
• Literature indicates Blogs and Wikis are
  generally perceived to be useful for libraries.

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1. Published literature on this topic is limited
but growing (especially in relation to
the Australian Landscape)

• Recent literature discussing the general benefits
  and uses of blogs and wikis and associated
  benefits is abundant.
• Literature discussing these technologies in the
  context of library services, specifically
  Reference Services, is limited.
• Most information available from Internet-based
  opinion or commentary pieces.
• Minimal published and peer reviewed literature
  available.
• Growing
• Most comprehensive published literature on the
  topic is written by
• Clyde 2004
• Pomerantz and Stutzman 2006
• Kille 2006

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2. Minimal evidence of research available on
this topic in the published literature

• Blogs
• Clyde 2003
• Focused on Library weblogs
• Identified the libraries with weblogs and
  investigated the intended audience, the content
  of the weblogs and library commitment to the blog
• It is surprising to find that little information
  is available about how many libraries have
  created weblogs, and what the public response
  has been to those weblogs -- Clyde 2004
• Wikis
• Limited published research identified

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3. While Librarians have embraced the technology,
there are minimal Library instances reported in
the literature

• Blogging Librarians
• Blogging Librarian Library Blogging Library?
• What about the Wiki?

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4. Literature indicates Blogs and Wikis are
generally perceived to be useful for libraries

• Blogs are a natural for librarians and
  libraries -- Pomerantz and Stutzman 2006
• There are a number of different ways to use a
  wiki to either enhance a digital library service
  or as a service in and of itself -- Frumkin
  2005
• By not taking advantage of this simple medium
  (and doing it well), libraries will be the
  losers
• -- Clyde 2004

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Using Blogs and Wikis in Reference Services
ideas discussed in the published literature

• Blogs are a natural for library reference
  services -- Pomerantz and Stutzman 2006
• Reference Database/Manual (between staff)
• Public Resource Guides
• Managing Team/Project Knowledge
• Marketing and Communication with Clients
• Current Awareness and Professional Development

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Reference Database/Manual (between staff)

• gtgtgt Kille 2006, Cohen 2005, Reichardt 2005,
  Tonkin 2005, Frumkin 2005, Mattison 2003,
  Sennema 2003
• Peer resource guide
• Knowledge base/Knowledge repository
• Manage knowledge among employees
• Share knowledge
• Support a decentralised groups of users
• Maintain documents that require frequent updating
• Increase communication amongst staff

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Public Resource Guides

• gtgtgt Kille 2006, Pomerantz and Stutzman 2006,
  Maness 2006
• Collaborative knowledge guides
• Open for public alterations and additions
• Enabling social interaction among Library staff
  and clients

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Managing Team/Project Knowledge

• gtgtgt Fichter 2006, Kille 2006, Louridas 2006,
  Bean and Hott 2005, Fichter 2005, Guenther 2005,
• McKiernan 2005, Reichardt 2005, Lamb 2004
• Support team/project collaboration
• Support meeting planning
• Facilitates the exchange of ideas

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Marketing and Communication with Clients

• gtgtgt Jeffries and Wallace 2006, Bhatt 2005,
  Davison-Turley 2005, McKiernan 2005, Clyde 2004,
• Winship 2004, Fichter 2003, Blood 2002
• Effective tools for reaching online audiences
• Active engagement
• RSS
• Direct clients to new resources
• Request feedback or comments

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Current Awareness and Professional Development

• gtgtgt Jeffries and Wallis 2006, Reichardt 2005
• RSS feeds and readers
• Alternative to multiple e-list subscriptions
• Minimising the amounts of e-mail
• Individual or Library-wide

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Survey Methodology

• Population
• Australian University, Public Special
  Libraries
• Survey methodology
• Disproportionate stratified sampling method
• Sampling frame
• Universities Library websites
• Public State Library listings
• Special Australian Libraries Gateway listing

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Survey Design

• Online survey
• Zoomerang software used
• Available April-June 2006
• Designed for heterogeneous group
• Questions needed to be relevant to different
  types of libraries
• Language needed to be generic or adequately
  explained
• (e.g.. information services vs. reference
  services)
• Tested prior to launch
• On-campus, off-campus, PC Mac, etc
• Survey link emailed to sample group
• Included explanation of project, survey content,
  definitions of blogs/wikis

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Survey Limitations

• Duplicate responses
• Institutional-level responses (impact on response
  rates)
• Sampling frame issues (special libraries)

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Survey Results
Response rates (weighted) Overall response rate
of 21
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Does your library have a blog? Does your library
have a wiki?
4
5
5
11
18
80
77
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Blogs by library type (weighted)
47
41
12
I dont know
No
Yes
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Wikis by library type (weighted)
45
33
22
No response
Yes
I dont know
No
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How many blogs/wikis are currently in use at your
library?
BLOGS
WIKIS
4.5
4.5
9
35
33
56
58
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How is your blog/wiki accessible?
WIKIS
BLOGS

14
41
59
86
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Blog accessibility by library type (weighted)
50

40
66
10
17
17
Externally
Internally
29
Wiki accessibility by library type (weighted)
67


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100
Externally
Internally
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What is the purpose of your library blog/wiki?
WIKIS
BLOGS
11
21
24
9
33
11
14
23
16
29
9
31
What kind of statistics are kept on your library
blog/wiki?
WIKIS
BLOGS
15
15
15
20
55
62
8
10
32
Does your library have policies/guidelines
relating to blogs/wikis?
WIKIS
BLOGS
5
5
11
9.5
27
26
27
53
9.5
27
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If your library does not use blogs/wikis, is
there a particular reason why?
WIKIS
BLOGS
18
23
21
19
12
11
19
26
26
26
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Conclusions

• The Australian Landscape continues to evolve
• Results presented here represent a snapshot of
  the landscape at a particular point in time
• How does the Australian landscape compare to that
  of other countries?
• How do we shape the landscape in the future?

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Contact Details

• Chelsea Harper
• Electronic Services Librarian
• Central Queensland University Library
• c.harper_at_cqu.edu.au
• Kate Watson
• RUBRIC Coordinator
• University of the Sunshine Coast
• kwatson_at_usc.edu.au
• http//www.seedwiki.com/wiki/libraryblogswikis/